TIL about the 'missing stair' theory at a local meetup group I used to run

I was organizing a photography club in Portland for about a year, and we kept having issues with one guy who creeped out new members. Someone told me about the 'missing stair' theory, where everyone just works around a problem instead of fixing it because it's easier. Has anyone else dealt with a situation like that in their own groups?

4 comments

4 Comments

shane_hayes1mo ago

It's wild how often that whole missing stair thing shows up in regular life too, not just groups. Like in my neighborhood there's this one guy who lets his dog run loose, and everyone just knows to watch out on that block instead of actually talking to him about it. People would rather do a little dance around the problem every day than deal with the awkwardness of confronting it, even when it'd be way easier in the long run. idk, maybe that's just how we're wired to avoid conflict.

lunah121mo ago

My friend's whole street knew one neighbor's trash cans blew over every week but nobody said a word for two years.

blake7921mo ago

Yeah, that whole "dance around the problem" thing hits close to home. It's like we'd rather trip over the same spot every day than have one awkward five-minute talk.

kim_ramirez329d ago

Flip it around and think how much time we waste just mentally preparing to deal with the problem every single time it comes up. That adds up way faster than one awkward conversation would, even if the talk goes bad. People just don't like the idea of being the one who has to start it.