The Case of the Missing Eggs

Always Count Your Eggs!

When I first moved to Thailand, I noticed something odd: I kept running out of eggs faster than I expected.

For months, this mystery persisted.  I could find no explanation until I tripped and dropped a carton of eggs as I was leaving a market.

I picked up the carton to see how many eggs I broke – 4 of 10.  There weren’t 12 eggs in the carton.  There were 10.

In the U.S., eggs typically come in a dozen. So when I bought a carton in Thailand, I never thought twice — of course there would be 12 inside.

My assumption, built from years of habit, had blinded me to what was right in front of me.

👉 I believe Psychology professionals would say this is a case of a “schema-driven assumption” – a mental shortcut I built from experience. These shortcuts might save time and effort but can lead us astray when the context changes.

The Lesson?

• Check your assumptions.  What’s true in one culture, team, or organization may not automatically be true in another.

• Do not overlook simple details because our mental model tells us not to question them.

Sometimes it pays to “count the eggs.”

💡 What’s an “egg carton” moment you’ve had — when your assumptions turned out to be incorrect?