The Brainy Business | Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy | Behavioral Economics

Today I welcome Roger Dooley to The Brainy Business podcast for a refresh of our conversation about his book Friction. Featuring this discussion was inspired by Richard Shotton's new book The Illusion of Choice, which has one chapter about "making it easy" and then another on "making it difficult" (and you'll hear all about it on Friday). This perfectly aligns with Roger's book, Friction, which is all about understanding the psychology of friction and how it can be used to optimize customer experiences. That made it the perfect refresh candidate for this week! While reducing friction is often best and what most businesses need, sometimes there is also value in adding friction in the right places. For example, in What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, I suggest introducing a 30 minute waiting period before sending emails can help to avoid mistakes. As you listen today and think about Friction, consider your own experiences — where can they be easier? Where should they be more difficult? I know that seems a bit counterintuitive now, but some thoughtful friction is really valuable in the right places. Listen in to learn how you can use friction in your own business. Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about friction, specifically, a refresh of the conversation I had with Roger Dooley on his book Friction way back in November 2019. [01:44] As you listen today and think about friction, consider your own experiences — where can they be easier? Where should they be more difficult? [04:04] The cover of Roger's book, Friction, intentionally had a coarse / gritty texture. It was meant to convey a sense of friction. (Priming!) [05:35] Roger shares about himself, his background, and the work he does. [07:40] The interaction of neuroscience, behavioral science, and business has always been fascinating to him. His blogging, podcast, and books have given him a chance to explore that and simplify it for people in business. [09:22] There has been an increase in business interest in behavioral science. [11:46] Change is hard, especially when humans are involved. [12:57] 95% of the time businesses have too much friction in their processes. [13:49] There are times when adding friction helps. In general, it is best to eliminate it. Amazon is a prime example of that. [16:27] Friction is an unnecessary effort to complete a task. [18:29] Amazon makes it so that 99% of the time or more you are simply using the one-click button to ship a product to your home address or office address. That makes it a low-risk transaction. [21:46] People don't look at the cost of the processes they create. When looking at the total time, cost, and effort compared to the amount you would lose, there's no comparison. [23:29] Where there is high trust there is low friction. [25:08] Often we create processes that are designed to make things easier but they don't really work that way. [27:51] How many people are going to be affected by this and how can we make things easier? [30:08] In general, if you are trying to maximize leads or sales, making the process as simple as possible is the way to go. [33:08] By giving them that "out" you relieve the pressure and they are more comfortable complying with the request. [35:54] Buffer took all the friction out of scheduling social media. They made it simple to get started. [38:34] Rather than seemingly correct the person and imply that they didn't work at it hard enough they avoid the word "actually". [40:46] Loyal customers are better and more valuable than new customers. Low-effort experiences drive loyalty. [42:38] They are comparing you against their best, lowest effort customer experiences. [43:57] You are endangering the loyalty of all those customers you can not handle in that instantaneous and efficient manner. [46:54] Sometimes eliminating useless parts of the process is the best way. [48:34] As you look to decrease friction you will start to notice it all around you. [50:27] Melina's closing thoughts [52:41] Remember, you are a human doing business with humans inside your company and with your customers — trust and humanness and a reduction in friction can go a long way in building an amazing business. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – o

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Uri Gneezy. Uri's research focus is on putting behavioral economics to work in the real world, where theory can meet application. He is looking for basic research as well as more applied approaches to topics like incentives-based interventions to increase good habits and decrease bad ones, Pay-What-You-Want pricing, and the detrimental effects of small and large incentives. In addition to the traditional laboratory and field studies, he currently works with several firms conducting experiments which use basic findings from behavioral economics to help companies achieve their traditional goals in nontraditional ways. You may be familiar with Uri's name because he coauthored the wildly popular book, The Why Axis with John List, who was on the show last year talking about his book The Voltage Effect. I have a feeling you're going to really enjoy this conversation as it is about a topic people in business are thinking, talking and asking about all the time: incentives. Most specifically, Uri talks about what happens when we mix our messages (it happens a lot more often than you realize) and how that impacts behavior. There are tons of fascinating and practical examples in the book, and we will talk about a few of them today in the episode. Show Notes: [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Uri Gneezy. Uri's research puts behavioral economics to work in the real world where theory can meet applications. [03:15] Uri shares his background and the work he does in behavioral science. He is a behavioral economist and most of his work is around how incentives really work and how they can change the world. [05:19] When you give the incentives it is not just the money, reward, or recognition that you give, you are also sending a message and telling a story. If you don't really understand how the incentive can shape or change the story you might send the wrong message. [07:03] Incentives are not good, wrong, or bad. It really depends on how you use them. [09:25] By changing the incentives from money to an item like a mug or pen you change the message that supports the signal that you want to send. [11:45] Uri shares about research around donating blood. [14:01] In the late '90s hybrid cars started to pop up. Toyota won the market with the signal they sent. [16:39] Different incentives work on different people. The incentives don't have to apply to everyone. [18:25] The role of incentives should be to push the story in the direction you want. Incentives are going to change the story. [21:27] Quality is much harder to control than value and sometimes it is subjective. How do you incentivize without damaging the quality? [24:30] We really need to be careful about the incentives we give. [27:00] If we want innovation we have to make sure we don't punish failure. [29:59] If you have an incentive in place, try to think about it and see if it really sends the message that you want to send. [30:51] The fact that you tried incentives and they didn't work doesn't mean that incentives don't work. It means that what you tried didn't work and it is time to try something else. [33:26] You need ways to measure your incentives and how they are working. [36:00] He decided to add cartoons to his book because they deliver the message better than just reading a long description and it makes it fun and less boring. [38:48] The Coca-Cola story is a very good example of how the framing of the incentive can give a completely different experience. [40:26] Not all incentives are created equal and you can understand more about them and predict how they will work if you understand the message they are sending. [41:55] Our brains have mental accounts. [44:30] If you find out what your clients care about you can use that to create your incentives. [46:51] The amount of money really sends a signal but gifts send a very different signal and meaning. [49:36] Make incentives simple. If you have many incentives, consolidate them. Make sure you align what you do with the message you want to give. [50:52] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and S

Today's episode is all about iNcentives, specifically as they pertain to the concept of NUDGES. This episode first aired as part of a 7-part series I did on NUDGES back in 2019. Why seven parts? Well, "NUDGES" is an acronym for the six types of nudges as introduced by Thaler and Sunstein: iNcentives (which is a bit of a fudge to make it work, but we all forgive them), Understand Mapping, Defaults, Give Feedback, Expect Error and Structuring Complex Choices. That original series included one episode on each, plus an introductory episode into what nudges and choice architecture are to kick things off - so there you have it: seven episodes. This episode on incentives is being refreshed today to help get your brain buzzing on the idea before the wonderful Dr. Uri Gneezy is here on Friday to share about his new book (which just came out today) called Mixed Signals: How Incentives Really Work. It is all about what happens when we mix up our incentives so things don't work as intended, and what we can do to correct those errors before they happen. Digging in on nudging incentives as it pertains to behavioral economics felt like the perfect way to get you ready and in the right mindset for that episode coming out on Friday. (If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, take a moment to do so now!) Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is all about iNcentives, specifically as they pertain to the concept of NUDGES. This episode first aired as part of a 7-part series I did on NUDGES back in 2019. [03:20] We are inundated with choices in our lives and because our brains are lazy we don't put in all the effort required to make the best decision every time. Well structured choice architecture can influence the way someone makes a decision and the choice they make. [04:37] Proper incentives can help encourage sales when you understand how they work. [05:11] Good choice architects understand how to structure the nudges and architecture to do what is best for their business. [06:43] Melina's example - air conditioning! [09:02] In general with air conditioning, it may feel like there isn't really a choice to be had. It looks pretty easy on the surface... [10:30] While air conditioning seems like a simple choice there were actually a lot of variables to be considered. [13:05] Consider who pays, who chooses, who uses, and who profits. [14:06] What happens when there are conflicting incentives? That is where we can really run into problems. [15:47] "Do you want the wi-fi enabled one?" [19:11] Look at how you can align the incentives to find the win-win-win scenario. [21:45] When all you look at is the cost it is easy to base your pricing off of that – but that isn't the best way. [23:52] Salience (or saying something is salient) is the way an item stands out from other items. [25:19] Our human brains have a hard time understanding value and cost over time. [27:03] Breaking down a large payment by year, month, week, or even day can make it a choice easier (or harder!) to make. Context matters. [29:43] Being in sales is basically being a full time choice architect. It is the burden of a salesperson and company to structure choices in a way that customers can quickly understand the value and make a choice. [32:02] Paying for the car is removed from the experience of you using and driving it. [34:00] Think about what you want to bring your customers' attention to (versus what would be a negative experience if you brought their attention to it). [36:23] Points, foreign currency, and tokens are not the same in our mind as "real" money. [38:04] It is important to consider the questions of who uses, who choses, who pays, who profits. [40:44] Surge pricing may seem like a way to nudge people into using less energy, but because this isn't salient in the moment it doesn't do as much as it could. Here's something else that might work better… [41:55] The last example of competing incentives is the US healthcare system. [44:20] Improvements can always be made. [46:30] Melina's closing thoughts [46:35] I find incentives fascinating because there are so many layers to them. It is so important to look at the ripples of choices and incentives, all those little facets that may not come to mind but can actually be really really important when decisions are made. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy

Today, I am joined by Dr. Mindy Weinstein. Mindy is the founder and CEO of Market MindShift and was named one of the top women in digital marketing globally by her peers. She is also a global speaker, trainer, and digital marketing strategist who has worked with and trained companies of all sizes, including Facebook, The Weather Channel, Rosetta Stone, World Fuel Services, Investor's Business Daily, HBO, Fandango, Telemundo, LL Bean, Cisco, Transamerica, and Sportsman's Guide. Other digital marketing agencies come to Mindy to learn the latest trends, concepts, and methodologies. She teaches and leads marketing courses at Columbia Business School, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Grand Canyon University, and the University of Denver. Getting introduced to Mindy was fascinating timing. A client asked if there was a book specifically about choosing the right type of scarcity tactics and how to apply them in her business. I let her know there wasn't a perfect fit and recommended What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, as a great place to start. Later that day, I got a LinkedIn message from Brian Ahearn, introducing me to Mindy, who had just published her book, The Power of Scarcity: Leveraging Urgency and Demand to Influence Customer Decisions. And, let me tell you...everyone in business needs to read this. It is so valuable and such a great resource for everyone regardless of industry. Listen in to get some amazing insights on applying scarcity in your business! Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Mindy Weinstein. Mindy is the founder and CEO of Market Mindshift and was named one of the top women in digital marketing globally by her peers. [02:02] She has a Ph.D. in general psychology with an emphasis on technology and is the author of The Power of Scarcity. [03:07] Everyone in business needs to read this book. It is so valuable and such a great resource for everyone regardless of industry. [04:57] Mindy shares about herself, her background, and the work she does. She has been a marketer for the last two decades. [06:07] As she was digging into all the factors, she realized that scarcity seemed to have the greatest power. It is also one of those factors that have been hardwired into our brain which dates back to our early ancestors. [08:39] "Obsession is a classic side effect of scarcity." [09:24] Mindy shares how scarcity affected her family on their visit to Disney World. [12:06] The Star Wars ride was in high demand and it was difficult to get on. When you are faced with something like that, it becomes urgent and an obsession for your brain. [14:52] Even though we know scarcity works, it can be really challenging to implement in business. [15:08] Scarcity is something you can implement and it always needs to be genuine. If it is authentic and something is truly scarce, why not communicate it? [15:42] As a small business a lot of times it is just your wording that makes a difference. Knowing how to word certain things makes a big difference. [17:22] One of the keys is not being afraid of running out of stock and instead making that an asset to you. Letting customers know items have been restocked triggers demand related scarcity. [19:31] Businesses can show the "best sellers" or "most popular" packages or most popular items that people buy. [20:28] There is a lot you can do from a business and small business standpoint that isn't going to break the bank. [22:14] Luxury goods strive with supply related scarcity when there is only a certain amount of units. [24:47] When you are looking at the scarcity tactic you can still be a large retailer that is making a lot of money and having a lot of customers but be more focused and making sure that the things where you are advertising are going to be working for you instead of being a waste. [26:22] Time related scarcity is any kind of time restrictions like flash sales, coupons, or limited time offers or products. Demand related is where scarcity exists because of high demand. [28:30] Pricing isn't about price. All the stuff that happens before the price matters. [29:10] If there is only so much of something to go around and we are looking at demand you feel like you are in competition. [31:18] Supply related scarcity could be a shortage or an intentional restriction on supply. Supply related scarcity speaks to people that have a need for uniqueness. [33:11] The final type of scarcity is limited edition which is any variation on the original. [35:44] Social media fuels so much of what we know and see about scarcity because words spread really quickly. [38:38] "If you have to make an extra effort to obtain the item, that item has just become more attractive." [39:11] If we are told we can't have something or it is not very simple for us to get it then we start to really think about it and want it more. [40:34] As we think about all these different types of scarcity, be careful about continuing to do the same thing

Today's episode is all about scarcity. This is a term you are familiar with, but I am willing to bet you aren't using it in all the ways it can be leveraged in your life and business. The term gets thrown around a lot and people know some of how it works, but the nuance is so so so much more than you can imagine. This refreshed episode, which originally aired in the fall of 2018, will introduce you to the depth that this topic can have to set you up for this Friday's episode with Mindy Weinstein, author of the book The Power of Scarcity which will absolutely blow your mind. It is so good. Within the book, she includes so much depth and nuance in a way I have never heard anyone else talk about scarcity. It's fascinating. Today is a primer to expand your thoughts about scarcity in a way that will get you ready to continue your learning when that episode comes out on Friday. As you listen, reflect upon times in your own life where you have been pulled in by scarcity, and where you can incorporate it more into your business. Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about scarcity. This is a term you are familiar with, but I am willing to bet you aren't using it in all the ways it can be leveraged in your life and business. [02:15] In traditional economics, scarcity occurs when an item has limited availability but unlimited desire for that item. This could include natural resources like oil and water or more abstract concepts like time. [02:55] Studies have proven that we see things as more valuable when they are less readily available. [05:55] Scarcity and value are closely tied together. Our crazy brains think less equals more…even when it is kinda weird. When something is scarce it triggers our loss aversion because we don't want to miss out on the opportunity. [08:13] Scarcity can only take effect when items are truly limited. This means not everyone gets one. [10:49] Scarce items can take on a life of their own. [11:37] Scarcity can create a cult following, which means other people do the marketing for you. This makes the brand bigger than anything you can do on your own. [14:57] These examples from Starbucks and Disney are a combination of scarcity and availability. This is essentially capitalizing on something popular and becoming part of the craze. [15:26] If you are going to take a shot at incorporating scarcity, know that not everything will cause an uproar of epic proportions. Sometimes there will be duds and that is ok. The question is what did you learn from them for next time? [16:50] There are some words you can use to trigger scarcity in the brain of your consumer, including: limited time, extended, custom, handcrafted, one of a kind, closeout sales, everything must go, and last chance. These terms can be added to more than products, extending into services as well. [18:27] If you do a promotion or discount, make sure it is short term and remind people when it ends. You can also limit the quantity available and stick with it. [20:16] Contests and giveaways can work really well for you, but there are a lot of rules and you need to make sure you play the game. [21:37] It is easy to sound like a cheesy infomercial when you're using scarcity, so take a step back and don't get too over the top. [23:23] Scarcity and availability are another peanut butter and jelly sort of concept grouping like anchoring and relativity. [26:15] Scarcity is a tactic that works especially when combined with availability. [27:05] If there is not enough value they need to control the supply that is available to keep demand high. [28:12] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Power of Scarcity, by Mindy Weinstein What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Influence, by Robert Cialdini What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Power of Regret, by Dan Pink Top Recommended Next Episode: Availability Bias (ep 15) Already Heard That One? Try These: The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2)

In today's conversation, I am joined by Amy Gallo. Amy is an expert in conflict, communication, and workplace dynamics. She combines the latest management research with practical advice to deliver evidence-based ideas on how to improve relationships and excel at work. She has written two books: The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, and her newest which we are discussing today: Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People). In her role as a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, Amy writes about interpersonal dynamics, communicating ideas, leading and influencing people, and building your career. She has contributed to numerous books on feedback, emotional intelligence, and managing others, and is the co-author of the HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case. She is also a co-host of HBR's Women at Work podcast, which is in its eighth season. She has contributed to other books and has taught at both Brown University and UPenn, and is an all-around wonderful person I'm so delighted to have met. It's kind of a fun and serendipitous story as to how Amy ended up on the show today. Listen in to hear all about it! Show Notes: [00:45] In today's conversation, I am joined by Amy Gallo. Amy is an expert in conflict, communication, and workplace dynamics. [01:59] It's kind of a fun and serendipitous story as to how Amy ended up on the show today. [04:21] SXSW is a massive event over 10 days with a film festival, music festival, food festival, comedy festival, and a conference focused on innovation and technology. Amy and I are both speaking at it this year (my talk is on the same day this episode comes out!) [06:40] Amy shares herself, her background, and the work she does. She wears many hats. [08:02] She didn't think she would become an editor (or be at Harvard Business Review), but she always gravitated to writing. [10:08] The HBR Women at Work podcast is still one of her favorite projects that she works on. Her work for HBR started small. [11:41] She loved writing, but never thought she would do anything with it as a career. [14:12] Writing the HBR Management Tip of the Day is what led to her writing the book, because she could see there was so much work being put out there by people in different fields. She let that inform the advice she was giving. [16:07] Knowing a little bit about a lot of things and a lot about a few things is a good balance to being able to make interesting connections. [17:35] Getting Along is about navigating the messiness of human interaction and recognizing that we are not all our best selves all the time, especially at work, and that we need the skills to be able to make the most of these very important relationships. [19:30] We have all had a difficult person at work that we don't get along with. [20:33] Amy shares the emails with "Brad" that she talks about in her book. [23:19] Our brains are so wired to scan for threats that we are so focused on negative things (negativity bias). [25:26] Any time you have a tricky interaction with someone you can't force the person to see it the way you see it. [26:12] When we are interacting with others and we find ourselves triggered or upset, there are many ways to view that situation. You have to own your interpretation as your perspective. [27:50] Your interpretation of what is appropriate behavior at work is not going to be the same as everyone else's. [30:49] There were two main things she wanted to do with this book. First, she wanted to give specific evidence-based advice for the situation they were dealing with. [32:46] The archetypes are really meant to give people a way into the specific advice that they need. They are meant to get the tactics from research that are supposed to work for this type of behavior. [33:22] The second thing she wanted to do with the book was to talk about how identity plays a role both in how we interpret difficult behavior and also in terms of the tactics that we can use and are effective for someone who shares the identity that we have. [35:55] Change is possible. If we really take a close look at what is happening and what could be motivating that behavior, and work on ourselves…then change is possible. It is worth continuing to try to change. [37:58] Amy shares the eight archetypes: the insecure boss, the pessimist, the victim, the passive-aggressive peer, the know it all, the biased co-worker, the tormentor, and the political operator. [40:16] Pessimism is contagious in the same way optimism is. [42:32] Pessimists often don't think they have agency, so giving them agency can really help. You can also give them a formal role to play as the devil's advocate then it is treating it as a benefit to the team. [44:47] We can all find times when can relate to (and likely when we have been) many of the archetypes. [47:02] There is a good chance you are one or more of the archetypes because we all are. [48:06] Having more people as part of your "us" can make a big difference. [49:41] Amy s

