Reverse Option Analysis

My antidote for the status quo bias is the Reverse Option Analysis. That’s where you reverse the positions of the status quo and the proposed change. You treat the proposed change as if we had been living with it for generations; you treat the status quo as if if were a proposal for something new.
Ready?

How would we view a proposal to change from a status quo of electric streetcars in dedicated lanes to a new system of diesel buses stuck in traffic?

The Reverse Option Analysis makes the status quo bias obvious: people accept buses in traffic not because it’s a good strategy but because it’s the status quo.