Discover how sensory adaptation & Weber’s Law create blind spots in supply chains. Learn strategies to detect hidden risks before they escalate into crises
Picture this: You walk into a dark room, fumbling for the light switch. The brightness shocks your eyes. It’s overwhelming for a second — too sharp, too intense. But within moments, your pupils shrink, your vision adjusts, and the once-blinding light becomes comfortable.
Or imagine stepping into a crowded restaurant. At first, the noise is a chaotic blur of clinking glasses and buzzing conversations. Yet minutes later, it fades into the background. You can focus on the person across from you, tuning out everything else.
This is sensory adaptation — a fundamental process in cognitive psychology. Our brain filters out repetitive stimuli, prioritizing what’s new, what’s changing, and what matters. It prevents overload. It sharpens focus. It helps us survive.
And yet, this same mechanism can be a hidden liability in supply chain management.
When Supply Chains Go Numb
Supply chains, like human perception, adapt to their environment.
A supplier that used to deliver on time now runs late every week. The first time, it’s a crisis. The second time, it’s an inconvenience. What happens after the tenth instance? It’s just “how things are.”
A warehouse constantly runs low on a key material. At first, it’s a fire drill. Then it’s a problem to be managed. Eventually, it’s built into the process — buffers are added, and expectations adjusted. The issue still exists, but no one sees it as such anymore.
That’s sensory adaptation in action. Supply chain leaders — overwhelmed by thousands of daily variables — develop blind spots to chronic inefficiencies. They stop noticing what should still be a problem.
And when that happens, risk accumulates silently. Until, one day, the entire system collapses under its weight.
The Science of Noticing (And Why We Stop Noticing)
Enter Weber’s Law, a foundational principle of psychophysics. It states that the ability to detect a change in a stimulus depends on the size of the original stimulus.
For example, if you hold a 1-pound weight, adding just a few ounces makes a noticeable difference. But if you hold a 50-pound weight, you’d need to add several pounds before you perceive any change.
Now apply that to supply chain operations.
A minor disruption, such as a late shipment, a supplier delay, or a pricing fluctuation, immediately raises concerns in a small company. There’s little margin for error, so even small shifts demand attention.
However, as an organization grows, its baseline scale increases. One hundred missed units in a 1,000-unit operation triggers alarms. But in a 100,000-unit operation, that same shortfall might go unnoticed. The absolute disruption is the same — but the relative impact feels negligible.
This is where Weber’s Law meets supply chain risk. Leaders accustomed to handling small inefficiencies may fail to detect them as the business scales. Issues that once required immediate action blend into the background, normalized by sheer volume.
By the time they are noticed, they have accumulated massive structural weaknesses — financial waste, inventory misalignment, and eroding service levels. In the same way, our senses stop noticing the air conditioner’s hum, and organizations stop noticing small inefficiencies that, over time, become systemic vulnerabilities.
Breaking the Cycle: How to Re-Sensitize Your Supply Chain
Great leaders don’t just react to what’s obvious. They train themselves — and their organizations — to detect subtle shifts before they become crises. Here’s how:
1. Recalibrate Awareness with Dynamic Thresholds
Most companies rely on static performance triggers. They use absolute metrics to determine when an issue needs attention. However, Weber’s Law suggests we need proportional triggers that evolve as the business grows. Flagging “1000 missed units” is much less than tracking percentage-based deviations (e.g., “any 5% drop in fulfillment rates”).
2. Force Periodic Resets
Just as stepping outside resets your sense of smell after adapting to a room’s odor, organizations need operational resets to break adaptation cycles. Periodic audits, external reviews, and fresh perspectives expose normalized inefficiencies.
3. Create Artificial Disruptions
Military and cybersecurity teams use “red team” exercises to simulate attacks. Supply chains should do the same. Conduct stress tests that disrupt key processes before an actual crisis does. See where the system breaks — then fix it before it materializes.
4. Mix Familiarity with Fresh Inputs
Supply chain teams, like sensory systems, are wired to prioritize change. Use rotating dashboards and randomized KPI spotlights to force teams to see the data differently. If the same report lands on a manager’s desk every week, they’ll stop seeing it. Change the format. Change the questions. Force the mind to notice.
The Takeaway: Adapt, But Don’t Go Blind
Sensory adaptation is a survival mechanism. It helps us focus. It helps us function. But in business, adaptation without awareness leads to dangerous complacency.
Supply chain leaders must train themselves to resist the slow creep of normalization. They must recalibrate what they notice, how they measure, and when they intervene.
Because what you stop noticing… is often what breaks you in the end.