Today's episode is all about fundamental attribution error. Why is this the Tuesday Refresh? Well, when contributing editor to the Harvard Business Review, Amy Gallo, is on the show this coming Friday to discuss her book Getting Along: How to Work With Anyone (Even Difficult People) we specifically talk about this concept in detail. Also, upon review, this episode first aired on March 20, 2020…something tells me it hasn't gotten as many listens as it deserves - ha! It is so prevalent in every interaction at work, that this all made it an easy choice for being today's episode. The episode explains what fundamental attribution error is and how you experience it every single day at work and in your personal life. In essence, it is when we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt…but don't give that same benefit to others. This happens because we humans are very tribal by nature. Our brains are constantly sorting people into "us" and "them" categories. When we have people in the "us" world (yourself, your significant other, your family, your best friend, or favorite colleague) they get treated differently than those in a "them" category (people who don't look or sound like you, people in a different department that is always at odds with your own, that person who made you feel dumb at the meeting six years ago). Even if you don't want it to be a factor, it is. Our brains do this, and it is important to understand the bias and how it impacts our behavior (and those around us) so we can properly leverage it — because avoiding it doesn't work. Show Notes: [00:40] Today's episode is all about fundamental attribution error. The episode will get into more detail on what fundamental attribution error is and how you experience it every single day at work and in your personal life. [02:28] As an interesting side note, I was looking back to share when this episode first aired as I always like to make a note of it and the release date was March 20, 2020. I couldn't help but laugh as that date had a pretty visceral reaction for me. I'm guessing it might have for you too. [03:48] I like to call fundamental attribution error the "Pot / Kettle Phenomenon." When you use a different criteria to think about yourself and how you are acting than you use to think about and judge others…it is fundamental attribution error. [04:28] A classic example is when driving. How do you feel about someone who cuts you off in traffic and how do you feel about yourself when you cut someone else off in traffic? When thinking about yourself, you know this is a one-time thing and give yourself the benefit of the doubt (while that other person is labeled a "jerk"). [06:02] We also see this with movies in who is labeled good or bad. The best example is the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. [09:00] Your brain is biased to think of you as different and better than others, especially people that are not like you. [09:30] You don't have to let that immediate reaction form a lasting impression of someone else. You can put in a little effort once you understand the brain process. This can make all those relationships at work and in your personal life a little more pleasant. [11:12] The big difference between the way we see others and how we see ourselves is the intrinsic story compared to the extrinsic story. Intrinsic is internal and extrinsic is external. [12:48] In general, we are much more likely to say that others' internal attributes or personalities led to their bad behavior, while we see ours as being from external situational circumstances. [13:44] Four ways to change the ways you react to others: 1) Decide you want to work on this and understand why it is important to you. 2) Choose an initial group or person to start the process with. 3) Reframe your "in" group. 4) Consciously adjust to extrinsic attributes for 30 days or a decent number of total interactions and then move to the next group. [15:42] It is also important to remember that fixing your mindset on the way you think about others is about your choice. You can't change them or their responses to situations. [17:35] If you know what makes you think that way and who's in the "in" group and the "out" group you can look to expand that "in" group so you can be less biased overall. [18:29] When you broaden the circle of the "in" crowd you start to see everyone in a better light. While you might not notice it until you start to open up, it can greatly impact all of your working relationships. [21:00] Conquering your fundamental attribution error to have better relationships with a department means every time you have a negative response you need to check in with yourself and remember they are part of your "in" group. Then think of something positive about them to replace the negative feeling you had initially. [22:11] When you force yourself to look deeper for positives, it can help round them out and build that intrinsic story. [23:00] The easiest way to see someone as your "in" group is to fi

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an international authority in psychological profiling, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. His commercial work focuses on the creation of science-based tools that improve organizations' ability to predict performance, and people's ability to understand themselves. He is currently the Chief Innovation Officer at Manpower Group, co-founder of Deeper Signals and Metaprofiling, and Professor of Business Psychology at University College London and Columbia University. He has previously held academic positions at New York University and the London School of Economics and lectured at Harvard, Stanford, and London Business Schools, Johns Hopkins, IMD, and INSEAD, as well as being the co-founder and CEO of BrazenX and the CEO at Hogan Assessment Systems. Dr. Tomas has written 11 books and over 150 scientific papers on the psychology of talent, leadership, innovation, and AI, making him one of the most prolific social scientists of his generation. His work has received awards by the American Psychological Association, the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences, and the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology, to which he is a Fellow. Dr. Tomas is also the founding director of University College London's IndustrialOrganizational and Business Psychology program, and the Chief Psychometric Advisor to Harvard's Entrepreneurial Finance Lab. Over the past 20 years, he has consulted to a range of clients. His media career comprises over 100 TV appearances and he is a keynote speaker for the Institute of Economic Affairs. I am so beyond delighted and honored that he is joining me on the show today to discuss his newest book, I, Human. Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an international authority in psychological profiling, talent management, leadership development, and people analytics. [01:41] Dr. Tomas has written 11 books and over 150 scientific papers on the psychology of talent, leadership, innovation, and AI. [04:07] Dr. Tomas shares his experience, his work, and how he found himself doing the work he does now. His background is in psychology. [06:37] It is generally more useful to be smarter than not, but there are many other things that contribute to peoples' success in any area of life. [09:33] Very sought after strengths can come with limitations and turn into weaknesses if overused. [12:24] Humans are naturally tribal and we want to construct very coherent identities. With that comes the subjective experience that we belong to some groups and we don't belong to others. [13:21] We also strive to feel very rational and consistent. It is a lot simpler and generally more pleasant to hold attitudes, beliefs, and values that are compatible with each other. [15:07] So much of this world can be changed or modified a little bit if we convince people to spend time with others who don't think like them. [17:34] We tend to pick leaders based on their confidence instead of their competence. (Dunning-Kruger Effect) [18:11] A surplus of confidence really dilutes self awareness. The better you think you are at something the worse you probably are at that thing. [20:39] Instead of blaming women for not behaving overconfidently (more like the often incompetent men who move forward when they don't have the talents to back it up). We should instead stop falling for men who do that. [21:47] If leadership selection was gender blind you would end up with 60-65% of women in charge because of things like emotional intelligence, heart skills, qualifications, and absence of dark side traits. The actual frequency is 80-20 in favor of men. [23:37] Gender diversity and inclusion interventions have become more data driven in the last five years. [26:13] The entire world seems to be talking about Chat GPT. Tomas shares how that relates to his new book, I Human. [29:02] Three avenues to protect and preserve our expertise are to focus more on asking questions, really pick one or two areas of expertise that you invest in, and go from insights to actions. [30:42] Machines and technologies have always pushed us to upgrade ourselves. [33:30] In the book he answers the question of what it means to be human in this day and age when all the focus is on artificial intelligence and machines are clearly evolving and advancing. [34:59] The book has two parts. The first part highlights some of the worst behaviors that we have already seen humans display as a consequence of being so dependent on AI and related technologies. [37:25] The second and last parts of the book are a request for us to rediscover and reclaim the qualities that make us special, unique, and different from machines. [39:45] The shift really needs to be much more prominent from teaching information to teaching skills, behaviors, and ethics. [41:33] Organizations, nonprofits, institutions, governments, and soci

Today's episode is all about the Dunning Kruger Effect, which was the second most downloaded episode of the year in 2022, so in case you missed it I wanted to be sure you had a chance to listen to it like so many of your peers did. :) If you DID hear this episode last year when it came out, I highly recommend you still tune in now because I can guarantee it will hit you differently today than it did back then. You are a different person and you will glean different insights from the episode, I promise. So, why this episode and why today? Well, in Friday's episode with Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, we talk explicitly about the Dunning Kruger Effect and how it applies in life and business when he shares about his new, fascinating book I, Human and our discussion is specifically around one of his other books, Why So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders (And How To Fix It). That book has too good of a title to not be honored with a refresh on the Dunning Kruger Effect, which looks at the relationship between confidence and competence, as you will learn more about today. Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about the Dunning Kruger Effect, which was the second most downloaded episode of the year in 2022. [02:22] To put the Dunning-Kruger effect into its simplest form, it would say essentially that people who are unskilled tend to overestimate their abilities and those who are very skilled experts will underestimate theirs. [03:15] Think about a kid who graduates from high school and believes they know everything. [03:35] When someone graduates from high school, they are at a point that has come to be known as the "Peak of Mount Stupid." At the peak of mount stupid, someone has lots of confidence, but it isn't built on much competence. They have no idea how much they don't know so they are blissfully unaware of their precarious position and how close they are to falling right off the cliff. When this kid gets to college and realizes they don't know nearly as much as they thought they did, they fall into the "Valley of Despair." [05:51] This is an opportunity to look at the things you don't yet know and begin to research them. This gradual climb is called the "Slope of Enlightenment." You slowly gain confidence as you grow your competence…though you might never get back up to the level of confidence you had way back at the peak of mount stupid. [06:48] If you take a moment now to reflect upon your own life, I am guessing you could pretty easily come up with at least half a dozen examples where the Dunning-Kruger effect reared its ugly overconfident head. [08:17] While you are an expert in one thing, you are way overconfident in something else, where you don't have any idea of the ocean of stuff you don't know. [09:23] How the effort heuristic relates. [11:16] I can live in blissful unawareness of my inadequacies forever and never have it be an issue until I try the thing enough to realize that I should have been a little less confident. [12:30] Have some awareness and don't assume you know better than everyone else. [13:27] There is a flip to this as well. (It isn't all about mount stupid). Remember, there is a point where you become an expert and then grossly underestimate your own abilities. [14:45] You can't do this for everything, but on the things that matter it is worth doing a little Dunning-Kruger evaluation every so often to discover if you are underestimating or overestimating your confidence and competence at this point. [15:41] Look at your own moments where you have high confidence and low competence (or high competence with not enough confidence) to determine if you are showing up in the best way possible. Also, look at others to determine where they are on that Dunning-Kruger scale. [17:08] Another place where the Dunning-Kruger effect is really critical to keep in mind is when you look at coaching or giving advice to members of your team. [18:40] Giving them too many things to change while they are feeling the stress in the "valley" is going to make the problem worse, so you need to be selective on what advice to give them. [19:55] Know that when people have low competence in something, they are likely to be overconfident in their own abilities. Those who are very competent have a tendency to underestimate their own skill or ability. [20:3] There is an interesting point when there is an increase in knowledge where you realize all of what you don't know—that increased competence results in a drastic drop in confidence. [21:17] As you build knowledge, know that you will gradually underestimate your abilities, skills, and all the effort and training that went into what you now know and can do. Just because it is easy for you doesn't mean it isn't of value to someone else. Especially when someone is new, overshare information to help with where you both are on the Dunning-Kruger scale. [22:04] Don't take your spot on the Dunning-Kruger scale as a fixed point. The context is always changing, there a

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Nick Epley, Director of the Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. I was introduced to Nick by the amazing Ayelet Fishbach, who has been on The Brainy Business twice before. Nick studies social cognition—how thinking people think about other thinking people—to understand why smart people so routinely misunderstand each other. He teaches an ethics and well-being course to MBA students called Designing a Good Life (sounds like a perfect fit around here, and we do talk about this in the episode). His research has appeared in more than two dozen empirical journals, been featured by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Wired, NPR, and more. As Nick will share with us today...you may not realize it, but you were born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. You are a mind reader! It's a sixth sense you use every day, in every personal and professional relationship you have. Today, Nick will share a bit of what scientists have learned about our ability to understand others and the surprising mistakes we so routinely make. Show Notes: [00:45] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Nick Epley, director of The Center of Decision Research at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Nick studies social cognition. [02:52] You may not realize it, but you were born with an extraordinary ability to understand what others think, feel, believe, want, and know. You are a mind reader. [05:02] Nick shares about himself and his background. He is a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago. [07:32] There are systematic gaps between our beliefs about someone else and reality. If we can understand what those gaps are we can understand why they exist. [09:38] The quality of our social relationships is a critical determinant of our happiness, probably the most important. Other people are the single biggest source of our happiness as well as our misery. [11:55] One of the big barriers to people being more social in their daily lives is that they underestimate how social others are. [13:35] We get that risk-reward trade-off with other people wrong. We think it is riskier to reach out and engage than it is. [15:05] Failing to realize that other people are social is a barrier to us. [17:43] One of the common things we find is that people are often surprised at how much they learned, how enjoyable the conversation was, and how much they have in common with the other person. [20:22] Conversations have a magnetic quality to them. It draws people together and surprises people. [22:02] If you don't like small talk…stop having it. When you take an interest in other people they reveal interesting stuff and take an interest in you. [24:18] Take an interest in another person - that is how you have good conversations. [26:26] If you care about somebody then you ask them questions that matter to them. Treat other people like they are good friends. [28:09] When people imagine having a meaningful conversation with a stranger, they think the other person is not going to want to hear about it or care about it. When they get into it and open up to each other it generally goes way better than people expect. [29:56] Having a culture where people are open, honest, and willing to engage and connect with one another, they feel connected to the place because they are connected to each other is the kind of culture that every organization wants to have and helps get the job done. [31:56] People's reluctance to reach out and engage with others is exactly the kind of barrier that organizations would want to get rid of. [33:38] The things that basic psychology has to teach people in business is the same thing we have to teach people in their everyday lives. [36:02] If you are bringing people into your organization, think about interviewing with your culture in mind. [38:46] When you make connection activities routine, common, easy, and part of the habits so people aren't thinking about it, you design it with the context so it just happens this way that is how they spread through organizations and you sustain them. [41:30] Often organizations don't choose to make these types of opportunities a priority. [43:52] Typing and texting lack the emotion and the thinking behind those words that you get from a person's voice. [45:32] Share kind thoughts with other people. [46:35] Think about somebody you feel grateful to and write them a note. Try to connect with a stranger. [49:17] Melina's closing thoughts [50:36] Take the time for real human connections, even small ones each day and see what happens. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selecte

Today's episode is all about herding. We humans are a herding species, just like cows and sheep and guppies, and this has a big impact on our behavior. We are tribal and we look to others to help us stay safe and make good decisions. Or, at least, what our subconscious tells us is a good decision. :) This is why things like testimonials are so important. Herding has a dedicated chapter in my first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You because they are so important for businesses to understand. The reason I chose to refresh this episode is because of the guest who is joining me this coming Friday, Nick Epley. We talk about the importance of social connection and why we often don't do the things that will help us to be happier because we perceive them as being uncomfortable or awkward or against the social norms in the moment. In the business context, imagine how much value could come from having a simple chat with your colleagues or people at a conference. Most people probably stick to their groups where they are already comfortable and don't strike up a conversation, but what could happen if you did? There is a lot of value in breaking from the herd and having that conversation, even for less than a minute, which we will talk about more on Friday when episode 265 with Dr. Nick Epley comes out. And as you listen today, I encourage you to reflect on all the times you thought about striking up a conversation or asking a question and didn't. What aspects of herding made you feel like you shouldn't and what can you do in the future to engage with others more? It is valuable for you both professionally and personally, I promise. Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about herding. We humans are a herding species, just like cows and sheep and guppies, and this has a big impact on our behavior. [02:21] In the business context, imagine how much value could come from having a simple chat with your colleagues or people at a conference. [04:07] Humans herd in the same way as other species for most of the same reasons. The main reason animals herd is for protection. [05:41] Herding is in our nature. [08:02] Herding helps us learn by observation. Watching where others go and following the group keeps you safe. [09:38] As humans have evolved, herding behavior has not always served us well. Herding is there to protect individuals, not the group or a complex society as a whole. [11:41] We choose restaurants by online reviews and crowdedness. We think the people must know something we don't. [12:58] People are more likely to leave tips when others have done it. [15:51] Herding mentality is much more likely to come out when people feel vulnerable or are unsure of themselves. [17:23] It is better to be conventionally wrong than unconventionally right. [18:58] Studies have shown that up to 75% of participants will give an answer they know is wrong to go with the group. [21:07] When everyone follows the herd and doesn't take the time to do their own research stocks or companies get artificially inflated by the confidence of others. [23:42] Crypto is absolutely impacted by the herd mentality. [24:16] Always beware if your brain is making you feel anxious to take steps and do something just because everyone is doing it or having your FOMO triggered in a way that makes you want to do less research before investing your time, energy, or other resources. [27:48] People like to be part of the group and this is increased when the other people in the group are comparable and more like you. [28:14] Whatever your business does, you are in the business of solving problems. The only reason people buy anything is to solve a problem. [30:52] Being in a group makes us feel safe and happy because of this release of oxytocin. When we are not part of the group, our brains do whatever they can to get that bliss feeling back by seeking out more group relationships to help us feel safe and warm. [33:28] while we can't change our natural tendency to herd, you do have options to change your behavior. [34:28] Understanding what will trigger herd mentality in your customers for both good and bad can help you to message better and more effectively. [36:52] If you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow. When you find a lone nut doing something great, have the guts to be the first one to stand up and join in. [37:09] Melina's closing thoughts [40:52] Be thoughtful with the numbers you put out into the world, and consider the herding implications for what you want people to do in the long run. [41:59] Consider how social norms and herding instincts may keep you from having conversations with other people. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and

In today's conversation, I am joined by Gina Bianchini, author of the book Purpose: Design a Community and Change Your Life. She's also the CEO and Founder of Mighty, where creators, entrepreneurs, and brands build digital communities and courses with cultural software. Myself included -- the BE Thoughtful Revolution moved to Mighty Networks in 2021. In 2019, Gina launched the Community Design™ Masterclass, where over 8,000 people have learned how to build a community so valuable you can charge for it, and so well-designed it essentially runs itself. Before Mighty, she was the CEO and co-founder of Ning, a pioneering global platform for creating social networks she started with Marc Andreessen in 2004. She has been featured in Fast Company, Wired, Vanity Fair, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. She has appeared on CNBC, CNN, and Charlie Rose. She is a wealth of knowledge and I know you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Gina Bianchini, author of the book Purpose: Design a Community and Change Your Life. [03:00] Gina shares about herself, her background, and how she found herself in this space. [04:05] Mighty is a software platform for people to create new digital cultures around mastering something interesting and important together. [06:15] Gina uses her time, talent, and focus to help people learn to live an extraordinary life. [07:50] Social networks are where we are making connections and building real relationships between people. The network gets more valuable to us with each person that joins and contributes. [08:55] Social media is about building an audience or a following. The goal is to build the biggest audience possible. [10:56] This shift from social networks to a world where we are passive consumers of content as opposed to all the things that allow us to build new and interesting digital cultures. [13:46] Across the board we are not happy and less happy the more time we spend in this system. The average American spends 3 ½ hours a day on social media platforms and report fewer friends and less happiness than 20 years ago. [15:48] We are happiest where we can play, connect, and have flow. [18:31] A network effect is a system where, when someone joins, that new person creates more value for everybody else in the network. [19:47] The new member is able to get a lot more value from your community because of the contributions other members are making (and they add value for everyone else). [21:40] It is so much better for us to play the role of host which is less work and more valuable for everyone involved and also feeds and scales the system. [24:26] We are constantly shifting through our different identities and having the support and finding others like you is so fulfilling. [27:17] We get better rewards and better returns with less risks. The same is true for how we spend our time. [30:07] The highest order is how are you helping other people reach their fullest potential. We need to play the role of helping other people become the hero. [31:40] The role of host is the most important and will continue to be the most valuable role any of us can play in our professional, personal, or social lives through this decade and decades to come. [33:24] A tiny change in the question can change your direction drastically. [35:41] People pay attention to what they pay for. [37:57] We need to build our future story. Gina's Purpose 30 model is 30 minutes, 30 days, with 6 questions (she shares all 6 in the conversation). You have a blank canvas to create the future you want. [40:12] It is very different to spend your time thinking about what is possible and what is positive than the negative thoughts. [41:04] True meaning and true impact come from how you have helped others realize their fullest potential as well. [43:00] It is about clearing your mind so that you can wander and explore. [45:00] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to)

