In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer explores the intriguing concept of the Hawthorne Effect and its implications for employee behavior and productivity. Drawing from her wealth of experience in behavioral science, Melina adeptly navigates the significance of monitoring in the workplace, emphasizing the need for transparency and employee involvement. She expertly highlights the benefits and potential drawbacks of monitoring, offering valuable insights into the complexities of human behavior and their implications for businesses.  The episode captures Melina's passion for behavioral design and her dedication to unraveling the multifaceted factors that influence employee performance. Through real-world examples and thought-provoking discussions, Melina compellingly presents the case for why business managers should tune in to gain a deeper understanding of the Hawthorne Effect and its relevance in driving organizational success. With a conversational and engaging tone, Melina invites listeners to join her in exploring the intricacies of employee behavior and its practical implications for business management. In this episode: Improve productivity and behavior with effective monitoring strategies. Uncover the powerful impact of the Hawthorne effect on employee performance. Embrace transparency in monitoring to foster a culture of trust and accountability. Explore the benefits and drawbacks of employee monitoring for informed decision-making. Navigate the complexities of interpreting results to avoid confirmation bias. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina Palmer introduces the episode and discusses the focus on the Hawthorne Effect, which explores how behavior changes when people know they are being watched or observed. 00:02:07 - The Hawthorne Studies Melina discusses the Hawthorne Studies conducted at Western Electric's Hawthorne location in the 1920s. These studies aimed to understand how changes in worker conditions would impact productivity and were among the first to incorporate worker opinions and mindset into planning processes. 00:04:43 - Factors Influencing Results The experiments at the Hawthorne location showed that providing input and treating workers as human beings with opinions and worth resulted in increased productivity. However, modern researchers have identified that too many factors were being changed simultaneously, and the special treatment given to the group of women also influenced the results. 00:06:53 - Understanding the Hawthorne Effect The Hawthorne Effect states that when people know they are being observed or that an experiment is taking place, it changes their behavior. This can impact the results of experiments and studies. Researchers often hide the true intent of the study to avoid bias caused by participant awareness. 00:10:19 - Avoiding Observer Bias In certain cases, it is important to avoid observer bias by ensuring that people are not aware they are being watched or observed. This is done to obtain a natural view of behavior and prevent participants from altering their actions. Secret shoppers and incognito observation methods are commonly used in these situations. 00:15:47 - The Impact of Monitoring on Workers Monitoring can be helpful in boosting productivity, but it can also make workers feel rushed and stressed. It's important to involve workers in the monitoring process and address their concerns to avoid negative impacts on performance. 00:17:19 - Importance of Involving Workers in Monitoring When monitoring more complex tasks, it's crucial to ask for workers' input and involve them in the process. This helps them understand the reasons behind monitoring and ensures they feel valued and supported. 00:18:14 - Benefits of Monitoring for Security and Behavior Monitoring can deter theft and encourage good behavior. Security cameras can make people act differently when they know they're being watched. However, over-monitoring or constant visits can lead to immunity and reduced impact. 00:19:41 - Avoiding Confirmation Bias and the Hawthorne Effect Researchers should be cautious of confirmation bias and the Hawthorne effect, which can bias results and hinder finding the real problem or solution. Digging deeper and considering motivations and incentives is crucial. 00:21:32 -  Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Behavioral Science in the Wild, by Dilip Soman and Nina Mazar What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Designing for Behavior Change, by Stephen Wendel Top Recommended Next Episode: Using Ethnography to Understand Your Customers (ep 324) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dilip Soman Interview (ep 241) Understanding the Problem  (ep 126) How Simple Nudges Can Save Hundreds of Millions (ep 140) Designing for Behavior Change (ep 116) Incentives (ep 36) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) How to Setup Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Time Pressure (ep 74) Priming (ep 252) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Loss Aversion (ep 316) Ikea Effect (ep 112) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Systematic Review of the Hawthorne Effect: New Concepts Are Needed to Study Research Participation Effects The Hawthorne Effect and Behavioral Studies The “Hawthorne Effect” — What Did the Original Hawthorne Studies Actually Show? The Hawthorne Effect – Or Why Everything Works Hemming and Hawing over Hawthorne: Work Complexity and the Divergent Effects of Monitoring on Productivity Hawthorne Effect Hawthorne Studies Podcast Movement Virtual Could You Leverage Podcast Guesting to Grow Your Visibility? Louise Brogan: The Social Bee Ian Anderson Gray

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you will hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and Lianne Potter, a cybersecurity consultant with a background in anthropology. Lianne's unique journey from being a software developer to entering the field of cybersecurity provides a valuable perspective on understanding user behavior and cultural nuances in technology. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing the human element in cybersecurity and highlights the need for businesses to bridge the gap between the security team and other departments.  By incorporating disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, and behavioral economics, organizations can gain a deeper understanding of why humans behave the way they do, ultimately leading to a stronger security culture. Lianne also shares her thoughts on the metaverse and the significance of direct communication platforms in shaping our digital interactions. This episode sheds light on the role of anthropology in cybersecurity and offers practical insights for cybersecurity professionals and business leaders seeking to improve their understanding of human behavior and cultural nuances in security practices. In this episode: Understand the cultural nuances within your organization to develop tailored cybersecurity practices that align with user behavior. Discover how human behavior influences the security practices within your organization and how to leverage this knowledge to enhance cybersecurity. Foster a stronger security culture within your organization by recognizing and addressing the unique challenges and motivations of your employees. Incorporate the principles of anthropology into your business processes to gain a deeper understanding of your organization's security practices and how they can be improved. Gain insight into the relationship between human behavior and security practices to effectively implement strategies that mitigate cyber risks. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer introduces Lianne Potter, a cyber anthropologist. Lianne shares her expertise in cyber anthropology, which involves applying the principles of anthropology to understand and improve cybersecurity cultures. 00:03:11 - Understanding Cybersecurity Culture Lianne explains the importance of understanding cybersecurity culture, from individual users to security teams within organizations. By addressing resistance and finding solutions, cultural security transformation becomes easier and more effective. 00:05:55 - Becoming a Cyber Anthropologist Lianne discusses how she became a cyber anthropologist and the early challenges of studying digital cultures. She highlights the impact of virtual spaces on relationships, the replication of societal structures, and the need to preserve digital artifacts. 00:09:59 - Applying Anthropology in Real-Life Lianne shares her experience working for a charity and applying her anthropology skills to solve issues of destitution. She encountered the digital divide, where vulnerable individuals faced social disadvantages due to a lack of access to online services. 00:13:45 - The Human-Centric Approach to Security Lianne emphasizes the importance of a human-centric approach to security. By understanding the human factors and motivations behind cybersecurity behaviors, organizations can create more effective security practices and mitigate risks. 00:16:54 - Introduction to Technology and Anthropology Lianne talks about her experience growing up with a family computer and her interest in computer programming. She shares how she used free online resources and attended tech meetups to teach herself programming. Lianne also explains how her background in anthropology influenced her approach to technology. 00:18:30 - Applying Anthropology to Technology in the NHS Lianne discusses her first job as a software developer in the UK National Health Service (NHS) and how she applied anthropology to ensure that technology was created with the end user in mind. She emphasizes the importance of considering cultural nuances when developing technology for a diverse range of customers. 00:20:12 - Transition to Cybersecurity Lianne shares her curiosity about a security team within her organization and her determination to join them. She explains how she became fascinated with cybersecurity and eventually transitioned into the field. Lianne highlights the cultural differences between cybersecurity teams and other tech teams. 00:23:57 - The Human Element in Cybersecurity Lianne compares digital security to physical security and emphasizes the importance of the human element in cybersecurity. She suggests using technology, such as password managers, to reduce human errors. Lianne also discusses the perception of hackers and the complexity of policing in the virtual space. 00:27:56 - Language and Victim-Shaming in Cybersecurity Lianne addresses the language used to describe victims of cyber incidents and highlights the victim-shaming culture. She emphasizes the need for empathy and understanding, 00:33:21 - The Vicious Cycle of Security Controls The lack of communication and collaboration between different teams in an organization leads to a cycle of ineffective security controls. This cycle results in workarounds that are more dangerous than the threats they aim to protect against, making the organization more vulnerable. 00:34:59 - Changing the Security Culture The security team must lead by example and be willing to change their own mindset and practices. Rather than blaming others for the lack of security culture, the security team needs to take responsibility and work towards improving their own approach to security. 00:35:52 - Leveraging User Research and User Experience Teams Collaborating with user research and user experience teams can help the security team ask the right questions and gain a deeper understanding of user behaviors and needs. This collaboration can lead to innovative security solutions that prioritize user experience and make security measures more seamless and user-friendly. 00:39:14 - Participant Observation and Building Trust Embracing the anthropological research technique of participant observation allows the security team to immerse themselves in different departments and understand their culture and challenges. By building trust and gaining insights into the unspoken issues and breakdowns in communication, the security team can address the root causes of poor security practices. 00:42:18 - The Metaverse and Identity The concept of the metaverse raises questions about the necessity of avatars and separate platforms for communication. With the rise of direct communication channels like WhatsApp and LinkedIn messenger, the need for avatars 00:49:17 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Lianne: LinkedIn Lianne’s Website  YouTube 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: Humanizing Rules, by Christian Hunt Speed of Trust, by Stephen MR Covey Look, by Christian Madsbjerg Using Semiotics in Retail, by Rachel Lawes Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy Top Recommended Next Episode: Felicity Heathcote-Marcz Interview (ep 324) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Christian Hunt Interview (ep 311) Priscilla McKinney Interview (ep 196) Patrick Fagen Interview (ep 138) Luke Freeman Interview (ep 239) Social Proof (ep 87) What Problem Are You Solving? (ep 126) Stephen MR Covey Interview (ep 320) Look (ep 325) Cognitive Semiotics (ep 259) Rachel Lawes Interview (ep 191) Olson Zaltman Interview (ep 181) Overwhelm and Decision Making (ep 358) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll join host Melina Palmer as she dives into the fascinating world of behavioral economics and decision-making. With her expertise in the field, Melina explores the concept of Expect Error and how it plays a crucial role in understanding human behavior and designing effective nudges. By sharing personal experiences and real-life examples, she highlights the common errors we make in judgment and decision-making.  From post-completion errors to forgetfulness, Melina demonstrates how anticipating these errors can lead to improved decision-making and behavior. Throughout the episode, she provides valuable insights and practical strategies for businesses and individuals to leverage the power of nudges and choice architecture. So, if you're interested in enhancing your decision-making skills and understanding the psychology behind our choices, this episode of The Brainy Business is a must-listen. Get ready to gain valuable knowledge and unlock the secrets to better decision-making! In this episode, you will: Understand the impact of errors in decision-making to improve your choices. Harness the power of choice architecture to shape your decisions and outcomes. Discover effective nudges that can influence behavior and guide decision-making. Enhance the effectiveness of nudges by incorporating sensory cues. Create consistency in your routines and habits to optimize your decision-making process. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode, which focuses on the E in Nudges - Expect Error. She explains that humans make errors in judgment and decision-making all the time, and emphasizes the importance of designing interventions to support behavior. 00:03:32 - Importance of Expecting Error Melina discusses the importance of expecting errors in decision-making and how it is the reason why nudges and choice architecture exist. She highlights that humans are not perfect, unlike the fictitious species of econs in traditional economic models, and provides examples of errors we can expect in everyday life. 00:07:53 - Post-completion Error Melina explains the concept of post-completion error, where we mentally check off a task as done even if it is only partially completed. She shares her personal example of forgetting to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Melina also mentions the importance of incorporating all the senses when designing nudges to prevent errors. 00:10:22 - Consistency and Medication Errors Melina discusses the importance of consistency in preventing errors, using the example of medication adherence. She explains how taking medication daily and at a consistent time can help reduce the likelihood of forgetting. Melina also mentions the use of placebo weeks in birth control pills and the recommendation to take weekly medication on Sundays. 00:15:22 - The Power of Strategic Foresight Strategic foresight allows businesses to anticipate and solve errors before they happen, creating a strong reputation for problem-solving and customer service. 00:16:44 - Empowering Employees to Make It Right Giving employees the authority to rectify mistakes on the spot, such as offering compensation or going above and beyond, creates a culture of exceptional customer service. 00:18:07 - Going Above and Beyond The Ritz Carlton is a prime example of a company that empowers its staff to do whatever it takes to make things right for customers, creating a sense of trust and loyalty. 00:20:36 - Anticipating Errors By understanding the busy and overwhelmed state of customers and staff, businesses can implement nudges to help prevent errors and alleviate stress. 00:23:34 - Adding Value to Processes By considering the needs and potential errors of customers and staff, businesses can enhance processes by adding helpful features, such as including batteries or recommended add-ons with products. 00:31:42 - Gmail's Nudge Feature Gmail's nudge feature helps users stay on top of their emails by putting important emails back at the top of the inbox after a few days of inactivity. This nudge includes a message in a different color text, like orange, that prompts the user to follow up on the email. 00:32:41 - Hot State and Cold State Understanding the concept of a hot state and a cold state is essential in behavioral economics. In a hot state, people are more likely to make impulsive decisions and struggle to stick to commitments they made in a cold state. Strategies like self-exclusion lists for gamblers and using Dysulfram for alcoholics can help individuals stay on track even when in a hot state. 00:34:14 - Precommitment and Save More Tomorrow Precommitment strategies, like the Save More Tomorrow program, can help individuals increase their commitment to certain behaviors. For example, asking individuals to commit a percentage of their future raises to go directly into their retirement savings has led to significant increases in contributions over time. 00:35:45 - Consistency and Staying Top of Mind Consistency is crucial in business to stay top of mind with customers. Drip campaigns and regular content updates, such as blogs, podcasts, and newsletters, help remind customers of their initial interest and keep the brand in their routine. 00:37:38 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Sludge, by Cass Sunstein What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Friction, by Roger Dooley  Top Recommended Next Episode: Give Feedback, the “G” in NUDGES (ep 40) Already Heard That One? Try These:  What problem are you solving? (ep 215) Structuring Complex Choices, the “S” in NUDGES (ep 41) Mixed Signals with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) Humanizing Rules, with Christian Hunt (ep 311) Quit, with Annie Duke (ep 227) Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Sludge (ep 179) Precommitment (ep 120) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits (ep 256) The Power of Habit (ep 22) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias (ep 34) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity (ep 238) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability (ep 310) Questions or Answers (ep 4) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 358) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias (ep 34) Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? (ep 3) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter What a 5-Step Checklist from Johns Hopkins Can Teach You About Life and Business Silpat Macaron Baking Mat Be on time with the Procrastinator’s Clock Clocky Save More Tomorrow™: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice & Architecture The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Behavioral Economics Postgraduate Degree Programs

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer invites Dr. Ian Robertson, a clinical psychologist, neuroscientist, and author, to delve into the psychology of confidence. With his expertise in understanding how individuals and organizations adapt to change, Ian explores the malleability of confidence and its impact on our lives. He emphasizes that confidence is a belief that can be learned and developed, not solely determined by genetics or brain structure.  Throughout the conversation, Ian shares practical strategies for building confidence, such as setting achievable goals and reframing emotions. He also discusses the role of leaders in fostering collective confidence within teams and highlights the importance of vulnerability, trust-building, and open communication. By understanding the psychology of confidence and implementing the strategies discussed, individuals can boost their confidence and empower themselves in both personal and professional settings. In this episode: Discover the psychology behind confidence and unlock your true potential. Embrace failure as a valuable learning tool to achieve personal and professional growth. Learn how to reframe your emotions to enhance performance and achieve your goals. Start building your confidence one small step at a time and witness the positive impact in your life. Explore the power of collective confidence in leadership and its impact on teams and organizations. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer introduces Dr. Ian Robertson, a clinical psychologist and author of How Confidence Works. They discuss the significance of confidence in shaping individuals' lives and how it can be learned and developed. 00:03:05 - Mind vs. Brain Ian explains the difference between the mind and the brain, using the analogy of hardware and software in a computer. While the brain is the physical structure, the mind refers to the software that shapes our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. He emphasizes that the mind and brain are interconnected and that changes in the mind can have significant effects on the brain. 00:07:33 - The Impact of Confidence on Success Ian discusses the long-term consequences of confidence, using the example of two five-year-old girls with similar abilities. Even a slight difference in confidence can lead to divergent paths and advantages later in life. Confidence not only boosts individual performance but also influences relationships and social dynamics. 00:10:11 - Building Confidence While sudden shifts in confidence, as portrayed in movies, are rare, Ian explains that confidence is built through specific behaviors and tangible successes. The process involves setting proximal goals, gradually stretching oneself, and experiencing a sense of achievement. Slow progress and small successes form the foundation for increased confidence. 00:17:22 - The Benefits of Failure Failure is a better teacher than success as it allows for reflection and learning. Failure can be a threat to the ego, but adopting a growth mindset can help in addressing and learning from failures. 00:18:59 - The Importance of Self-Reflection Self-reflection is crucial for learning from failure. By analyzing the causes of failure, one can gain insights and make improvements in various areas such as skills development, time management, and market understanding. 00:20:15 - Taking Action Despite Failure Taking action in spite of failure builds confidence and resilience. By embracing failure as a friend and focusing on the process rather than negative self-scrutiny, one can overcome the fear of failure and continue moving forward. 00:21:41 - Shifting Perspectives and Emotions Emotions such as anxiety and excitement have similar physical responses in the body. By reframing anxiety as excitement, one can change their mindset from a threat to a challenge. This shift in perspective can improve performance and boost confidence. 00:27:44 - Overcoming Anxiety and Building Confidence Overcoming anxiety by taking action in spite of it can lead to increased confidence. Treating anxiety as an arousal rather than a negative emotion allows one to harness it and focus on internal goals, leading to a sense of accomplishment and improved performance. 00:34:32 - The Importance of Taking Action Overcoming anxiety and fear requires taking action, even when your confidence is low. Start with small steps and gradually work towards your goals. 00:35:27 - Controlling Attention for Confidence What you pay attention to determines your motivation and emotions. Focus on future success rather than possible failure. Set achievable goals and celebrate small wins along the way. 00:37:28 - Collective Confidence in Teams A confident leader can inadvertently drain the confidence of others in a group. To build collective confidence, leaders should ensure equal participation, improve emotional intelligence, and include a diverse range of perspectives. 00:40:08 - The Role of Values in Confidence Clear values shared by a group enhance cohesion and collective confidence. Leaders should foster a sense of unity and trust by promoting a common set of values among team members. 00:44:47 - Avoiding Narcissism and Practicing Humility Success is often influenced by luck and chance factors. Leaders and parents must remain humble and grateful, avoiding narcissism, to inspire and motivate others without diminishing their confidence. 00:45:36 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Ian: His Website LinkedIn Twitter 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 Confidence Works, by Ian Robertson The Winner Effect, by Ian Robertson Think Faster, Talk Smarter, by Matt Abrahams The Truth About Pricing, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: DOSE Brain Chemicals (ep 360) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 296) Imposter Syndrome (ep 306) Bundling Offers (ep 354) How to Pitch Your Business (ep 326) Matt Abrahams Interview (ep 327) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Priming (ep 252) Counterfactual Thinking (ep 286) Prefactual Thinking (ep 232) Survivorship Bias (ep 110) Chris Rawlinson Interview (ep 193) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll join host Melina Palmer as she delves into the fascinating world of the four DOSE brain chemicals: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Melina's passion for understanding the inner workings of the brain led her to explore how these chemicals impact our emotional well-being and motivation.  As she breaks down each chemical and its role, you'll gain valuable insights into how they influence your daily life. Melina dispels the myth that we should always be happy and instead explains how these chemicals are designed to promote survival. By understanding the power of these chemicals, you'll be equipped to optimize your own emotional well-being and motivation. So, if you're looking to increase your fulfillment and success by harnessing the power of your brain, this episode is definitely worth a listen. Get ready to uncover the secrets behind your brain's chemical reactions and discover how to leverage them for a more fulfilling life. In this episode, you will: Understand the role of dopamine in motivation and unlock the key to sustainable drive and achievement. Discover how building trust and connection through oxytocin can enhance your relationships and improve overall well-being. Boost your confidence and belief with serotonin, and unlock your true potential. Learn how to harness the power of endorphins for emotional well-being and experience increased happiness and fulfillment. Gain valuable insights on how to optimize your brain chemicals for increased motivation, success, and overall well-being. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the topic of the episode, which is a deep dive into the four happy chemicals in the brain known as the dose brain chemicals: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. She also mentions her upcoming conversation with Dr. Ian Robertson about dopamine and confidence. 00:02:18 - The Purpose of the Dose Brain Chemicals The brain chemicals dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins are not naturally there to make us feel good, but rather to promote survival. They have become more easily accessible in our modern world, leading to tolerance and the need for more stimulation. 00:04:27 - Dopamine and Anticipation Dopamine is released in the brain during anticipation and motivation. It is not the item or reward itself that gives us dopamine, but the drive to obtain it. Unnatural levels of dopamine from things like sugar and social media can lead to addiction and decreased satisfaction with natural rewards. 00:07:36 - The Impact of Unnatural Dopamine Levels Our modern lives are flooded with unnatural levels of dopamine from various sources, such as junk food, social media, and video games. This can lead to a decrease in motivation for natural rewards. Detoxing from these unnatural sources can help reset our brain's dopamine expectations. 00:10:59 - Training Your Brain for Natural Rewards By cutting out unnatural sources of dopamine and embracing new goals, we can help train our brains to find rewards in more natural ways. 00:16:33 - Building Trust and Oxytocin Opening yourself up to trust is key for survival and critical for the release of oxytocin. Start small, set realistic expectations, and build trust through successful commitments. 00:18:03 - Serotonin and the Need for Respect Serotonin is about confidence, social status, and belief in your own abilities. Embrace the need for respect without becoming a narcissist. Focus on the positive feedback from others and believe in your own value. 00:21:51 - Endorphins and the Importance of Pain Endorphins are released in response to pain. While exercise is a common way to release endorphins, laughter and stretching can also trigger their release. Be cautious not to chase the endorphin high and put yourself in harm's way. 00:26:10 - Cortisol and Managing Stress Cortisol is released in response to threats or fears. Constantly masking cortisol with positive experiences can lead to increased production. Allow yourself to feel cortisol and accept the natural ebb and flow of brain chemicals. 00:27:41 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Confidence Works, by Ian Robertson Indistractable, by Nir Eyal The Truth About Pricing, by Melina Palmer Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Top Recommended Next Episode: Wendy Wood Interview (Ep 127) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Herding (ep 264) Habits (ep 256) The Power of Habit (ep 22) Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (ep 29) Apple Card (ep 42) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories (ep 54) Surprise and Delight (ep 60) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (ep 67) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Interview With Author Nir Eyal (ep 78) Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions (ep 79) How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) (ep 81) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Confirmation Bias (ep 102) How To Use Behavioral Economics to Create Thriving Cities (ep 113) Interview with Bec Weeks (ep 119) Prince Ghuman (ep 172) Matt Johnson Interview (ep 160) Truth About Pricing (ep 356) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter How I Tricked My Brain To Like Doing Hard Things (Dopamine Detox) Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endorphin Brain Chemistry Lifehacks: Steve Ilardi at TEDxKC Five Ways to Boost Your Natural Happy Chemicals Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you will hear Melina Palmer interview Adam Alter, author of the book Anatomy of a Breakthrough. Adam shares his personal experience of feeling stuck during his early college days, which led him to research and develop strategies for getting unstuck. The conversation covers the four sections of his book: Help, Heart, Head, and Habit, each focusing on different aspects of overcoming obstacles and making progress. They discuss the importance of slowing down, acknowledging emotions, and developing adaptive strategies. Adam also emphasizes the exploration-exploitation distinction and the significance of knowing when to say yes and when to say no. He highlights the benefits of facing fears, taking risks, and not being afraid to fail. In this episode, you will: Enhance decision-making skills for professional success and personal growth. Understand the impact of technology and screen time on productivity and well-being. Create a mindful and focused environment by cultivating analog practices. Experience the benefits of mindful living and screen-free periods for increased clarity and creativity. Overcome fear and achieve breakthroughs to unlock your full potential. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces Adam Alter and his background in behavioral science and decision-making. They discuss his previous books and his focus on understanding why we make predictable errors and how subtle cues in the environment influence our behavior. 00:02:24 - The Influence of Screens Adam shares his research on the effects of screen time on our well-being and the shift in public perception about technology. He emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where we have periods of time without access to screens to improve our mental focus and overall quality of life. 00:06:03 - Cultivating Healthy Screen Habits Adam advises creating boundaries with screens, such as keeping phones in a different room during meals and before bed, to reduce the temptation to constantly check and use devices. He highlights the impact of physical proximity on our psychological experience and suggests analog solutions to digital problems. 00:09:30 - The Outsourcing of Experience Adam discusses how we have become reliant on devices such as watches and phones to capture and validate our experiences. He shares a personal anecdote about restarting a run because his watch didn't record it, highlighting our tendency to outsource the business of living to technology. 00:10:26 - The Illusion of Experience Adam explores the idea that if our devices don't capture an experience, it feels as though the experience didn't happen. He suggests that we need to be conscious of this reliance on technology. 00:13:52 - Introduction Adam discusses his new book on getting unstuck, sharing his own experiences and research on the topic. 00:15:16 - Section 1: Help Adam introduces the concept of demystification and explores the struggles and hardships faced by successful individuals like actress Brie Larson. 00:17:08 - Section 2: Heart The emotional component of being stuck is explored in this section, emphasizing the importance of dealing with emotions and coping with the discomfort of feeling stuck. 00:17:53 - Section 3: Head Adam delves into cognitive strategies for getting unstuck, including finding good ideas, conducting friction audits, and seeking support from others. 00:18:25 - Section 4: Habit The final section focuses on taking action to get unstuck, discussing the importance of actionable behaviors, and outlining how to determine the right actions to take. 00:19:22 - Allowing for Space and Being Stuck The conversation explores the idea of allowing oneself to be stuck and the importance of taking breaks and creating space for creativity and productivity. 00:23:10 - Consistency vs. Off Switch Adam challenges the notion that success requires constant consistency, highlighting the value of having an "off switch" and embracing downtime for rejuvenation and creativity. 00:27:33 - The Dunning Kruger Effect and Confidence Tanking Adam discusses the Dunning-Kruger effect, where people realize they don't know enough about something, and their confidence drops. They can choose to invest and work on it or give up completely. 00:28:09 - Exploration vs Exploitation Mindset Adam explains the exploration exploitation distinction. In exploration mode, one should say yes to opportunities to try new things and create a wide funnel of experiences. In exploitation mode, focus on one thing and say no to everything else to make progress. 00:29:54 - The Importance of Saying No Adam emphasizes the importance of saying no and not getting stuck on things that don't matter. Some people are good at saying no and it helps them prioritize what is truly important. 00:30:19 - Balancing Yes and No Mindsets Adam suggests a challenge where students say yes to everything for a month, followed by a period of saying no. It's important to explore and try new things but also to focus on what truly matters and make progress. 00:31:37 - Facing Fears and Overcoming Stuckness Adam shares the story of a woman who challenged herself to face her fears for 100 days. By confronting her fears, she learned that fear doesn't have to control her and got unstuck as a person. 00:40:45 - The Importance of Training Beyond the Goal Adam shares the example of golfer Phil Mickelson, who trains by playing multiple rounds of golf in a day instead of just 18 holes. By pushing himself to play more, Mickelson improves his concentration and makes 18 holes feel easier. Overtraining can be a useful method for training focus and concentration in any area. 00:42:43 - The Benefits and Challenges of Overtraining Overtraining can be extremely effective for improving focus and concentration, but it can also leave you depleted. The asymmetry in golf, where a lapse in concentration can result in a significant loss of strokes, makes overtraining particularly valuable. It's important to find a balance and consider the potential costs and benefits of overtraining in any context. 00:43:35 - Practicing Beyond the Goal Just focusing on the main goal can make it difficult to achieve. By practicing beyond the goal, such as using a weighted ball in soccer or adding weight to a baseball bat, you can develop the strength and skills needed to perform even better when faced with standard conditions.  00:44:56 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Adam: Adam’s website  Twitter LinkedIn 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: Anatomy of a Breakthrough, Adam Alter Irresistible, Adam Alter Influence if Your Superpower, Zoe Chance The Power of Saying No, Vanessa Patrick Friction, Roger Dooley Top Recommended Next Episode: Anchoring (ep Already Heard That One? Try These:  Roger Dooley Interview (ep 274) Framing (ep 296) Relativity (ep 12) Dunning Kruger Effect (ep 266) Habits (ep 256) What Problem Are You Solving? (ep 126) Paradox of Choice (ep 171) Overwhelmed Brain (ep 358) Nir Eyal Interview (ep 290) Zoe Chance Interview (ep 308) Vanessa Patrick Interview (ep 309) Questionstorming (ep 215) Set, Achieve, and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Imposter Syndrome (ep 306) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter 100 Days Without Fear