Today's episode is all about the network effect. This is something I don't talk about all that often as it isn't purely behavioral economics related, but I did the original episode because a listener requested it and it was really timely as at that time early on in the pandemic. This episode first aired in June of 2020 at a time where people were really looking to shift into a virtual presence. And not surprisingly, there is always a bit of a "field of dreams" mentality with these things, so I wanted to be sure to share a bit about the nuance of networks and how they create value, with tips for people to keep in mind to increase their chances of success. So, you may be wondering, if this doesn't come up often...why the heck are you talking about it again now? Well, I am delighted that on this coming Friday's episode, I had a chance to sit down with Gina Bianchini, Founder and CEO of Mighty, which includes Mighty Networks (the platform the BE Thoughtful Revolution has been on since May of 2021). She has a new book out called Purpose, which is all about creating communities and their importance for us as humans. Because of her Silicon Valley background and history of building great communities, we talked about the network effect in the conversation, making it a great opportunity to refresh this episode as you get ready to tune into that conversation on Tuesday. As you listen today, I encourage you to think about communities. What have they meant to you personally in the past? Where do you connect with others? What do you love about your real communities — those in person you have had over your lifetime? Who do you feel closest to, and what is it you bond over? Is any of that present in your business now? What about your social media experiences? Just keep that in mind as you listen to this episode on the network effect today, as it will put you in a really great place for the conversation with Gina in episode 263 which is coming out in just a couple of days. (And if you aren't already subscribed to the podcast, now is a great time to do so!) Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is all about the network effect. [01:30] I am delighted that on this coming Friday's episode, I had a chance to sit down with Gina Bianchini, Founder and CEO of Mighty, which includes Mighty Networks, the platform the BE Thoughtful Revolution has been on since 2021. [03:18] Quick shoutout to Clayton Key for recommending the topic of this episode! [04:46] The network effect is when the value of the business increases as the network grows. [06:27] The network effect makes it so new people joining the network increase the value for everyone. [08:49] The three most common types of network effects are: direct, two-sided, and local. A direct network effect is when an increase in usage and users leads to a direct increase in the product or service's value for other users. [09:55] With the two-sided network effect, when someone from one user group joins the network the value increases for one or more of the other user groups. [11:14] The key difference between a two-sided and a direct network effect is that the type of user joining matters. [14:01] To leverage the full potential of the network, any social platform needs to maintain and monitor the quality of its users to ensure there are not bots and spam accounts. [15:30] The last type of network effect is the local network effect. [18:10] When you're talking about global effects in a network, it means it is impacting everyone across the entire platform. [19:38] Network externalities influence a network effort and they can work hand and hand; they are not the same thing. A business that is not built on the network effort still should be considering those network externalities to increase sales. A network effect is not the same as going viral. [20:57] There are serious hurdles to keep in mind in this kind of model. [22:36] So when setting up this model remember you need to be able to stick it out for a while upfront while it may be costing you money knowing it will pay off once you hit critical mass. [23:44] This platform model is looking for quality growth not just growth. [25:04] Network effects are not quite a house of cards, but being dependent on users working harmoniously together does make a somewhat precarious beast that needs constant monitoring and attention. [27:32] The five C's of network effect are connection, communication, collaboration, curation, and community. [29:11] People like and value things more than they invested in building themselves (IKEA Effect!) so if your users help build the platform, provide feedback, and see it being implemented they will overlook small flaws that would otherwise irritate them because they helped to build it. [30:43] You need to start with a small enough group to get the value for people early. Focus on operational excellence, great branding, and high value so most people who join the network stay for the long haul. [31:41] Those network externa

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Wendy Smith, coauthor of Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems. I don't think we realize it all that much, but our lives are full of paradoxes. Questions like: How can we each express our individuality and be a team player? How do we balance work and life? How can we take care of ourselves while supporting others? How can we manage the core business while innovating for the future? Believe it or not, these are some of the everyday paradoxes that make up our lives. And because our brains tend to default to either/or choices, we choose one option over the other. We deal with uncertainty by asserting certainty. BUT this is not the best way, as you will learn about in today's conversation with Wendy Smith, a co-author of one of my new favorite books: Both/And Thinking. Wendy is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and earned her Ph.D. in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, where she began her intensive research on strategic paradoxes—how leaders and senior teams effectively respond to contradictory, yet interdependent demands. She is a wealth of amazing information and I can't wait for you to learn from her today. Show Notes: [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Wendy Smith, coauthor of Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems. [01:46] Wendy is the Dana J. Johnson Professor of Management and faculty director of the Women's Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, at the University of Delaware. [03:57] Wendy shares about herself, her background, and the work she does. She is a professor of organizational behavior and business leadership management. [06:27] We all experience these tug of wars in our lives. [09:37] Our decisions really have multiple layers to them. They show up for us as a dilemma - these competing ideas in which you feel like you have to make a decision. [11:37] Underlying our dilemmas are these paradoxical tensions. [14:23] It is not that we are constantly trying to choose between always trying to be super disciplined or always trying to be spontaneous. If we go extreme on one side it becomes problematic in so many ways. [15:36] The goal is to recognize that there is a relationship between discipline and spontaneity and that discipline enables us to be spontaneous as long as we don't go so extreme. Spontaneity enables us to have more structure in our world. [17:08] These tensions drive us into either/or thinking. That kind of thinking is limited at best and detrimental at worst. [19:39] Often when change happens you feel like you have to change significantly and essentially you are throwing out the baby with the bath water by innovating everything. [21:44] Polarization is when you go down a path and you are sure that if you are right about the way you are thinking, someone else must be wrong. [24:35] Businesses should continue to be operationally successful as they move up their S curve. Continue to service your existing customers and be efficient with your existing products and at the same time be scanning, exploring, experimenting, and innovating to figure out what the new S curve looks like. [27:09] The problem isn't the problem. The way we are framing and thinking about the problem is the problem. [28:10] You have to change to stay the same. [30:56] Wendy shares a story about a group that built an inn to honor and value what was key to the culture of Newfoundland. [34:04] To keep what you have, you have to change and we should embrace that. [35:35] Her number one tip for writing a book is just to sit and do it. [38:04] Wendy and her co-author worked together to structure the ideas of the book. [40:38] There is something deeply paradoxical about behavioral economics (and Wendy loves that!) [43:02] Just changing the question will invite you into a whole different way of thinking. [44:02] Melina's closing thoughts [45:55] Embracing paradoxes can have a huge impact. There is so much opportunity there. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out

Today's episode is all about confirmation bias. My oh my, what an important topic when it comes to applying behavioral science to life and work. You have likely heard the term "confirmation bias" before, whether you heard this episode when it first aired back in May of 2020 or not, as this is one of those concepts that gets thrown around a bit. It is easy to understand on the surface, but the depth of its importance and impact isn't always realized. Because our brains function largely on predictability and a love for the status quo, confirmation bias is part of our lives and work constantly. Did you know that whether or not you believe someone is difficult or easy to work with, can determine whether or not they are easy or difficult to work with? Kids' performance in school has been found to be tied to the way a teacher was told about them more than on their starting academic ability. Your view of your team or a project or a process can all be a filter that your confirmation bias either uses for good or to keep you stuck. Now, in case you are wondering why I chose to refresh this episode today, it is because of the interview coming up on Friday with Wendy Smith about her book Both/And Thinking which will change your life. It is so good and fantastic. Because of that conversation, it felt like the best thing we could talk about today to set the stage is confirmation bias. As you listen today, think about what your biases are and where you have an "either/or" mindset. Our world is not one of binary choices. There are many opportunities in the both/and space that businesses can benefit from embracing and updating your filters to be set up for them is going to make such a difference. So, keep that in mind as you listen today. Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about confirmation bias. [01:16] Confirmation bias is part of our lives and work constantly. [03:25] In its most basic form confirmation bias comes down to our brain's desire to be correct and the subconscious filter deciding what gets through and stored and what gets ignored. [03:59] The subconscious brain can do 11 million bits of information per second. The conscious brain can only do 40 bits. [05:44] Stereotypes do go hand and hand with confirmation bias and many of these are taught to us intentionally or not when we are very young. [07:28] The four main ways you will see confirmation bias are: 1) not seeking out objective facts, 2) interpreting information to support your existing belief, 3) only remembering details that upheld your belief, and 4) ignoring information that challenges your belief. [10:33] Studies have shown that seeing facts from an opposing side that contradicts what you believed going in actually has the opposite effect of what they should and can make people double down on their previous beliefs. (This is known as the backfire effect.) [11:18] You are going to seek out information that supports your beliefs and be more likely to believe, remember, and share those items that support your belief. You are also likely to attribute things to beliefs that aren't necessarily true. [14:01] This reinforcing tendency is because of illusory correlation which is when we overestimate the relationship between two items to reinforce our biases even when little or no relationship exists. [15:49] We humans are pretty bad listeners by nature because our brains are processing so much information at any given time. [18:42] It is important to not start the conversation with a predetermined recommendation before they have had a chance to tell you about their situation. Most everyone should have at least two options. [21:35] We can inadvertently talk people out of something they have chosen to get if we aren't careful. [23:24] Confirmation bias doesn't have to be a bad thing and it can very much work to your advantage in life and business. [24:07] Your conscious brain has limited capacity and you can't do everything so don't waste the effort on little unimportant beliefs. [27:17] People who have been injured will often see themselves as victims, especially while they are dealing with all the legal stuff. Many people have a big improvement when their cases are settled because they are able to get out of that victim mindset. This is confirmation bias in action. [28:24] You can change the belief that has been holding you back if you are willing to put in a little effort. [29:46] Melina's closing thoughts [30:40] You need to change YOU before trying to change them. [33:19] Try and find a real human connection point that can help you to get away from just seeing them as "that difficult team member." Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn

In today's conversation, I am joined by Sarah Thompson, a behavioral designer at Live Neuron Labs, who has a master's in cognitive semiotics. Don't worry, we are going to have lots of conversation today about what cognitive semiotics is and why it matters. The first thing I want to set the stage on is to get you thinking about metaphor. Now, this isn't the first time we are talking about metaphors (or semiotics) on the show, but today we are talking about how important metaphor really is when it comes to understanding the brain, thought, and decision-making. Metaphor matters because research is starting to show that we don't just use them as colorful language, but we actually think in metaphors. It's how our cognitive system is structured. Sarah will talk about a lot of great resources including a book called Metaphors We Live By, which was written by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. If, like me, you are ready to go all in on cognitive semiotics and metaphor, this is a book to add to your library immediately. Cognitive semiotics is an emerging field, so we all need to stick together and know who else is researching and working in this space. Get ready to have your mind blown (metaphor) as you listen today! Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Sarah Thompson, a behavioral designer at Live Neuron Labs, who has a master's in cognitive semiotics. [02:08] Cognitive semiotics is an emerging field, so we all need to stick together and know who else is researching and working in this space. [04:29] Sarah shares about herself, her background, and the work she does. She is a behavioral designer. Her job is to apply behavioral science through design to help people make better decisions. [06:10] Cognitive semiotics is how the mind makes meaning. [07:43] One of the biggest insights from cognitive semiotics is that metaphors are incredibly powerful at shaping how we talk, how we think, and how we make decisions. [08:21] Metaphors are something we don't go out of our way to use. It is just something that naturally flows out of us. [10:55] We have this myth that metaphors are just a part of language but metaphors are actually in all other types of communication including gestures. [12:35] Melina talks about metaphor usage in songs, including what happens when something is unexpected. [14:21] In a metaphor we talk about one concept as if it is another concept. [16:50] A lot of studies show that the earlier you can get a metaphor in your conceptualization of an idea the more ability it has to influence how somebody thinks about it. It is not as effective if you add the metaphor at the end. [18:01] You are using metaphors constantly even when you are not thinking about them. [18:24] Sarah shares a study from Stanford University about two researchers who wanted to know if using a metaphor could affect how somebody thought about a complex social issue like crime. [20:07] A single word changed how people thought about a very complex social issue. The metaphor was more powerful at determining people's response than their political affiliation. [23:03] We have primary metaphors which are ones that are deeply rooted and embodied metaphors. We acquire them from interactions with the world at a very young age. [25:36] The war metaphor was a mismatched metaphor for the pandemic. [26:56] Metaphors are a part of our everyday communication. They have the ability to influence us and they structure our thoughts. [29:20] The first key thing in using metaphors is identifying your user's metaphors. [31:44] Once you know what your users are saying you can figure out those higher level conceptual metaphors they have. [33:04] Once you have their metaphors you need to evaluate them and figure out which of their metaphors align with the behavioral outcome we want them to do. [35:44] We have lots of ways where you can go and find what people are actually saying. [37:57] Some metaphors can be empowering, but others can be potentially harmful. [39:19] The next critical piece is that whatever metaphor you use to describe your user's problem you need to use the same metaphor to describe the solution. [40:54] It is important to really think through all the ripples and steps of what a metaphor might mean and the effects it may have. [43:27] With metaphors, it is particularly important to test because metaphors trigger associations or experiences that your users already have. You take a best guess, put it out there, and get feedback. [44:44] Tests are always best! [47:12] There can be so many mixed metaphors in a piece of communication. [48:02] Mixed metaphors are like mixed messages. They increase cognitive load and make it more difficult for someone to make a decision. [49:18] Once you decide what your core metaphor is going to be you take it and try to carry it through the entire communication. [51:01] Go and try and find all the metaphors around you first. Then jot down all the associations you have for it. [53:42] Melina's closi

Today's episode is all about making concepts tangible (what that means and why it matters in life and business). I am so excited to refresh this episode for you today because it shows how I was excited about something I didn't have a word for several years ago, but was already searching for. Now I know this was at the root of my interest in cognitive semiotics, something we are digging into on this coming Friday's episode with Sarah Thompson. Cognitive semiotics may sound super technical, but it is essentially about how the mind makes meaning, and we talk a lot about metaphor in that conversation. These brain associations and the concepts like a blue square or yellow triangle, which I introduce in this episode are from George Lakoff (I read about in his book The Political Mind, which was part of the reading in my master's program. I wish they would have included Metaphors We Live By as that would have changed my entire life if I had encountered it all these years ago, but I think things turned out ok so I'm not too mad about it.) While I didn't realize it at the time, this episode from 2019 was my first real dive into cognitive semiotics and metaphor elicitation. This episode is all about what it means to make a concept "tangible" or a physical manifestation or physical representation of a concept, and why that is important for all kinds of businesses. Listen in for tips on making things more tangible (and making it easier for people to buy from you). Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is all about making concepts tangible. [02:43] This isn't really a topic you can look up. There aren't really papers or extensive research on this naming. It is more of an acceptable premise. (As noted in the refreshed intro, the field of cognitive semiotics is a place to start.) [03:21] The brain works on associations. [05:30] The physical shapes and colors of road signs bring a physical presence that can be recalled easier. [07:04] The physical manifestation of the brand makes the business more real in your mind because there is a logo to relate to. [08:18] Physical representation can do two big things for a business. It can make an abstract concept more real and impactful. And, it can tie back to an emotion or memory or other association you want to remember. Abstract concepts are everywhere in business. [10:12] Businesses will say things that are more conceptual but feel tangible. That makes the point more impactful for the customer. [12:50] The physical, tangible representation can be tied to our emotional center and trigger loss aversion. A personal example from DVDs. [13:35] In your business, where could you reverse the process and find a spot to inject a physical form where only a concept exists today to make your business more tangible and sticky for your customers? [16:24] When you take something from conceptual to tangible it makes it easier for the brain to categorize, relate, and remember. [17:04] The second way that physical representation is helpful is that it can help remind you of associations you have made previously or of what is important to you. [19:45] A strong brand is able to live through the lack of words and evoke feelings. They leave an impression even without their name. [21:14] What could your business do to be a constant association and reminder in the brains of your customers? [21:22] One important reminder is to note where the association is taking place and what that says for and about your overall brand. [23:07] You (typically) don't want to be associated with the physical manifestation of a negative concept. [24:47] You can strategically create visuals around what you are wanting to do to help you achieve your goals. What you surround yourself with has a huge impact on your approach to life, business, and success. [25:16] Melina's closing thoughts [25:33] The words and images we use and how we can be more impactful when we are consistent in our metaphor usage, it's just so so important in life and business. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Cassie Holmes. Her fantastic book Happier Hour was named a "must-read" of 2022 by Forbes AND by the Next Big Idea Club. The Washington Post also profiled it as one of their best health books read and recommended by experts in 2022. Cassie is a Professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management. Her research examines how focusing on time (rather than money) increases happiness, how the meaning of happiness changes over the course of life, and how much happiness people enjoy from extraordinary versus ordinary experiences. Across these inquiries, her findings highlight the joy that stems from interpersonal connection and paying attention to the present moment. Cassie's academic research on the role of time in cultivating well-being has been published in leading academic journals, including Psychological Science, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the Journal of Consumer Research, and earned her the Early Career Award from both the Association of Consumer Research and the Society of Consumer Psychology. Cassie was identified by Poets & Quants as one of the best 40 business professors under 40, and popular accounts of her research have been featured by NPR, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and Scientific American. Happier Hour is based on her wildly popular MBA course, "Applying the Science of Happiness to Life Design." It is so good and I can't wait to have you hear about some of the insights from her -- it will change your life for the better I'm sure. Show Notes: [00:41] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Cassie Holmes, who you met a few weeks ago when she was on the "panel" episode with Dr. Ayelet Fishbach sharing how to have the best and happiest 2023 possible. [02:45] Her new and widely acclaimed book, Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, is based on her wildly popular MBA course, "Applying the Science of Happiness to Life Design." [04:18] Cassie shares about herself, her background, and what she does. She studies happiness and in particular the role of time. [05:22] When we feel happier, it makes us better in the work environment. [08:02] She wrote Happier Hour after the success of her course so she could share her learnings with even more people. Readers can apply the insights and experience the benefits just like her students. [10:10] You can have this huge impact from changing a couple of little things if you put a little focused effort forward. [12:21] Our time is so important. Maximize the amount of time that feels worthwhile and minimize the time that feels like a waste. [15:12] Cassie shares a day of her life early in her career when she experienced time poverty. She wanted more time so she could slow down and experience the time she was spending. [17:15] Time poverty is that acute feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it. [19:25] With too little discretionary time people are less happy. When we have too much discretionary spent in time that doesn't feel worthwhile, that undermines our sense of purpose and we feel less satisfied. [21:45] It is not about how much time you have available. It is really about how you invest the time you have available. [24:20] Discretionary is what you want to do as opposed to nondiscretionary is something you have to do. [26:35] On average people are most satisfied from social connection. The least happy activities tend to be commuting, work hours, and housework. [28:25] After tracking your time for a week you have a fantastic data set where you can find which activities made you feel most satisfied. [31:05] If it is not something you have to do and you are not enjoying it, that is an opportunity to reallocate that time to things that are worthwhile. [33:49] Simply being outside had its own significantly positive effect. [36:28] Experiencing awe can increase one's sense of time affluence. [38:40] You don't have to have your discretionary time all in one block. [41:14] It is not the amount of time you spend on a particular activity that determines happiness. It is really the quality and your engagement in the activity that determines it. [42:27] Ordinary experiences can bring us as much joy as extraordinary experiences if only we are paying attention and savoring and cherishing them. [44:33] It is not just the amount of time you spend that determines its impact, it is really how you mentally engage in that time. [46:55] The most worthwhile investment is in cultivating relationships. The single biggest predictor of having a satisfied life was having strong supportive relationships with family or friends that feel like family and that requires investment. [49:01] She was living her dream life and she found herself charging ahead because she was in her head thinking about other things she had to do. It was pulling her out of the moment. [51:24] The goal is to pause in those moments a

Habits are foundational to everything we do. When we think about habits we tend to think about the "bad" ones, things we want to change but there is so much more to it. Our brains run on habits, and without them, we couldn't function. Many episodes of this podcast that have been dedicated to habits and related topics throughout the years, and this is the first one, which originally aired in the fall of 2019. Since then, I've interviewed habits expert Wendy Wood and discussed habits with Richard Chataway (links to their episodes in these notes). I included habits heavily in my books and the reason I chose to refresh this episode right now is because of this upcoming Friday's guest. Cassie Holmes, the author of Happier Hour is my guest on Friday, and I thought that some reflection on habits is the best way to set you up to get the most out of that conversation. When you look at your day, what makes you happy? What is serving you and what isn't? What has become a habit and what you should be more thoughtful about? This episode will help you in that process to understand further what a habit is, how they work, and what to keep in mind as you look to reinforce some and change others. The main thing to remember is that we need habits. They aren't inherently bad. Most of them are good. Understanding them and leveraging them is where the opportunity lies. Show Notes: [00:37] Today's episode is all about habits. Habits are foundational to everything we do. [02:45] You have a lot more good habits than bad ones. You just aren't consciously aware of the vast majority of them. [04:27] Sorting by color is a form of habitual purchasing. Even with infrequent purchases, the place you go and look is based on habits. [06:25] The human brain essentially works on many many associations. [09:03] Up to 95% of all buying decisions are habitual. [11:09] Unfortunately the idea that it takes us 21-30 days to create a habit is wrong. [13:33] 21 days is not the magic number for making or breaking a habit. [15:16] A 2009 study from the European Journal of Social Psychology found the average number of days it took to form a habit was 66 days. (But don't let that fool you…the range of data points matters!) [16:58] We approach habit changing all wrong. [18:20] Habits are made up of four phases: cue, craving, response, and reward. [19:31] Habits form because your brain is trying to find predictable ways to get rewards. A cue is a signal to the brain that there is a reward around and that instantly leads to craving/desire/filter for that item. [21:21] If you want to change a habit or start a new one, the cue and reward phases are driving the behavior. [22:44] Cues have been found to fall into one of five categories: location, time, emotional state, other people, and an immediately preceding action. [24:27] You aren't craving the thing, but rather the reward it provides. [27:05] When we know the cue and the reward our brain wants we can work to change the habit. [29:31] One other crazy brain trick is word choice. [31:27] Saying "I don't" is empowering. This was your choice. It affirms the choice you made and makes you feel determined and full of willpower. (This is very different from "I can't.") [33:12] You should be confident that you made this choice so you can firmly say "No, I don't do that." [35:04] We can check our notifications and emails every couple of hours or a couple of times a day (instead of every instant as we get continuous pings, dings and buzzes) and it will be fine. Once the cue is gone, we won't look at our phones as much and we can be more productive. [38:07] Interrupting shoppers' habitual sequence can be a problem depending on your business positioning. [39:05] As the brand leader you don't want to do too much to shake things up or rock the boat. [41:59] The habits of your current and potential customers are important to consider when building out your strategies. [42:28] Melina's closing thoughts [43:29] We are all surrounded by habits all day, they are a huge portion of the 35,000 decisions we all make each day. Understanding the rules of your habits is the first step in identifying which are working well for you and which you might want to let go of because they aren't serving you well. [44:58] You want to focus on the right stuff at the right time and not changes habits that you don't need to. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Bu

2022 was a great year for me and The Brainy Business. And, being this is a "best of" episode…here are some of my "best" moments from the year. I traveled to Amsterdam to speak at the fantastic IIEX Europe conference (thank you Greenbook!) and launched my second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, with an in-person event and book signing. I was honored to be a runner-up in three categories of the Habit Weekly Awards this year and was an honoree on Greenbooks Future List, as well as the ESOMAR Insights250 list. Amazing! I continued teaching and added a class in advanced concepts of behavioral economics to the certificate program, which I'm really proud of and students have really enjoyed. We started testing out a second episode per week. I also got to meet and connect with some amazing people – 46 of them came on the show as guests in 2022 – that meant reading really great books and papers and learning about what is going on in the field, which is one of my favorite aspects of the work I do. I'm so lucky and honored for this life and love every minute of it and am so excited for the books and episodes coming in 2023! BUT before we get fully moving forward into the future, we have to look back and celebrate the best of 2022. Show Notes: [00:45] 2022 was a great year for me and The Brainy Business. And, being this is a "best of" episode…here are some of my "best" moments and memories from the year. [03:33] I also got to meet and connect with some amazing people – 46 of them came on the show as guests in 2022. [06:36] Thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses. [07:44] In 2022, the show had more than a quarter of a million downloads from 170 countries. Thank you! [08:29] TOP DOWNLOADS BY COUNTRY - US, UK, Canada, Australia, which have remained in the top 4 pretty much since the podcast started. India is fifth, followed by Germany… and then we get into some new territory! South Africa has moved up to being 7th in the world in 2022. We then have Spain in the number 8 spot followed by Mexico, and for the first time in the top 10 we have Taiwan! [10:08] TOP 10 STATES - Virginia, Massachusetts, Georgia, then Florida is 7, and Ohio holding out the # 6 spot again this year. Washington is in our number 5 spot with New York in number 4 and then Illinois with the third most downloads in 2022! Once again, we continue to have Texas at 2, and California still with the top most downloads of 2022. [12:37] With 249 episodes of content to choose from, we get our top 10 of the year, starting with episode 196 and my interview with Priscilla McKinney of Little Bird Marketing. [14:32] If you are interested in human behavior and having better content that really resonates with people, you are going to love this next one, episode 201 – Creating Content People Can't Help But Engage With, featuring Katelyn Bourgoin, is next on our list. [17:43] We are to number eight, which is episode 192 – AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, with Manuj Aggarwal. The intersection of human behavior and technology – specifically with AI and Machine Learning, has been a big topic of conversation in the past couple of years. [18:51] That brings us to the 7th most downloaded episode of the year, 190 – The Voltage Effect with John List. [21:06] Next on our list, is 187 – Motivation and Incentives at Work, with Kurt Nelson. [22:28] If you have ever taken or considered creating an online course, you must listen to episode 193 – How to Make Online Courses People Enjoy, with Chris Rawlinson of 42Courses. [23:57] Now, moving on to the fourth most downloaded episode of the year, 197 – You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns. [25:22] Yale professor Zoe Chance was on in episode 189 sharing about her fantastic book, Influence Is Your Superpower and that episode is the third most downloaded of the year. [26:52] That brings us to the second most downloaded episode of 2022. Our only non-interview in the top 10! This was episode 198 – The Dunning Kruger Effect. [27:24] Essentially, the Dunning Kruger effect looks at the interesting relationship of confidence and competence, and how when we know very little about something (low competence) we have ridiculously high confidence but once we get a little more competence and we start to see all that we don't know…confidence tanks, and it is a slow build back up to build it back as we learn. [30:06] We've made it to the most downloaded episode of the year. Are you ready? It is…186 – Get It Done, with Ayelet Fishbach! [32:11] Considering this episode is coming out right around the time of "Quitter's Day" which is when most people will have given up their resolutions, it seems like a good time to refresh your motivation by listening to this great episode with Ayelet. [34:08] There is a link to all the books featured on the show this past year rig

I love partitioning! It is such an under-discussed concept, which is why I decided to refresh this episode from 2019 for you here today. Partitioning is closely related to friction or sludge, but it isn't exactly the same. While an experience that has partitions may be creating friction/sludge, it isn't just about that. And, it isn't always about reducing it. Sometimes, adding a partition is really useful when you want someone to stop and think. I'll get into that more as we dig into the episode. As you get ready to listen to the episode today, I encourage you to have some experiences in mind. Try and think of a time when you had a great experience with a company, where things were seamless and streamlined or it felt easy. And another where you were part-way through buying and then stopped or when you changed your mind on a project or whatever else. Try and think through what happened along the way and keep that in mind as you consider the idea of partitioning. Where were the unintended partitions and where did the lack of them make a difference? Of course, look to your own experiences in your company as well. If you have a hard time closing deals or lose people partway through an application form keep that in mind too. It can all tie back to partitions. So let's dive in and learn how you can use partitions in your business to create a seamless experience for your customers. Show Notes: [00:37] Today's episode is all about partitioning. I love partitioning! It is such an under-discussed concept. [02:39] Partitioning has shown us that when you put tiny barriers into place it causes a consumer to consider their options and be presented with a new decision point. This can be good or bad on both sides depending on the situation. [04:33] Melina shares a study with bottomless soup bowls. [06:34] Another study found that adding some sort of measurement reminder can help reduce consumption even if the cups are large. [08:45] One study found that once something became common it no longer acted as a partitioning mechanism. [10:21] It isn't just effort that matters but drawing the attention of the conscious brain really matters too. [12:56] It is so easy to be tricked by our brains. [15:07] Those with a high aversion to gambling were significantly impacted by the partitions. [16:24] Partitioning money has also been found to help people save more and spend less. [17:26] Essential with shopping…once you start the process of spending you are more likely to spend again until you hit a partition. [19:07] Any cognitive intervention (something that makes the user stop and think) can trigger partitioning. This can be done using sounds, rhetorical questions, targets, or progress markers. [21:37] It doesn't have to feel bad or negative for the consumer. [23:41] The cashier in an airport store bringing up the price of the almonds and forcing us to rethink our decision multiple times caused anticipated regret and lowered the total amount spent significantly. [25:18] It is easy to talk people out of a sale, make them feel bad about a purchase, or start to regret it even when you are trying to be helpful. [26:07] Setting up targets or progress markers, on the other hand, can be great partitions for a business to set up to keep on the radar of their current, past or potential customers. [27:21] Removing partitions and obstacles can be great for businesses and customers alike. [29:29] Partitions in the selling process are a recipe for getting ghosted. Always schedule circle-back meetings in the moment. [32:03] Make it easy for people to do business with you. Remove unnecessary partitions in the process and everyone will be happier. [32:13] Melina's closing thoughts [32:42] The concept of partitioning can help you to look for opportunities to make it easier to work with you, especially up front. Partitions are particularly dangerous early on and in the selling process. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Fri

You've heard him before discussing the "Science of Cool" in 2021, and I'm thrilled to say that Dr. Troy Campbell is back. And, because it's fun to keep things interesting, Troy and I are flipping the script in today's episode. What does that mean? Troy is here to showcase his Define & Apply Framework, something he does with clients in his role as Chief Scientist at On Your Feet and has done in the past with his work -- including spots he has held with Disney, Netflix, Nike, and as a professor at the University of Oregon. Instead of just telling us about it, though, we are going to walk through and experience it and, he suggested that he be the one doing the interviewing with me as the one answering the questions today. This is the third time we have flipped the script like this on The Brainy Business podcast. You definitely don't want to miss handing over the reins so we can all learn to define and apply together. Show Notes: [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Troy Campbell, who was on the show back in 2021 talking about the science of cool. [02:25] Troy is taking over the reins as host, and our beloved Melina is the guest on the show today. [02:44] On this episode, we are going to deeply define ideas to be able to powerfully apply them across many areas. We will deeply define one idea from Melina's book What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You. [04:07] Burnt popcorn is the aspect of priming when we are specifically talking about change management. [07:03] Melina shares an example of a burnt popcorn email she received. [09:52] It is so easy to create burnt popcorn. Burnt popcorn can poison the day (week, month, year…). [12:07] You can guarantee they are going to be looking at the worst possible context of whatever it is that you are saying if you prime and set it up in certain ways. ("Not to be rude, but…" "Don't take this the wrong way, but…") [13:16] These mundane actions can create hours, days, and weeks of stress that can be avoided with a few seconds of better thought. [14:33] There are small things you can easily adjust and very quickly see a positive impact. [16:52] When it comes to a presentation, consider where you want people to be at the end. What is the most important thing you want from this one event? [19:07] Using really good images is important for priming in presentations. [21:03] You can tell a lot in 90 seconds. [24:13] Anchoring on something really bad to make the thing you are sharing seem better can definitely be burnt popcorn. The "not true" thing you said will not dissipate. [26:28] If you give the brain a focus and then try to change that focus, it is still going to be stuck on that thing in most situations. [29:45] Take the time to do the research and know who you are talking to. [31:44] We do really weird stuff that can come off as burnt popcorn. [34:42] Through the book writing process there are glimmers of fun that Melina and other authors like to include. [37:39] When you are not great with humor, many people lean toward self-deprecating humor. Melina advises against that…especially if you are trying to build authority. [39:14] She shares the Wizard of Oz reference from her book and what she meant by, "Glinda may have been a good witch, but she was a terrible manager." [41:29] Knowing where people are, where they are going, and the right points where you can be giving those nudges of encouragement, feedback, or support before they entered into a scary forest is something you can be doing as a manager to help. [43:57] So many things become easier when you are thoughtful about how you present information. [46:11] It doesn't take a lot to make it so that things are better for those around you and yourself. [48:57] It is one thing to go to Disneyland and it is another thing to build Disneyland. [49:56] Melina's closing thoughts [51:45] Troy's define and apply process is about teasing out what you do in a particular area and figuring out why it works. Get to the details about what makes it special and then expand it into other areas that may seem unrelated but are so relevant when you stop and make the effort. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation

Today's episode is all about priming. This is something I talk about all the time, so if you have heard me speak or have read my books, or have been listening to the podcast for a while, chances are this isn't the first time you are hearing about this concept. Next to framing it is probably the thing I talk about the most. While framing's lesson is that how you say something matters more than what you say, priming shows us that whatever happens just before a moment of decision or action is very important in influencing the decision that is made. Yes, there are many examples as we get into the episode, so I won't get into it too much right now. In the "It's Not About the Cookie" framework, priming is the scent of the cookies or the burnt popcorn when we are talking about change management like in my second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You. At the core of priming, we have the way that the brain filters information and how we make associations. These can be very literal like how we see an apple in the grocery store and are reminded of the company, and that can influence behavior or it can be more of a filter that impacts how we see people or think about a product or service. We can be primed to buy using all of our senses, and it is important to consider them all as you think about your own messaging. As you listen to the episode today, I want you to consider all the senses and how they can impact behavior. Taking a step back and thinking holistically about your experience and looking for opportunities that are outside the norm, are great ways to incorporate priming and all the senses into your messaging. It may seem silly, but I encourage you to think with all your senses and wonder, "What might that look like? (or taste like or smell like...) Show Notes: [00:37] Today's episode is all about priming. This is something I talk about all the time, so if you have heard me speak or have read my books, or have been listening to the podcast for a while, chances are this isn't the first time you are hearing about this concept. [01:56] We can be primed to buy using all of our senses, and it is important to consider them all as you think about your own messaging. [03:24] One of my favorite ways to start a foundations show is with a game or a series of questions to help you see how the concept works before I start explaining and today's episode is no different. [05:33] Your brain is lazy and incredibly busy, so it takes these shortcuts all the time. [07:45] The effects of priming wear off quickly as our brain is quickly churning through information. Primes are everywhere and it's not just about anchoring and adjustment. [09:05] Priming is about more than just numbers. It can also be done with words. [12:43] Melina shares the results of a university study where people were primed with polite and rude words. [15:25] Prime yourself and psych yourself up before you take any test. The brain can be very easily primed. An amazing example from Olympians. [17:11] The first step of visualization is to know what you want. Next, describe your vision in detail. Step three is to start visualizing and creating the emotions. Step four is to take daily action and step five is to have grit and preserve. [18:31] We can be primed with physical objects as well. Melina share's a study about students holding an iced versus hot coffee. [19:48] Always drink hot tea or coffee and get hot drinks for people you want to make a good impression on. [21:48] Everything you do and say matters and similarly whatever was said or done right before everything you do or say matters. [22:34] You can't control everything. It is worth looking at the things you can control. Take the extra step to evaluate if you are spending the money and buying things. [24:29] Small things, just a few simple words, can make a huge difference. [26:35] You are priming your brain to take on the traits of those outside influences. [28:01] In all these studies, people said they were not influenced by the items, words, or numbers or that they didn't even see them. It may not register on a conscious level but it is getting in there even if people don't realize it. [29:00] Marketing and advertising takes dedication and focus, consistent presence and messaging to break through the clutter, and making sure you are using the right primes to keep things moving in the proper direction instead of derailing the whole thing. Know your brand and who you are in the most simplest form. [29:35] Melina's closing thoughts [31:24] One more thing that is so important to consider with priming, is to know that this isn't exacting and you should not expect the results to be fully generalizable. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by m

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Mike Rucker, author of the brand new book, The Fun Habit, which just came out a couple of days ago on January 3, 2023. Mike is an organizational psychologist and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association whose work has been published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research. His ideas about fun and health have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Fast Company, The Telegraph, Psychology Today, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, Mindbodygreen, and more. He was named one of ten digital changemakers by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, and currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness. And, not surprisingly, today's conversation is all about fun! We also talk about framing and word choice and how fun and change really do go together. It's a great chat that I can't wait to share with you. Show Notes: [00:41] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Mike Rucker, author of the brand new book The Fun Habit. [02:32] Mike shares about himself and his background. He is an organizational psychologist by trade but focuses more on behavioral science. [02:44] His new book, The Fun Habit looks at living a life more joyfully through actively pursuing the activities you engage in rather than pursuing happiness. [04:04] From 2009-2016 he optimized his life and tried to extrapolate as much happiness as he could. [06:33] He found out that the more he tried to chase happiness the unhappier he was and he wanted to figure out why. [09:08] We can have more longevity with certain tasks if we add a component that makes it pleasurable for us. We do mundane things – with a little creativity, we can reframe them. [12:07] If we take control over how we spend our time and we bias it towards fun things, ultimately we are going to perceive the world in a more positive and optimistic light. [14:41] If you don't take time off the table for yourself you are not showing up as the best version of yourself. [16:42] When our lives are overly habituated and we are always doing the same stuff we store those memories as single units. [18:58] Most people live this habituated life and that becomes comfortable, but you forget that you can have a little bit of time for yourself. [20:42] Disruption is a great opportunity for change. [21:42] The initial step is to sit down and brainstorm what you would like to do more for fun. This could include past hobbies, things you authentically feel connected to, and things you long to do. Par your list down to 8-15 things so it is actionable. [23:34] An important second step is to make sure it is not an exercise of adding things to your already busy life. Mike suggests doing a time audit. [26:16] We need to swap out the "low-hanging fruit" activities for ones that light us up more. [27:15] First create space in your schedule. Once you have that, use the list you made to integrate things that are more fun into your life. [28:29] A lot of times the biggest impact is looking for a way to change an activity so it is better, or adding something on. [30:56] When you hear about fun interventions at work you need to make sure everyone can come in and have fun at the activity in a safe place. Leaders need to be setting an example. [33:07] Fun in the workplace generally unites you around a common goal. Cohesion comes from wanting to accomplish something together. [35:16] Because our brains work in micro-moments and microdecisions, we really need to be looking at the little things. (Change is more than just the big stuff that requires a project team.) [38:00] People who have a best friend at work are more loyal, happier, engaged, and better employees. Helping to incorporate fun and allowing people to connect is valuable. [40:45] You can either empower the individual so that they can have more fun and more vitality when they come back to the office or you can create it from an empathic standpoint where you are creating opportunities for organic fun. [41:37] Fun is not the same for everyone. [42:56] If the outcome of whatever you are trying to do can still be the same but allow people to do it in a way that feels comfortable to them, you are going to have more fun every time. [44:10] Melina's closing thoughts [44:54] We are a species that is meant to have fun. We should take the time and make the effort to bring fun back into our lives. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensa

Today's episode is all about temptation bundling, and before we talk about what that is, can we take a minute to celebrate the milestone that is this episode?! This is the 250TH EPISODE of The Brainy Business podcast!!! What an amazing way to kick off 2023. I would love to say that I planned it that way, but it was more serendipitous than anything (I think that's how we know it was meant to be). One thing that has allowed me to write, record and set up 250 episodes (along with everything else I do each week) is temptation bundling, which is the focus of today's episode. This one originally aired as number 136 in January 2021, and there is a reason I chose to have it back again to kick off the year. Temptation bundling is a great way to help you reach goals by making something mundane, boring or hard more enjoyable and likely to be completed. Don't get me wrong, I love creating the podcast. It is fun to learn and share and I do enjoy it. However, it has plenty of mundane stuff that needs to be done to keep it moving, so a little temptation bundling is very helpful in getting this and so many other aspects of my life and work moving forward when it might be easier or more tempting to put it off. Listen in for all the ins and outs of temptation bundling and how you can use it for your own life and work. Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about temptation bundling, but first, we must celebrate 250 episodes! [01:49] Temptation bundling is a great way to help you reach goals by making something mundane, boring or hard more enjoyable and likely to be completed. [02:54] One of my favorite things about temptation bundling is how simple it is. [04:42] Temptation bundling is taking something you should do but may have a longer-term reward and may not be super appealing at the moment…and bundling it with something you really want to do right now. [06:53] A slight change in routine can upend newly formed habits and make it hard to start up again if you aren't careful. [08:11] Pretty much anything can be a candidate for the bundle. What you set up doesn't need to be what someone else would want or need. [09:46] Temptation bundling uses a "now" activity to achieve a longer-term goal and overcome time discounting. [10:16] Don't feel like you need to bundle things simultaneously. Most multitasking doesn't work well. [11:05] Start by looking for something you love to do in your spare time. If you had a free day, what would be at the top of your list? [12:52] It is important to have that reward tied to the action you need to take now to be successful. [13:39] Temptation bundling is everywhere. You just have to find the cheese to your own personal life broccoli and you will be achieving goals left and right. [13:49] Melina's closing thoughts [14:33] It doesn't matter if this is in the "manufactured happiness' category. Our brains look at natural happiness and manufactured or synthetic happiness in pretty much the same way. [15:08] One of my other favorite things about temptation bundling, is that it allows you to get more done. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: How To Change, by Katy Milkman Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Indistractable, by Nir Eyal The Fun Habit, by Mike Rucker Top Recommended Next Episode: How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Already Heard That One? Try These: Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) How to Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever with Ayelet Fishbach and Cassie Holmes (ep 249) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 248) The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Time Discounting (ep 51) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Negativity Bias (ep 223) Framing (ep 16) Loss Aversion (ep 9) How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics (ep 83) Other Important Links: Brainy Bites - Melina's LinkedIn Newsletter Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling Katy Milkman on Twitter