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll join host Melina Palmer as she dives into the fascinating topic of cognitive overload and its impact on decision-making. Melina's expertise in behavioral economics and decision science makes her the perfect guide to help you understand how an overwhelmed brain can hinder your ability to make rational choices. She shares insightful strategies for reducing cognitive load, allowing you to improve your decision-making skills and make better choices in all aspects of life. With her engaging storytelling and relatable examples, Melina will captivate your attention and leave you with practical tools to overcome cognitive overload. Whether you're seeking personal growth or professional development, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their decision-making abilities and reduce cognitive overwhelm. In this episode, you will: Gain a clear understanding of how cognitive overload impacts your decision-making, so you can make more informed choices and avoid costly mistakes. Explore effective strategies for reducing cognitive load, enabling you to think more clearly and efficiently, leading to improved decision-making and increased productivity. Discover practical ways to overcome overwhelm and improve your overall productivity, so you can achieve your goals with a focused and calm mindset. Recognize the importance of clear communication and goal setting in decision-making, empowering you to align your actions with your objectives for more successful outcomes. Learn how to address post-completion error and reduce overwhelm, ensuring that you can navigate complex tasks and projects without feeling overwhelmed or making avoidable mistakes. Understand the power of prioritization and effective time management in decision-making, enabling you to allocate your resources wisely and make quality choices that align with your long-term objectives. Uncover the impact of information overload on decision-making and explore strategies to filter and prioritize information, allowing you to make better decisions in today's fast-paced world. Gain insights into decision-making biases and learn techniques to overcome them, helping you minimize the influence of cognitive biases on your choices and improve your rational decision-making abilities. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode on the overwhelmed brain and its impact on decision-making. She highlights the importance of reducing cognitive load and provides insights on how show notes and videos can help alleviate overwhelm. 00:02:26 - The Power of Show Notes Melina explains the significance of show notes in helping listeners retain information. She emphasizes that having access to detailed show notes and videos allows the brain to relax and focus on the content, leading to better decision-making. 00:06:29 - The Chocolate Cake Study Melina discusses a study where participants were asked to remember either a two-digit or seven-digit number. The results showed that those with the higher cognitive load were more likely to choose chocolate cake as a snack. This highlights how overwhelm can influence decision-making towards instant gratification. 00:09:36 - Ignoring Complexity Melina explains how our brains tend to ignore tasks that are deemed too complex or overwhelming. She discusses the brain's preference for simplicity and how it relies on subconscious rules of thumb to make decisions. This has implications for understanding why our brains get overwhelmed and how it affects decision-making. 00:11:25 - Overwhelm and Performance Melina explores how overwhelm can negatively impact performance. She references Dan Ariely's book, The Upside of Irrationality, which highlights how the weight of high stakes and pressure can impair cognitive function and lead to worse performance. This underscores the importance of managing overwhelm to optimize decision-making. 00:16:01 - Introduction and Traveling Checklist Melina introduces herself and discusses her packing routine for important trips, highlighting the tendency to obsessively run through lists in her head. She emphasizes the importance of relieving overwhelm from the conscious brain and shares her personal experience of forgetting to close the garage door. 00:17:48 - Post-completion Error and Overwhelming Tasks Melina explains the concept of post-completion error, where the brain marks a task as complete when only some or most of it has been done. She relates this to personal examples such as leaving clothes in the washing machine all day. She encourages the use of checklists and sticky notes to combat overwhelm. 00:20:17 - Relieving Overwhelm in Work and Personal Life Melina urges listeners to find ways to relieve overwhelm in both their work and personal lives. She suggests simple strategies like using sticky notes and establishing routines to help manage tasks effectively. She also emphasizes the importance of being a resource to customers by helping them alleviate overwhelm. 00:20:58 - Overwhelming Customers Melina prompts listeners to reflect on whether they are overwhelming their current or potential customers. She advises considering the amount of information being presented and the order in which it is presented. If customers feel overwhelmed, they may hesitate or delay making decisions. 00:32:15 - Overcoming Constant Updates Constantly checking for updates can make the whole experience feel jaded. Instead, lenders can provide proactive updates to make customers feel valued and informed, while also avoiding unnecessary interruptions. 00:33:17 - Bringing Value and Endearment Proactive updates not only benefit customers but also help lenders prioritize their tasks and avoid wasting time. It creates a sense of reciprocity, which can be beneficial when asking for referrals or reviews. 00:34:14 - Tips to Overcome Overwhelm The five tips to overcome overwhelm are: write things down, focus on one task at a time, create patterns or habits, set goals, and incorporate breathing room and checkpoints. 00:35:03 - Getting Things Out of Your Head Getting things out of your head is crucial to avoid overwhelm. Don't rely on your memory and limit your focus and goals to reduce stress. 00:37:45 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Anatomy of a Breakthrough, by Adam Alter Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Work Well. Play More! by Marcey Rader Come Up For Air, by Nick Sonnenberg Top Recommended Next Episode: Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES (ep 362) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Give Feedback: The “G” in NUDGES (ep 40) How to Set, Achieve and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) DOSE Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Planning Fallacy (ep 346) Time Discounting (ep 328) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Cassie Holmes Interview (ep 257) Marcey Rader Interview (ep 323) Nick Sonnenberg Interview (ep 347) Sludge (ep 179) Friction (ep 274) Ben Guttmann Interview (ep 351) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits (ep 256) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity (ep 23) Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight (ep 24) Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell (ep 298) Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (ep 29) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Heart and Mind in Conflict: the Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain (Whether Or Not You Finish Them)

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer dives into the importance of choosing between quality and value when it comes to your brand strategy. She talks about how businesses can be successful with either approach, but it's crucial to pick one and stick with it. Melina shares real case studies of brands like Supreme and Costco to illustrate how they've excelled by aligning their pricing strategies with their brand messaging.  She emphasizes that understanding how customers perceive your brand is key to making informed decisions about your positioning in the market. If you're an entrepreneur looking to establish a clear brand identity and nail down consistent brand messaging and pricing strategies, this episode is a must-listen. Melina's insights and examples make a convincing case for the impact of your brand strategy on customer perception and decision-making. For those looking to elevate their branding approach and make strategic decisions, this podcast episode offers valuable takeaways and practical advice. In this episode: Understand the Importance of Choosing Brand Strategy: Uncover the critical role of brand strategy in business success. Analyze Quality vs Value in Branding: Explore the dynamic balance between quality and value within brand development. Align Pricing with Brand Values: Learn how to harmonize pricing strategies with the core values of your brand. Explore the Impact of Brand Identity on Consumer Perception: Discover the profound influence of brand identity on consumer attitudes and behaviors. Establish Consistent Brand Messaging: Master the art of crafting and maintaining a cohesive brand message across all platforms. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina introduces the critical decision every business needs to make: what type of company they are. She explains that this decision is foundational to pricing strategy and can be boiled down to two main paths: quality or value. 00:04:11 - Quality Business Melina defines quality businesses as those that set higher prices due to factors like higher quality materials, expertise, or innovative methods. These businesses focus on higher margins and making fewer sales. Melina emphasizes the importance of consistency in messaging and pricing for quality brands. 00:09:03 - Value Business Melina describes value businesses as offering bargains, great value for money, and selling by volume with smaller margins. These businesses run sales, discounts, and promotions as a key part of their strategy. She highlights the need for alignment between the brand's perception and how customers see them. 00:11:42 - Aligning Business Perception Melina shares an example of a client who faced a disconnect between their perceived quality and value brand image. She emphasizes the importance of aligning the company's identity with customer perception and the impact on brand positioning, products, services, and pricing. 00:14:52 - Holding the Line on Business Type Melina discusses the challenge of staying true to the chosen business type and making consistent decisions. She addresses the pressure to conform to other strategies, the potential damage of diluting a brand's perceived value, and the importance of getting everyone in the organization on board. 00:16:17 - Choosing Between Quality and Value Melina discusses the importance of choosing between quality and value for your brand, emphasizing the need to stick with one approach to achieve success. She urges listeners to consider their vision for their business and commit to a path. 00:19:26 - Case Study: Quality Brand - Supreme Melina shares a case study on the streetwear brand Supreme, highlighting their extreme scarcity model and the success they've achieved through high demand and resale market. She emphasizes the importance of challenging industry norms and being different in business. 00:23:59 - Case Study: Value Brand - Costco Melina presents Costco as a value brand that focuses on providing high-quality items at the best possible price. She discusses Costco's effective scarcity model and the impact of their commitment to saving members money on their overall brand strategy. 00:29:21 - Examples of Quality and Value Brands Melina introduces four case studies of quality and value brands, including Serendipity3, Hermes, Ryanair, and Old Navy. She mentions the depth and detail provided in the book and invites feedback for potential future behavioral economics analysis episodes. 00:31:41 - The Importance of Value Statement Melina discusses the vital aspect of brand identity - the value statement. It encapsulates core beliefs, creates consistency, and influences customer perceptions. 00:32:19 - Impact of Branding on Decision Making Melina explains how a precise brand message and promise are essential for making buying decisions easier for customers. The alignment of brand values and prices is crucial for creating a clear memory and influencing behavior. 00:33:51 - Priming and Brand Image Melina delves into the concept of priming, where word choice and images influence decision-making. She provides examples of how brands like Apple and Disney prime customers' behavior and perceptions through their logos. 00:35:41 - Aligning Brand Identity with Business Type Melina contrasts the mission statements of Costco and Louis Vuitton to illustrate the importance of aligning brand identity with the type of business. She encourages listeners to evaluate their own mission, vision, and values for alignment. 00:40:10 -  Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Truth About Pricing, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Top Recommended Next Episode: Truth About Pricing (ep 355) Already Heard That One? Try These:  What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (ep 225) Bundle and Stack Your Offers (ep 84) How to Raise Your Prices (ep 354) Get the Ultimate Pricing Confidence (ep 66) What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You (ep 147) Jo Evershed and Gareth Harvey Interview (ep 353) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The Truth About Pricing Freebies

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer delves into the psychology of pricing strategy, drawing from her experiences at a conference for female entrepreneurs and her expertise in behavioral economics, which also served as the foundation for her book, The Truth About Pricing. Melina emphasizes the importance of understanding the subconscious influences that drive consumer behavior and how businesses can leverage sensory cues and anticipation to shape purchasing decisions.  She shares insights on creating an irresistible introduction, utilizing the five senses, and leveraging principles of behavioral economics to capture customers' attention and drive sales. By discussing anchoring and adjustment, relativity, and the power of presenting multiple options, Melina provides practical strategies for entrepreneurs to apply in their retail businesses. Her engaging storytelling and relatable approach make this episode a valuable resource for entrepreneurs looking to increase consumer engagement and drive higher sales through effective pricing strategies. In this episode: Uncover the psychology behind pricing strategies to gain a competitive edge in the retail market. Craft an irresistible introduction to captivate customers and leave a lasting impression. Leverage the five senses to create a memorable and immersive shopping experience for your customers. Implement anchoring and adjustment techniques in pricing to influence consumer behavior and drive sales. Understand the importance of presenting multiple options to increase consumer engagement and boost sales. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina Palmer introduces the podcast episode and mentions that it is releasing on the same day as the launch of her third book, The Truth About Pricing. She discusses how this episode was the basis for the book and encourages listeners to order a copy. 00:02:18 - Pricing Strategy and Selling Techniques Melina talks about observing how people position their offers and discuss their services at conferences and events. She mentions that skilled presenters follow a pattern and are able to subtly make the audience want their offer. This pattern is based on the same foundation as pricing strategy. 00:07:47 - Subconscious Evaluation Melina discusses how she constantly evaluates advertisements and messaging around her, even though she may not consciously realize everything her subconscious is taking in. She emphasizes that subconscious evaluation plays a significant role in selling techniques, such as the anticipation created by the smell of freshly baked cookies. 00:11:41 - Order of Events Melina explains the importance of the order in which events occur in a selling experience. She contrasts a positive experience of smelling cookies, receiving a special offer, and enjoying a free sample with a negative experience of being interrupted by a salesperson and feeling irritated. The same offer can result in different outcomes based on the order of events. 00:17:02 - The Core Takeaway on Pricing Customers will find a way to pay for your product if it solves a real problem and is positioned effectively. Delivery and understanding behavioral economics are important factors in getting customers to take action. 00:20:08 - The Scent of the Cookies To capture your ideal client's attention, you need something nearly irresistible. Use all five senses to create an engaging and memorable experience through platforms like social media, podcasting, or visuals. 00:23:13 - Give Them Something to Keep Them Interested Offer something of value to your potential customers. For services, provide lead magnets. For physical products, allow customers to sample or experience the product to create a sense of ownership and desire. 00:24:30 - The Power of Touch and Scarcity Utilize touch to stimulate the brain's ownership response. Incorporate scarcity by creating a sense of urgency and fear of missing out. Countdowns and limited-time offers can motivate customers to take immediate action. 00:34:13 - The concept of anchoring and adjustment Anchoring and adjustment is when the brain latches onto a number and then adjusts up or down based on that initial anchor. This concept can influence our decision-making, as demonstrated in scenarios like buying Snickers bars at the grocery store. 00:36:08 - The concept of relativity Relativity plays a role in decision-making by comparing options. In an example from an advertisement for subscriptions to the Economist, removing a seemingly undesirable option led to a shift in people's choices. Understanding relativity can help marketers create effective pricing strategies. 00:39:11 - Building pricing options When setting prices, it's recommended to provide three options: the best offer, a decoy with worse value, and a third item for balance. This approach allows for value comparisons and caters to different customer preferences. The presentation and order of pricing options can influence decision-making. 00:42:22 - Mastering pricing strategy Mastering pricing strategy requires an understanding of the principles and how they work together. Each product or service may require different tweaks and adjustments. Incorporating these learnings into pricing strategies can lead to better customer engagement and profitability. 00:43:52 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Truth About Pricing, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Friction, by Roger Dooley Top Recommended Next Episode: Behind the Scenes, The Truth About Pricing (ep 355) Already Heard That One? Try These:  What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (ep 225) Bundle and Stack Your Offers (ep 84) How to Raise Your Prices (ep 354) Get the Ultimate Pricing Confidence (ep 66) What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You (ep 147) Jo Evershed and Gareth Harvey Interview (ep 353) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Melina Palmer unveils the backstory of her latest book, The Truth About Pricing: How to Apply Behavioral Economics so Customers Buy. By tracing her path from book concept to publication, Melina underscores the significance of pricing confidence for businesses. The episode delves into the challenges businesses encounter in pricing and how Melina's book offers actionable advice to cultivate that essential confidence.  With a focus on unraveling the psychology and behavioral economics underpinning pricing decisions, Melina's book aims to empower businesses to enhance their sales strategies and cultivate customer loyalty. For business owners and entrepreneurs seeking to elevate their pricing acumen and drive profitability, this episode is a valuable resource. Melina's expertise and pragmatic insights make it an indispensable guide for navigating the complexities of pricing strategy. In this episode, you will be able to: Mastering the Book Publishing Process: Unveiling the intricacies and essentials of publishing a book for aspiring authors and entrepreneurs. Optimizing Pricing Strategy for Businesses: Maximizing profitability and competitiveness through strategic pricing methodologies tailored to your business. Leveraging Behavioral Economics in Pricing: Harnessing consumer psychology and decision-making behaviors to drive sales and revenue. Cultivating Confidence in Pricing Decisions: Developing the expertise and assurance needed to make sound pricing choices for your products or services. Incorporating Psychology into Pricing Strategy: Understanding the psychological triggers that influence consumer purchasing decisions and using them to your advantage. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina introduces the episode, discussing the launch of her new book. She provides an overview of what listeners can expect in the episode. 00:04:16 - The Journey to Writing The Truth About Pricing Melina shares the journey of writing The Truth About Pricing, from connecting with a book agent to finalizing the contract for the book. She discusses the process of pitching the book to publishers and the serendipitous events that led to its publication. 00:09:30 - The Problem with Pricing Melina delves into the common struggles and stress associated with pricing for businesses. She highlights the pressure to get pricing perfect, the tendency to procrastinate, and the overwhelming amount of information available on pricing strategies. 00:11:33 - Gaining Confidence in Pricing Strategy Melina emphasizes the importance of confidence in pricing and its impact on customer behavior. She discusses the value of gaining confidence in pricing strategy and presents the book as a guide to achieving this confidence. 00:15:36 - Overcoming Procrastination and Setting the Right Price Melina addresses the common pitfalls of procrastination in setting prices and the cognitive biases that contribute to this behavior. She highlights the book's focus on overcoming these challenges and setting prices with confidence. 00:16:05 - Setting the Stage Melina explains that the book focuses on understanding the pricing problem and how behavioral economics is the key to success. It covers the science behind pricing and the steps to optimize pricing using behavioral economics and psychology. 00:19:25 - The Golden Octopus Melina introduces a short story about the purchase of a golden octopus to illustrate how pricing really works. This section also provides insights on pricing placement and psychology, outlining the brain tricks that impact pricing. 00:21:06 - Building a Foundation This part focuses on the importance of the factors that come before the price itself. It emphasizes the need to create a seamless buying experience for customers and highlights the significance of choice architecture in pricing strategy. 00:25:22 - Applying the Framework Melina introduces the It's Not About the Cookie framework, which consists of six categories of behavioral science to consider when applying the foundation of the pricing strategy. It also discusses the value of properly structuring a choice in pricing. 00:30:06 - Case Studies Melina discusses four case studies of well-known global businesses to inspire readers on how to apply the concepts to their specific business types. The case studies cover quality and value-based product and service businesses, offering practical insights for readers. 00:31:40 - The Importance of Pricing Strategies Melina emphasizes the importance of making pricing decisions efficiently and confidently. She offers a guide to streamline the process and highlights the value of incorporating psychology and behavioral economics into pricing strategies. 00:32:38 - Freebies and Resources Melina discusses the complimentary items available, including a virtual glossary and a pricing mastery checklist. She invites listeners to visit thebrainybusiness.com for a free sample chapter and provides links for ordering the book. 00:33:47 - Availability and Formats Melina shares that the book is available for purchase on various platforms and mentions the upcoming ebook and audible versions. She encourages preordering and assures that the audiobook is professionally narrated. 00:34:48 - Audiobook and Book Content Melina addresses the suitability of the audiobook for learning, highlighting that the book's tasks are not heavily reliant on visual aids. She provides links to order all her books and emphasizes the value of the book's content. 00:36:19 -  Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Truth About Pricing, by Melina Palmer What Your Customers Want and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Marketing Mess to Brand Success, by Scott Miller Finding Confidence in Conflict, by Kwame Christian Top Recommended Next Episode: Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Already Heard That One? Try These:  What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (ep 225) Bundle and Stack Your Offers (ep 84) How to Raise Your Prices (ep 354) Get the Ultimate Pricing Confidence (ep 66) What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You (ep 147) Jo Evershed and Gareth Harvey Interview (ep 353) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer dives deep into the topic of raising prices for businesses. Melina shares insights on the psychology behind pricing decisions and emphasizes the importance of understanding the value and context for customers. She provides practical strategies for overcoming mindset blocks and gaining confidence in quoting prices to potential clients. By drawing on examples from various industries, including retail and service-based businesses,  Melina offers valuable advice on how to navigate the process of raising prices effectively. Her approachable and practical guidance, combined with real-world examples, makes this episode a must-listen for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to increase profitability and overcome the fear of raising prices. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, Melina's expertise and relatable storytelling style provide actionable insights that can help you take the next step in growing your business. So, grab your headphones and tune in to this episode to gain the confidence and strategies you need to successfully raise prices and drive your business forward. In this episode: Optimize your pricing strategy for profitability. Understand the key factors driving pricing decisions. Overcome mindset blocks to confidently raise prices. Target the right demographic for your pricing structure. Enhance the perception of value in your pricing. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction In this episode, Melina Palmer introduces the topic of raising prices and discusses the relevance of the fresh start effect. She also mentions her upcoming book, The Truth About Pricing, and the importance of understanding the psychology behind pricing. 00:03:05 - The Possibility of Raising Prices Melina emphasizes that raising prices is possible for any business, regardless of industry or competition. She highlights the importance of considering your own brand, costs, and goals before making any pricing changes. 00:07:09 - Overcoming Mindset Blocks Melina discusses the fears and mindset blocks that often hold business owners back from raising prices. She provides examples, such as being overbooked or not making enough profit, and suggests strategies for overcoming these blocks. 00:09:17 - Targeting a New Demographic When targeting a new demographic, Melina advises that a business may need to raise prices to appeal to the right customers. She encourages businesses to embrace the idea that not everyone will be a fit and to focus on providing value to the customers who do align with their offerings. 00:11:03 - The Value of Higher Prices Melina explains that higher prices can create a perception of higher value. Customers often derive more satisfaction and perceive greater effectiveness from products or services they pay more for. She uses examples like expensive jeans to illustrate this concept. 00:15:28 - The Variable Pricing of Soda The price of soda varies depending on the location and context of the purchase, such as in grocery stores, movie theaters, and fast-food chains. Understanding why customers are willing to pay different amounts for the same product in different locations can help businesses determine their pricing strategies. 00:16:18 - Questionstorming for Pricing Strategy Asking thought-provoking questions, such as "What would happen if I charged ten times more?" and "What would make people happy to pay ten times more for this?" can help businesses reassess their value and find ways to add more value to justify higher prices. 00:18:48 - Phased Approach to Price Increase for Service-based Businesses Service-based businesses can raise prices for new clients immediately and gradually phase in the price increase for existing clients. This allows for a smooth transition and can be done based on existing contracts or by offering pre-commitment discounts. 00:21:45 - Responding to Customer Reactions When communicating a price increase to clients, it's important to be understanding and helpful. Having a plan in place for handling discount requests or threats to leave can help maintain price integrity and ensure that the new pricing aligns with the overall brand and strategy. 00:23:46 - Context and Competition for Product-based Businesses Product-based businesses need to consider the context in which their products are priced, such as the competition and the overall shopping experience. Understanding the value and differentiation of your product can help justify the increase. 00:30:42 - The Importance of Understanding Customer Difficulty It's crucial to recognize that what may come easily to you, such as marketing or technology, can be challenging for others. To effectively sell your product or service, focus on the value you provide to customers and develop a solid pricing strategy. 00:31:10 - Role-Playing to Build Confidence Overcome the fear of stating your new price by practicing it repeatedly. Say the price out loud until it becomes second nature and visualize customers happily paying that amount. Confidence is key in pricing discussions and can influence customers' perception. 00:31:59 - The Impact of Confidence on Pricing Displaying confidence when stating your price signals to customers that others are willing to pay that amount. Conversely, hesitancy may trigger doubt in the customer's mind. Role-playing and triggering mirror neurons can help build confidence in price discussions. 00:33:24 - Pricing Communication and Confidence Always communicate pricing with confidence, even if you feel scared. The first sale at a new price point may be challenging, but once achieved, it becomes easier. Overcome mindset blocks, take a breath, and dive into raising your prices. 00:35:21 -  Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Truth About Pricing, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Psychology of Price, by Leigh Caldwell Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Branding that Means Business, by Matt Johnson and Tessa Misiaszek Top Recommended Next Episode: Jo Evershed and Gareth Harvey  Interview (ep 353) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Creating a Brainy Brand (ep 43) Analysis of Costco (ep 47) Framing (ep 16) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Herding (ep 19) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) How to stack and bundle offers (ep 84) Leigh Caldwell Interview (ep 233) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and guests Jo Evershed and Gareth Harvey. Jo and Gareth discuss the power of behavioral data in personalizing shopping experiences and nudging consumers towards more desirable choices. The conversation also delves into the impact of default options and the potential for personalization in branding. Overall, this episode highlights the potential of data-driven personalization in improving shopping experiences and pricing strategies. Whether you're an online retailer or marketer, this episode provides valuable insights on how to engage customers and increase conversions through personalized nudges. In this episode, you will: Maximize your online sales with behavioral data insights. Boost customer engagement with personalized nudges and recommendations. Increase conversions by leveraging data-driven decision-making in pricing strategies. Improve the shopping experience by understanding consumer behavior in supermarkets. Optimize your online grocery store for success with insights into online shopping trends. Discover the impact of book jacket colors on consumer purchasing decisions. Uncover the secrets to driving sales through data-driven pricing experiments. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the guests, Jo Evershed and Gareth Harvey, and discusses their work in behavioral science and consumer psychology. 00:04:34 - Gorilla Experiment Builder and Consumer Psychology Jo explains the purpose of Gorilla Experiment Builder, a platform for running behavioral research online. Gareth discusses his background in consumer psychology and how he applies academic research in the commercial sector. 00:07:07 - Applying Behavioral Insights in Grocery Stores Gareth shares his experience in designing supermarket layouts and how psychological principles can be applied to improve marketing strategies. He discusses the importance of finding the right stimuli and placement to influence consumer behavior. 00:09:40 - The Impact of Smell in Retail Gareth explains the effectiveness of using scents like chocolate in retail environments. He highlights the importance of placing the scent in the right location to maximize its impact on consumer behavior. 00:11:48 - The Truth About Pricing Melina mentions her upcoming book, The Truth About Pricing, and discusses an experiment she conducted with Jo and Gareth for the book. The experiment involved testing different pricing strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. 00:14:21 - The Psychology of Supermarket Aisles The group discusses the importance of positioning items in supermarket aisles to encourage impulse buys and prolong shopping trips. They explain the strategy of making customers far enough in the aisle to see the next one and entice them to continue walking and making more purchases. 00:15:40 - Changes in Supermarket Design The group mentions how supermarkets are adapting their store layouts to cater to different types of shoppers, such as grab-and-go shoppers and those doing big stock-up shops. They discuss the need to avoid antagonizing shoppers and the potential for redesigning stores to meet changing shopping habits. 00:16:39 - Online Shopping and Impulse Buys The group explains how supermarket apps can still encourage impulse purchases and replicate the in-store experience. They mention the use of personalized advertisements and offers based on past purchases. Additionally, they discuss the importance of optimizing product images and descriptions for online shoppers. 00:18:20 - Nudging Towards Healthier Choices The group introduces the concept of "swaps" in online supermarkets, where healthier alternatives are offered as substitutes for less nutritious products. They discuss the potential for making small nudges towards healthier options and the role of personalized recommendations in influencing consumer choices. 00:20:12 - Challenges in Online Product Display The group highlights the challenges of displaying products effectively in online supermarkets. They explain how industry guidelines and mobile optimization constraints limit the amount of information and advertising that can be displayed. 00:27:42 - The Difficulty of Finding Gluten-Free Options Melina discusses the challenges of finding gluten-free options due to having celiac disease. They mention how it would be helpful if stores and online supermarkets could offer personalized recommendations based on dietary restrictions. 00:29:20 - Opting Out of Irrelevant Advertisements The group suggests that online supermarkets should have an option for users to opt out of seeing certain products, such as gluten-containing items. This would save time for both the consumer and the store, and provide valuable data for the store to make better recommendations. 00:30:05 - Data Privacy and Opt-In Options The group acknowledges the need for careful handling of shopper data and the importance of opt-in options. They discuss how consumers may feel nervous about having their data collected but might be more willing if they have control over what data is used and how it benefits them. 00:31:46 - Nudging Consumers Towards Healthier Choices The group discusses an example of a study where labels on Coca Cola products were used to nudge consumers towards healthier options. They highlight the potential for supermarkets to use data to help shoppers make better choices and become the best version of themselves. 00:35:11 - Default Options and Personalized Recommendations The conversation explores the idea of default options and personalized recommendations within online supermarkets. By offering healthier alternatives and giving shoppers the ability to customize their default options, retailers can support customers in making better choices. 00:41:22 - Setting up the Experiment Melina and her team created an online shop to test different book covers and their impact on sales. They ran a four-way between-subject experiment, including a control condition without Melina's books. They gathered data from participants, including Melina's audience and small business owners recruited through Prolific. 00:43:26 - Behavioral Decision Making Gareth explains that visual saliency is crucial in decision making, both in physical stores and online. People tend to go with what catches their attention immediately. Online shoppers spend only a few seconds reviewing multiple products. The study aimed to understand how people's decisions differ when seeing a book cover on a shelf versus in isolation. 00:44:37 - Challenges and Solutions The initial data showed a strong preference for the red book cover, but Melina and her team suspected it was due to the small sample size. To overcome this, they collaborated with Prolific to collect data from a larger and more diverse group. The final results revealed that the green book cover performed the best, aligning with both the behavioral and focus group data. 00:48:00 - Importance of Data and Uncertainty Melina values running experiments to gather data and validate her assumptions. Despite feeling uncertain about the outcomes, she is willing to follow what the data suggests. The study helped her understand that the green book cover performed well within her audience, but not necessarily among those interested in pricing books for businesses. 00:55:37 - Importance of Openness and Learning Being open to different outcomes and learning from the results is crucial. The Amazon description and keywords play a significant role, and testing and optimizing them is essential. Feedback and participation from hundreds of people have been valuable. 00:57:17 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Jo and Gareth: Jo Evershed Twitter Gareth Harvey LinkedIn Jo Evershed LinkedIn 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 Truth About Pricing, Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, Melina Palmer Designing for Behavior Change, Stephen Wendel Engaged, Amy Bucher   What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: The Truth About Pairing (ep 5)  Already Heard That One? Try These:  iMotions (ep 352) Jez Ripple (ep 131) Mars and KIND Project (ep 215) Dilip Soman Interview (ep 241) Behaviorally (ep 166) Michelle Niedziela Interview (ep 168) CloudArmy Interview (ep 183) Sense of Smell (ep 298) Anchoring (ep 11) Meet GAABS (ep 121) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Decide’s website Prolific’s website  Gorilla’s website 

Melina Palmer invites Jessica Wilson of Imotions to discuss the fascinating world of neuroscience tools for consumer research. Jessica's in research and neuroscience led them to Imotions, a software company that offers a platform integrating various neuroscience tools. The platform includes a study builder, analysis tools, and export options, catering to both commercial and academic clients. Jessica emphasizes the importance of matching the research question with the appropriate technology, rather than being swayed by the allure of shiny gadgets.  She highlights the value of using eye tracking, facial expression analysis, and skin conductance as a powerful combination of tools, known as the "Holy Trinity." However, she also mentions the availability of other tools, such as EEG and heart rate monitoring, depending on the specific research needs. Jessica shares examples of video testing and usability studies, showcasing how these tools can provide insights into consumer behavior, attention, and emotional responses. She emphasizes the importance of using the gathered data to inform design decisions and improve consumer experiences. The conversation concludes with a discussion of real-world applications, including collaborations with universities and healthcare organizations. In this episode: Discover how neuroscience tools can revolutionize consumer research and unlock deep insights into consumer behavior. Uncover the hidden motivations behind consumer decisions using cutting-edge eye tracking and facial expression analysis techniques. Optimize your website design with confidence by leveraging user testing to identify usability issues and improve user experiences. Learn the importance of crafting clear research questions to drive effective user testing and obtain actionable insights. Boost user engagement and trust with shorter, impactful testimonials that capture attention and increase conversion rates. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the podcast and shares her excitement about conducting research and experiments with Imotions to optimize her website pages. 00:02:36 - Introduction to Imotions Jessica Wilson, the director at Imotions, shares information about the company and their platform. She discusses the wide range of applications for their neuroscience tools, including consumer insights, product testing, ad testing, and more. 00:07:43 - Types of Testing with Imotions Jessica explains the different types of testing that can be done with Imotions, including eye tracking, facial expression analysis, and skin conductance. She emphasizes the importance of using the right tools based on research questions and not getting caught up in the excitement of technology. 00:08:31 - The Holy Trinity of Eye Tracking, Facial Expression Analysis, and Skin Conductance Jessica discusses the Holy Trinity of eye tracking, facial expression analysis, and skin conductance. These three tools work well together to provide information on attention, valence, and physiological arousal. She mentions that there are additional tools available, but it's important to choose the right ones based on research questions. 00:10:42 - Consultation and Planning with Imotions Jessica highlights the importance of consultation and planning with Imotions. They offer guidance on choosing the right tools and metrics for specific research questions. The research question should dictate the technology used, rather than the other 00:15:12 - Video Testing with Biosensor Data Jessica discusses how video testing can be used with biosensor data to assess consumer preferences and improve communication. They share an example of a collaboration between the University of South Florida and BayCare Health Systems to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 infomercials on consumers. 00:16:46 - Usability and Sensory Testing Jessica explains how biosensor research can be utilized in usability and sensory testing. They mention using biosensors to assess people's reactions to different food samples and how the most effective testing methods have distinct research questions and variables. 00:18:14 - Free Scrolling and Task-Based Testing Melina and Jessica discuss the different approaches to testing, including free scrolling to observe natural behavior and task-based testing to compare prototypes. They emphasize the importance of incorporating specific tasks into usability studies for websites. 00:21:08 - Redesigning a Website Melina shares her experience of redesigning her website in preparation for her book launch. They discuss the process of testing mockups of the new site against the existing site to determine if design changes were effective and if any adjustments were needed. 00:24:46 - Testing for Different Personas Jessica explains how they incorporated different personas into the testing process. They discuss the two personas targeted by the host's business, entrepreneurial types, and corporate members, and how the testing aimed to direct each persona to the most relevant products and services. 00:29:38 - Importance of Clear Tasks in Website Testing Narrowing down tasks and evaluating if they are working is crucial in website testing. Asking vague questions about users' interests and actions can reveal where they get stuck. It's important to avoid priming users and instead focus on finding potential obstacles. 00:31:13 - The Power of Focusing on One Thing in Research Research should focus on one or two variables to obtain clear answers. Avoiding distractions and confounding variables leads to stronger insights. Rushing research can result in missed opportunities for valuable insights. 00:33:20 - Effective Design Elements for Website Success Salient design elements like big buttons with clear choices greatly improve the success rate of website interactions. Eye tracking and behavioral metrics demonstrate the impact of design clarity on user engagement. 00:34:57 - Challenges with Corporate Persona Landing Page The corporate landing page proved challenging for users, leading to confusion and distributed attention. Brow furrow and lower success rates indicated a need for clearer design elements and more effective funneling of actions. 00:37:16 - Applying Insights from Testing to Website Redesign Insights from the previous tests informed the redesign of the entire website. Big buttons, clear choices, and reducing cognitive load were integrated into other areas of the site, improving user experience. 00:43:23 - Eye Tracking Results: Less is More The study found that participants spent more time looking at the short testimonials compared to the long ones. They also showed less brow furrow and had a better overall experience with the shorter testimonials. This suggests that less text is more effective in capturing attention and providing a positive user experience. 00:45:37 - Importance of Short Testimonials The research showed that shorter testimonials are more effective in capturing attention and creating anticipation for the product. Participants were able to absorb the positive feedback more easily and had a better overall experience. Short testimonials provide social proof without overwhelming the users with excessive text. 00:46:56 - Evolution of Data Collection Technology The pandemic and the shift towards collecting data in naturalistic environments have led to the development of online data collection platforms. These platforms allow researchers to record facial expression analysis and eye-tracking data using webcams, eliminating the need for specialized equipment. This opens up new possibilities for remote data collection and collaboration. 00:49:20 - Tips for Conducting Experiments When conducting experiments, it's important to keep them small, be thoughtful about what to test, and test often. Focus on the most important aspects, avoid testing too many variables at once, and have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve. Testing helps understand and predict human behavior. 00:52:22 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Imotions: IMOTIONS WEBSITE IMOTIONS ON TWITTER IMOTIONS ON LINKEDIN 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 Truth About Pricing, Melina Palmer What Your Customer Want and Can’t Tell You, Melina Palmer Marketing to Mindstates, Will Leach Designing for Behavior Change, Stephen Wendel Engaged, Amy Bucher Top Recommended Next Episode: Understanding the Problem (ep 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (ep 33) Social Proof (ep 87) The Power of Metaphors with Olson Zaltman’s Malcolm & Hannibal Brooks (ep 181) Cloud Army (ep 183) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Priming (ep 18) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book (ep 147) What is Behavioral Baking? (ep 155) How Businesses Can Design for Behavior Change, with Dr. Amy Bucher (ep 164) Designing for Behavior Change, Interview with Dr. Steve Wendel (ep 116) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Time Discounting (ep 51) Framing (ep 16) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you will hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and guest Ben Guttmann, author of Attention!: The Power of Simple Decisions in a Distracted World. Guttmann shares his expertise on the importance of simplicity in communication and offers practical advice on creating messages that resonate with the audience. Through examples and analogies, Guttmann highlights the "Frankenstein problem" of overloading messages with too much information, stressing the need for focus and clarity. He emphasizes the concept of fluency in messaging and how it leads to simplicity and resonance.  The episode also delves into the paradox of choice, the difference between nice and kind messaging, and the significance of context in crafting effective messages. If you're a communicator or marketer looking to improve your messaging and connect with your audience on a deeper level, this episode is a must-listen. In this episode: Master the art of simplicity in communication to captivate your audience and convey your message with clarity and impact. Create messages that cut through the noise and resonate with your target audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. Harness the power of context in your messaging to ensure your audience understands the relevance and importance of your message, increasing its effectiveness. Craft messages that leave a lasting impact on your audience, turning them into loyal customers and advocates for your brand. Avoid the pitfalls of fragmented communication by delivering cohesive and consistent messages that strengthen your brand and build trust with your audience. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces Ben Guttmann, author of the book Simply Put, and provides a brief overview of his background in marketing and communications. 00:03:10 - Example of Simple Messaging Ben shares an example of a project he worked on for a power plant in New York City. The power plant needed an internal rallying cry to help employees feel a sense of identity and purpose. The slogan they developed, "Making New York Happen," became a powerful message that resonated with the employees. 00:06:47 - Internal Messaging with External Potential Ben discusses another project he worked on, a pro bono campaign to combat littering in New York City parks. The campaign aimed to tap into the identity of being a "real New Yorker" and encourage people to not litter. Although the campaign was not launched due to timing issues, it demonstrates how internal messaging can have external potential. 00:10:57 - Empathy in Messaging Ben emphasizes the importance of empathy in messaging. He explains that effective messaging should meet people where they are and speak their language. Understanding the audience's perspective and using language that resonates with them is key to creating impactful messages. 00:12:50 - Simplifying Complex Messages Ben and Melina discuss the challenge of simplifying complex messages. Ben highlights the importance of finding the core message and eliminating unnecessary complexity. By focusing on the key point and delivering it clearly, messages can become more memorable and effective. 00:14:49 - The Problem of Having Too Much Stuff in Your Message Ben discusses the common problem of having too much information in a message, leading to a lack of focus and effectiveness. He uses the analogy of a website redesign and refers to his own website as "Franken-site" to illustrate this issue. 00:17:14 - The Frankenstein Idea in Communication Ben introduces the concept of the "Frankenstein idea" in communication, where multiple components are put together in a message without considering their compatibility. He compares it to the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, highlighting the importance of focus and coherence in communication. 00:20:56 - The Sender and Receiver in Communication Ben emphasizes the distinction between senders and receivers in communication. He explains that as senders, it is our responsibility to ensure our message is heard and understood by the receivers, as they are not inherently interested in what we have to say. Humility and effective messaging are key. 00:23:03 - The Burden of the Sender Ben discusses the burden of the sender in communication. He highlights that it is the sender's responsibility to create a message that is valuable and engaging for the receiver, as they do not wake up wanting to hear the sender's message. The sender must pay the postage to ensure their message is heard. 00:29:41 - The Power of Focusing on One Idea It's better to pick one piece of an idea and focus on it, even if it's not the strongest. Commitment leads to better messaging and concept development. 00:31:26 - Mediocre Feedback vs. Love or Hate Mediocre feedback is worse than receiving love or hate for your work. The distance between love and hate is shorter than between apathy and passion. A little bit of nuance and commitment can turn an imperfect concept into something better. 00:33:22 - The Paradox of Choice Having too many options can lead to indecision and apathy. When there are fewer options, people are more likely to rally behind and appreciate what they have chosen. 00:35:04 - The Importance of Kindness in Messaging Kindness in messaging goes beyond being nice. It means caring about the well-being and outcome of the receiver. Simple and clear messages, like a parking sign that says "Don't even think about parking here," can be kind and effective. 00:39:57 - Respecting People's Time It's important to respect people's time and not waste it with cluttered or irrelevant messaging. When messages are concise and get to the point, people are more likely to pay attention and take action. 00:44:22 - The Importance of Contrast Ben emphasizes the importance of contrast in communication, stating that without quiet, there can be no loud. He explains that knowing what exists is crucial in order to stand out and connect with your audience. 00:44:56 - Standing Out and Resonating Ben discusses the significance of context and resonating with your audience. He highlights the need to understand what resonates with your audience in order to make an impact. 00:45:20 - Connecting and Getting More Information Ben directs listeners to his website, Benguttmann.com, where they can find his blog, sign up for his newsletter, and download the first chapter of his book for free. He encourages connecting with him on LinkedIn or other platforms. 00:45:53 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Ben: Ben’s website Ben’s LinkedIn 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: Simply Put, by Ben Guttmann Subtract, by Leidy Klotz For The Culture, by Marcus Collins The Hype Handbook, by Michael Schein What Your Customer Wants And Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: The Hype Handbook with Michael Schein (ep 350) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Do You Subtract Enough? w/ Leidy Klotz (ep 322) Framing (ep 296) Availability Bias (ep 310) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Curse of Knowledge (ep 176) Understanding the Problem (ep 126) For the Culture (ep 305) Herding (ep 264) Social Proof (ep 87) Ikea Effect (ep 112) What Is Value? (ep 234) Paradox of Choice (ep 171) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Why Many Men Think They Could Win a Point Off Serena Williams