Happy (almost) New Year! This is the last episode of 2022, coming out on December 30 – and what a year it has been! My second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You came out in October, and I got to do a book signing at the Sam's Club Auditorium which was amazing! I also got to speak at some amazing conferences, including travel to Amsterdam and for multiple groups in Latin America, had students from around the world in the certificate program at Texas A&M, got to work with amazing clients and so much more. I can't wait to see what 2023 has in store. One of the things I am most excited about is speaking at SXSW in Austin in March. Well, speaking of 2023 being an amazing year, that's what this episode is all about. I've done something a little bit different in this episode by bringing on two guests to do a panel of sorts. One of them you have met before, Ayelet Fishbach, Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago and author of Get It Done, which came out earlier this year. Our other panelist, Cassie Holmes, is a professor at UCLA who wrote the new book Happier Hour, which is so beyond fantastic. She specializes in the science of happiness and talks about time poverty and so many other amazing things. (Don't worry, we have a full interview that is all about Cassie and her work coming out in early 2023.) In today's episode, that topic is having the best, happiest year by understanding the science of motivation, goals, achievement, happiness, mindset, and more. Listen in to find out how you can make 2023 your best year yet! Show Notes: [00:06] In today's episode, I am excited to welcome Ayelet Fishbach and Cassie Holmes to discuss how you can have the best year ever. [01:15] Forty-six different guests have joined me on the show this year including those in today's interview. We also started testing out releasing two episodes a week. [04:51] Today I have brought together two people from different universities studying somewhat different (but arguably related) topics to have a discussion about how their work compliments (or contradicts) one another. Today's topic is having the best happiest year by understanding the science of motivation, goals, achievement, happiness, mindset, our thoughts towards time, and more. [06:21] Ayelet shares about herself, her background, and what she does. She is a motivational scientist. [07:47] Cassie shares about herself, her background, and what she does. She is a professor that studies happiness and life satisfaction. [10:25] We are talking about how to help people have better, more successful years in 2023. [11:24] Around the time the year ends and the new year begins, people are thinking about what they want to achieve. However, there is a likelihood that you will forget about your resolution. [13:27] You have a wonderful opportunity to reflect back on the prior year. [16:08] When we feel like we are constantly rushing or hurrying, we are more reactive in how we invest our time instead of proactive and investing in those things that really matter. [19:02] Looking back is often a way to reaffirm your commitment. [21:58] Set goals that you can see yourself doing right now and what will make you feel good right now. [22:41] A year is not the right time frame for many goals. A year has a very long middle. Often weekly and monthly goals are better. [24:57] Folks who take a broader perspective of time report greater meaning and satisfaction and are happier in their days. [26:44] Invest time in ways that are worthwhile. The particular activity you are engaging in and also how you are engaging in that activity are what makes the activity worthwhile. [28:37] You constantly need to navigate the motivation and priorities of your goals. [30:42] We often get stuck on the little stuff that doesn't really matter instead of focusing on the most important things that help us to move forward on a bigger goal. A to-do list can be a distraction from our higher-value goals. [32:56] Melina shares four things that work against us: optimism bias, time discounting, planning fallacy, and bikeshedding. [34:12] Progress is motivating – progress feels good – which is why we often love our to-do lists. [36:18] You want to ask why you are doing the thing you are doing. You also want to ask how questions. [39:29] Those who treated their weekend like a vacation were significantly happier when they returned to work and enjoyed the weekend more. Our weekends are meant to be breaks so we can return feeling refreshed and motivated. [41:26] We need to be intentional and carve out spaces for true breaks during the week – at least once, ideally more. [46:20] It is important to create the right balance between our goals and the activities that help us achieve the goals. [49:31] Restructure your day in a way that makes more sense for the goals that you have for yourself for the week and year. [51:32] It is often harder to learn when you are working from home and not with other

Today's episode is all about brainy goals — how to set them and think about them to put you on a path to success, instead of inadvertently setting yourself up to fail. Now, you would never intentionally set up goals that won't work out, but our brains are programmed in a way that makes it so we consistently stack the cards against ourselves. We try to do too much, spread ourselves too thin, rely on willpower to get us through, and don't understand the importance that tiny habits play in our ability to accomplish big things. At this time of year (this is the second to last episode before we close out 2022) most people are thinking about planning and what the next year will bring for them. How things will be different, what they want to accomplish, what habits they want to change if they will plan resolutions (and if so...what they are), and the like. That's why I decided to refresh this episode from 2019 right now. It felt like the perfect way to end the year, especially in light of this coming Friday's topic! That episode is a panel of sorts that incorporates expert advice on how to have a happier 2023 and set your year up for success. So to get you in the right mindset preparing for that, and just because it is probably something you are already thinking about right now, it felt like the right time to talk about goals. I get a lot done — two podcast episodes a week, a weekly newsletter, two books in less than two years, teaching and creating my courses for Texas A&M, speaking, consulting, and still having time for an enjoyable life with my family. The only way that is possible is by tackling and thinking about goals in a brainy way. Listen in to hear all my tips and tricks. Show Notes: [00:23] Today's episode is all about brainy goals — how to set them and think about them to put you on a path to success, instead of inadvertently setting yourself up to fail. [05:17] We all have goals and are all optimistic that we will achieve them someday. The truth is that if you don't set your goals up correctly there is a good chance life will move too fast and you won't achieve what you are capable of. [05:52] There are three main tips for setting and achieving brainy goals. Define your goals and limit them to know more than three. Break down the path to achieving those goals into small steps. Say no to everything else. [07:11] The opposite of distraction is traction. [09:55] Step one is to limit and set your goals. You first need to list out every goal you would like to accomplish in the next 5, 10, or 50 years. [10:48] Now you have to pick three. If they make sense to combine and make the goal a little more amazing that's okay but make sure it's logical. [12:07] Your brain doesn't like change. It is scared of it. Keeping you stuck and dwelling on making things perfect or being really sure are tactics by your brain to delay change. [14:06] It is important to declare and own those top goals so that everyone in your life knows what is most important and is on board with that. [16:47] Melina shares a story about her taking a walk with her husband to the mailbox and Puerto Vallarta. [19:25] We are sticking with goals and priorities we set in a cold state because they are what matter in our life. [20:53] Once you know what those top three are the next step is to break each of those three goals into the small steps it will take to get there. [22:54] You can't do it all at once. There are a few ways you can break those down. One way I recommend is breaking the big lifetime into subgoals for the year. [24:33] Start small with the thing that is impossible to justify not doing. [26:17] Every goal is reached in lots of small steps. Goals are the sum of all the effort it took to get there. If you don't plan for the small steps they won't happen. [26:49] Remind your brain of the top three as much as possible in as many different ways as you possibly can. [28:17] You need to be incredibly particular about what you surround yourself with in your life, in your life, and everywhere. [30:49] Reminding your subconscious of your goals as often as possible will help keep you on track. [31:14] Determine what three things are really important to you. Shout them from the rooftops and put every single egg in their baskets. [27:41] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Bus

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Dolly Chugh. Dolly is a social psychologist and management professor at the New York University Stern School of Business where she teaches MBA courses in leadership and management. Dolly is well-known for her teaching and facilitation skills. She was one of six professors chosen from thousands at New York University to receive the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020 and one of five to receive the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award in 2013. Dolly's research focuses on "bounded ethicality," which she describes as the "psychology of good people." Her work has been published in leading psychology, economics, and management journals, and cited by many books and authors. Prior to becoming an academic, Dolly worked at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Sibson and Company, Scholastic, and Time Inc. Dolly attended Cornell University where she majored in psychology and economics for her undergraduate degree and Harvard University for her MBA and Ph.D. As you will hear in the episode, this is a really personal one for me that hits home for a reason that I haven't really talked about much on the show. Hopefully, it is well received and you understand why I brought it up today, and why I intend to talk about it more in the future. Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Dolly Chug. Dolly is a social psychologist and management professor at the New York University Stern School of Business where she teaches MBA courses in leadership and management. [02:54] This is a really personal one for me that hits home for a reason that I haven't really talked about much on the show. [04:35] Dolly shares about herself, her background, and her work. She is currently a professor. Her research focuses on the psychology of good people. [06:36] People didn't understand how her double majors went together but they were both about human behavior. [09:19] She shares how her book, A More Just Future came about. [12:20] After reading the Little House on the Prairie series with her children, on a family trip to visit the area she had many realizations about the history and time period. She pushed it aside at the time, but it kept coming up down the road. [13:45] She decided she wanted to better understand our relationship with our past as well as our emotional relationship with our country. She wanted to leverage what social psychologists and other social scientists know to offer us tools so we just don't push them aside. [16:09] We see the past as farther away and blurrier than the future. [17:12] Understanding today requires me to understand yesterday. [19:44] When we are in a hot emotional state we are more action-oriented. [21:40] Our minds unconsciously invest in the status quo even when it doesn't benefit us. It protects the default. [23:08] On almost every meaningful outcome that you can think of there is a racial disparity in the United States. [24:22] Our brains will justify the systems around us. That is the system justification theory or what she calls the "Good Guys Win Mindset." It leads us to accept things as they are. [26:23] The cognitive task of accepting that two contradictory statements can both be true is incredibly important. [28:13] The paradox mindset is a really powerful tool that we can use when we are trying to understand all these contradictions in our past and present. [29:27] What is the one little thing you can do right now that might be the spark of something new and being able to make that change? [30:07] The book was a very deep personal journey for Melina. She shares more about her journey (and that of her family) being Alaska Native (Tlingit and Tsimshian). [32:19] The past isn't that far away. [33:18] There are a lot of ways that the past spills into the present through our word, our beliefs, and our trauma. [35:52] Melina shares how important preserving her native culture is for her and what she is doing with her son to preserve their culture. [37:25] Dolly's book has helped Melina to take steps forward in preserving the culture instead of letting it simmer in her own mind. [39:21] We all have some family history that we either cherish, don't know, or are embarrassed by. Understanding how that lives in the present is very interesting and we absolutely bring that to work with us. [42:02] Check out Dolly's newsletter, Dear Good People. [43:24] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness

Today's episode is another refresh from the series I did on "All the Biases" back in 2019. Two weeks ago on episode 242 we had the one on numbers-based bias called "Math is Hard" and this week is all about time. It focuses on the past and the future and how we don't look at them in the same way, and how that can impact our behavior (it isn't always the same and our preferences definitely change when we are looking forward versus backward) and how this changes the way we value things and so much more. I chose to refresh this episode today because this coming Friday, Dolly Chugh is on the show to talk about her new book, A More Just Future. We talk specifically about how the way we look backward isn't the same as when we look forward, and how that impacts our likelihood to take action. Even when we are furious in the moment, and are adamant we will take action, because the past and future don't impact our behavior the same way we often don't. This can be really problematic when we are looking to right the wrongs of the past and present for a better future. As you listen today, I encourage you to consider how the past, present, and future are different for you. Think of a time when you were outraged by something in the moment and said (either aloud or in your head) that you were absolutely going to do or say something and never did. Why is that? When you remember that incident do you feel as upset about it? What if you heard it was going to happen tomorrow or a week from now? What might you do to prevent it? Why do the past and future feel different and how can this knowledge change the way you support other humans? Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is another refresh from the series I did on "All the Biases" back in 2019. [01:39] Because the past and future don't impact our behavior the same way, it can really be problematic when we are looking at history and helping to right the wrongs of the past and present. [03:48] People want immediate payoffs. [06:23] Due to impact bias, we overestimate the duration of the intensity of the impact of how we will feel in the future. We are also victims of projection bias. [08:26] To prove a point now you might be making a choice that negatively impacts your future self. [10:08] The sunk cost fallacy is where people will keep spending and justify pouring into a bad prior investment even though evidence shows it is bad. [12:37] As your brain gets overwhelmed your subconscious is more likely to take the reins, meaning you will make more battery and present-focused decisions instead of snowball, future-focused decisions. [14:05] In the cold state we may know that something is a good idea and commit ourselves that when you are in a hot state you don't have the option to let that hot self take over and make a bad decision about the present. [16:03] People think that when you are in that cold state you're not going to require, need, or want whatever the things are as much as you actually will when your body chemistry has changed to the hot state. [16:49] People are impacted more by losses than gains and it takes double the joy felt by a gain to equal the pain that is felt by a loss. [18:03] You may consciously want to stop dreading something. However, as long as your subconscious is still getting some kind of reward or benefit from the physical act of dreading you would need a lot of extra savoring, positive benefit, and something to enjoy at the moment to combat the dread. [20:45] We do not really like risks and will avoid them when we can. Due to a zero risk bias, we humans prefer to reduce a small risk down to nothing than we would like to take a bigger reduction in a larger risk. [22:27] When you think you are safer, you are more likely to take risks in other areas. For example, people drive worse when wearing a seatbelt. [25:01] Because we don't want to change, we may ostrich and avoid the potential negative even at our own personal cost. [26:13] For one person to succeed it does not mean everyone else has to lose or fail. [28:52] When you know the rules of the game (all these biases and how they work together) it can be easier than you think to trick your brain into doing more in your own favor and use these biases in your favor so you can make decisions today that you will appreciate tomorrow or help get yourself out of a negative spiral. [31:52] Melina's closing thoughts [32:37] Time discounting is such a big hurdle for us but knowing about it and how it combines with bikeshedding, planning fallacy, and optimism bias is the first step in tackling this. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from

In today's conversation, I am joined by Evan Nesterak, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Behavioral Scientist, a nonprofit digital and print magazine that examines the world through the science of human behavior. Previously, he led the Mindset Assessment Project, an initiative designed to bring rigorous psychological research into the world of sport and worked with Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania on character development research. This is such a fun conversation, where Evan tells some "never before publicly discussed" stories from his background and that of Behavioral Scientist, which is always fun. We get to hear all about his work and the focus at the magazine, it is full of laughs and brainy goodness. You don't want to miss it! Show Notes: [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Evan Nesterak, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Behavioral Scientist, a nonprofit digital and print magazine that examines the world through the science of human behavior. [02:36] Evan shares about himself, his background, and the work that he does. [03:35] He also did some research with the US Soccer Federation where they did a study looking at the mindsets of the elite youth players in the development academy. [06:09] Evan shares how he met past Brainy Business guest Leidy Klotz. [08:50] Often when you are newer to something you are automatically put into the mentee role. It is powerful to have that script flipped and be the mentor even if you are newer into something if you have enough experience that you can add value. [11:13] He learned a lot working with Angela Duckworth and he has taken a lot of lessons since leaving the lab. [12:25] Evan shares the history of how Behavioral Scientist started. [14:00] After graduating from college, he decided to do what he now calls "real world college." [16:24] He realized there was no place for him to read about really interesting psychology work that was happening. [17:21] In 2012 Evan and his brother started The Psych Report. They had expert psychologists write about their research in digestible, interesting, and engaging ways. [17:59] In 2016 it evolved: they teamed up with some other projects and co-founded Behavioral Scientist in 2017. [20:33] The way we think about human behavior can influence the world we design. [22:48] They compiled a team from various backgrounds and got to work. Their goal has been to stay curious, prioritize people who ask interesting and ambitious questions about human behavior, and try to answer them in rigorous and thoughtful ways. [25:12] Don't worry about trying to read everything. Try and find your trusted sources. [27:12] Being open to other formats can be a really great way to read with an eye for human behavior. [28:55] You immediately have respect for people when you write or do something outside of your comfort zone. [29:45] Melina shares about past guests Doug Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kenrick and their work. [33:04] The first thing when writing a book in academia is to take action and try and do it. [33:58] Then you need to understand what your background and strength is in writing and who you want to write for. [35:20] You have to get someone invested and a great way to do that is stories, examples, and cost and opportunities. [38:04] The more focused you can be in your writing the better. [39:09] Evan's first suggestion is to sign up for the Behavioral Scientist weekly newsletter and see if it is for you. Hopefully you will encounter things that you wouldn't necessarily seek out but you would learn something that would have an impact on your life. [41:17] Monthly they put out the Research Lead where they focus on new research topics. [44:16] Brain Meets World is a thematic print issue that traces the journey of what happens to our ideas as we bring them out to the world. [46:40] When you chase the answers all the time it never feels satisfying. [48:52] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Grit, by Angela Duckworth Sub

Decisions are everywhere — we are making them all day long. Even if you know you are making a lot of decisions, you probably don't grasp the full weight of them. Think about yesterday, how many decisions can you remember making? How many decisions do you make on an average day? Research shows that people make 35,000 decisions every single day! Can you believe it? Clearly, the bulk of those are done subconsciously as we couldn't exist if we had to do all of those on a conscious level. So, how do we make better decisions? What happens when we make too many decisions? Is there a point in the day when we have hit our decision number and it's all downhill from there? Or is there an opportunity to recharge those batteries and have a second wind? When do we reach the point of decision fatigue and what can we do to avoid it? That's what this episode is all about. This refreshed episode originally came out on Christmas day, 2020 (at the end of a year full of decision fatigue). It includes tips for making better decisions around the holidays and is useful all year round. Ready to optimize your decisions? Listen in… Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about decision fatigue. [03:21] We humans make an incredible number of decisions each day. [04:48] We all make about 35,000 decisions every single day. Some of those are big choices evaluated by our conscious brain but over 90% are made by your subconscious. [05:51] As you begin to get fatigued, you rely on your subconscious rules of thumb to make decisions. You'll be more cautious and make decisions that are risk-averse without even noticing the change in your behavior. [07:48] If you don't bog down your brain with mundane choices you can free it up so it doesn't get fatigued as quickly. [09:34] Doing something today is the best way to make tomorrow easier. [11:14] Decision fatigue is similar to overwhelm but they are not the same thing. Your brain can get overwhelmed by more than just decisions. [14:08] Be thoughtful about the things you will be thoughtful about. There are lots of things that seem important at the moment that simply aren't. [14:33] Dopamine is a chemical that your brain likes. It forms lots of habits around getting more of it and Dopamine goes hand and hand with anticipation. [15:16] Just because it feels bad or painful doesn't mean it is wrong or that it isn't in your best interest to continue down the path. It might just be your subconscious rebelling about not getting the Dopamine it is used to. Take that painful moment as a good sign and celebrate it and keep moving forward. [16:58] It is so important to put extra thought into your customer experience journeys. You want to reduce that friction and make it as easy as possible to do business with you. [19:04] You are making it easier for someone to make a choice. [20:47] Look for ways to reduce decisions and make it easier to work with you. [21:12] Decision fatigue is another reason batching content and tasks is so important. When you set aside some time to plan out content in advance, you condense all those decisions into one. It is a super simple brain hack. [22:17] Another closely related item to batching is delegating. Don't hold onto every little decision and choice on a project. Fight the urge to have everything done perfectly in the way you would do them and free up your brain from making decisions that someone else could do. [24:04] Take breaks. Take a lunch break, weekend off, breaks throughout the day, and even naps. [25:59] It isn't selfish or self-indulgent in a bad way. It's actually beneficial to your overall decision-making to take this time for yourself. It helps keep your brain clear, your decisions stronger, and your work better and more meaningful. Taking care of your brain is important. [27:41] Melina's closing thoughts [27:53] When you can streamline the things you do and reduce the unnecessary decisions in your life by making them habits, it can really help you to do more and better things. [29:45] The more you streamline and plan while you are in a cold state (before the moment of distraction hits) the easier it will be in the long run. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and kee