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear Melina Palmer interview Michael Schein, author of The Hype Handbook. This conversation delves into the power of hype in marketing and how to effectively capture attention and drive action. Michael shares his insights on the art of hype, emphasizing the importance of storytelling in making messages captivating and memorable. He explores the concept of certainty and how people are drawn to messages that offer it. The episode also discusses the significance of framing messages in impactful ways and highlights the power of simplicity in messaging.  This episode provides valuable insights for marketers and business professionals looking to enhance their communication skills and create more impactful marketing campaigns. Whether you want to understand the psychology behind effective hype or learn practical techniques for engaging your audience, this episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to create captivating and memorable marketing campaigns. In this episode, you will: Unleash the power of hype in your marketing to create buzz and excitement around your brand. Harness the art of storytelling to captivate your audience and make your message stick in their minds. Master the art of crafting certain messaging to build trust, credibility, and clarity in your brand communication. Learn how impactful framing can make all the difference in influencing your audience's perception and decision-making. Discover the power of simplicity in messaging to cut through the noise and ensure your marketing campaigns are memorable and effective. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction Melina introduces the episode, celebrating the milestone of 350 episodes and over a million downloads of the show. She previews the topic of hype and introduces guest Michael. 00:02:26 - The Power of Hype Michael discusses how his company, Microfame Media, helps idea-driven businesses create hype. He emphasizes the importance of understanding mass psychology and using effective strategies and tactics to generate excitement and engagement. 00:05:15 - The Hype Handbook Michael shares his inspiration for writing his book, The Hype Handbook, which explores the principles and strategies used by propaganda artists, cult leaders, and other influential figures throughout history. He explains that these principles can be applied ethically to achieve desired outcomes. 00:07:34 - Principles over Tactics Michael emphasizes the importance of understanding psychological principles rather than relying solely on specific tactics or tools. He encourages businesses to focus on what drives human behavior and use that knowledge to create their own unique hype. 00:10:09 - The Perception of Hype Melina and Michael discuss the perception of hype and why some people may view it as sleazy or empty. They explore the origins of the term in the hip hop community and how hype has been embraced as a necessary strategy for success. 00:15:01 - Make War, Not Love The first strategy discussed is "Make War, Not Love," which is the foundation for all other strategies. The conversation explores the evolutionary basis of tribalism and how it influences our preferences and biases. 00:18:25 - Positioning Against an Idea The power of positioning yourself against a commonly accepted point of view in your industry is highlighted. By becoming the leader who challenges prevailing beliefs, you can attract like-minded individuals and build a new tribe around your ideas. 00:21:35 - Basecamp's Example The founders of Basecamp transformed their project management software into a crusade against overwork culture. By positioning their tool as a solution to the problem they were fighting against, they created a loyal following and achieved success. 00:23:45 - Authenticity and Packaging It is important to be authentic and genuinely believe in the stance you take. Cynical or surface-level attempts at packaging and branding are easily recognized. The conversation emphasizes the need to find a unique strength within your weaknesses to create a compelling persona. 00:25:49 - Uniqueness and Public Persona The discussion explores the concept of creating a public persona that is a heightened version of your true self. The key is to identify a strength buried within your weaknesses and use it to stand out in your industry. 00:29:49 - Embracing Authenticity Michael shares his journey of embracing his natural people-pleasing side and how it has helped him succeed. He highlights the power of being authentic and finding strength in who you are, rather than overcompensating for perceived weaknesses. 00:31:00 - Paradox of Confidence Michael discusses the paradox of confidence and how being confident means being confident in your natural state. He emphasizes the importance of embracing your true self and finding confidence in your own abilities, rather than trying to conform to someone else's expectations. 00:32:13 - Survivorship Bias Melina brings up the concept of survivorship bias and how it can distort our perception of success. Michael emphasizes the importance of questioning the advice and strategies of successful people, as they may be presenting a curated version of themselves for marketing purposes. 00:34:49 - Uncovering Marketing Tactics Michael delves into the strategies used by successful marketers and self-help gurus. He encourages listeners to analyze the tactics being employed to persuade them to buy products or follow advice, rather than blindly following the advice itself. He suggests creating a "swipe file" of marketing techniques instead. 00:38:07 - Making It Scientific Michael discusses the importance of using scientific language and authority to establish credibility in crowded fields. He explains how presenting ideas or services as backed by scientific research can make them appear more trustworthy and authoritative. He also highlights the use of heuristics in decision-making. 00:45:00 - The Hype Handbook and Simon Sinek Michael discusses how The Hype Handbook provides valuable insights on effective communication and the power of storytelling. He highlights Simon Sinek as a master of framing messages and using repetitive slogans to captivate audiences. 00:46:14 - The Impact of Framing and Certitude Michael emphasizes the impact of framing messages in a quotable and interesting way. He also discusses the heuristic that people often associate extreme certitude with knowledge and expertise. 00:49:13 - Connecting with Knowledge Seekers Michael shares his Hype Book Club, where he recommends books on various topics, including cult leaders and social psychology. He highlights the value of curiosity and diverse learning experiences. 00:50:54 - The Power of Storytelling and Tidbits Michael discusses the importance of weaving stories together to make a point and engage readers. He emphasizes the value of storytelling in helping people remember and apply what they've learned. 00:53:01 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Michael: Microfame Media Michael on Twitter Michael on LinkedIn 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: Simply Put, Ben Guttmann The Hype Handbook, Michael Schein Rework, Jason Fried The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, Ryan Holiday Start with Why, Simon Sinek Top Recommended Next Episode: How to pitch your business Already Heard That One? Try These:  Social Proof (ep 87) Availability Bias (ep 310 Prince Ghuman Interview (344) Priscilla McKinney Interview (ep 196) What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You (ep 147) Negative Reviews (ep 163) The science of cool, with Troy Campbell (ep 169) David Paull (ep 289) Megaan Lurtz (ep 341) Herding: Come on and Listen… Everyone Else Is Doing It (ep 19) Framing: How You Say Things Matter More than What You’re Saying (ep 16) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Survivorship Bias: Stop Missing What’s Missing (ep 110) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter “21 Psychology Podcasts Every Businessperson Should Listen To” Derek Sivers – “How to Start a Movement” (TED Talk) Simon Sinek – “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” (TED Talk) Simon Sinek – “Millennials in the Workplace”

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you will learn from Priscilla McKinney about the power of collaboration in business. Priscilla emphasizes the mindset shift required for successful collaborations. She highlights the importance of embracing different perspectives, being prepared for unexpected situations, and thinking on your feet. Priscilla also discusses the value of connections and networking, sharing her own collaboration with host Melina Palmer at an event. They demonstrate that collaboration can exist even among competitors, bringing unique perspectives and ideas to the table.  Priscilla's book, Collaboration is the New Competition, provides practical guidance on fostering collaboration within organizations. By shifting from competition to collaboration, businesses can thrive in today's interconnected world. Key takeaways include understanding people's behavior in marketing, the value of collaboration in business success, the power of networking, and the need for differentiation. This engaging and thought-provoking conversation highlights collaboration as a key driver of innovation, growth, and success in business. In this episode: Enhance collaboration and foster partnerships for increased business success. Unlock the power of mindset to drive effective collaboration. Build valuable connections through strategic networking. Shift from scarcity to abundance mindset for greater collaboration opportunities. Harness the power of differentiation to drive successful collaborations. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Introduction to the episode and guest, Priscilla McKinney, who is the author of Collaboration is the New Competition. 00:02:06 - Background and Expertise Priscilla shares her background as the CEO of Little Bird Marketing and her experience in anthropology. She emphasizes the importance of understanding people and culture in marketing. 00:05:01 - Personal Experiences and Cultural Anthropology Priscilla discusses how her personal experiences as a missionary's child and living in different countries shaped her understanding of collaboration, culture, and the importance of getting along. 00:07:39 - Collaboration and Marketing Priscilla explains the connection between collaboration, marketing, behavioral science, and cultural anthropology. She highlights the role of collaboration in building strong relationships and achieving success in business. 00:09:52 - Origin of Collaboration The discussion revolves around Melina's collaboration with Maru Group and Protobrand, where Will Leach connected her as the MC. They emphasize the value of collaboration and how it can overcome competition. 00:16:09 - The Value of Collaboration Priscilla discusses the value of collaboration and how her early experiences in the credit union industry taught her the importance of cooperation and sharing ideas. She emphasizes the abundance mindset and the willingness of credit unions to help each other thrive. 00:17:30 - The Power of Networking Priscilla and Melina highlight their shared experiences in the banking and credit union industry. They highlight the importance of surrounding yourself with like-minded people who are willing to collaborate and share knowledge. Priscilla emphasizes the cooperative nature of the market research industry. 00:18:57 - Opening Minds to Collaboration Priscilla encourages readers to open their minds to collaboration and challenges them to rethink their previous experiences with it. She suggests that what people may have considered collaboration in the past may not have been true collaboration. She invites readers to give it another try. 00:20:21 - Collaboration Gone Wrong Priscilla discusses the common pitfalls of collaboration, using the example of a group project in which one student ends up doing all the work while others take credit. She emphasizes the need for equity, transparency, and a desire to win for true collaboration to occur. 00:24:24 - The Framework for Collaboration Priscilla outlines the three essential elements for successful collaboration: having something to lose and gain, being transparent and open, and having a desire to win for the benefit of all involved. 00:30:49 - Moving from Scarcity to Abundance Mindset Priscilla discusses the importance of shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. Instead of always trying to get their way, she encourages a mindset of helping others and believing that everyone can achieve their goals. 00:31:26 - Itchy Backs - Cultivating a Helping Mindset Priscilla explains the concept of "itchy backs," where you focus on meeting the needs of others. By being aware of what others need and offering help, you can build strong relationships and collaboration opportunities. 00:34:31 - The Rule of 15 - Inspiring Collaboration Priscilla introduces the Rule of 15, which emphasizes the importance of creating content that inspires collaboration. Building relationships takes time, and it's essential to pay it forward and show genuine interest in others before expecting collaboration opportunities. 00:35:53 - LinkedIn Cocktail Party - Shifting Mindset Priscilla suggests thinking of LinkedIn as an online cocktail party rather than just a social media platform. She highlights the importance of showing up correctly, curating a great guest list, and being a good conversationalist to build meaningful connections. 00:38:59 - Avoiding Pitch Slapping - Building Relationships Priscilla discusses the negative impact of pitch-slapping, where people immediately try to sell or pitch their services without building a relationship first. She encourages being mindful of etiquette and building relationships before asking for anything. 00:44:49 - Collaboration and Feedback on the Book Priscilla discusses her book and invites Melina to read it and provide feedback for the second edition. They encourage listeners to connect with Priscilla on LinkedIn and check out her website to get a copy of the book and share it with others. 00:45:17 - Continued Collaboration and Friendship Melina expresses her enjoyment of talking with Priscilla and their ongoing collaboration. Priscilla is referred to as a friend of the podcast forever, and Melina offers her support for any future collaborations. 00:45:47 - Supporting the Podcast Priscilla encourages listeners to give an amazing rating to the Brainy Business podcast as a way to support Melina and help more people find the show. She emphasizes the importance of leading with giving and suggests this as a good deed for the day. 00:46:19 - Treating LinkedIn Like a Cocktail Party Melina recalls Priscilla's session at the IIEX Europe Conference where she talked about treating LinkedIn like a cocktail party. She mentions the relatability and engagement of the session and expresses her excitement about discussing it in Priscilla's book. 00:47:11 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Priscilla: Priscilla’s Website    PRISCILLA ON LINKEDIN PRISCILLA ON TWITTER 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: Collaboration is the New Competition, by Priscilla McKinney What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer You’re Invited, by Jon Levy Think Faster, Talk Smarter, by Matt Abrahams Influence, by Robert Cialdini Top Recommended Next Episode: You’re Invited, with Jon Levy (ep 348) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anthropology, Behavioral Economics, and Marketing, with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) The Power of Us, with Dominic Packer (ep 304) For The Culture, with Marcus Collins (ep 305) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Anchoring (ep 11) Reciprocity (ep 238) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 312) Think Faster, Talk Smarter, with Matt Abrahams (ep 327) Marketing to Mindstates, with Will Leach (ep 88) Survivorship Bias (ep 110) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) Framing (ep 296) Scarcity (ep 270) The Fun Habit with Mike Rucker (ep 251) The Human Experience, with John Sills (ep 277) The Science of Connection, with Nick Epley (ep 265) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter LITTLE BIRD MARKETING WEBSITE Women In Research website LittleBirdMarketing.com/Resources

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you will hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and guest Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited. Jon shares his expertise on using behavioral science in event design and sponsorships to create memorable experiences for attendees. Drawing from his own experiences, Jon emphasizes the power of human connection and relationships in event planning.  He discusses the importance of assembling or working together on projects to foster a sense of connection and engagement. Jon also highlights the peak-end rule, which states that people remember the peaks of experiences and how they end, and shares strategies for creating lasting impressions. He offers valuable insights on engaging high-profile individuals, building trust through vulnerability, and the significance of genuine interest in others. If you are a professional seeking to enhance your understanding of human behavior and apply behavioral science principles to create impactful and attention-grabbing events, this episode is a must-listen. In this episode, you will: Enhance customer engagement and satisfaction by leveraging the power of human connection and relationships. Apply research-backed strategies to create impactful and memorable event experiences that resonate with attendees. Foster meaningful connections among attendees through shared activities, strengthening their bond and creating lasting memories. Build trust and rapport with attendees by demonstrating vulnerability and support, creating an environment where they feel safe and valued. Discover the influential impact of showing genuine interest and curiosity in others, leading to more meaningful connections and enriching event experiences. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode and her guest, Jon Levy. She mentions his work as a behavioral scientist and his book, You're Invited, which focuses on human connection, trust, and belonging. 00:03:26 - Behavioral Science and Research Jon discusses his work as a behavioral scientist, including his research studies on dating and consumer behavior. He highlights the importance of applying research findings to real-life situations. 00:07:56 - The Influencers Dinner Jon shares how he started the Influencers Dinner, a secret dining experience where guests couldn't discuss their careers or give their last names. He explains how the dinners helped create connections and a sense of belonging among industry leaders. 00:09:34 - Building a Community Jon explains how the Influencers Dinner evolved into a larger community of industry leaders. He discusses the in-person and digital events they organize and emphasizes the ephemeral nature of their interactions. 00:10:57 - Impact on Society Jon discusses his objective of bringing people together to improve their lives and potentially have a larger impact on society. He talks about raising money for social issues and getting media attention to raise awareness. 00:14:43 - Building Bonds through Shared Experiences The guest discusses the importance of getting people to assemble or work together as a way to strengthen relationships and create a sense of camaraderie within a company. By engaging high-profile individuals in unique and generous activities, such as assembling flowers, it creates a memorable experience that fosters emotional connections and generates positive word-of-mouth publicity. 00:16:16 - The Value of Being an Active Partner Rather than simply being a sponsor, it is more effective to actively design or be involved in the thinking process. By ensuring that people understand the core value and proposition of a brand, partners can forge stronger connections and leave a lasting impression. Quality over quantity is emphasized, focusing on meaningful engagements rather than broad-scale reach. 00:18:55 - The Power of Invitation in Building Connections The guest shares his experience in inviting impressive individuals to his events, even without extensive connections or resources. By starting with people he knew and gradually expanding his network through recommendations and research, he was able to build relationships with Nobel laureates, Olympians, and other accomplished individuals. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the behaviors and interests of specific groups in order to make meaningful connections. 00:20:42 - The Pitfalls of Scale and Misaligned Reach The discussion highlights the importance of targeted reach rather than focusing solely on scale. Having a large number of followers or attendees does not guarantee the right audience or meaningful connections. It is crucial to consider the relevance and alignment of the target audience when seeking partnerships or sponsorships. 00:29:29 - The Power of Influence and Trust Jon discusses the influence he has as a martial arts master and reverend, emphasizing the importance of trust in building connections. He explains that trust is created through competence, honesty, and benevolence, and that vulnerability loops can accelerate the trust-building process. 00:32:08 - Building Trust through Conversations Jon shares how his dinners create an environment where guests can have more intimate and vulnerable conversations, leading to accelerated trust between individuals. He also highlights the value of connecting on a personal level beyond discussing work-related topics. 00:34:50 - The Misunderstanding of Trust Jon explains that trust is often misunderstood, with many individuals leading with competence rather than benevolence. He discusses the importance of leveraging vulnerability loops and the Ikea effect to accelerate trust-building, emphasizing the need to ask for favors and provide support to create profound trust. 00:36:39 - Overcoming Fear of Asking for Help Melina and Jon share their personal experiences of asking for help, particularly in relation to promoting their books. They discuss the discomfort and fear that comes with asking for favors but highlight the importance of understanding that rejection or non-response doesn't necessarily reflect a personal dislike. 00:39:46 - Networking vs. Making Friends Jon challenges the traditional idea of networking and suggests that making friends is a more natural and effective way to connect with others. He emphasizes that networking often feels forced and unnatural, whereas making friends allows for more genuine and meaningful connections. 00:44:03 - The Importance of Relationships Relationships define the quality of our lives, whether in business or personal settings. Being vulnerable and reaching out to others can lead to meaningful connections and impactful experiences. 00:45:27 - Be Willing to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone To expand your social circle and create an impact, it's important to be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Take action, reach out to others, and engage in activities that bring people together. 00:46:29 - The Power of Social Catalysts Engaging in activities as social catalysts can make connecting with others feel less awkward. Activities like walking, playing games, or pursuing shared interests provide a natural context for conversation and connection. 00:48:07 - Embrace Anonymity and Genuine Interest By focusing on genuine interest in others, regardless of titles or achievements, deeper connections can be formed. Embrace anonymity and approach interactions with curiosity and authenticity. 00:50:15 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Jon: Jon’s Website Jon on Instagram Jon on Twitter 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: You’re Invited, by Jon Levy The 2AM Principle, by Jon Levy Collaboration is the New Competition, by Priscilla McKinney What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Top Recommended Next Episode: The Speed of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (ep 320) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Reciprocity (ep 238) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories (ep 54) The Power of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) The IKEA Effect (ep 112) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) Surprise and Delight (ep 276) What is Value? (ep 234) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 292) Get Your DOSE of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Loss Aversion (ep 316) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Framing (ep 296) Using Behavioral Science in Healthcare, with Aline Holzwarth (ep 135) Decision Fatigue (ep 244) Temptation Bundling (ep 250) The Behaviour Business, with Richard Chataway (ep 134) How To Change, with Katy Milkman (ep 151) The Fun Habit with Mike Rucker (ep 251) Happier Hour, with Cassie Holmes (ep 249) The Human Experience, with John Sills (ep 277) Anthropology, Behavioral Economics, and Marketing, with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) The Science of Connection, with Nick Epley (ep 265) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear Melina Palmer interview Nick Sonnenberg, CEO of Leverage and author of Come Up For Air. Nick's background as an algorithmic trader on Wall Street gave him a unique perspective on the value of time, efficiency, and automation. He developed the CPR business efficiency framework to address common challenges in communication, planning, and resource allocation.  Nick's expertise in optimizing operations led to the founding of Leverage, a consultancy that helps businesses increase productivity using modern technologies and tools. Throughout the episode, Nick emphasizes the importance of time optimization and information retrieval. He shares practical strategies, such as the Foundations program, which teaches teams how to use tools like email, Slack, and Asana effectively. By implementing Nick's insights, you can save time, reduce stress, and increase productivity in your business. Tune in to learn how to streamline your operations and make the most of your valuable resources. In this episode, you will: Increase operational efficiency and productivity to maximize your business's growth potential. Learn effective time management strategies to optimize your productivity and achieve your business goals. Streamline your operations and processes to eliminate bottlenecks and improve overall efficiency. Optimize information retrieval and storage to access critical data quickly and make informed business decisions. Find the balance between work and play to enhance your overall well-being and maintain sustainable productivity. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer introduces Nick Sonnenberg, CEO of Leverage and author of Come Up For Air. Nick shares his background in finance and how his experience in high-frequency trading led him to develop a passion for automation and the value of time. 00:02:30 - The Journey of Leverage Nick discusses the growth and challenges faced by Leverage, his operational efficiency consultancy. He shares how he overcame operational debt and realized that the key to success lies in saving time and maximizing efficiency. 00:05:05 - The CPR Business Efficiency Framework Nick explains the CPR framework (Communicate, Plan, Resource) and how it can help organizations improve their efficiency. He highlights the importance of effective communication, planning, and standard operating procedures in saving time and increasing productivity. 00:07:28 - Getting Started with Efficiency Nick advises listeners on where to start when seeking to make efficiency improvements. He suggests focusing on areas that offer the highest return on time and recommends starting with the Foundations program, which helps align teams on information management and retrieval. 00:15:56 - The Power of Shifting Perspective Shifting your perspective and approach can lead to increased productivity and efficiency without the need for approval or new tools. By organizing your email and having a plan, you can set yourself up for success and inspire others to do the same. 00:16:55 - The Value of Time and Cutting Meetings The book emphasizes the importance of saving and optimizing time. Not all time slots are equal, and it's crucial to identify high-value time slots. By implementing strategies like pre-reading materials and using tools like Loom, meetings can be more efficient and productive. 00:21:18 - Leveraging Loom and Asynchronous Communication Loom, a screen recording tool, can help save time by allowing for asynchronous communication. Watching recordings at an accelerated speed and having the ability to rewatch can increase efficiency. Loom also facilitates discussions and comments, even outside of meetings. 00:23:44 - Understanding Your Bandwidth with Sprint Planning Sprint planning involves determining your capacity for work and considering pre-commitments like meetings and maintenance tasks. By recognizing how much time is actually available for new initiatives, you can set realistic goals and increase productivity. 00:24:11 - The Impact of Optimizing Time Optimizing time can lead to significant improvements in productivity. By reclaiming even just a few hours a week, you can effectively double the amount of time available for new initiatives. Recognizing the value of time can drive the implementation of time-saving strategies. 00:30:43 - Introduction to GetLeverage.com Nick Sonnenberg introduces his training and consulting company, GetLeverage.com, which helps businesses train and use various tools effectively. 00:31:19 - Benefits of GetLeverage.com Nick Sonnenberg highlights how GetLeverage.com can save businesses time and money by providing training and optimizing processes. 00:32:01 - Importance of Policies and Procedures Nick Sonnenberg emphasizes the significance of having optimized procedures and processes in place to facilitate business growth and efficiency. 00:33:30 - Focus on Quick Retrieval of Information Nick Sonnenberg suggests focusing on the quick retrieval of information rather than the quick transfer of information, as it saves time and improves productivity. 00:34:51 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Nick: Follow Nick on Twitter Follow Nick on LinkedIn Leverage website 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: Come Up For Air, by Nick Sonnenberg Work Well. Play More! by Marcey Rader Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Subtract, by Leidy Klotz What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: Work Well. Play More! with Marcey Rader (ep 323) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Planning Fallacy (ep 346) Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Time Discounting (ep 328) Loss Aversion (ep 316) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) How To Start and Grow a Successful Podcast (ep 108) How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics (ep 83) Expect Error, the “E” in NUDGES (ep 39) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Habits (ep 256) Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Come Up For Air website

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll join host Melina Palmer as she dives into the fascinating topic of the planning fallacy. Melina shares her personal experiences with underestimating the time it takes to complete tasks and projects, revealing that even she, an expert in the field, is not immune to this cognitive bias. But fear not, because Melina also provides valuable strategies to combat the planning fallacy and improve your planning accuracy. From seeking external perspectives to breaking tasks into smaller steps, she offers practical advice that you can implement in your own life. Whether you struggle with accurately estimating time or simply want to enhance your productivity, this episode is a must-listen. So get ready to tackle the planning fallacy head-on and start maximizing your time and efficiency. In this episode: Maximize productivity by understanding the planning fallacy and its impact on time estimation. Learn effective strategies to combat the planning fallacy and accurately estimate project timelines. Improve planning accuracy and avoid delays caused by underestimating the time needed for tasks. Unpack complex projects into manageable tasks for more accurate time allocation. Overcome the challenges of planning fallacy when dealing with large-scale projects. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the concept of planning fallacy and explains how it affects our ability to estimate the time and effort required for tasks. She also mentions her upcoming conversation with Nick Sonnenberg and how his book, Come Up for Air, inspired her to refresh this episode. 00:02:16 - The Foundations of Planning Fallacy Melina discusses how planning fallacy was first introduced by Kahneman and Tversky in 1979. They found that errors in judgment were systematic and not random, indicating a bias in the brain. Planning fallacy affects all kinds of people, even experts, and it can be difficult to overcome. 00:05:05 - Why We Fall Victim to Planning Fallacy Melina explains that the brain is naturally inclined to focus on success and underestimate the possibility of failure. We tend to believe that things will go smoothly and that we can do it all, leading to unrealistic expectations and missed deadlines. Even having deadlines and incentives doesn't necessarily help. 00:08:54 - Biases Contributing to Planning Fallacy Melina discusses several biases and brain tricks that contribute to planning fallacy, including the focusing illusion and fundamental attribution error. The focusing illusion causes us to allocate different amounts of time based on what we're currently focused on, while fundamental attribution error leads us to attribute external or internal factors incorrectly. 00:15:57 - The Myth of 8 Hours of Writing Writing for 8 hours straight is not actually 8 hours of writing. Taking breaks and getting distracted reduces the actual writing time. A suggested technique is to write for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break, repeating this cycle. This helps to combat planning fallacy and increase productivity. 00:17:43 - The Impact of Distractions and Breaks Distractions and breaks, such as emails and unexpected projects, further decrease writing time. Considering these interruptions, a planned 8-hour writing day may result in only 4.5 hours of actual writing. This means that the anticipated 32 pages would be reduced to only 18. 00:19:47 - Planning for Worst Case Scenario To overcome planning fallacy, it is crucial to plan for the worst case scenario. By allocating a realistic amount of time for productive writing and acknowledging potential distractions, you can avoid beating yourself up over unmet expectations. Celebrate achieving your planned writing time. 00:21:51 - Urgent vs Important Tasks The urgent vs important grid helps prioritize tasks. Determine if a task is important, urgent, both, or neither. This framework helps in dismissing distractions by asking if they are truly important and urgent compared to the planned task. Planning for distractions helps stick to timelines and overcome planning fallacy. 00:31:48 - Understanding the Planning Fallacy Launching a podcast involves various tasks that may seem quick and easy on the surface. However, breaking them down into subtasks reveals the true complexity of the process. Properly allocating time and planning for each subtask can help reduce stress and ensure completion without overcommitting. 00:33:48 - The Power of Unpacking Unpacking tasks into their smallest subcomponents is essential for complex projects like launching a podcast. Simple tasks may not benefit as much from unpacking, but for larger projects, it helps in understanding the full scope and allocating sufficient time for each task. 00:34:27 - Overcoming Planning Fallacy Planning fallacy is a natural tendency that affects everyone. Being aware of this tendency and using the tips mentioned in the episode can help overcome it. Having a trusted friend or colleague to keep you in check is also crucial in avoiding overcommitment and excessive work. 00:35:11 - Personal Experience with Planning Fallacy Melina admits to constantly struggling with planning fallacy despite her knowledge of it. However, understanding its existence and finding ways to manage it can prevent continuous overcommitment and excessive work. 00:36:22 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Come Up For Air, by Nick Sonnenberg Work Well. Play More! by Marcey Rader Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Subtract, by Leidy Klotz What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: Work Well. Play More! with Marcey Rader (ep 323) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Time Discounting (ep 328) Loss Aversion (ep 316) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) How To Start and Grow a Successful Podcast (ep 108) How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics (ep 83) Expect Error, the “E” in NUDGES (ep 39) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The Planning Fallacy: Getting Things Done Can the outside‐view approach improve planning decisions in software development projects? The Planning Fallacy: When Plans Lead to Optimistic Forecasts Exploring the Planning Fallacy: Why People Underestimate Their Task Completion Times A Nobel Prize-Winning Psychologist Explains Why We’re Always Wrong About How Long Tasks Take The Planning Fallacy: Why You Miss Your Deadlines, And What to do About it Allocating Time to Future Tasks:The Effect of Task Segmentation on Planning Fallacy Bias Intuitive Prediction: Biases and Corrective Procedures Seattle tunnel construction avoided costly mistakes of Boston’s Big Dig Visualization-Mediated Alleviation of the Planning Fallacy If You Don’t Want to Be Late, Enumerate: Unpacking Reduces the Planning Fallacy Planning Fallacy

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you will hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and guest Paul Bloom, a psychology professor and author. Throughout the episode, they delve into various aspects of psychology and behavioral science, offering valuable insights and practical applications. Paul shares his expertise on the writing process, the challenges facing academic research, and the importance of incorporating engaging elements into content.  He also highlights the spotlight effect, the study of children's behavior, and the need for curiosity and asking questions to gain a deeper understanding of human behavior. With Paul's extensive knowledge and expertise in the field, this episode provides psychology enthusiasts and behavioral science professionals with valuable insights to enhance their understanding and application of psychology principles. Whether you are interested in the writing process, the crisis in psychology, or gaining a comprehensive understanding of the human mind, this episode offers something for everyone. So, tune in to The Brainy Business podcast and gain valuable insights into psychology and behavioral science. In this episode, you will: Gain valuable insights into human behavior and its practical applications that can enhance decision-making. Understand how the spotlight effect and self-perception can impact our thoughts and actions, leading to better self-awareness and improved interpersonal relationships. Explore the fascinating world of children's behavior and development, unlocking the keys to nurturing and understanding the next generation. Discover the benefits of following your passion and curiosity, and how it can lead to personal growth and fulfillment in various areas of life. Gain insights into the challenges faced in academic research, learn strategies to overcome obstacles, and make meaningful contributions to the field. Unlock the secrets of persuasion and influence, empowering you to navigate social interactions and achieve desired outcomes. Dive into the realm of cognitive biases and learn how they shape our thinking and decision-making, enabling you to make more rational and informed choices. Explore the psychology behind motivation and goal-setting, equipping you with tools to achieve success in your personal and professional endeavors. Understand the impact of stress on mental health and learn effective coping mechanisms to promote well-being and resilience. Discover the power of positive psychology and learn how cultivating gratitude and positivity can improve overall happiness and life satisfaction. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer interviews Paul Bloom, author of the book Psych. They discuss Paul's background and his interest in developmental psychology. 00:05:01 - Innate Knowledge in Children, Paul highlights the fascinating discoveries made in developmental psychology, such as young babies' innate understanding of the physical and social world. He emphasizes the importance of giving developmental psychology more recognition. 00:07:25 - Humor in Children, While not a focus of his research, Paul acknowledges the significance of humor in children's development. He mentions that incongruity and context play a role in what makes us laugh. 00:10:09 - The Origins of Psych, Paul shares the history of his popular psychology class at Yale and how it led to the creation of the book "Psych." He wanted to reach a larger audience and provide more in-depth information than what could be covered in the course. 00:11:21 - Writing Psych, Paul explains that he wrote Psych based on his course materials and transcribed notes. He aimed to make the book accessible and informative, expanding on the topics covered in the course. 00:14:50 - The Writing Process, Paul and Melina discuss their writing processes and how they approach the task of writing. They touch on topics such as word count, finding inspiration, and managing distractions. 00:16:00 - Different Approaches to Writing, Paul and Melina compare their different approaches to writing. One prefers to work in condensed chunks of time, while the other works in shorter bursts with frequent breaks. They discuss the benefits and challenges of each method. 00:18:20 - Making Writing Fun, Melina highlights the importance of making writing fun and engaging. They discuss the use of literary references, popular culture, and anecdotes to make the writing process more enjoyable and accessible to readers. 00:21:51 - Advice on Improving Business Communications, Melina suggests two chapters from Paul Bloom's book that would be relevant for improving business communications. These chapters focus on reasoning and rationality, as well as finding fulfillment and happiness in life. 00:23:05 - The Crisis in Psychology Melina delves into the crisis in psychology where many studies have failed to replicate and there have been cases of fraud. They emphasize the need for caution when relying on research findings and highlight the fragility of the science. 00:30:46 - The Future of Psychological Studies Paul discusses the improvements in psychological studies, such as larger sample sizes, preregistration, and more theoretically grounded research. He also mentions the importance of meta-analyses to get a clearer understanding of the overall findings. 00:32:06 - Challenges in Generalizing Psychological Findings Paul acknowledges the difficulty in generalizing psychological findings due to the vast individual differences and confounding factors. He suggests that instead of expecting general principles, we should consider that certain interventions may work for some people but not others. 00:34:18 - Striking a Balance between Theoretical and Applied Psychology Paul discusses the balance between theoretical and applied psychology. While applied work can still be done, he suggests that a deeper understanding of the mind in abstract conditions may be more achievable than practical advice due to the complexity of human behavior. 00:35:08 - Unreliability of Memory Paul highlights the unreliability of human memory and how memories are often reconstructions based on experiences and expectations. He mentions the impact of this finding on areas like eyewitness testimony and emphasizes the need for caution when relying solely on memory. 00:39:25 - The Complexities of Job Satisfaction Paul discusses the complexity of job satisfaction, noting that it goes beyond just high salaries or pleasant work environments. Meaning, challenge, and the ability to make a difference are important factors that contribute to job satisfaction, even in lower-paying or less respected professions. 00:46:14 - The Spotlight Effect Paul discusses how people tend to believe that they are the most important person to others, but in reality, everyone is focused on themselves. This phenomenon is known as the spotlight effect. 00:46:37 - Influence and the Spotlight Effect The concept of the spotlight effect is further explored in Vanessa Blonde's episode. The show notes provide more information on this topic. 00:47:18 - Connecting with Paul Bloom To connect with Paul Bloom and learn more about his books, visit his website at paulbloom.net. He also recently started a Substack called Small Potatoes for sharing his thoughts without going through an editor. 00:47:46 - Announcing the Substack Paul announces the launch of his Substack, Small Potatoes, where he will be writing and sharing interesting thoughts and ideas. 00:48:04 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Paul: Follow Paul on Twitter Paul’s website 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: Psych, by Paul Bloom Just Babies, by Paul Bloom You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Blindsight, by Prince Ghuman and Matt Johnson Your Future Self, by Hal Hershfield Top Recommended Next Episode: Why We Like The Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman (ep 345) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Behavioral Science in the Wild, with Dilip Soman (ep 241) Framing (ep 296) Priming (ep 252) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) Happier Hour, with Cassie Holmes (ep 257) Memory Biases (ep 280) Defaults, the “D” in NUDGES (ep 38) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Motivation and Incentives with Kurt Nelson (ep 295) Your Future Self, with Hal Hershfield (ep 329) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 318) Do Nudges Work? With Michael Hallsworth (ep 218) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The Spotlight Effect Scrivener Paul’s Substack: Small Potatoes

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and guest Prince Ghuman, a renowned neuromarketer and author. The discussion centers around the importance of incorporating neuroscience and psychology in marketing strategies. Prince emphasizes the need for marketers to understand human behavior and behavior science in order to create more effective campaigns and improve customer satisfaction.  He discusses concepts like pattern recognition, the mere exposure effect, and the balance between novelty and familiarity. Prince also explores the adoption curve and how different consumer segments prefer varying degrees of newness and safety. By incorporating these insights into your marketing strategies, you can better connect with consumers and optimize your marketing efforts. This episode provides valuable knowledge and practical tools for marketers seeking to enhance their marketing strategies and campaigns. In this episode, you will: Discover the untapped potential of incorporating neuroscience and psychology in your marketing strategies for more effective customer engagement. Unravel the concept of NAS (new and safe) and unlock its impact on consumer preferences, positioning your brand as a trusted choice in the market. Gain a deep understanding of the adoption curve and learn how to appeal to different consumer segments, maximizing your marketing efforts for better ROI. Harness the power of pattern recognition to identify consumer preferences and create meaningful brand connections that drive loyalty and repeat business. Explore the shared responsibility of consumers and marketers in shaping the digital landscape, ensuring ethical practices that foster trust and satisfaction in the online marketplace. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode and welcomes Prince Ghuman as the guest. They discuss the intersection of behavioral science and marketing and Prince's background in the field. 00:02:08 - Prince's Background and Playbook, Prince shares his journey into the world of behavioral science and marketing. He discusses his experience working at startups and established corporations, as well as his transition to becoming a professor. Prince highlights the importance of neuroscience and psychology in marketing and mentions the playbook he developed over the years. 00:06:12 - Principles vs. Hard Science in Neuromarketing, Prince explains the division between principles and hard science in neuromarketing. He emphasizes the significance of understanding the principles of human behavior and psychology in marketing, even if neuroimaging is not accessible to all marketers. 00:08:23 - The Importance of Principles in Neuromarketing, Prince discusses the importance of principles in neuromarketing and how they can be applied to improve marketing strategies. He mentions the lack of emphasis on neuroscience and psychology in traditional marketing curricula and highlights the need for more practical applications of behavioral science in marketing. 00:10:00 - Applying Decision-Making Science to Marketing, Prince mentions the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and its significance in understanding decision-making. However, he emphasizes the need for tactics and practical applications of decision-making science in marketing and customer experiences. He envisions a future where neuromarketing principles are integrated. 00:15:00 - Evolution of Marketing and A/B Testing, The conversation begins with a discussion about the evolution of marketing and the use of A/B testing. The guest emphasizes the importance of understanding the psychological underpinnings behind marketing strategies and conducting more scientifically informed tests. 00:16:30 - Why We Like What We Like, The guest introduces the concept of the mere exposure effect, which states that the more we are exposed to something, the more likely we are to prefer it. They also discuss the idea of "new and safe," where people are attracted to things that are both novel and familiar. Understanding this concept can help brands come up with better product tests and launch strategies. 00:18:16 - The Psychological Context of Product Adoption, The guest explains how the psychological context of product adoption is often overlooked. Early adopters are more accepting of imbalances between new and safe, while late adopters prefer safety. Understanding this can help brand managers tailor their launch strategies and target different segments of the market. 00:21:14 - Using Familiarity and Novelty in Product Launches, The guest uses the example of Oreo cookies to illustrate how brands can incorporate familiarity and novelty to attract mass market appeal. By sandwiching a new flavor between familiar elements, brands can grab attention and break through established patterns, even if the new flavor itself doesn't sell well. 00:24:34 - Pleasure in Pattern Recognition, Prince addresses a question about why humans derive pleasure from pattern recognition. 00:29:31 - The Use of Game Mechanics in Engagement, The guest talks about how game mechanics are being used across various genres of games to increase engagement. He gives examples of sports games like NBA, soccer, FIFA, and NFL, as well as board games like Monopoly. Unpredictability is a key factor in increasing engagement, and this is seen in social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, where users are constantly scrolling to see what comes up next in their feed. 00:30:46 - Engagement 2.0 and Compulsive Behavior, The guest discusses how engagement in digital products, like social media apps, can lead to compulsive behavior. The unpredictability of what comes next on these platforms keeps users engaged and scrolling. He emphasizes that engagement is only a few steps away from compulsive behavior and explains why some apps have come under fire for exploiting this. 00:34:57 - The Role of Users in Data Science and Behavior Modeling, The guest points out that while tech companies are often criticized for using data science unethically, users also play a role in this behavior modeling. He suggests that consumers need to be willing to pay for digital products and services if they want to see a change in the way data science is used. He compares it to the organic food movement, where consumers demanded and paid a premium for healthier options. 00:36:27 - Marketers' Responsibility in Understanding Neuroscience, The guest emphasizes the importance for marketers to understand neuroscience and psychology in order to create better products and experiences for consumers. 00:43:10 - Importance of Understanding Your Customers, Understanding your customers' goals and communication preferences is crucial in business. Avoid comparing yourself to others and focus on meeting your customers' needs. This is the foundation of Melina Palmer's book What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You. 00:43:37 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Prince:  Follow Prince on LinkedIn  Follow Prince on Twitter  PopNeuro website 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: Blindsight, by Prince Ghuman and Matt Johnson Neurobranding, by Peter Steidl Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell Top Recommended Next Episode: Neuroscience and Behavioral Economics, with Matt Johnson (ep 160) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Branding That Means Business, with Matt Johnson (ep 231) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 292) Availability Bias (ep 310) Familiarity Bias (ep 149) Relativity (ep 12) Get Your DOSE Of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Habits (ep 256) The Power of Habit (ep 22) Non-Obvious Thinking with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Surprise & Delight (ep 276) McDonalds’ Irrational Loyalty Program (ep 279) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter We Asked: Why Does Oreo Keep Releasing New Flavors?