Today is all about the aversion that humans have to uncertainty and ambiguity, our fear of the unknown, and how it can cause us to choose something we are familiar with even though it may not be in our best interest. While this can often align with risk aversion, they are not the same thing, and while they do often correlate, they don't have to. More on that, and of course, loss aversion and inequity aversion – all the aversions – on the show today, but because this is a concept I'm guessing you'll "get" pretty easily, there is less on the research studies (they are linked in the notes). That leaves the bulk of the episode to focus on how this applies to you in two aspects of business: internal communication and customer experience. Ready? Let's get started. Show Notes: [00:43] Today is about the aversion that humans have to uncertainty and ambiguity, our fear of the unknown, and how it can cause us to choose something we are familiar with even though it may not be in our best interest. [02:38] The most important thing to know is that we don't like the unknown. We don't like uncertainty in our choices and will prefer known risks over unknown risks. And also, because our brains are lazy and rely on rules of thumb, we often will avoid making complex (and not so complex) calculations. [03:39] Consider the stock market. This can have unknown risks and so people can feel hesitant to put their money there even when the probabilities and rates of return are relatively known over time. [05:30] As with everything, when you present information, how you talk about it matters more than what you are saying. Frame the information you present to highlight what IS known to make it easier for someone to see the positive. (Note: don't gloss over important risks or problems. Use good judgment.) [07:47] When you are presenting a change at work, there are so so so many variables at play, and if you leave a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity – say you share too early or in an incomplete way – there is a good chance people will rebel against that unknown future state. [09:17] A real problem that happens a lot (and is unfathomably detrimental to change initiatives at work), is when someone is given ambiguous information and they feel the need to get their own brain relief by reducing their own mental burden (and wanting someone to help fill that void) in a way that they will find any possible way to justify telling someone (or in some cases, many someones) to cover up that uncertainty. [11:26] As George Lowenstein proposed, "Curiosity is like an itch on the brain and we need anything we can find to scratch that itch." When there is information to be found, we can fill the gap with learning. When there isn't like in these scenarios, it can be gossip, fear, and doomsday-style planning for the worst, which will cause people to rebel against the potential future before it even has a chance to bloom. [12:55] Everyone on your team needs to be trained on how to share the information and when, and make sure the message is properly framed with regard to all the ambiguous pieces that could cause people to revert to the known instead of the unknown. [14:19] Melina shares some questions you can ask yourself to help determine when it is the right time to share information. [15:38] Just forcing yourself to take a step back and a calming breath as you consider what is really happening can be so helpful. You may want to get out and take a walk or sleep on it or whatever else you do to gain perspective. [18:35] Sharing too much information can cause overwhelm as well, which is stressful and creates its own avoidance, so it is about sharing the right information in the right way at the right time to the right people. Remember that "fair" isn't always equal, and different people need to hear different information at different times. [19:50] The early days of Covid are such a perfect case study for what happens when we feel uncertainty and a lack of control. When people feel a lack of control and like they can't do anything to protect themselves or their families, they may strive to find control in other areas – like hoarding toilet paper. It feels like you are doing something, and can reduce some of that stress. [21:59] Time moves differently on the two sides of a decision in ambiguous times. This presents a big communication problem and disconnect that teams need to pay attention to if they want to be effective. [22:51] The "no update update" can be really helpful for companies. I know you want to wait until everything is perfect to share, but that rumor mill is going to be piling up in a way that is working against you and you owe it to your employees to help relieve some of that stress. [25:30] "No update updates" can be really helpful to diffuse some pressure when there is a lot going on and things are scary on the other side of the decision, but you can't do too many "no update updates" in a row without it starting to be a new problem… [28:06] Le

Today's episode is one that originally aired on June 14, 2019, as part of an 8-part series I called "All the Biases" which took hundreds of biases and sorted them into different categories. Because our brains are complex interconnected webs, this could have been done in many ways and the biases mentioned could belong in multiple areas. I selected groupings based on what I thought would make the most sense to this audience and applying the information about our biased brains into business. This episode goes through a lot of concepts at a very high level. Unlike the foundations episodes of the podcast, which sometimes have a full hour dedicated to a full concept, many of these will get a sentence or only a few points. This episode is more about bringing your attention to the concepts, what is out there, and to scratch the surface of the complexity of our brains. I chose this episode as the refresh for this week because it mentions ambiguity and uncertainty aversion, which is the topic for this coming Friday's brand new foundations episode, so it felt like a nice way to set the stage for that. Ready to dig in on all the biases? Let's go… Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is one that originally aired on June 14, 2019, as part of an 8-part series I did called "All the Biases" which sorted hundreds of biases into different categories. [03:14] Our brains are lazy and they like to take the path of least resistance to get to what they believe to be a good enough answer as quickly as possible. [04:51] Because we are particularly lazy with math, we rely on the source of whatever is thrown our way. The brain would rather risk being wrong than take the time to do the numbers in everyday interactions. [07:17] It is important to know what people care about when you set up your messaging. [08:25] Due to "the less is better effect", our preference changes when we evaluate things alone versus comparing them against others. [10:23] Due to the money illusion we tend to concentrate on the nominal or face value of our money instead of thinking of it in terms of how much it can get for us. We are more likely to spend money in smaller denominations. [13:09] Due to the IKEA effect people will value things more that they made themselves or partially assembled than things they did not. The endowment effect is where we value things we own more than things we do not. [15:45] Playing to win is not the same as playing not to lose (game theory). [15:58] We have all sorts of bad habits when it comes to placing a value on time. [18:20] If you have something people will be excited about you can make the wait a little more enjoyable to increase the experience. With a mundane task, reducing the wait as much as possible is key (or, often even better as discussed with Dilip Soman in episode 241, is to look at the opportunity within the wait). [20:44] "Hot hands" are not real (hot hands fallacy) but our brains like to think this is true due to the clustering illusion. Our brains like to look for patterns. [22:27] People are more likely to prefer the things they know to things that are unknown. We are much more likely to choose an option that we know the odds for even if they are terrible because we are so afraid of the unknown (ambiguity / uncertainty aversion). [24:36] Consider the known and know that the unknown doesn't negate everything else when making a decision. [25:59] When we want something today, we value it differently than tomorrow (time discounting). When we look at tomorrow or things we don't know about we expect the worst even when there is nothing to make us feel that way other than our own natures. [26:55] Most of us don't properly understand how averages impact our lives every day and this can impact the decisions we make in business. [27:15] Melina shares a story from Thinking Fast and Slow about regressive bias. [29:47] The instructor has attached a causal interpretation to the inevitable fluctuations of a random process. [32:00] Everything we know to be true is not necessarily true. It is easy to find the right answer to the wrong question. [33:25] The lesson is to know that our brains like to tell us stories. They write their own rules and details that serve what the subconscious thinks is best. Taking a little extra time and being a little more open can change your view and your success rate. [34:00] Melina's closing thoughts [35:02] Adapting your lenses and looking from multiple angles and depths is really important to make that possible, which is why an episode like this is so valuable. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Dilip Soman, coauthor of Behavioral Science in the Wild. Dilip is a Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science and Economics and serves as a Director of the Behavioural Economics in Action Research Centre at Rotman [BEAR]. His research is in the area of behavioral science and its applications to consumer well-being, marketing, and policy. He has written multiple books including The Last Mile, The Behaviorally Informed Organization, and Behavioral Science in the Wild (all of which we will discuss a bit today) and he also teaches a massive open online course called "BE101X: Behavioural Economics in Action" on EdX. That is actually how he and I first got introduced years ago when someone who was taking BE101X tagged us both on Twitter suggesting my podcast as a resource for students taking his class. We had connected a bit then but didn't end up making it the "last mile" to getting a meeting in the books (see what I did there?). So when this new book, Behavioral Science in the Wild came out, I knew it was the perfect time for us to have this first chat and it was so much fun! Listen in to hear about the pain of paying (and some interesting thoughts and research about dental work), the duration heuristic, the importance of virtual progress and supposedly irrelevant factors (SIFs) and so much more! Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Dilip Soman, coauthor of Behavioral Science in the Wild. [03:31] Much of his early research was about how memory from pain depreciates. [05:01] Memories of factual things remain. Memories of experiences tend to depreciate. [06:30] Melina shares a recent experience at the dentist where her hygienist said that 40% of people don't want novocaine because they don't like feeling numb after the appointment. [07:40] Dilip shares a story about his neighbor getting a snow blower. [09:35] Often people don't want to pay more to get something done sooner. People learn in some domains that the longer the service the better. [12:10] You would think that your overall evaluation of an experience depends on the sum of all of your experiences. Sometimes experiences feel better if you feel like you are making progress as opposed to actual progress. [13:49] We are actually happier when we are driving than sitting in traffic (even if the trip takes longer). [16:25] Waiting time is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to educate, amuse, and engage people. [18:09] Dilip shares his background and the work that he does. He is a mechanical engineer by training. [20:10] His entire motivation for coming to academia was to understand why people think and how we can help people lead happier lives. He has tried many ways to take science to the field. [23:06] Medical sciences actually have a science for how to implement stuff called implementation science – behavioral science should have this too. [23:41] The first book in his series, The Behaviorally Informed Organization talks about what an organization should do to embed behavioral science. [25:15] Behavioral Science in the Wild was written to tackle the challenge that the results are not as formidable as we would like them to be. [26:58] SIFs are supposedly irrelevant factors, things that we think should not influence decisions but do. [29:04] Every intervention could have multiple interpretations and pathways. [31:11] Successfully scaling an intervention doesn't mean that intervention has to be homogenous. You don't have to do the same thing for everyone. Often you actually need to customize it. [32:23] There are two sources of differences in situations that might cause the effect of our interventions to change. [34:47] Oftentimes we explain failures by just saying it is a different context (don't let this be your excuse and stop there). [37:34] The moment you change the lens to try and understand the friction, you start seeing things. [37:44] Think small. The success of big ideas gets tripped up by small things. [39:22] Sometimes it is the little stuff that trips people up. [41:02] Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones. [43:16] Melina shares her closing thoughts. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral eco

Today's episode is all about the pain of paying. This episode originally aired as number 59 in August of 2019. It was formed from a paper I had found and researched before I started doing interviews on the show. I had never met or really considered connecting with the author of the main paper I reference in the episode, Ofer Zellermayer (this paper was his doctoral dissertation). In addition to having an episode on this, I included a full chapter on the pain of paying in my first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You which came out in May 2021. Well, funny enough, in October of that same year, he reached out to me! He said that he had gone to search something related to his paper and found the podcast episode so he dropped everything to listen! He approved of it (phew!) and reached out to connect, which is such an awesome thing. I'm always amazed at the power of the podcast and all the relationships and connections that have come from it over the years. Remember what I said last week in episode 238 about reciprocity? Business is a long game, give freely and you will be amazed at how great things can be. Anyway, you may be wondering why I chose this episode for today's refresh. For one, with the holidays upon us and just finishing up Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday here in the states, it felt like a great time to talk about the pain of paying. Buying things can feel like physical pain, and it is important to know that, but not go too over the top to compensate for it. Deals and discounts abound this time of year, and people buy differently when they are shopping for gifts. It is all interesting stuff to keep in mind as you consider your own buying this holiday, and any sales you may be running for your business. It felt like the perfect time to refresh this episode for you. Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is all about the pain of paying. [02:57] Buying things can feel like physical pain, and it is important to know that, but not go too over the top to compensate for it. Deals and discounts abound this time of year, and people buy differently when they are shopping for gifts. [04:21] Buying things isn't all fun and games and the process of paying for things can actually cause pain for many people. [06:14] Everyone experiences some level of pain of payment in various scenarios and those conditions tend to be pretty universal. Context is incredibly important when it comes to the pain felt making a payment. [07:09] Melina shares the reasons and continuums that impact the pain felt in a payment. [09:30] The brain loves a story. This story can impact the pain felt by paying. [12:28] Price is not about price. Everything that comes before the price matters much more than the price itself. [13:57] When the pain of paying is too much, people who don't buy things that they need or want because it is too difficult to give up money are called tightwads. Those who spend too much too easily and do not feel an appropriate amount of pain before or during the spending process are called spendthrifts. [16:58] Being a tightwad is different than being frugal. Frugality is rooted in joy when saying money. [19:16] 60% of people are unconflicted, 25% are tightwads, and 15% are spendthrifts. Your biggest challenge is overcoming the 25% who are tightwads. [20:08] Tightwads are most sensitive to framing adjustments so that is where you can make a difference. Tightwads can have a difficult time paying for things with cash so make it easy to pay with a credit card. [22:17] The pain was found to have less of an impact when buying what is considered virtue products than vice products. It is important to know what category your product falls into when you are looking at how to frame your message. [23:46] One of the big issues for spendthrifts is that they do not account for or intuitively understand the opportunity cost at the moment when they are getting ready to buy or they want to buy things. [25:52] Everyone will feel some sort of pain when paying. It is your job as the person selling to figure out what the buyer needs, what would benefit them the most, and then present it to them in a way that will have the last pain felt so they can actually enjoy spending the money. [27:39] For your business, think about how people interpret what they are getting. If it was not their choice are there some other areas where you can help them feel like they did make a choice so there is less pain felt in the experience? [31:26] When the pain of paying isn't felt as much it doesn't impact the experience as negatively. [33:51] In some ways, you are making the loss and pain much more prevalent, reducing usage by consumers, and impacting the overall experience. [35:29] The payment that is triggering pain doesn't have to be from money, it can be time as well. [37:36] When consumption and payment are coupled together, you experience pain as you consume, it has a certain level of pain and joy associated. When you uncou

In today's conversation, I am joined by Luke Freeman, who is the executive director of Giving What We Can, an organization dedicated to creating a culture where people are inspired to give to the world's most effective charities. Giving What We Can was one of the first organizations in the world focused on effective altruism: the project of using evidence and reason to figure out how to best help others, and taking action on that basis. I specifically asked Luke to be on the show today to discuss behavioral science concepts and how they line up with nonprofits. Sometimes, concepts perform exactly as they would in a traditional customer/company relationship when there is money being exchanged…but in other cases, research has found this isn't the case. When people are volunteering or donating some tactics that would show you are grateful or appreciative of a customer (like giving a gift) may backfire and feel…off. Knowing this is a time of year when people who work in nonprofits or volunteer on boards are gearing up for year-end asks or doing strategic planning for next year and people may be thinking of their annual donations, it seemed like the perfect time for this episode to help everyone be more effective with their support of others now and into the future. Show Notes: [00:45] In today's conversation, I am joined by Luke Freeman, who is the executive director of Giving What We Can. [03:08] Luke shares his background and the work that he does. His background is in marketing and he has recently moved to the nonprofit sector. [05:14] When Giving What We Can was looking for an executive director, it was a perfect opportunity to do work that was really important to him. [06:18] Typically, when people are giving to charity they are giving to something right in front of them or things that they have had some experience with. [07:39] When people think about charity effectiveness generally the two things that they think of are overheads or administrative costs and impact. [09:48] The first bar is trying to get people to look outside of themselves and try to improve the lives of others. Once you are there then you narrow in on where you can make the most impact. [12:27] We can take time to think about what we care about, whose life/lives we are looking to impact, and what is going to be the best use of money to help. [13:16] We often look at neglectivness because popular problems are often getting a lot of resources already. A lot of stuff is neglected because it fits in the prevention space. [14:44] People are often willing to give right away out of pity or guilt, but that isn't sustainable giving. [16:32] Sometimes behavioral science concepts that work in traditional buying relationships don't necessarily go the same way when looking at nonprofits and charities. [18:45] Donors want to feel confident in their donations. Showing other humans giving and why they give is also quite motivating. [22:29] If your company gets the right story it can really work for the company in terms of their own sales as well. People prefer that there be a logical story that is told of why that charity makes sense for the company they are partnering with. [24:55] With any brand messaging when you can be specific and narrow the story down or follow the story of someone it has a bigger impact. [27:33] Donation matching is also popular but there isn't a lot of strong evidence of its effect. [28:52] Recurring donations make more sense for many donors and are much more sustainable. [30:30] The door in the face technique and artificial surveillance cues don't tend to be as effective with donations. Explanation about context from Melina and why this might be happening – don't generalize results! [33:25] Recognizing volunteer contributions and having a more human connection can be very helpful for keeping and increasing volunteers. Volunteering strategies are going to be very specific to the organization's context. [35:00] Some volunteer opportunities are also donor nurturing programs in disguise (in a good way). It showcases the work that the charity does and even if they cost more to run, they are worth it because they create new donors. [37:51] Don't give people reasons not to do the thing you want them to do. Also, after the fact appreciate it. [39:10] If you do nothing else this month, what does Luke recommend? You really need to get in the head of your user and in this case that is a donor. Your existing donor base is the biggest asset you have. [40:15] People really care that they are able to help others and they want their money to go as far as possible. A game of "hot or not" with Luke's rapid-fire tips. [43:41] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [43:51] I love the idea of being more thoughtful before supporting the most popular organization you might see or hear about the most. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what yo

Today's episode is all about reciprocity, one of my very favorite concepts and approaches to life and business. For me, it is natural to give first and I enjoy being generous. I don't recall the specific names of the love languages, but nurturing relationships is something that matters a lot to me (or whatever they call it) and would definitely be one of mine. I have seen time and time again how this comes back so much bigger when you give first and don't just do it to get stuff in return. Life and business are a long game. It is so much better to be giving and generous up front and know that things will work out and take care of you eventually. This is also why I had last week's refreshed episode about the brainy benefits of gratitude and why I always talk about reciprocity around the holidays and why this episode, which originally aired as number 23 of the podcast, was an obvious choice for me to refresh for you today. This is also leading into Friday's brand new episode which will look at nonprofits and how generosity and giving and behavioral economics are the same and different when we step outside the typical customer/company relationship and into charitable giving. Now…let's dig in on reciprocity (which is much more than just free gifts). Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about reciprocity, one of my very favorite concepts and approaches to life and business. [01:21] Life and business are a long game. It is so much better to be giving and generous up front and know that things will work out and take care of you eventually. [02:49] Reciprocity is what happens when someone gives you something (whether you want it or not, whether you value it or not) and you feel obligated to give them something in return. [04:03] Melina shares one of her favorite examples of reciprocity from The Big Bang Theory. [05:44] Our brains tend to overvalue the gifts we are given and compensate in a way that exceeds the value of the original gift. [08:42] The gift of kindness and a little effort goes a long way. [09:20] Reciprocity presents itself in many ways but there are three categories: the free gift, the small ask on the path to something bigger, and the big ask to get something more realistic. [09:44] The free gift is a little something that is given freely and helps make you a little more endearing in the eyes of the recipient. [12:37] Another way to give out free gifts is with samples. [15:17] Reciprocity and free gifts are often used when asking for donations. [17:44] Other examples of free gifts are sales or discounts. [19:05] Discounts will often cost you more so use them sparingly and with a lot of strategy. [22:16] Be of service to other people; reciprocity is a key reason why. [22:55] The next category of reciprocity is a small ask to get something bigger. [25:56] What is the gift you can give that can encourage businesses to donate later? What you want to do is ask for them to perform a small and simple task they are unlikely to refuse. Then when you come back for a donation they are more likely to say yes. [28:47] Getting someone to say yes once to something small increases the likelihood that they will say yes again. [30:06] In the last category you start with a big, ridiculous, or even unreasonable ask to make the thing you actually want to ask for seem more reasonable and appealing by comparison. [30:57] Melina shares about a study on a university campus asking for volunteers. [34:38] If you are going to use the big-then-small tactic it should be the same person both times and you should do them really close together. One obvious place to use this tactic is in negotiations of any kind. [36:06] Melina shares a story about setting rates and pricing. [39:02] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence, by Robert Cialdini Stumbling on Happiness, by Dan Gilbert What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes You're Invited, by Jon Levy Top Recommended Next Episode: G

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Douglas Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kenrick to talk about their new book, Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain. As you will hear about in the episode, they are a father and son team with very different backgrounds, so it is incredibly interesting to see how they came together to write this really incredibly interesting book. I became acquainted with Doug and Dave through Bob Cialdini, who emailed me saying that this team from ASU had a new book out that he found to be fascinating and thought I would too. That was, of course, enough endorsement for me, and after some due diligence, I quickly confirmed that this was a book that was a great fit for the podcast. Doug and Dave have stories of a young Bob Cialdini as well as "Danny Kahneman" in their book as they share examples of how our brains have adapted (or not) while the world around us has changed dramatically and how that matters to all of us in life, and of course in business. You don't want to miss this! Show Notes: [00:46] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Douglas Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kenrick to talk about their new book, Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain. [03:06] Dave and Doug share their backgrounds and how they found themselves writing a book together. Dave's background is in film production. [04:20] Doug is a social psychologist. [05:59] Social motives are actually primary. We have basic needs like hunger and thirst and as we get a little older we start to become concerned with protecting ourselves. [07:58] Organisms are designed to reproduce. So human beings go through the same basic phases as other animals. You develop your body, develop your social relationships, and then you find mates. [10:25] The seven motives are basic resources (food and shelter), self-protection, affiliations or friendship, gaining status, finding and choosing a mate, maintaining romantic relationships, and kin care. [12:04] There are some places in which our ancestral motives serve us well and there are others in which they serve us really badly. [14:20] Melina recommends Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and Evolutionary Ideas by Sam Tatam (previous guest on The Brainy Business). [16:06] Stimulus control is incredibly important and you can control your environment to support what you want to do. [18:00] You should never strive for perfection because you are always going to feel disappointed. It is really hard for us to balance all seven motives. [21:11] We can only prioritize 1-2 of the motives at any given time. [23:34] We can take small steps and do a little in each of these categories and when we do them they tend to make us feel healthier. [25:25] Their book-writing process was to go for a walk in the morning and talk about the ideas they were going to write that day. After working and writing alone during the day when they took an evening walk they almost always came up with solutions to the problems they had found in the morning. [28:05] They really enjoyed the process and learned a lot. [29:58] Figuring out ways to present things in a way that is ethical is really important too. [32:22] There is something really interesting about ideas that come from dialogue. [33:11] What about applying this in business? Start by asking how your business can fill the seven fundamental motives for your customers and employees. [35:07] The thing you might think your brand is about might not actually be the only way to convey your message. Think about what your brand conveys and what you really want it to convey. [37:48] You can ask yourself, "How can this job satisfy my motives?" You will do better on the job if you walk in and regularly consider, "How can I satisfy the motives of my co-workers and bosses?" [39:38] Public compliments are one of the best things leaders and coworkers can do and it is a really effective thing. [40:59] Learning people's names is one of the classic ways to give a little bit of affiliation and status. [43:45] Work-life balance is a big thing for both finding, keeping a mate, and parenting. [45:04] Stick to lifting people up and always giving them more status. Give them more autonomy and time also. [48:40] Human beings are designed to not be selfish, but to help other people. The best thing you can do for yourself is to help others. [50:49] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [51:24] Often, a simple reframing of your message can make all the difference in the world, and understanding the things that will motivate our stone-age minds to act -- even in this modern world -- is so, so useful in finding messaging that sticks. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I e