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll dive into a fascinating discussion with host Melina Palmer about books that have the power to change the way you think. As an avid reader herself, Melina shares her personal experiences with impactful books and how they have shaped her understanding of the mind. She presents a diverse list of nine books that have had a profound impact on her thinking, covering topics such as combinatorial thinking, binary thinking, innovation inspired by nature, the influence of metaphors, and more.  With each book recommendation, Melina provides key insights and takeaways, highlighting the importance of these books in improving our understanding of behavioral science, decision-making, and communication. Whether you're a book lover or someone looking to expand your thinking, this episode is packed with valuable recommendations that will inspire and transform your mindset. So grab your favorite reading spot, get ready to discover new perspectives, and let these books change the way you think. In this episode, you will: Enhance your thinking and broaden your perspective by exploring impactful books that have the power to change the way you think. Unlock the power of combinatorial thinking and discover how asking great questions can lead to innovative ideas and fresh insights. Expand your options and make better decisions by challenging binary thinking and embracing a both/and mindset that embraces paradoxes. Draw inspiration from nature's ingenious problem-solving solutions and apply them to your own challenges for simple and effective problem-solving and innovation. Understand the influential role of metaphors in communication and decision-making, and learn how to harness their power to effectively convey ideas and align them with business objectives. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode and shares her love for reading books. She discusses how books have influenced her thinking and announces that she will be sharing a list of books that have changed the way she thinks. 00:02:04 - The Power of Questions - A More Beautiful Question, Melina discusses the book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger. She explains how the concept of combinatorial thinking and asking great questions can lead to innovation and a better understanding of how the mind works. 00:06:37 - Embracing Both And Thinking, Melina introduces the book Both and Thinking by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis. She discusses how the book explores the idea of embracing paradoxes and avoiding binary thinking. This can lead to better decision-making and a broader perspective. 00:09:58 - Solving Problems with Nature - Evolutionary Ideas, Melina talks about the book Evolutionary Ideas by Sam Tatum. She explains how the book demonstrates how nature can inspire creative and practical solutions to human problems. She shares examples from the book, including the bullet train inspired by a kingfisher. 00:15:23 - Introduction to Semiotics in Retail and Marketing, Rachel Laws has written two books on semiotics: Using Semiotics in Retail and Using Semiotics in Marketing. These books provide real-world examples of how semiotics can be used to understand and leverage symbols and metaphors in business. The example of the Jam of Death Fruit spread company shows how the wrong symbols can make a store unappealing to customers. 00:18:02 - How Minds Change by David McRaney, How Minds Change by David McRaney is a mind-blowing book that explores how people's minds can change in drastic ways. McRaney shares insights from experts and his own experiences to understand why some people change their minds while others remain stuck. The book offers fundamental insights into how the brain is wired and how we can change our own minds and influence others. 00:20:50 - The Similarities Between How Minds Change and Look, Although How Minds Change and Look are 100% different books, they are inherently similar at their core. Both books offer fascinating insights into how our brains make sense of the world and how we can observe and reflect on our surroundings. Look provides examples for nonprofit fundraising and how observation can lead to solutions. 00:23:35 - The Power of US by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Beavel, The Power of US explores how individuals shift through various identities throughout the day and how this impacts their actions and interactions. 00:30:31 - Finding Happiness in Small Moments, Melina discusses the importance of finding time for oneself and engaging in activities that bring happiness. She highlights the book Happier Hour by Cassie Holmes, which provides tasks and insights to help create a happier life. 00:31:19 - Recap of Books on Changing Thinking, A recap of the books mentioned in the episode, including A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, How to Think by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis, and Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. Melina emphasizes the value of these books in changing one's thinking. 00:32:39 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis How Minds Change, by David McRaney Look, by Christian Madsbjerg Top Recommended Next Episode: Melina’s go to brainy books (ep 342) Already Heard That One? Try These:  A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 340) Evolutionary Ideas, with Sam Tatam (ep 204) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) What is cognitive semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Using Semiotics in Marketing and Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 336) Look, with Christian Madsbjerg (ep 325) The Power of Us, with Dominic Packer (ep 304) Selfless, with Brian Lowery (ep 331) Happier Hour, with Cassie Holmes (ep 257) Time discounting (ep 328) The Power of Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter All The Books – 2022 Edition The Best Books To Have More Influence At Work (via Shepherd) 12 Behavioral Science Books Every Consumer Insights Professional Must Read (via Greenbook)

In this episode of The Brainy Business Podcast, you'll discover host Melina Palmer's favorite brainy books and why they're worth checking out. Melina begins by sharing how many listeners have reached out to her, thanking her for the book recommendations that have expanded their knowledge and understanding. She explains that as a behavioral economics enthusiast, she has the privilege of reading books before they hit the shelves and even getting to speak with the authors. Melina kicks off the episode by introducing her new series where she'll recommend books based on specific topics. She emphasizes the importance of understanding what you want to achieve with the information before diving into her book recommendations. In this episode, you will: Discover the fascinating world of behavioral economics and how it influences our decision-making processes. Gain valuable insights into the foundations of behavioral economics and how it can be applied to different areas of life. Learn about the power of nudges and choice architecture in shaping our behavior and decision-making. Explore the intersection of neuroscience, marketing, and branding to understand how our brains respond to promotional messages. Discover effective strategies for increasing productivity and minimizing distractions in an increasingly distracting world. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode and mentions how she often gets asked for book recommendations. She also mentions that this episode is the first in a series of book recommendations and asks for feedback from listeners. 00:03:00 - Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, Melina recommends Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow as a foundational book in the field of behavioral economics. She describes it as a comprehensive guide to understanding behavioral science and highlights its importance for anyone interested in the field. 00:06:30 - Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's Nudge, Melina recommends Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein's book Nudge as another foundational book in behavioral economics. She explains that it provides a great foundation in the concept of nudges and choice architecture, and shares examples related to money, health, and freedom. 00:09:42 - Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, Melina recommends Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational as an introductory book to behavioral economics. She praises Ariely's conversational tone and relatable storytelling, making it an easy and enjoyable read for those interested in understanding the hidden forces that shape our decisions. 00:11:28 - A. K. Pradeep's The Buying Brain, Melina recommends A. K. Pradeep's "The Buying Brain" for those interested in consumer mindset, marketing strategy, and applying behavioral insights. 00:16:09 - Overview of Indistractable Book, Melina provides an overview of the book Indistractable and highlights its importance in understanding motivation, triggers, and focus. She explores tips for preventing distractions, making workplaces and relationships indistractable, and offers practical advice for hacking back external triggers. 00:16:51 - Hacking Back External Triggers, Part three of the book is discussed, focusing on hacking back external triggers such as notifications and interruptions. The chapter provides specific tips for managing work interruptions, email, group chat, meetings, smartphones, and online distractions. The information is actionable and easy to implement. 00:17:27 - Reducing Notifications, Melina shares personal experience of using the author's tips to reduce notifications, resulting in increased productivity. Removing push notifications for social media and email, except for text messages and phone calls, has made a significant difference. The book offers insights into understanding the brain and facilitates making behavioral shifts. 00:18:21 - Understanding Distraction and Traction, The section emphasizes the core insight of the book: distraction is the opposite of traction. It highlights the importance of identifying what distractions are pulling us away from and finding our traction. The book provides guidance on staying focused on what truly matters. 00:19:20 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein The Buying Brain, by AK Padreep Friction, by Roger Dooley Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Top Recommended Next Episode: Nir Eyal (ep 290) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dan Ariely (ep 101) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES (ep 272) Understanding Mapping: The “U” in NUDGES (ep 37) Defaults: The “D” in NUDGES (ep 38) Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES (ep 39) Give Feedback: The “G” in NUDGES (ep 40) Sense of Sight (ep 24) Sense Of Smell (ep 298) Why You Actually Taste With Your Nose – On The Sense Of Taste (ep 26) Did You Hear That? – On The Sense of Hearing (ep 300) Power Of Touch (ep 302) Roger Dooley (ep 274) Nir Eyal (ep 290) Understanding the Problem (ep 126) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions, by Melina Palmer

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear from guest Meghaan Lurtz, a finance and psychology expert, who is dedicated to improving communication skills, particularly in the context of difficult conversations surrounding money. She believes that the challenge lies not in the topic itself, but in what it represents in society and the shame associated with it. Meghaan's passion lies in helping individuals become skilled communicators who can ask thoughtful questions that support and connect with others.  Through her work as a professor, she has witnessed the transformative power of asking questions in various settings, including personal relationships and financial planning. Meghaan emphasizes the importance of follow-up questions, which not only enhance understanding but also make individuals more likable. She also highlights the significance of phrasing questions in a way that promotes safety and avoids confrontations. By focusing on effective communication strategies, Meghaan aims to improve relationships and foster deeper connections among individuals. In this episode: Discover the small changes in communication style that can have a significant impact on your interactions. Enhance relationships and deepen understanding through the power of asking thoughtful questions. Utilize body language and posture to create a positive and receptive atmosphere for effective communication. Deepen connections and understanding by using techniques such as reflection, labeling, and scaling questions. Understand the importance of establishing a strong and safe relationship before offering advice or solutions. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer introduces Megaan Lurtz, a writer and senior research associate who specializes in the intersection of finance and psychology. Meghaan shares her expertise on communication skills and the challenges of discussing money. 00:04:06 - Why People Hate Talking About Money, Meghaan explains that money is a difficult topic to discuss due to the various emotions and judgments associated with it. People often feel shame or judgment when talking about their financial situation, making it a taboo subject. 00:06:09 - The Power of Scaling Questions, Scaling questions are a powerful tool for communication. Meghaan describes how scaling questions can be used to gauge someone's feelings or experiences on a scale of 1 to 10 and then follow up with why they didn't choose a lower number. This technique helps shift the focus to positive aspects and improves overall communication. 00:09:40 - The Impact of Follow-Up Questions, Meghaan shares a study conducted on speed daters, which found that the most significant factor in securing a second date was asking engaging follow-up questions. Follow-up questions that keep the conversation focused on the other person make individuals more likable and improve connections. 00:14:44 - The Importance of Listening, Active listening is crucial for effective communication. Meghaan emphasizes the importance of genuinely listening to others, without distractions or interruptions. 00:15:13 - The Power of Communication, The way we communicate can have a significant impact on how others respond to us. Small changes in our communication style can lead to either a positive or contentious response. Nonverbal cues, such as body language and posture, also play a crucial role in effective communication. 00:16:38 - Finding the Right Balance, Communication styles differ from person to person, and it's important to find the right balance that works for each individual. Experimenting and testing different approaches can help determine what feels comfortable and yields the best response. 00:18:41 - Asking Interesting Questions, The way we ask questions can make a significant difference in the depth of communication. Simple changes, like asking follow-up questions that reflect genuine interest, can lead to more meaningful and engaging conversations. 00:22:43 - Getting to the Deeper Meaning, Rather than sticking to surface-level facts, it's essential to delve deeper into the meaning and feelings behind people's responses. By asking reflective questions and exploring emotions, we can create stronger connections and foster better understanding. 00:26:18 - The Importance of Connection, Building strong connections is crucial in all relationships, whether personal or professional. Without a solid foundation and safe space for communication, advice and recommendations may not be effectively received or acted upon. Communication and connection go hand in hand. 00:30:22 - The Importance of Questions in Communication, Questions serve a purpose beyond just seeking answers. They can help create a more comfortable and open conversation, leading to deeper connections and understanding between people. 00:31:32 - The Power of Communication in Healing, Research has shown that individuals with positive relationships heal faster when faced with physical injuries. Good communication, expressing love and care, can make us superhuman and have a significant impact on our well-being. 00:34:00 - The Value of Teaching Communication Skills, Instead of focusing solely on academic subjects, teaching communication skills such as asking open-ended questions, reflective listening, and labeling can be more useful in improving relationships and changing lives. 00:36:02 - Effective Questioning Techniques, Mirroring, where you repeat back what the person said, and labeling, where you identify and reflect their emotions, are powerful questioning techniques that show genuine interest and encourage further conversation. 00:38:20 - The Impact of Questions on Energy and Focus, Questions can influence where people direct their attention and effort. By encouraging others to focus on positive aspects or different perspectives, we can help shift energy and improve relationships and outcomes. 00:45:04 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Meghaan:  Follow Meghaan on Twitter  Follow Meghaan on LinkedIn  Meghaan’s Faculty Page at Columbia 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: A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Listen Like You Mean It, by Ximena Vengoechea The Hype Handbook, by Michael F. Schein You’re Invited! by Jon Levy Magic Words, by Jonah Berger Top Recommended Next Episode: A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 340) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Common Mistakes in Personal Finance, with Chuck Howard (ep 213) Mental Accounting (ep 282) Why Every Business Needs to Care About Personal Finances (ep 283) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Hype: What It Is And Why You Need More Of It (ep 143) Magic Words, by Jonah Berger (ep 301) Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings? (ep 65) Having Difficult Conversations at Work, with Kwame Christian (ep 107) The Power of Human Connection, with Nick Epley (ep 265) Framing (ep 296) You’re Invited! with Jon Levy (ep 348) How To Ethically Influence People, with Brian Ahearn (ep 104) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear an insightful interview with Warren Berger, an expert in the power of questioning. Warren's exploration of design thinking led him to delve into the origins of breakthrough innovations, startups, and the role of questioning in driving them. His books, A More Beautiful Question and The Book of Beautiful Questions, provide frameworks and examples for using questioning effectively in different domains of life.  Warren emphasizes the importance of questioning in education, business, relationships, and leadership. He highlights the transformative power of asking beautiful questions, which can lead to continuous learning, innovation, and deeper connections with others. By embracing questioning, individuals and organizations can unlock their full potential and lead a path of growth and discovery. In this episode: Unleash your potential and drive personal and professional growth by harnessing the power of questioning. Discover how questioning plays a vital role in design thinking and innovation, and unlock new possibilities in your creative endeavors. Ignite exploration and creativity by asking beautiful questions that inspire curiosity and push the boundaries of what is possible. Foster continuous improvement and engagement by incorporating mission questions into your personal and professional life. Learn how questioning can enhance interpersonal relationships, problem-solving, and lead to deeper connections and understanding. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Introduction to the podcast episode and the guest, Warren Berger, who is an expert in questioning and author of the book A More Beautiful Question. 00:01:23 - Importance of Questioning, Warren discusses the importance of questioning and how it is a powerful tool for problem-solving and decision-making. He emphasizes that questioning should be recognized as a field of study and incorporated into education and business training. 00:04:29 - Questioning and Design Thinking, Warren explains his background in writing about design thinking and how it led him to explore the role of questioning in problem-solving. He highlights that designers and successful business leaders are often skilled questioners. 00:07:06 - Researching Questions, Warren shares his research approach, which involves studying how different fields and professionals use questioning. He mentions sources such as Harvard Business Review and Psychology Today, and notes that there are few books dedicated solely to questioning. 00:10:47 - The Challenge of Writing about Questions, Warren discusses the challenge of expanding the topic of questioning from a chapter in a book to multiple books. He emphasizes the limitless depth and breadth of the subject and his commitment to exploring it fully. 00:15:26 - The Power of Questioning, Warren discusses how questioning leads to breakthroughs and innovation, emphasizing that many innovations start with a simple question. He introduces his first book, which explores the general concept of questioning with a focus on innovation. 00:16:16 - Questioning in Different Areas, Warren explains that people approach questioning from different angles depending on their interests. He highlights the relationships between questioning and creativity, decision-making, relationships with others, and leadership. Businesses are recognizing the importance of leaders who can ask insightful questions. 00:17:31 - The Book of Beautiful Questions, Warren's second book delves into four key areas where questioning is relevant: creativity, leadership, relationships, and decision-making. He offers examples of useful questions in each area and encourages readers to come up with their own. 00:18:31 - Questioning in Education, Warren's third book, targeted at educators, focuses on how to encourage students to ask more questions. He emphasizes the importance of engaging students' curiosity and creating a classroom environment where questioning is encouraged. 00:21:02 - Modeling Questioning Behavior, Warner discusses the importance of modeling questioning behavior, both for teachers and parents. He explains that demonstrating a balance of confidence and humility as a questioner can inspire others and create a more approachable leadership style. Intellectual curiosity is a valuable trait for both leaders and learners. 00:30:45 - The Three Types of Questions, The three types of questions are why, what if, and how. These questions work together in a cycle to push you forward and prevent you from getting stuck. Each question serves a different purpose in the problem-solving process. 00:31:19 - The Importance of the Why Question, The why question helps you understand the problem and its importance. However, it's important not to get trapped in the philosophical stage of constantly asking why. The why question is the first step in the process. 00:31:50 - Moving to the What If Stage, After asking why and gaining an understanding of the problem, it's time to start asking what if. This stage is for brainstorming and speculating on possible solutions. However, it's important not to get stuck in this stage and move on to the next. 00:32:28 - The How Question, The “how” question is about implementation and practicality. It's about figuring out how to solve the problem and get started. This question should be the last step in the process, after understanding the problem and exploring possible solutions. 00:35:30 - The Importance of Spending Time on Each Stage, It's important not to rush through any of the stages. Spending time on each stage ensures that you have a deep understanding of the problem, explore different possibilities, and then figure out how to implement the solution. Don't shortchange any of the stages. 00:44:52 - The Power of Beautiful Questions, Warren discusses the importance of formulating a powerful question that can drive motivation and purpose. He encourages individuals and companies to focus on mission questions rather than mission statements, as questions are ongoing and open-ended. 00:46:14 - Finding Your Beautiful Question, Warren encourages listeners to find their own beautiful question, a question that they can continuously pursue and work on throughout their lives. He also suggests that businesses should have mission questions that drive their purpose and motivate their employees. 00:47:18 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Warren: WARREN’S WEBSITE WARREN ON TWITTER WARREN ON LINKEDIN 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: A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Beautiful Questions in the Classroom, by Warren Berger The Book of Beautiful Questions, by Warren Berger CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People, by Warren Berger Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith Top Recommended Next Episode: Questionstorming at KIND (ep 215) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 266) What Problem Are You Solving? (ep 126) Framing (ep 296) Questions or Answers (ep 4) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Priming (ep 252) Influence Is Your Superpower with Zoe Chance (ep 308) How Businesses Can Design for Behavior Change, with Amy Bucher (ep 164) You’re Invited! with Jon Levy (ep 150) Nudging for Good at Walmart (ep 206) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) Is There a System 3? with Leigh Caldwell (ep 233) What is Cognitive Semiotics? with Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Warren Berger TED Talk: Nurturing the Ability to Question Right Question Institute The Questionologist, Psychology Today Warren Berger Articles, Harvard Business Review