Today's episode is all about the brainy benefits of gratitude. At the end of the year, I always like to do episodes about reciprocity, gratefulness, happiness, and planning…and this year is no different. One thing that is new this year, is that we have two episodes a week including our Tuesday refreshes so this episode from November 2019 on the brainy benefits of gratitude gets another day in the sun. I really enjoy this episode as it looks at the difference between happiness and gratitude and how they might not work the way we think they should (which you will of course learn all about in the episode today). Here's something to think about as we start the episode: Do you have to get what you want to be happy? Is synthesized (or manufactured) happiness the same as natural happiness? What is best for your overall psyche and those around you? Keep that in mind as you listen, and share your thoughts with me on social media! Show Notes: [00:39] Today's episode is all about the brainy benefits of gratitude. [01:55] Gratefulness and reciprocity have an important thing in common, a tie that can bond them together which is a feeling of happiness and joy. Doing things for others or giving things away can make you feel happier. [04:09] Our brains systematically misjudge what will make us happy. [05:36] Dan Gilbert tells about how people don't know what will make them happy. One of the most important things the human brain does is allow to synthesize the future, imagine what is to come, and predict how we should act for the best possible outcome. [06:29] Natural happiness is a product of getting exactly what you want. [06:41] Synthetic happiness is what we get when we don't get what we wanted. Synthetic happiness, not getting what you want but still being happy about where you are is just as enduring and every bit as real to the brain as if you got exactly what you wanted or thought you wanted. [09:36] A fascinating example using Monet paintings to show how our preferences change. You can be grateful, appreciate things, and have them make you happier even if you don't remember going through the process before. [10:09] We think we will be happier if we have more options or choices but there is such a thing as too much choice. Freedom to choose is the opposite of happiness. [11:20] Those who were stuck and had no room for deliberation after the fact were much happier than those that had the option to ruminate. Those who were stuck had no reason to ruminate and counterfactualize and were considerably happier. [13:00] Not getting what you want can make you just as happy or happier than if you had gotten what you set out for. Synthesized happiness is the same as natural happiness. Lots of choices and opportunities to ruminate are a recipe for unhappiness. [14:23] Gratefulness goes first. [15:07] The benefits of gratitude filtering can impact all areas of your life in a positive way. When you are filtering for gratitude you are resetting the way your subconscious is looking at the world around you. [16:50] It is important to write gratitude by hand when you can. Writing things by hand has tons of benefits. [17:41] One reason writing by hand does all these things is because it forces you to slow down and be thoughtful. Your brain pays more attention to things you write down. [18:38] Gratitude can also improve relationships. Sharing the good makes it easier to share the bad allowing for growth and progress together. [20:08] It is time to filter for gratitude and start writing what you are grateful for. [20:12] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Stumbling on Happiness, by Dan Gilbert The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz The Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmers Tiny Habits, by BJ Fogg Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Top Recommended Next Episode: Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less (episode 171) Already Heard That One? Try These: Reciprocity (episode 23) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) The Littery - Interview wi

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Tessa Misiaszek, coauthor of Branding That Means Business. Tessa is an instructor with Harvard Professional Development Programs, as well as a Professor at Hult International Business School. She brings extensive experience developing human capital strategies to improve business communications. Previously she served as CEO of Empathetics, Inc. – a company that developed empathic communications training for healthcare professionals, and she is currently the Head of Research for Korn Ferry. She is also one of the hosts of The Happy At Work Podcast, which I was honored to be a guest on recently discussing my book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You. Today, Tessa is here discussing her new book, Branding that Means Business, which she co-authored with Matt Johnson, who was on the show two weeks ago talking about the customer side of branding. Today, Tessa and I look a little more on the employee side of things and how much that matters for brands. Listen in to learn more. Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Tessa Misiaszek, coauthor of Branding That Means Business. [02:41] Tessa shares about herself and the work she does. [04:06] Tessa met Matt in England and they had an argument about empathy. [06:06] Her debate with Matt was if empathy had a scaling issue and if empathy can deplete you as a person. [08:13] Tips for working with a co-author? If you go into business or create a start-up with a partner it is like a marriage. If it goes bad, it can go really bad. You want to make sure you have the right partner at the onset. [11:04] Today we are going to talk about the internal functioning of marketing, branding, and culture. [11:45] The function of marketing is value creation. [13:45] A brand is not marketing. A brand is an asset to your marketing strategy. [16:17] Authenticity needs to tie through everything and the outward messaging to customers matters. [18:41] At the end of the day it is the transparency that builds trust and once consumers have trust that you are doing what you say you are they are more likely to be loyal and forgiving if something happens. [22:05] The more empathy you can have for the way that your consumers live their lives and think about how your product and service are integrated into the way they live their lives that will allow you to build a more authentic brand connected to them. [23:42] Brand is really the great differentiator today. [26:42] Empathizing with the customers is crucial. [29:00] As a brand you can't be all things to all people so don't try to be. [29:49] Companies are only as good as the people that run them. Being able to really connect that purpose to the employee organization and culture that you develop within the company is very important. [31:50] Mission and values are just the beginning. Next, you have to think about the infrastructure and operations. [33:54] Zappos worked on creating and building a culture that really engaged the employees and then delivered on that and drive everything about the company. [35:28] Melina shares Zappos' ten core values. Tessa recommends that start-ups start with five unique authentic values. [37:14] If we all say we have the best service then nobody has the best service unless you are really living that. It is not enough to just say it, you have to show it. [40:09] Values are not just words on a board. You have to think about how these values will evolve over time. To stay true to that as a company you have to continue to innovate based on those values. [42:50] There should be an inventory once a year of company values. [44:35] Tessa's podcast Happy At Work talks about organizational culture, employee engagement, and how to create a positive workplace environment. [45:09] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [46:03] Your brand promise may not be the same as your core values...and even if you don't have something written out anywhere (yet) or aren't really living those days in and day out (yet) consider this an opportunity to look at those and see how you can be doing better. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and suppor

Today's episode is all about value — what it is, what it isn't, and why it matters for businesses. Value is something you hear about a lot, but it isn't necessarily something that we intuitively get or what drives our motivation to buy things. In today's episode, (which originally aired as number 8 of the podcast way back in August 2018), I get into the difference between value, price, worth, and cost and how they all matter in business. I chose this episode for you today for a couple of reasons. First, Leigh Caldwell, the guest on last Friday's episode, wrote a book called The Psychology of Price, which of course, brings value to the table. Whenever we talk about price, value is a key aspect. Also, in the episode this coming Friday, featuring Tessa Misiaszek, coauthor of Branding That Means Business, she will talk a lot about value vs. values, and what they mean in an organization and for its employees. That got me thinking about this episode. It is one I really love but don't end up talking about all that much, so it felt like it would be fun to bring it back to the forefront for a little moment in the sun. As you listen today, think about the value you create in your work. Of course, there is the obvious in your products and services, but also think about the less obvious side of value for your employees and teams working within your business. And tune in to learn some crazy stories of what people are willing to pay for things – from kidney stones to grilled cheese sandwiches… Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is all about value — what it is, what it isn't, and why it matters for businesses. [02:41] What are your values as a company, and how is that different from the value you create? How can your values be informing value? And how does that tie into worth — both of the organization and the self-worth of everyone that is involved with the company? [03:51] People tend to use the words value, price, and worth interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. They work together but they are actually quite different. [05:08] Price is what someone is willing to pay for a good or service. [06:12] Worth is the expected selling price of something. Things have worth even if they don't have a selling price. [08:59] Value is the usefulness or desirability of a good or service, how much you love it, or what it is worth to you. Value is not a number, it is based on how much you love it. Value is subjective and personal. [11:11] Often items we value can be replaced, but we don't usually value them the same even though it is worth the same. [12:35] Getting people to be realistic about their worth, price, and value is very important when you are trying to convince them to sell an item, especially one as sentimental as a home. [14:28] Herding, value, perceived ownership, and loss aversion work together in things like bidding wars. When you add scarcity into the mix…watch out! [16:00] Your brain might say, "If others are willing to pay for it now, it will likely rise in value over time and there might never be another one…I better jump on this and buy before it goes really crazy!" [18:41] The herd will catch on and people assume the value that was paid is a new value. [21:28] Brands are what give companies value. Brands give you loyal followers which creates herds. [22:21] Brands are a big reason why it is not about the price or the item itself. Brands bring value to companies. [24:33] Our brains get what they expect. If they are set up to believe something is amazing, they will often interpret the thing as amazing. [27:15] It is important to establish value and make people feel like your product or service is worth paying for. [28:08] Exclusivity is the celebrity factor and it has a large impact on value and price. [29:53] How much did the owner's explanation and framing of the making of the sandwich and the high-quality ingredients have to do with the perceived value? He was confident in his explanation and said the price without hesitation which is also key to establishing value and justifying the price. [32:54] Stories are memorable. Stories make brands. [36:21] Our brains are trained to believe what they learned first until proven otherwise. Our brains believe what they are told and hold those things as facts – especially when it sounds really convincing or appealing. [38:46] No matter what you are selling, brand value matters. In business, establishing brand value is the key to loyal customers who are willing to pay premium prices. People get more value when they pay more. [40:12] Price and perceived value are linked in the human brain. A higher price means it must be better and have more value. [41:56] Value is subjective. Value is in our heads. Value changes. Value can be created and built up. To get the herd to accept the value, you only need a few passionate people who are willing to pay what you (or they!) think the item is worth. [42:45] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscr

In today's conversation, I am joined by Leigh Caldwell, the founding partner of Irrational Agency. He is a behavioral economist and pricing expert with more than 10 years of experience in applying behavioral science commercially. He is the creator of the System 3 Methodology (which we will talk about a lot in today's episode) as well as being the author of The Psychology of Price, and a frequent speaker at academic and industry conferences. That is actually how Leigh and I met in person -- while we were both speaking at IIEX Europe in Amsterdam this past summer. We had been connected on LinkedIn prior to that, and it was so great to chat in person a bit, and then follow up after for a virtual coffee, which of course led to this episode. My conversations with Leigh really got me thinking about what I believe, what I'm familiar with, and what it might mean to open up and consider how...things might not be exactly as they seem. So, what I encourage you to do as you listen to today's episode, especially if you have been familiar with behavioral economics and behavioral science for a long time, is to be open to this idea. Be open to something that goes against what you believe to be true and wonder, "What might that look like?" I think if you allow it to be, this is one of those ideas and episodes that will really stick with you for a long time -- and I love that! Show Notes: [00:39] In today's conversation, I am joined by Leigh Caldwell, the founding partner of Irrational Agency. [03:02] Leigh shares his background and more about who he is. He describes himself as a mathematician above anything else. [04:29] He realized there was something in the world about how people were buying and it wasn't logical or rational. [06:20] There were two directions he went after learning about behavioral science. One was pricing because he felt there was a gap in the market with helping businesses set their pricing. [08:15] Second was that world of what is going on inside the head and what our imagination is made of. This really fascinated him. [09:27] When it comes to pricing, first understand the value that you are providing as perceived by the customers. Then look at the alternative routes to solve the same problem and how much those cost. [11:43] What is it worth to the customer to solve this problem and how can you capture as much as possible of that value? [14:49] You are not your ideal client or customer, so how much you would pay for the thing is not how much the person who needs your services would pay. You often undervalue it. [16:26] One thing that attracted Leigh to economics was the idea of being able to use math to model human behavior. [19:12] When you are using a linear path to predict something complex, you are going to end up in a difficult spot. [21:44] We have to be building, growing, and changing as the field of behavioral science is moving forward. [24:19] System 1 thinking is fast, automatic, and unconscious - things that really are a gut reaction. System 2, the deliberate mind, is meant to be logical and calculating. [25:05] There is another kind of thinking that is not captured by either one, and that is the thinking we typically do when we are daydreaming or watching a movie. It is the activity of imagination. [27:12] Leigh calls this other type of thinking System 3. [29:25] Melina reads the story from a paper he wrote to help us better understand System 3. In the story, what we are experiencing doesn't have the logic of System 2 and it is not a learned reaction in System 1. [31:34] We as humans can generate imaginary emotions and imaginary sensory feelings. [34:20] If you want to understand people's real experiences, you have to allow them to bring in all of the accidental influences that occur in real life and the different places that their minds can wander to. [36:02] There can be real value in how the imaginative process can be useful to brands. [38:11] Choices are important, but narratives are just as important. [40:48] By uncovering the existing connections in people's heads we can show brands how to tap into those stories and play their own part in that customer's narrative. [43:07] By uncovering how people really perceived their client's product they were able to help them tell the right story in their marketing that was consistent with the story that the people already had and wanted. [44:45] You have to understand who you are talking to and what it is you want them to do. [47:41] People need to find ways and the right stories to help them through this challenging period, but brands also need to be able to find how they can play a part in customers' stories even in these challenging times. [48:35] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [49:30] I don't know if there is a System 3 for sure, and what the field might adapt to in the coming years, but it is so cool to realize that we are on the forefront of something amazing. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Androi

Today's episode is all about prefactual thinking. Prefactual thinking is closely related to counterfactual thinking, which was episode 68 of the podcast, and this episode originally aired as number 71. In its simplest form, counterfactual thinking is our "what ifs" and "if onlys" where we look back and wonder what might have been if only something had been different. This can be from outside factors or things within ourselves that might have changed an outcome, and our brains are really good at coming up with idealized scenarios where things would have been amazing and perfect "if only" this one thing had been different. Prefactual thinking is when we do something very similar but are looking into the future. Why did I hand pick this episode for you to listen to and reflect upon today? This coming Friday, my guest in episode 233 is Leigh Caldwell. He will talk about why he believes there is actually a System 3. You've heard me talk about System 1 and 2 (or rather, the subconscious and conscious processing of the brain...our elephant and rider) and Leigh says there is something else in there that should be its own category altogether. It has to do with imagining and thinking into the future, so it felt like a good idea for you to have a nice refresher on prefactual thinking today so you are all set and ready to be thinking about this possible System 3 question on Friday. So, as you listen today, think about the possibilities and what might come, and be ready to reflect on this when you tune in for episode 233. (And, if you haven't already, now is a great time to subscribe to the podcast to be sure you don't miss it!) Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is all about prefactual thinking. Prefactual thinking is closely related to counterfactual thinking. [01:25] While counterfactual thinking is looking back at how things in the past might have been different "if only"...prefactual does something similar, but looking into the future. [03:39] Goals are so important. As the year is ending you are looking back at what you did, and what you could have done, and also looking forward to what you can do in the future. [04:33] Counterfactuals are looking back at something that has already happened and essentially undoing it in some way in your mind. Prefactuals are when you look to the future and think about what could be. [05:54] When you think about what could happen or how you might succeed in the future, studies show you can actually have great benefits in all sorts of tasks. [07:06] Your brain is driven by its desire to get these chemicals and there are different rewards with each. [08:15] The treat for the brain is in the build-up, the prefactual, so it wants to think through scenarios over and over and it isn't always wired to do this in a positive way unless you put in some interventions. [09:26] Melina shares a real-world email example. [12:05] There are countless examples because our brains dwell on stuff all the time – they are wired for it. And they don't happen in isolation; it is easy to jump from counterfactual to prefactual and back again. [13:18] To use prefactuals for positive behavior change you want to look at the "if / then" and future outcome action ties. [14:04] The specifics give your brain something to process and remember in the future. [16:12] After she received an email letting her know about the error, Melina was able to take some time to think about what could happen (prefactual) and because she didn't dwell too much on what might have been (counterfactual) she could take steps to make it better. [17:38] One key to using counterfactuals and prefactuals for your benefit is to look for the learning opportunity. [20:56] Knowing the true impact is really important before you send anything out. Your brain is going to blow anything out of proportion with the tools it has in its arsenal. [22:25] Breathe, assess, question, action, and reflection. [23:19] Studies have found that people perform better on a task after doing prefactual thinking even if they have no prior experience. This is why role playing and visualization techniques are so important. [25:34] Moving out of the negative counterfactuals and prefactuals into the positive space is such a useful and versatile skill for everyone. [26:35] There is always something to learn and always a way through to the other side. You will get there faster and easier if you structure your counterfactuals and prefactuals to the positive. [26:49] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may

Today I am very excited to have Dr. Matt Johnson back on the show to talk about Branding That Means Business, a new book he has co-authored with Dr. Tessa Misiaszek (who will be on the show in a few weeks talking about her background and the aspects she brings to this fascinating project). Matt was on the show in 2021 talking about his other book, Blindsight (which he co-authored with Prince Guhman, who was also on the show last year.) Matt is a professor, researcher, and writer, who received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience from Princeton University in 2013. His focus now is on bridging the gap between science and business; to accomplish this, he works across several fields including behavioral economics, consumer neuroscience, and experiential marketing. A contributor to major news outlets including Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and VICE, and a writer for Psychology Today, he regularly provides expert opinion and thought leadership on a range of topics related to the human side of business. He advises both start-ups and large brands and has served as an expert-in-residence to Nike's Innovation Team in Portland, Oregon. Matt is so much fun and a wealth of fascinating information. We are going to talk about so many awesome things today so you don't want to miss it. Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am very excited to have Dr. Matt Johnson back on the show to talk about Branding That Means Business, a new book he has co-authored with Dr. Tessa Misiaszek. [02:48] Melina and Matt share the similarities in their lives. [04:08] Matt shares his background and how he found himself in the world of neuro and behavioral science. [05:53] His second book, Branding That Means Business is written for the business practitioner on how to build brands and how companies can create enduring brands with consumers and markets. [08:49] One of his goals when writing a book is to write for as broad of an audience as possible within popular science, but also for very niche behavioral science readers. [11:11] Every experience you have consuming content is potentially going to be featured in some sort of written word. [12:22] Twitter can be an amazing resource. Incredible business minds and academics are sharing on Twitter. [15:15] The rule of the brand is to create trust. Trust is an absolute game changer when it comes to consumer dynamics. [17:55] When information or an advertising claim comes from a brand you trust it is much more System 1 oriented and it changes the decision-making process to be much easier and free-flowing. [19:59] Building a brand is like building a house. The goal isn't to just build the house and structure, but ultimately to build a home that creates a positive emotional experience and a sense of warmth and belonging. [22:39] Interactions within the brain and how you feel about it — those associations are so key. [23:16] A brand is an element of the company. It is a tool of the company that adds unique value above and beyond the products themselves and it helps the company differentiate itself from industry competitors. [26:36] We need to know what our brand associations are so we can change them or embrace them. [27:46] How the brand is sculpted at the level of the brain and the consumer and how that is aggregated over the entire market can be very different. [30:36] After research, KitKat completely changed its marketing in Japan and it had a huge impact. [31:50] So often companies and people end up really making things so much harder for us than they have to be. If you let go and have the current take you then you can get somewhere more meaningful. [34:28] Our job as the brand manager is not to be the guardians of the brand image but as the caretaker of it. [36:20] Micro and nano influencers have smaller audiences, but because they are very engaged followers that can be very effective. [38:14] Many people are willing to partner with brands that mean something to them. [40:26] Among younger consumers there is a "learned allergy" to top-down advertising. This is one of the reasons why TikTok has been so huge with product advertising. [43:22] Organic marketing and integrated content are becoming more and more attractive. [46:14] If it is perceived to be a small brand the expectations are that it is going to be a brand that you really know, you could directly interact with it, and you could possibly co-create with the brand. This differs from big brands who should adopt this different strategy. [47:59] Differentiation and consumer perception are important. It really matters to consider consumer perceptions in terms of those expectations. [50:31] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [52:20] Knowing what is going on in the world and finding how you can relate your brand to the current conversation is so key to using branding effectively in your business. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and s