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll gain valuable insights from Lucie Buisson, the Chief Product Officer at Content Square. Lucie's expertise lies in optimizing user experience on websites and mobile apps, and she shares her research and experience to provide practical tips for product managers. By understanding user behavior and identifying their real needs and problems through careful observation and analysis, businesses can create a more effective and engaging user experience.  Lucie also emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision making, testing assumptions, and balancing quick wins with long-term projects. Additionally, she discusses the challenges of scaling a company and offers valuable insights on maintaining clear communication and team cohesion during periods of growth and change. Whether you're a product manager looking to improve user experience or interested in the dynamics of scaling a company, this episode provides valuable knowledge and actionable strategies. In this episode: Uncover actionable insights from user data analysis to drive strategic decision-making and optimize user experience. Strike a balance between quick wins and long-term projects to continually improve product performance and customer satisfaction. Gain a deeper understanding of user behavior through data analysis, going beyond customer feedback alone to make informed product decisions. Navigate the challenges and considerations of scaling a tech company, unlocking opportunities for growth and success. Recognize the impact of time discounting on user behavior and explore strategies to effectively engage and retain customers. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, host Melina Palmer introduces Lucie Buisson, the Chief Product Officer at Content Square. She discusses Lucie's role in the company's growth and the mission of Content Square to make the digital world more human. 00:02:07 - Scaling a Company, Lucie shares her insights on scaling a company, emphasizing the importance of adaptability while staying true to the company's vision and goals. She also highlights the challenges of transitioning from a small team to a larger organization. 00:06:27 - Understanding Behavior, Content Square's technology collects anonymous user interactions to understand customer behavior and preferences. Lucie emphasizes the importance of focusing on customer intent and providing personalized online experiences that mimic the positive aspects of in-store shopping. 00:08:31 - Challenges of Scaling, Lucie discusses the challenges of scaling a company, including the need to define roles and maintain a shared vision as the organization grows. She also highlights the importance of explicit communication in a larger team. 00:11:34 - Scientific Approach to Customer Understanding, Lucie emphasizes the scientific approach to understanding customers and the importance of data-driven decision-making. She discusses the role of data analysis in product management and the need for empirical evidence rather than opinions. 00:18:06 - The Power of Content Score, Content Score allows users to gain insights and identify website performance issues without knowing exactly what they're looking for. Unlike tagging plans, Content Square collects every interaction on a website, providing a more exploratory approach to understanding customer behavior. 00:19:46 - Prioritizing the Most Important Problems, Content Square's reports provide valuable information without users having to choose what to analyze in advance. By presenting click rates on every element of a webpage, users can identify areas of improvement without bias. Solving the most pressing problems yields the greatest impact. 00:24:47 - Finding Simple Fixes with Significant Results, Customer assumptions about what needs to be fixed often lead to massive and time-consuming projects. However, Content Score can reveal simple fixes like optimizing a landing page's hero image or call-to-action placement, resulting in substantial improvements and revenue opportunities. 00:27:31 - Balancing Voice of Customer Feedback, While Voice of Customer (VOC) tools provide valuable feedback, it often comes from extreme ends of the satisfaction spectrum. Content Square helps differentiate between isolated incidents and symptomatic behavior by tying VOC feedback to session replays. This allows users to prioritize actions based on quantifiable impact. 00:30:42 - The Iterative Cycle of Innovation, Content Score serves as the middle piece in a cycle of innovation. By understanding why customers struggle and making changes to address those issues, users can then use experimentation tools like A/B testing to analyze the impact of their modifications. 00:34:38 - Understanding Future Behavior, People often answer questions about their future behavior based on what they hope to be, not necessarily what they will actually do. Our predictions about our future selves are often different from our current behaviors, and this should be taken into account when designing products and experiences. 00:35:36 - Customer Feedback and Implementation, When gathering customer feedback, it's important to ask the right questions. Customers may say they want a new feature, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will use it. Implementing unnecessary features can overcomplicate the user experience and deter usage. 00:37:47 - Testing and Understanding Behavior, Testing and understanding user behavior is crucial for optimizing experiences. A case study from Netflix shows that what people say they want may not align with their actual behavior. It's important to go beyond customer requests and truly understand their needs and motivations. 00:40:36 - Balancing Customer Requests and Solutions, While it's important to listen to customer feedback, it's equally important to go beyond their requests and find innovative solutions to their problems. Product managers should balance quick wins with long-term projects and use their expertise to identify the best solutions. 00:43:37 - Optimizing Website Experience, To optimize website experiences, start by listening to customers and identifying small signals of behavior. Quantify the impact of these behaviors and find a balance between quick wins and long-term improvements. Understanding the customer while also leveraging product expertise is key to success. 00:46:09 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Lucie: Follow Lucie on LinkedIn Contentsquare on Twitter Contentsquare Website 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 Voltage Effect, by John LIst What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Continuous Discovery Habits, by Teresa Torres Friction, by Roger Dooley What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: The Voltage Effect, with John List (ep 190) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 338) Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Sludge (ep 179) Choice Architecture and NUDGES (ep 35) Priming (ep 252) The Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 266) Habits (ep 256) Your Future Self, with Hal Hershfield (ep 329) Time Discounting (ep 328) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Planning Fallacy (ep 346) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer dives into the fascinating world of behavioral economics and its application in Peloton's marketing success. As a marketing expert, Melina understands the importance of effective messaging and branding strategies, and she shares her insights on how Peloton has leveraged behavioral economics concepts to create a strong connection with their target audience.  She explores the power of storytelling, community-building, and framing offers in a way that resonates with customers. Melina also discusses the impact of social proof, herding, and anchoring in Peloton's advertising and business strategies. If you're a marketer or business owner looking to enhance your branding and advertising strategies, this episode is a must-listen. Melina's expertise and analysis of Peloton's success will inspire you to apply behavioral economics principles in your own marketing efforts and build a loyal customer base. In this episode: Enhance your branding and advertising strategies by applying behavioral economics concepts for a Peloton-like success. Discover the importance of aligning your messaging with your target audiences for more effective advertising. Uncover the power of storytelling and community-building to create a strong brand identity and engage customers. Learn how to leverage social proof and herding to enhance motivation and engagement within your community. Understand the impact of ad controversy and mixed messaging, and how to avoid it in your own advertising campaigns. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the podcast episode and explains the purpose of the Behavioral Economics Analysis series. She emphasizes the importance of understanding how companies apply behavioral economics concepts and provides ideas for implementing them in one's own business. 00:03:49 - Background on Peloton, Melina provides an overview of Peloton, a fitness company that sells workout equipment and offers streaming classes. She shares statistics on the company's membership, workout completion, and revenue. She also mentions the controversy surrounding a Peloton holiday ad and the mixed messaging in the company's marketing. 00:07:21 - Mixed Messaging in Peloton's Marketing, Melina discusses the issue of mixed messaging in Peloton's marketing. She explains that while the company aims to be inclusive, their ads primarily target wealthy individuals. This creates a disconnect with their message of building a community accessible to everyone. She suggests that Peloton should align their marketing with their target audience more clearly. 00:09:52 - Inclusivity vs. High-Income Targeting, Melina discusses the two paths Peloton could take in their marketing strategy: inclusivity or targeting high-income individuals. She emphasizes the importance of clarity and consistency in messaging and highlights the need for proper context in ads to avoid negative interpretations. 00:11:10 - Importance of Providing Context in Ads, Melina stresses the importance of providing context in ads, especially when it comes to sensitive topics like health and fitness. Without proper context, viewers may fill in the gaps. 00:15:07 - Utilizing Stories and Community in Advertising, Peloton has a wealth of stories and people that can be used in advertising to inspire others and promote the brand. They should engage their community and ask for stories to feature. 00:17:38 - Potential Benefits of Controversial Advertising, While Peloton received backlash for their controversial ad, it brought awareness to the brand and the problem they solve. Seeing the ad everywhere can increase focus on the company and prompt people to learn more. 00:19:55 - Peloton's Pricing Strategy, Peloton offers an expensive product, but they make it easier for customers to try with a 30-day trial and financing options. The 94% stay rate at the twelve month mark shows that once people have the equipment, they are likely to continue using it. 00:21:28 - Access to Content and Reciprocity, Peloton's monthly membership fee gives access to high-quality content, creating a sense of reciprocity. They bundle offers without discounting, providing additional benefits for customers who buy the bike or treadmill. 00:26:22 - Structuring Choices for Customer Satisfaction, Peloton structures their choices by allowing users to easily search and filter for classes based on their preferences. They have ten main categories to start with and provide recommended rides based on users' preferences. 00:31:08 - Herding and Social Proof on Peloton, Peloton's use of herding and social proof enhances the community experience, with features like showing how many people have taken a class before, following other users, and rating classes. This creates a sense of community without the awkwardness. 00:32:29 - Framing and Tracking Progress, Peloton's instructors guide users on what numbers to focus on during workouts, emphasizing resistance and cadence. By framing what matters and providing robust stats, Peloton makes it easy to track progress and strive for improvement. 00:35:45 - Incorporating Social Proof, Peloton creates a sense of community by incorporating social proof, such as calling out names and profiles of people hitting milestones during live workouts. Badges, achievements, and virtual high fives further enhance the feeling of being part of a larger community. 00:40:06 - The Impact of "I See You", Peloton's instructors use the phrase "I see you" when giving shout outs, creating a personal and inclusive atmosphere. This subtle phrasing adds to the social proof and makes users feel like part of a big family. Anchoring and commitments also help form good habits and keep users motivated. 00:46:20 - Key Takeaways from Peloton's Advertising Strategy, Key takeaways from Peloton's advertising strategy include knowing your target market, using real stories from your community, and making complex offerings easy for users. Context and storytelling are important, as well as anchoring and social proof to create a sense of community and connection. 00:47:46 - Importance of User Experience and Choice Structure, The user experience is crucial, especially when it comes to structuring choices. Making it easy for users to navigate and personalize their experience is key, particularly for those trying to change habits. Defaults and remembered settings can help facilitate this process. 00:48:28 - Anchoring and Social Proof for Building a Community, Anchoring with big numbers helps show what's possible and move people beyond their initial expectations. Social proof is essential for creating a sense of community, whether it's through personalized shoutouts or highlighting the presence of a larger community. 00:49:42 - Pricing Strategies and Knowing Your Audience, Pricing doesn't always have to be about discounts. Understanding your audience's mindset and what matters to them can help in setting prices. Not every business is for every person, and it's okay if some people don't resonate with your pricing. 00:51:52 - Personalized Virtual Experiences and the Potential for Business Growth, Peloton's ability to create a personalized virtual experience highlights the potential for businesses to offer virtual services with a subscription or membership model.  00:53:24 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Purpose, by Gina Bianchini What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Atomic Habits, by James Clear Engaged, by Amy Bucher Top Recommended Next Episode: The Science of Subscriptions and Membership Models (ep 105) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Costco: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 47) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 292) Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 278) Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 42) Availability Bias (ep 310) Framing (ep 296) How to Stack and Bundle Products and Services To Sell More (ep 84) How to Raise Your Prices (ep 77) Reciprocity (ep 238) Structuring Complex Choices: The “S” in NUDGES (ep 41) Herding (ep 264) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Habits (ep 256) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (ep 67) The Network Effect (ep 262) Creating a Habit of Curiosity with Pique (ep 119) Precommitment (ep 120) Get Your DOSE Of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Good Habits, Bad Habits with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Find Your Purpose, with Gina Bianchini (ep 263) Surprise & Delight (ep 276) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The real lesson your credit union should learn from Peloton’s ad flop (it’s not what you think) The Gift That Gives Back | Peloton Bike Commercial Peloton Investor Relations Peloton’s nightmare before Christmas: $1.5 billion vanished from its market value in 3 days amid holiday ad backlash

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, social psychologist and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab, Sander van der Linden, joins host Melina Palmer to discuss the role of critical thinking and emotions in resisting misinformation. Sander's extensive research on the influence of repetition and the illusory truth effect make him a trusted authority on the subject. The conversation serves as a valuable resource for critical thinkers concerned about misinformation in today's digital landscape.  Van der Linden explains how repetition can lead people to question their own knowledge and accept false information as true, highlighting the illusory truth effect. He also discusses the conjunction fallacy and the self-sealing belief system of conspiracy theorists. The episode delves into the concept of inoculation as a strategy to combat misinformation, providing insights on how to build cognitive antibodies to resist manipulation. Overall, the conversation offers practical tips and insights for improving critical thinking skills and navigating the complex world of misinformation. In this episode: Gain a deeper understanding of the pervasive impact of misinformation in today's society. Discover how the illusory truth effect influences belief formation and the way we perceive information. Explore the complexity of conspiracy theories and the conjunction fallacy, and how they can contribute to the spread of misinformation. Learn about the powerful strategy of inoculation as a means to combat misinformation and manipulation. Understand the crucial role that critical thinking and emotions play in resisting misinformation and making informed decisions. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Sander is a professor of Social Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He studies how people process misinformation and how to combat its spread. He shares his expertise with governments, public health authorities, and social media companies. 00:04:41 - The challenges of researching historical accounts Sander discusses the difficulties of researching historical accounts for his book. He had to navigate competing historical viewpoints and verify the accuracy of information. He shares the example of a disputed document regarding Mark Antony's will as an example of the challenges faced in historical research. 00:09:01 - Writing process and structure of the book Sander talks about his writing process and the structure of the book. He waited until he had enough data and case studies before starting. Once he had the general structure and outline, he began filling in the individual chapters. Sander emphasizes the importance of having a clear direction before starting to write. 00:12:40 - The impact of misinformation on decision-making Sander explains how misinformation can influence decision-making. He discusses the cognitive biases that help our minds accept false information. 00:15:47 - Illusory Truth Effect and Repetition, Repetition of false information can lead people to believe it, even if they have prior knowledge that contradicts it. This is known as the illusory truth effect. Examples include misattributing the ark to Moses instead of Noah, and the power of the "big lie" technique used by Hitler. 00:18:10 - Continued Influence of Misinformation, Misinformation can persist and strengthen over time, making it difficult to correct. The continued influence of misinformation is similar to how memories are connected in a social network. Once a false belief is established, it can be challenging to change it, as seen with the autism vaccination link myth. 00:19:49 - Conjunction Fallacy and Conspiracy Theories, The conjunction fallacy refers to the tendency to believe that multiple conspiracy theories are more likely to be true than a single one. People often endorse multiple conspiracy theories simultaneously, even if they are mutually exclusive. This is due to a self-sealing belief system where one theory serves as evidence for another. 00:25:46 - Visual Misinformation and Manipulated Images, Visual misinformation is prevalent and often underestimated. Manipulated images enhance fluency and make information seem more true. Examples include fake images of dolphins in the canals of Venice during the pandemic. It is challenging to correct false beliefs once they have been visualized. 00:31:28 - Introduction to Inoculation, Inoculation is about exposing people to a weakened dose of misinformation and refuting it in advance. It builds cognitive antibodies to help resist manipulation. The mind can be vaccinated against manipulation just as the body can be vaccinated against viruses. 00:32:22 - Building Resistance in the Brain, The brain needs exposure to deception and manipulation to understand their tactics and become resistant. Micro doses of misinformation help the brain develop cognitive antibodies. This research has been conducted for over a decade. 00:34:27 - Examples of Inoculation Techniques, Inoculation can be done on a single myth basis or by targeting specific tactics used in manipulation. For example, a weakened dose could be created by debunking a petition with false signatures. Inoculation helps protect people against misinformation and strengthens their perception of the scientific consensus. 00:37:48 - Scaling Inoculation, Inoculation can be scaled by targeting underlying tactics that are frequently used in a given domain or topic. Techniques like casting doubt on scientific consensus or using fear mongering can be weakened and exposed to help people resist manipulation. Short videos on platforms like YouTube can be used to reach a larger audience. 00:39:57 - Using Pop Culture as Weakened Doses, Popular culture references like Star Wars or South Park can be used as weakened doses to help people spot manipulation techniques. By using non-political examples, it becomes easier to get bipartisan agreement and educate people on logical fallacies. 00:47:31 - Tips for Spotting Misinformation, Sander recommends questioning what we see, not blindly sharing information, and not being fooled by pictures or social proof. His book, Foolproof, provides more tips and insights for spotting fake news. By applying the strategies and techniques outlined in the book, readers can become less vulnerable to misinformation. 00:48:48 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Sander: Follow Sander on LinkedIn  Follow Sander on Twitter Sander’s website  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: Foolproof, by Sander van der Linden Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman How Minds Change, by David McRaney A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain, by Doug Kenrick and Dave Lundberg-Kenrick Top Recommended Next Episode: How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 336) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Availability Bias (ep 310) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Herding (ep 264) Social Proof (ep 87) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain (ep 237) Sense of Sight (ep 24) Framing (ep 296) Introduction to NUDGES and Choice Architecture (ep 272) What is cognitive semiotics? with Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Conjunction Fallacy

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear a fascinating conversation between host Melina Palmer and guest David McRaney. They delve into the power of perception and how our minds construct reality. David shares his journey of discovering the topic of perception while researching for his book. The discussion explores how our prior experiences and brain processes influence our perception, and how our perception can vary greatly based on individual differences. By understanding the power of perception, you'll gain valuable insights that can enhance your content creation and improve your understanding of how we construct our reality. So, join Melina and David on this thought-provoking episode to expand your knowledge and gain a new perspective on perception. In this episode: Discover the science behind psychology and behavior change. Explore the power of perception and how our minds construct reality, revealing the impact it has on our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Understand the intricacies of belief change and gain practical strategies for effectively changing minds and transforming perspectives. Bonus: Learn expert tips for conducting interviews and securing interesting guests to keep your podcast episodes compelling and informative. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces this episode, featuring a conversation with David McRaney about his book "How Minds Change." She explains that the book explores the psychology of changing minds and discusses why she chose to feature this episode. 00:02:32 - David McRaney's Background, David shares his background, from owning businesses to working in journalism and local television. He talks about starting his blog, You Are Not So Smart, which led to a book deal and a successful podcast. He mentions his interest in biases, fallacies, and critical thinking. 00:05:00 - Overview of How Minds Change, David introduces his book, How Minds Change, which explores the psychology of changing opinions, persuasion, and social change. He discusses his fascination with understanding conspiratorial thinking, resistance to change, and misinformation. 00:07:59 - Advice for Discerning Pursuits, David advises against jumping into trends and suggests pursuing topics that spark a deep curiosity and obsession. He recommends exploring areas that you want to share with others and that drive you to learn more. 00:10:53 - Importance of Following an Obsession, David emphasizes the importance of following an obsession and delving deep into a topic of interest. He shares his personal experience with his blog, You Are Not So Smart, and how his curiosity led to the success of his book and podcast. 00:14:02 - The Importance of Enthusiasm and Passion in Podcasts, David discusses how he can quickly tell if a podcast is just following an algorithm, and emphasizes the importance of infectious enthusiasm and passion in keeping listeners engaged. 00:14:30 - The Need for Genuine Interest in Writing a Book, David's agent stresses the importance of genuine passion and commitment when pitching book ideas, and he agrees that he prefers to embark on a book project without all the answers, allowing the authoritative voice to emerge naturally. 00:15:17 - McRaney's Approach to Writing a Book, As a journalist, David believes that his books are better when his authoritative voice develops throughout the project, taking readers on a journey of discovery and learning alongside him. 00:18:04 - Behavioral Baking and Connecting with the Audience, David shares his experience with introducing a cookie segment on his podcast, where he would bake cookies and share them with his audience. While some loved it, others were not as enthusiastic, leading David to retire the segment after 100 episodes. Melina discusses his concept of "Behavioral Baking" and how it ties into her podcast. 00:28:08 - The Power of Networking, David shares his experience of reaching out to experts at NYU and how it led to valuable connections and collaborations for his podcast and book projects. 00:29:33 - The Fascination with the Dress, David discusses the viral phenomenon of "the dress," an image that appeared on the internet and sparked intense debate over its colors. He explains how this event became a touchstone for understanding disagreements and perception. 00:31:35 - The Importance of Curiosity, David emphasizes the importance of curiosity and asking questions when networking and conducting interviews. He shares advice from a seasoned journalist on always coming back with multiple story ideas to avoid writer's block. 00:32:45 - The Dress Phenomenon Explained, McRaney delves into the psychology and neuroscience behind the dress illusion. He explains how the brain processes overexposed images and how this can lead to different color perceptions. He references the strawberries illusion as another example. 00:43:09 - Going Beyond Right and Wrong, Engaging in arguments over who is right and who is wrong prevents deeper conversations about why people hold different interpretations. This applies to various disagreements and limits our understanding of ourselves and others. 00:45:25 - The Croc Experiment, The croc experiment demonstrated the surf pad concept by showing that people's prior experiences influenced how they perceived the color of crocs and socks under different lighting conditions. This bizarre experiment highlights the complexity of perception and how it varies among individuals. 00:49:36 - Minds Changing on Same-Sex Marriage, The shift in attitudes towards same-sex marriage challenged the notion that people can't change their minds. Understanding what happens in a person's brain when they no longer agree with their past beliefs became the focus of investigation. 00:51:28 - How to Change Minds, Changing minds requires moving away from a confrontational approach and towards compassionate listening. Brute-forcing facts on others doesn't work; instead, engaging in non-judgmental conversations that allow for understanding can lead to effective persuasion. 00:55:43 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with David: DAVID’S WEBSITE DAVID ON TWITTER DAVID ON LINKEDIN 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 Minds Change, by David McRaney You Are Not So Smart, by David McRaney You Are Now Less Dumb, by David McRaney What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Look, by Christian Madsbjerg Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 312) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (ep 189) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Indistractible, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Survivorship Bias (ep 110) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) Priming (ep 252) What is Behavioral Baking? (episode 155) Partitioning (ep 252) You Have More Influence Than You Think with Vanessa Bohns (ep 318) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 304) Reciprocity (ep 238) Sense Of Smell (ep 298) Sense of Sight (ep 24) Look, with Christian Madsbjerg (ep 325) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Negativity Bias (ep 223) The Dunning Kruger Effect (ep 266) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter You Are Not So Smart Website The Dress Strawberry Illusion

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Sigi Hale who delves into the fascinating world of neurodiversity and its impact on decision-making in the field of market research. By understanding the diverse brain types and their unique strengths, businesses can optimize their decision-making processes and improve their marketing strategies. Dr. Hale emphasizes the importance of self-reflection, recognizing our natural tendencies, and leveraging different decision-making systems based on the situation.  This episode provides valuable insights for market researchers and business professionals who strive to enhance their decision-making abilities and achieve better results. By embracing neurodiversity and aligning roles and tasks with individuals' brain types, organizations can harness the full potential of their teams and optimize team performance. With Sigi's expertise in neuroscience and decision-making, coupled with Melina’s enthusiasm for understanding the brain, this discussion offers thought-provoking insights that can revolutionize the way businesses approach decision-making. In this episode: Discover how to optimize personal cognitive abilities for successful market research with a focus on neurodiversity and decision-making. Learn to leverage strengths of ADHD as a variation in brain state orientation to elevate productivity. Understand the link between distinct decision-making styles and their influence on consumer behavior. Realize the pivotal role context plays in decision-making and how to craft tailored marketing strategies accordingly. Recognize different brain types within your team and learn how to accommodate these for optimized team performance. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces Dr. Sigi Hale and mentions that the conversation will cover topics related to neurodiversity and ADHD. 00:01:46 - Dr. Sigi Hale's Background, Sigi shares his background and transition from academia to the private sector. He explains how he started consulting and eventually joined Alpha Diver, a market research company focusing on understanding consumer behavior. 00:08:12 - ADHD and Neurodiversity, Sigi discusses how the brain works as a multifunctional building block relational system. He explains that ADHD is not a deficit, but a variation in how brain systems are orchestrated. He mentions the benefits of ADHD brain states and their association with specific cognitive abilities. 00:13:10 - Sports Analogy, Sigi uses a sports analogy to further explain the different brain states and abilities associated with ADHD. He compares task-focused behavior to offense in sports and sensory immersive behavior to defense. 00:14:17 - Impact of Color on Physiology, Sigi briefly discusses the impact of color on physiological arousal and preferences. He mentions that asking someone why they like a certain color may not elicit a clear answer due to the physiological factors at play. 00:15:25 - Understanding Different Systems of Knowledge, The brain has different systems of knowledge: episodic knowledge, semantic knowledge, and rational thought. These systems function in parallel and influence decision-making. The ADHD brain is more inclined towards instinctual and personal experience processes, which can lead to creative and flexible thinking. 00:16:53 - Mapping the World onto Personal Experience, Making decisions based on personal experience and episodic memory allows us to familiarize the world and empathize with others. This process also enhances sensory immersion and can lead to self-transcendent and empathetic experiences. ADHD adults are more likely to engage in this type of processing. 00:18:55 - Shifting Brain States and Neurodiversity, Our brain states can shift throughout the day, affecting our information processing. During ADHD-like brain states, there is an emphasis on instincts, personal experience, and creative thinking. These states can enhance detail-oriented thinking, empathy, and fluid thinking. 00:21:44 - Marginalization of Neurodiversity, Neurodiversity that aligns with ADHD-like processes is often marginalized in education and traditional organizational structures. However, these processes play vital roles in innovation and creativity. Organizations should identify and leverage different features of neurodiversity to unlock the full potential of their teams. 00:24:09 - Optimizing Team Roles, Sigi explains how optimizing team roles involves recognizing different types of neurodiversity and the associated strengths. 00:30:27 - Understanding Neurodiversity in Decision Making, Sigi discusses how different brain types, such as those with ADHD, have unique ways of seeing the world and making decisions. It is important to appreciate this diversity, as it affects how individuals make choices in different market spaces. 00:31:48 - Tailoring Communication for Different Brains, A good salesman understands that different people have different decision-making styles. Some rely on experience and emotions, while others focus on facts and figures. A deep understanding of these differences allows for effective communication and marketing strategies. 00:32:48 - Measuring Decision-Making Styles in Populations, Market research involves measuring the expression of different decision-making styles in various market spaces and cohorts of people. Understanding how these styles change over time and in different situations is crucial for making sense of human decision-making. 00:37:24 - Context and Decision Making, The context in which decisions are made greatly influences decision-making psychology. Certain situations can harmonize decision-making styles across individuals, while others may push individuals to make decisions in different ways. Understanding the context is essential for effective advertising and marketing strategies. 00:40:25 - Optimizing as a Solopreneur, As a solopreneur, it is important to understand your own strengths and weaknesses in relation to neurodiversity. Knowing where you excel and where you struggle allows you to find external resources, technologies, and people to buffer against your weaknesses. It's also important to give yourself permission 00:45:47 - Decision-Making Styles, Sigi discusses the different decision-making styles and how to leverage them. He emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and considering personal experience, instincts, and rational thinking when making decisions. 00:46:13 - Leveraging Different Perspectives, Sigi explains the importance of consciously leveraging different perspectives to navigate the world effectively. He suggests giving more weight to either instinctual or rational thinking depending on the circumstances. 00:47:02 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Sigi: Follow Sigi on LinkedIn Alpha Diver website Follow Alpha Diver on Twitter 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: Unleash Your Primal Brain, by Tim Ash Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain, by Doug Kenrick and Dave Lundberg-Kenrick  Magic Words, by Jonah Berger A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Look, by Christian Madsjberg Top Recommended Next Episode: Color Theory (ep 61) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Evolutionary Ideas, with Sam Tatam (ep 204) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain (ep 237)Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Wendy Wood (ep 127) DOSE Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Habits (ep 256) Why We Like The Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman (ep 172)Herding (ep 264) Priming (ep 252) Familiarity Bias (ep 149) Look, with Christian Madsjberg (ep 325) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Case Studies from Alpha Diver