Today's episode is all about branding — and specifically, my insights for how to incorporate brain science and behavioral economics insights so you can have a brainy brand that resonates better with your potential customers, clients, members, etc., and is one of those coveted "favorite brands" in the mind of your consumer. When your brand is thinking about becoming a beloved "favorite" it is important to consider the experience people have with you. Becoming a favorite is a lot like dating and marriage. On a first date, you are looking for all sorts of data to help categorize someone as a hero or a zero — you want to be able to cut your losses before you invest too much. It's the same with brands. It is important to not make mistakes. You especially want to be on your best behavior early on in the customer relationship to build up that "favorite" status. The tips in this episode will help you leverage behavioral economics to do just that (including what your brand needs to learn from your favorite actors). Now is a great time to be thinking about your brand and goals for the next year. What changes can your brand make and where is it worth the investment in becoming a more brainy and beloved brand? Keep that in mind as you listen today. Show Notes: [00:41] Today's episode is all about branding — and specifically, on my insights for how to incorporate brain science and behavioral economics insights so you can have a brainy brand that resonates better with your potential customers, clients, members, etc., and is one of those coveted "favorite brands" in the mind of your consumer. [01:26] When your brand is thinking about becoming a beloved "favorite" it is important to think about the experience people have with you, and becoming a favorite is a lot like dating and marriage. [04:14] A brand can take a generic item and turn it into something more. [05:37] Marketing and branding are not the same things. Marketing is all the one-off things that you do to get your name out there. [07:45] A brainy brand knows what it is trying to achieve and builds quantitative and qualitative research projects to test, learn, and grow. [08:26] Truly great marketers (like great scientists) are great questioners. [10:55] Our brain makes associations whether we ask it to or not. [12:35] Priming is really related if you want to make sure you have a brainy brand. You want to make sure you are associating your brand properly with the right things. [15:01] It is important to be strategic and thoughtful about what it is you are doing for your company. [16:51] You need to use the associations of the brain to make it as easy as possible on the customer. Be strategic. Think about how you can make it easy, as well as where they might make an error so you can help them avoid missteps and make the right choice. [18:31] Above all, a brainy brand knows that everything matters. [19:47] Brands have personalities just like people and for good reasons. Known personalities create expectations in our brains. [21:09] Smart brands know the work is never done. [24:04] Method acting is a lot like business branding because they both require a lot of preparation and understanding of things that may never be brought up. [25:16] Brainy brands know everything about who their brand is as if it were a person or a character. [26:31] The other important thing to remember if you want a brainy brand is that perception is reality. [27:28] Brainy brands need to have everyone on board rowing the boat in the right direction. [28:35] Behavioral economics and other studies of the brain look into why people do the things they do and how to use insight to predict what they might do in the future. [29:14] Melina's closing thoughts Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let's connect: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! Learn and Support The Brainy Business: Check out and get your copies of Melina's Books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Branding that Means Business, by Matt Johnson & Tessa Misiaszek What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Blindsight, by Matt Johnson & Prince Ghuman Contagious, by Jonah Berger How Brands Grow, by Byron Sharp Top Recommended N

Many companies and managers have prided themselves on being strong, always showing confidence in the face of any crisis, and ensuring that people never show weakness or vulnerability. But is this the best approach? Does unwavering strength make a team stronger? Does exposing your weakness increase the likelihood that people will use that against you? What is the best path for a company and how should it encourage its teams to act? That answer is coming to you as we dig into the episode and learn all about vulnerability loops and why they are so critical for fostering strong teams. Show Notes: [00:40] Today is a very exciting episode talking about something really critical for fostering strong teams – the vulnerability loop [02:46] Before we get into the model and what a vulnerability loop is, I want you to take a moment and think about the people you are most closely linked to – those you have a really strong bond with. The people you trust wholeheartedly. Those who you know have got your back no matter what. [05:05] A shared experience where the participants were vulnerable creates a trust bond that is hard to break, even after decades and otherwise drifting apart. [06:57] There are five simple steps in the vulnerability loop, a concept that is attributed to Jeff Polzer, Harvard professor in the department of organizational behavior, but was really popularized by Daniel Coyle when he included it in his book, The Culture Code. Even though they may seem random, every vulnerability loop follows the same five steps. [08:47] To make it a LOOP you can't just acknowledge their vulnerability, it isn't enough to say, "Oh? Why is that?" or something…you can do that too, but you need to reveal something vulnerable about yourself. [09:51] And you don't have to share the exact same thing, but instead it needs to be something that makes you feel a little anxious or nervous to share, you need to feel vulnerable. I get that you want to be able to get trust and closeness without exposing yourself or having that discomfort, but it doesn't work that way. [11:08] You want to hear their vulnerability and then you share a little something to let them know they are not out on the ledge alone and that you are not going to let them fall. You want to show them that you are there to support them to create that ongoing loop of trust. [13:57] The listeners feel more connected to me because I am willing to share those moments of vulnerability. It is a little uncomfortable but a really important part to be connected to all of YOU! [15:05] Well, while we don't have to share our deepest, darkest secrets with our teams or be weepy, fragile messes, being strong, silent, unwavering, and confident all the time isn't going to build real trust and bond a team. We need to be willing to get vulnerable. [15:54] As Polzer said, "People tend to think of vulnerability in a touchy-feely way, but that's not what's happening." "It's about sending a really clear signal that you have weaknesses, that you could use help. And if that behavior becomes a model for others, then you can set the insecurities aside and get to work, start to trust each other, and help each other. If you never have that vulnerable moment, on the other hand, then people will try to cover up their weaknesses, and every little microtask becomes a place where insecurities manifest themselves." [17:01] The first person has to go out on the limb, to make the vulnerable leap to start the conversation – to trust that the other person will reciprocate and catch them…and to keep the moment from stopping and falling flat. The second person is key to keeping the loop going, to opening up a little more to show that they can be vulnerable too – and while it doesn't have to be only vulnerability all the time, this is something that needs a little boost back in – a continual jolt of vulnerability – to keep the loop going. [17:57] Our eyes scan the world around us constantly for potential threats and are perpetually bringing in and processing information – 3 times per second on average. So, if you have a blurred background on (or a really bad virtual one) it is, essentially, sharing continually that you don't trust people enough to let them see the real room you are in. I know that isn't your intention but that doesn't really matter as the brain is going to make its own association. [20:29] One more piece of good news is that you don't need to be vulnerable all the time! This isn't a constant state of uncertainty and stress, but a few key moments that can be paying trust dividends over time are really important. [21:22] When there is increased trust, things take less time and cost less money. When there is decreased trust. or a lack of trust, they take more time and cost more money. Trust until people give you a reason not to and learn from it (don't be a doormat) but also have a short memory, especially for little stuff. [22:20] Trust is key to getting things done in business, and one of the best

Today's episode is all about the fascinating world of game theory. This episode originally aired on August 23, 2019, and was episode 62 of the podcast. There are a couple of reasons I've selected this to be our refreshed episode this week. For one, with last Friday's episode featuring Annie Duke talking about her new book Quit…you can't think about Annie without thinking about poker, and game theory is so related to that. One of my favorite insights from game theory, which you'll hear me talk about more during the episode, is the difference between playing to win and playing not to lose. As you will hear today, these two things may seem similar, but they are actually very different. And as you reflect upon the episode today (whether it is your first time or something you're revisiting) consider your own life and work and let's build upon the lessons from Friday's episode with Annie about quitting, and how winners need to quit in order to win. Tip: understanding the rules and what it will take to win (so your emotions don't get the better of you) will help you to win any game you are playing. Show Notes: [00:37] Today's episode is all about the fascinating world of game theory. [01:46] You need to know when to be gritty and when to quit. [03:31] Humans aren't rational. Humans don't always make choices that are fully rational. We try to game the system or play the odds and choose routes that are not in our best interest – especially when we think someone may be treating us unfairly. [05:19] In behavioral game theory we need to consider how revenge, fairness, and personal gain all play to the outcomes. The 3 main games in game theory are the ultimatum game, the prisoner's dilemma, and the dictator game. [06:37] In purely rational economic terms it is best to keep the full $10 for yourself. There is no consequence for keeping it and no one will know. In reality, people would give away an average of $3. [08:19] You are playing the odds of being seen, feeling guilty, or whether or not that person will resent you. Whether or not you see each other or will see them again play a big part in your behavior. [10:18] History has a lot to play in the actions people take. Existing relationships help determine actions. [12:39] It is important to understand who has what power in each situation when you determine what to offer and think about how they might react. [14:0312] You can make an extra gesture (surprise & delight) to make a big impact. That first interaction lays a foundation for what people expect and how they feel about you in all your future interactions. [15:58 It is important to understand all the options and variables before taking an action or making an offer. [17:02] In the prisoner's dilemma, as a group they are better to both not say anything and take the one-year's sentence. If they look at their individual personal gain or personal loss they are of course better off with no prison time motivating them to say something. [19:50] As it turns out, a tit-for-tat strategy consistently did best overall. In this way, you cooperate until someone deflects. [20:31] A quick response and a short memory was the best strategy. [21:19] In most real-life scenarios most of us are likely to choose to play fair until given a reason not to. [22:40] As much as we wish it would be, dealing with people is never black and white. There is so much gray impacting every situation and decision. [23:54] Always have written contracts and agreements. Document to ensure clarity. [26:23] Game theory is truly around us all of the time. Pretty much any time you interact with another person, business, or entity game theory comes into play. We play the odds whether we realize it or not. [29:23] Companies used to be able to take advantage of customers much more if they wanted to. There wasn't an easy mechanism for them to be punished. Often the punishment hurts much more than if you did the right thing in the first place. [29:52] Melina shares a story about United playing the odds and losing big time. [32:17] When emotions take hold it can cause people to make bad decisions that they may regret in the long run so try and get some distance and perspective before acting especially if you feel really betrayed and angry. [33:19] When it comes to games many people are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Winning is a long game. [36:02] Winners quit a lot of stuff because they know what winning looks like. They know the rules, they know the game, and they can see what is helping them reach their goals and what is a hindrance. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop f

In today's conversation, I am joined by Annie Duke, a former professional poker player (widely known as one of the best female players in the world) who also has an impressive and fascinating background in psychology, which she will talk about on the show today. I've been wanting to have Annie on for ages, she has two other fantastic books called Thinking in Bets and How to Decide, and I am so delighted that she wrote this additional book, Quit, which we are talking about today (and really, she talks about all three books in our conversation). I am so honored and delighted that Annie took the time to chat with me for this interview. We had a great conversation and ended up chatting for over 90 minutes (with about 80 of those recorded). Here on the show today, we are cutting that conversation down to fit in under an hour but if you want to hear the full conversation in detail, come on over to the BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group -- it's our free community of behavioral economics enthusiasts from around the world, and you can check out the full video interview and conversation. Annie is a wealth of knowledge and insights, so you will want to glean every extra moment just like I did, I'm sure – be sure to stick around for monkeys and pedestals! Show Notes: [00:40] In today's conversation, I am joined by Annie Duke, a former professional poker player who also has an impressive and fascinating background in psychology. [03:07] Annie shares her background and how she found herself in the world of behavioral science. [04:41] Her brother was the one who suggested she play poker and she ended up playing poker for 18 years as her profession. [06:05] After eight years as a poker player she started getting asked to give talks. The first talk she gave was to a group of options traders and she talked about how poker might inform your thinking about cognitive bias. From there she started getting referrals and spending more time speaking than playing poker. [07:11] In 2012, she retired from poker to spend more time on the business side of things and started consulting and speaking full-time. [09:13] If you look at anything on Annie's journey from the time she entered graduate school, it is all decision-making under uncertainty. [11:09] The more ways that you are thinking about problems and the different frames that you have to ponder these issues you end up bringing something different to the table. [12:54] Premortems can be very effective if you combine them with other good decision-making tools. [15:14] If you use prospective hindsight instead of just forward planning, research shows you will generate 30% more reasons for failure or success if you didn't do prospective hindsight. [17:14] Self-serving bias is that when bad things happen to us as individuals we tend to blame them on things that are outside of our control. [19:49] Other researchers suggest that premortems need to be done in groups to be successful. [22:42] Thinking in Bets was a book that she had really wanted to write for many years, which is about making decisions under uncertainty. [25:27] One of the things she really talks about in Thinking in Bets is resulting. Resulting is when we look at other people and assume if they have a bad outcome then they made a bad decision and a good outcome is from luck (whereas when we have a bad outcome it is luck and a good outcome is from our good decision making – this is very similar to fundamental attribution error). [26:55] She wrote How to Decide as a companion, which had more practical tools for making decisions. [28:23] Annie shares about writing her new book Quit. [30:44] Most of the decisions you make you can actually probably make faster. The way to decide if you can go faster is by looking at the consequences of getting the decision wrong. [33:01] We are really bad at exercising the option to quit when the time comes. The option to quit is very valuable. [35:02] She shares the many Zoom conversations with influential behavioral scientists she had prior to writing her new book about quitting. [36:36] Science shows that when we quit, we are usually doing it too late. [38:45] One of the problems we have is that once we set a goal we are immediately in the losses. [39:20] Annie shares about the California Bullet Train. [41:51] After getting the project approved once starting the project they realize they have two big problems… (Why didn't they "see" them before?) [44:22] Instead of stopping the project, they approved two pieces of track that don't address the gigantic engineering problems. [46:13] Monkeys and pedestals is an incredibly helpful framework for trying to figure out how you approach projects to find out the information you need to find out the fastest so you can figure out if it is something you want to stick to. [47:26] She shares the monkeys and pedestal's story. You have to start with the monkey (the hard part) of the problem first. [49:11] When you do but up against hard things you tend

Today's episode is a very special one, it is our first-ever edition from the vault. What does that mean? Well, for one thing, we now have TWO episodes of The Brainy Business coming to you each week, starting with this one. It is an episode from the back catalog that I think is super relevant and timely for you right now, so it got a little refresh. Why this one and why today? Firstly, it is because change is ever-present in our lives and businesses, and in this age of The Great Resignation, quiet quitting, returning to work, hybrid offices and so much more. Managing and leading through change is something everyone seems to be talking about these days, so this episode is one I think will help a lot of people. As you will hear in this episode, change is "not about the cookie" it is more about the way a change is presented than anything else, so you have the power to influence how others react to whatever information you are presenting. Remember change is in the micro-moments, so it doesn't have to be anything big. Look for those small tweaks that could make a huge difference. Show Notes: [00:38] Today's episode is a very special one. It is our first-ever Tuesday episode (double the brainy!!) and our first edition from the vault. [02:14] Change is in the micro-moments, so it doesn't have to be anything big. Look for those small tweaks that could make a huge difference. [03:41] Melina shares the cookie story. I want you to imagine that we are walking down the street... [05:56] It's not about the cookie, the change, or the price. It is about the way the information is presented. [08:28] Change management is leading through change. [09:02] Change and getting people to change is all about selling them on your perspective and getting them to buy in and commit even when money is not being exchanged. [12:02] Our subconscious brain is like a small child. We would all like to think we have grown past this point, but much of our decision-making is still done on this level. [14:25] Consider the ripples. One small decision or word on an advertising campaign or a change conversation can have a different impact on different people and it is based on their perspectives. [16:30] The overall brand and campaign message needs to be consistent. You also need to identify what an individual in each of these groups is supposed to do when they see the message and what they need to hear to get them to take the next step. [18:46] We often run a message for consistency's sake across everything without thinking about what those people need to hear, where they are coming from, and what matters to them. We think about the group as a whole instead of considering the individuals and what they need in that moment to take the best course of action. [20:41] When confronted with change our brains are trained to revert to a place of fear and they are very good at dwelling on small items. [21:56] The endowment effect: our brains favor things they own over other things. [23:55] Studies show it takes double the joy felt by a gain to outweigh the pain felt by a loss. [26:07] When given the choice people tend to go with the status quo and favor it very heavily…especially when there are many options presented. [28:45] Change management conversations are more likely to have the brain flagged and on high alert. [31:32] Be thoughtful of the way the meeting or discussion is framed or called together. If you are delivering bad news or presenting a change you want them to buy in on, you don't want to oversell the meeting. [33:58] You want to make sure the document is outlined in a way that helps them come to the best conclusion themselves so their brain takes ownership of the change you are going to propose to them. [34:46] When you are proposing a big change you need to do your homework. When the stakes are high your prep work needs to be significant as well. [37:09] Putting in the groundwork allows you to have advocates. Having advocates is so key in branding. [38:57] When people are on edge and likely to get a fight or flight response, triggering on scarcity could work against you if not done properly. [42:49] Framing is everything when it comes to change management. It isn't what you say, it is how you say it. [43:49] You need to know why you want them to take the step, why it matters, and get them invested in the proposed outcome. [46:20] Framing the benefits and talking about the good stuff instead of helping them dwell on the bad is how you get changes to move forward. [47:49] You want them to feel comfortable coming back to you with questions. You are allies in this. [49:24] What tiny moments of change do you see around you for your next initiative in the way you will be presenting change? Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show. I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was indepen

Today is a very exciting day, as it is the last episode before I'm officially a multi-book author, because my second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You will officially be out and hitting mailboxes on Tuesday, October 11! There is something else very, very exciting kicking off on Tuesday as well, so be sure to stay to the end to hear all about that… In this episode, we are going to do a deep dive into the book. I talk about what you can expect to find within it, why I wrote it, who it is for, and (because this is quite possibly one of the things I get asked about the most these days) some fun insights into the writing process and my tips for you in creating your own content (whether it is a book or something else). Show Notes: [00:39] Today is a very exciting day, as it is the last episode before I'm officially a multi-book author, because my second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You will officially be out and hitting mailboxes on Tuesday, October 11! [02:34] This book has been in the works for a long time, really since episode seven came out of the podcast way back on August 3, 2018. My framework for change has grown and adapted a bit over the years, but even through: creating a 10-week course I teach virtually via the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M University, countless speaking engagements and corporate training, and the full process of writing this book…it has really kept its bones. [04:29] What are my secrets for book writing? The first secret is that I'm naturally a good writer and I've spent a lot of time writing and editing all sorts of content from 3-word ads to 70,000 word books and everything in between. I also dedicate the time I need to be able to write. [06:14] My writing is made possible by a very supportive family, especially my husband Aaron. I have dedicated both of my books to him because truly, The Brainy Business and all its content would not be possible without him. [07:38] It isn't all writing every moment of every day, the brain needs breaks. I was able to go on a few jogs by the ocean which was nice and I also had some mindless crafty entertainment. [08:47] Taking the time to let your mind exist and make connections is so so so important when working on content. Building those contemplative moments into your day is really useful. [11:30] You may have heard this one already, but you need to just get stuff out of your head and onto the paper (virtual or otherwise). My process starts with some sort of an outline. I usually do this with software that allows for virtual cards or sticky notes that I can move around. [13:07] Once you have your initial outline I recommend starting with whatever feels the easiest. In my experience, this is NOT the beginning. Whatever that easiest thing is, start there and write anything you can to get it out of your brain. [15:41] I wrote the first book in three months. For book two, I was able to start writing in December of 2021 and the full manuscript was due at the first of February; so only two months this time. [17:27] My process allows for strict priorities and focus in short bursts. This lets me give each thing my all until it is done and then move on to the next. [18:09] Done is better than perfect. Sometimes you have to let things speak to you in the moment and go with where you end up even if it is different than you intended. [21:34] I wrote the book because I could see that this concept of change and understanding biased brains and how they impact our workplace was on the uptick in businesses. I could see that this was going to be critical for businesses moving forward and if I wanted to be on the front end of that wave. [23:39] The book is for people who want to have more influence at work and to make it so change is easier for themselves and everyone around them. [25:01] This book is also set up to help teams of people work together within an organization to get a shared common language and be able to grow together to be better managers that help move a company forward. [26:01] According to Gallup, four out of five current managers do not have the talent required to excel in the job in a way that will help the company and its employees to thrive. [28:16] What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You is here to help every manager—whether they have the natural talent for the role or not—to be excellent at leading their teams through change. If you want to put in the work to be a great manager and are willing to learn and adapt based on the science I present to you in this book, I truly believe you can achieve that goal. [30:11] This book is also segmented into three parts. [31:08] Part 1 is called Big Plans and Micro-Moments and it has four chapters within it. This part is really about understanding our brains, understanding how change works within the brain, understanding what it means to be a great manager, and how to think about change overall. [31:36] Part 2 is called Biases and Concepts. [33:18] We are all biased