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Tim Ash, author of Unleash Your Primal Brain. Tim brings his unique background in computer engineering and cognitive science to the discussion, shedding light on the evolution of the brain and its impact on human behavior. He explains how our brains developed as a response to fast changes in the environment caused by movement, highlighting the importance of social dynamics over logical reasoning.  Tim also delves into the concept of culture spread and how humans made an evolutionary bet on it, setting us apart from animals. This conversation is essential for business leaders and marketers who want to better understand human behavior and predict consumer choices. By recognizing the underlying evolutionary basis of our brains, they can design experiences that align with human nature, effectively connecting with their target audience. Tim's expertise in neural networks and neuromarketing provides a unique perspective on leveraging the primal brain for ethical reasons and leveling the playing field in marketing. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights that will enhance your business strategies and drive success. In this episode: Discover the evolutionary basis of the brain, unveiling insights into the origin of human behavior. Unravel the secrets behind mirror neurons and understand their importance in human learning processes and empathy. Understand the ways in which cultural spread influences our adaptability and drives behavioral changes. Delve into how social media can be exploited to leverage our instinct for cultural spread. Gain insights into how to design business experiences that are harmonized with the innate nature of humans. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces Tim Ash and discusses the importance of understanding the primal brain in behavioral economics and business. 00:01:44 - Evolution of the Brain, Tim explains how the brain evolved to respond to fast changes in the environment caused by movement. He highlights the energy-intensive nature of the brain and its focus on modeling complex social relationships. 00:07:11 - Heuristics and Biases, Tim explores how the brain uses heuristics and biases to navigate the world, balancing the need for energy consumption and survival. He emphasizes the brain's primary function of modeling social dynamics rather than logical reasoning. 00:09:50 - Culture Spread, Tim discusses how humans evolved to rely on culture spread as an evolutionary advantage. He explains the role of mirror neurons and the physical adaptations in humans to facilitate cultural learning. 00:13:36 - Unique Aspects of Human Brain Development, Tim highlights the unique aspects of human brain development, such as prolonged adolescence. He discusses how these adaptations contribute to the spread of culture and the importance of learning from others. 00:15:50 - Evolutionary Reasons for Modeling and Survival Goals, Tim explains that there are evolutionary reasons for modeling and mirror neurons. Modeling helps us imagine what someone is doing when they are out of sight, while survival goals like feeding and interpreting gestures are important for our physical skill rehearsal. Mirror neurons play a role in all of these processes and contribute to our survival. 00:17:14 - Learning from Successful Examples and Tribal Cohesion, Tim discusses the importance of learning from successful examples and the role of tribal cohesion in our learning process. We tend to learn from older people who have survived and people who are similar to us in terms of ethnicity, gender, and language. This preference for learning from similar individuals reinforces tribalism and group cohesion. 00:18:56 - Overcoming Biases and Expanding Circles of Empathy, Tim expresses a lack of hope in overcoming biases and expanding circles of empathy, especially in society and politics. He highlights our biological predisposition to form tribes and the difficulty of accepting other views once we are part of a tribe. However, he suggests that meeting and talking to people who are different from us can help in creating a larger circle of empathy. 00:21:32 - Conservative and Progressive Spheres of Concern, Tim shares an interesting finding from sociological research that conservative and progressive individuals tend to have different spheres of concern. He uses perceptions of immigration as an example of these differences. 00:30:24 - Girls' School Performance and Self Esteem Decline, Girls tend to outperform boys academically, especially in the early years. However, when they hit puberty, their self-esteem declines, and they start caring more about what their friends think of them. This often leads to a decline in academic performance. 00:31:27 - The Importance of the First Five Years, The first five years of a child's life are critical for their development. During this time, they need to feel loved, safe, and have proper nutrition and sleep. These experiences become hardwired into their biology and can influence their social attitudes and behaviors later in life. 00:33:22 - The Power of Empathy, Developing empathy is crucial for raising good humans. One way to cultivate empathy is through direct experiences with people from different backgrounds and cultures. By understanding and modeling the behaviors and experiences of others, we can foster empathy and understanding. 00:34:48 - The Role of Storytelling, Storytelling serves multiple evolutionary purposes. It allows us to simulate experiences we can't directly have, like living out a nightmare scenario without the real-life consequences. It also helps maintain cultural cohesion by spreading knowledge and values within a tribe. However, the cultural package we bring to a story can influence how we interpret and experience it. 00:36:56 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Tim Ash: Follow Tim on LinkedIn Primal Brain Website Tim’s Website  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: Unleash Your Primal Brain, by Tim Ash Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain, by Doug Kenrick and Dave Lundberg-Kenrick  Friction, by Roger Dooley Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Top Recommended Next Episode: Evolutionary Ideas, with Sam Tatam (ep 204) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain (ep 237) Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Wendy Wood (ep 127) DOSE Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Herding (ep 264) Loss Aversion (ep 316) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories (ep 54) Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Avoiding Everyday Work Disasters with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky (ep 111) Marketing to Mindstates with Will Leach (ep 88) Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Costco: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 47) Biases Toward Others (ep 314) IKEA Effect (ep 112) The Human Experience, with John Sills (ep 277) Using the Senses to Increase Sales with Michelle Niedziela (ep 168) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Dove Real Beauty Campaign Always Super Bowl Ad 2015 What eCommerce Can Learn From IKEA’s Offline Success

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear an insightful interview with Vishal George, a behavioral scientist and author of the book Money Mindsets. Vishal's expertise lies in combining behavioral science with human-centered design and systems thinking. He shares examples of his work, including a project in New Zealand aimed at reducing businesses' carbon emissions by using the messenger effect of young people's voices.  The conversation then delves into the importance of understanding our own money stories and how they shape our financial behavior. Vishal emphasizes the need to break the taboo surrounding money conversations and draws inspiration from children's natural curiosity about money. The episode explores the intersection of behavioral science and personal finance, providing practical insights for improving financial well-being. Whether you're looking to make better financial decisions or increase your savings, this episode offers valuable strategies and perspectives. In this episode: Gain insights from behavioral science to make better financial decisions and improve your financial well-being. Break the stigma around money by engaging in open and honest conversations, leading to a healthier relationship with your finances. Cultivate curiosity to enhance your financial decision-making skills, allowing you to make informed choices that align with your financial goals. Design financial products and services that take into account human behavior, ultimately helping you achieve your financial objectives more effectively. Explore the benefits of creating spaces for open conversations about money and financial goals, fostering a supportive community that empowers individuals to take control of their finances. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina welcomes Vishal George to The Brainy Business podcast to discuss his book Money Mindsets and his work as a behavioral scientist. 00:03:57 - Using Behavioral Science to Reduce Carbon Footprints, Vishal shares an example of a project where he worked with the government of New Zealand to reduce businesses' carbon emissions. By designing experiments and testing different strategies, they discovered that the messenger effect, particularly the voice of the next generation, was the most effective in motivating businesses to reduce their carbon footprint. 00:09:16 - The Power of Testing High-Risk Ideas, Vishal emphasizes the importance of testing high-risk ideas, even if they may seem unconventional or counterintuitive. By pushing the boundaries and exploring extreme ideas, it becomes easier to find the middle ground and identify innovative solutions. 00:12:10 - The Inspiration Behind Money Mindsets, Vishal explains that his inspiration for writing Money Mindsets was to provide a positive and impactful resource for individuals, particularly young males, to explore emotions, feelings, and empathy through the topic of money. The book aims to help readers understand their own emotions surrounding money and empathize with others in different circumstances. 00:13:54 - The Emotional Aspect of Money, Vishal discusses how money evokes various emotions in people and how understanding these emotions can lead to a healthier relationship with money. He emphasizes the importance of exploring and acknowledging our emotions surrounding money in order to be more financially informed. 00:18:53 - Importance of Breaking Through the Stigma Around Money, Vishal discusses the importance of breaking through the stigma surrounding money and suggests that cultivating curiosity about money can help individuals make more intentional financial decisions. He also mentions the abundance of financial products and services that can lead to overspending. 00:21:38 - Two Types of Curiosity and Building Financial Knowledge, Vishal explains the two types of curiosity: diversity curiosity and epistemic curiosity. He suggests that building curiosity about money and related topics can help individuals make better financial decisions. He recommends clustering reading on topics like saving, spending behaviors, habits, motivation, and behavior change. 00:25:06 - Visible Spending and Invisible Saving, Vishal discusses the shift from visible saving in the past to visible spending in the present. He highlights how technologies and digital currency have made spending behaviors more visible while saving behaviors remain invisible. He emphasizes the need to talk more openly about saving to reduce stigma and foster motivation. 00:27:16 - Overcoming Challenges in Talking About Money, Vishal addresses the challenge of talking about money, particularly when it comes to accomplishments like being debt-free. He acknowledges the fear of bragging or making others feel inadequate, but emphasizes the importance of sharing positive financial experiences to break the cycle of assumption and encourage others to pursue financial goals. 00:36:31 - Designing Products and Services for Human Behavior, The conversation begins by discussing two approaches to designing products and services with consideration for human behavior. The first approach focuses on removing barriers and making it easier for people to achieve their goals. The second approach explores the motivation and factors that drive individuals to set and achieve their goals. 00:37:30 - The Challenge of Saving Money, The conversation shifts to the challenge of saving money and the difficulty in resisting one-time expenses. Vishal shares a story about a person named Kaya who struggles to save money due to various events and temptations. This highlights the need for financial institutions to create products and tools that make saving money as easy as spending money. 00:40:34 - Creating Products that Facilitate Saving, Vishal discusses the importance of balancing spending and saving by creating products that make saving money just as easy as spending money. An example is given of a bank that offers a program called "Save the Change" which automatically rounds up purchases and transfers the spare change to a savings account. This removes friction and encourages saving. 00:42:14 - The Role of Friction in Breaking Habits, The conversation explores the role of friction in breaking habits. While removing friction can make it easier to save money, adding some friction can help evaluate the necessity of certain actions. An example is given of introducing a process for employees to justify business travel, which adds a little bit of friction to assess if the travel is truly necessary. 00:45:49 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Vishal: Follow Vishal on LinkedIn Behavioural by Design website Money Mindsets book page 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: Money Mindsets, by Vishal George Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Engaged, by Amy Bucher Designing for Behavior Change, by Steve Wendel Your Future Self, by Hal Hershfield Top Recommended Next Episode: Pain of Paying (ep 240) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Common Errors in Financial Decision Making, with Chuck Howard (ep 213) Mental Accounting (ep 282) Why Every Business Needs To Care About Personal Finance, with Merle van den Akker (ep 283) Sustainable Nudges at Walmart (ep 206) Framing (ep 296) Saving Peru’s Environment One Nudge at a Time (ep 195) Corporate Social Responsibility Programs that Work (ep 211) Engaged, with Amy Bucher (ep 164) Designing for Behavior Change, with Steve Wendel (ep 116) Priming (ep 252) Herding (ep 264) The Power of Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181) A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Get It Done, with Ayelet Fishback (ep 332) Time Discounting (ep 328) Your Future Self, with Hal Hershfield (ep 329) Social Proof (ep 87) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, you'll hear an insightful conversation between host Melina Palmer and guest Ayelet Fishbach, a professor and researcher in behavioral science at the University of Chicago. The episode focuses on the topic of goal setting and motivation. Ayelet shares her expertise in understanding the psychology behind setting and achieving goals, emphasizing the importance of intrinsic motivation and finding joy in the journey.  She provides practical strategies for overcoming obstacles, reframing goals, and maintaining motivation over time. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to improve their goal-setting skills and increase their chances of successfully achieving their goals. Ayelet's research-backed insights will inspire you to approach goal setting in a more thoughtful and effective way. So, if you're looking to enhance your motivation and achieve your goals, tune in to this episode. In this episode: Explore the science behind goal setting and motivation to uncover strategies for increased success. Overcome obstacles and anticipate temptations in order to stay focused on achieving your goals. Discover the importance of intrinsic motivation and how it can drive you towards sustainable success. Learn the power of reframing goals and shifting your focus to the process, rather than just the end result. Gain insights into planning for long-term goals and developing a more thoughtful approach to achieving them. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction to the Episode Melina introduces the purpose of refreshing this episode and mentions the upcoming conversation with Vishal George, who references Ayelet's work. 00:02:04 - Setting Goals and Motivation Listeners are encouraged to think about their goals, especially related to money and financial stability. Melina teases the upcoming conversation with Ayelet Fishbach and encourages listeners to keep their goals in mind during the discussion. 00:02:53 - Interview with Ayelet Fishbach Ayelet Fishbach discusses her background in motivation science and goal setting. She explains how she became interested in studying motivation and self-control and discusses her early research on anticipating temptation. The importance of planning and thinking about obstacles is highlighted. 00:09:19 - Overcoming Fantasies and Intuition Ayelet emphasizes the importance of thinking beyond fantasies and focusing on potential obstacles. She discusses how fantasies are less effective than considering the challenges that may arise. The importance of questioning intuition and challenging common beliefs is also mentioned. 00:11:18 - Intuition and Counterintuitive Findings Ayelet discusses the importance of questioning intuition and presents examples of counterintuitive findings. She highlights the need to challenge common beliefs and assumptions, such as opposites attract or consistent reinforcement for behavior. 00:16:50 - The Power of Goals, The conversation begins by discussing the power of setting goals and the inspiration they provide. The example of Mount Everest is used to highlight the allure and intrinsic motivation behind achieving a specific goal. 00:19:33 - Choosing the Right Goal, The discussion emphasizes the importance of choosing the right goal, as not all goals are in our best interest. The example of climbers on Mount Everest who persist despite dangerous conditions is used to illustrate the potential pitfalls of misguided goals. 00:22:20 - Increasing Goal Adherence, The conversation addresses the issue of people giving up on their New Year's resolutions. The key factor in goal adherence is intrinsically motivating resolutions that provide immediate pleasure or growth. The importance of enjoying the path towards the goal is emphasized. 00:24:35 - Setting Pleasurable Goals, The discussion highlights the significance of setting goals that are pleasurable to pursue. Examples include enjoying healthier foods, finding fun ways to exercise, and creating rewarding work tasks. Emphasis is placed on the need to find pleasure in the process rather than solely focusing on the end result. 00:29:10 - Mistakes in Goal Setting, The conversation explores the common mistake of setting resolutions based on an idealized version of oneself. The concept of hyperbolic time discounting is mentioned as a factor that hinders long-term commitment. The speaker advises setting goals based on one's present self, acknowledging personal limitations, and planning accordingly. 00:34:52 - The Problem with Avoidance Goals, Avoidance goals, such as not being a couch potato or not eating junk food, are less likely to be successful because they bring to mind the very thing we are trying to avoid. Approach goals, on the other hand, like catching Pokemon, are more exciting and motivating. 00:36:10 - Why Avoidance Goals Don't Work, Avoidance goals may seem urgent in the short term, but they are not effective for long-term success. Instead of focusing on what not to do, it is more productive to think about what we should do. For example, setting a goal to have healthy snacks instead of avoiding junk food. 00:37:07 - Reframing Avoidance Goals, Reframing avoidance goals involves shifting the focus from what we should not do to what we should do. For example, instead of setting a goal to stop eating junk food, we can set a goal to eat healthy snacks. This reframing makes the goal more positive and motivating. 00:39:24 - Changing Perceptions of Healthy Food, Many people have a negative perception of healthy food, associating it with being tasteless. However, this perception can be changed by framing healthy food in a more positive and tasty way. When healthy food is seen as delicious, people are more likely to choose and enjoy it. 00:51:22 - Reaching Goals and Making Little Changes, Melina discusses the importance of regularly taking action towards goals instead of only focusing on the long term. Little changes and choices made today can have a significant impact in the future, such as planning for retirement. Being thoughtful and proactive is key. 00:52:03 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Ayelet: AYELET’S WEBSITE AYELET ON TWITTER AYELET ON LINKEDIN 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: Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach How To Change, by Katy Milkman The Power of Us, by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy Top Recommended Next Episode: Have Your Best Year Ever, with Cassie Holmes and Ayelet Fishbach (ep 249) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Temptation Bundling (ep 250) Priming (ep 252) D.O.S.E. Brain Chemicals (ep 123) How To Change, with Katy Milkman (ep 151) The Power of Us with Dominic Packer (ep 304) Framing (ep 296) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES (ep 39) Give Feedback: The “G” in NUDGES (ep 40) Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (ep 29) Time Discounting (ep 328) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (ep 67) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) Motivation and Incentives at Work, with Kurt Nelson (ep 187) Happier Hour, with Cassie Holmes (ep 257) Changing Health with the EATS Model (ep 217) 5 Years. 299 episodes. Here Are Your Favorites. (ep 299) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Texas A&M Self-Control Research Could Help You Stick With Your New Year’s Resolutions University of Chicago, Chicago Booth School of Business Faculty Directory: Ayelet Fishbach

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Brian Lowery, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, on the topic of how our behavior impacts others and vice versa. Brian emphasizes that we have agency in shaping the people we interact with, and that our behavior can have a significant impact on others. By recognizing that our sense of self is constructed through relationships, we can cultivate empathy and understanding for others. This can enhance our interpersonal relationships and lead to more effective communication and collaboration. The conversation also touches on the concept of social contagion and how emotions can be contagious in social interactions, highlighting the potential for even fleeting interactions to have significant effects. Throughout the episode, Brian provides insights and practical advice for leaders and individuals to enhance their ability to connect with others and navigate the complexities of human relationships.  In this episode: Understand the flexibility of personal identity and its profound influence on individuals. Discover the cyclical impact of individual behavior on communal dynamics and vice versa. Learn the importance of acknowledging and taking charge of your contribution to interpersonal relationships. Realize the far-reaching effects of minor social engagements on individual attitudes and office culture. Recognize the significance of empathy and perspective shift in successful communication. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Dr. Brian Lowery, Dr. Brian Lowery, author of Selfless, discusses his background and research on how people make sense of the self. He explains that our sense of self is a construction of relationships, social interactions, and culture, rather than an individual entity. 00:06:00 - Shifting Identities Throughout the Day, Brian and Melina talk about how our identities shift throughout the day in response to different relationships and social contexts. Brian emphasizes that these shifts are not just masks we put on, but rather a fundamental part of our flexibility as human beings. 00:10:15 - Influence of Others on Our Sense of Self, Lowery explores how our sense of self is influenced by others, often in ways we are not consciously aware of. He discusses studies that show how our attitudes and beliefs can change based on what we think others expect of us. This demonstrates the degree of flexibility in who we are and who we can be. 00:12:59 - Importance of Understanding the Self, Brian explains that understanding the nature of the self is fascinating and awe-inspiring, even if there is no specific action to be taken with this knowledge. Recognizing the fluidity and complexity of the self can reshape how we approach our lives and relationships. 00:14:36 - The Construction of People, Brian emphasizes that our interactions with others contribute to the construction of the people we engage with. He encourages individuals to reflect on their contribution to relationships and take responsibility for their impact on others' behavior. 00:15:38 - Shifting Perspective, Lowery challenges the conventional notion of individuals as isolated islands who can choose to listen or not. Instead, he suggests that our actions and words impose decisions on others, highlighting the power and responsibility we have in shaping their responses. 00:19:43 - The Ripple Effect, Brian discusses how seemingly small interactions can have lasting effects. Melina shares a personal experience of receiving a seemingly innocuous email from a boss that had a significant impact on her mindset and subsequent interactions. She emphasizes the importance of considering the broader impact of our actions. 00:22:26 - The Impact of Audience, Brian explores the concept of audience impact, highlighting how even imagined readers influenced his writing process. He notes that our behavior and words can have a ripple effect, influencing the emotions and actions of those around us, often in ways we may not fully comprehend. 00:25:07 - The Power of Leadership Communication, Brian and Melina discuss the heightened impact of leaders' behaviors and communications. They emphasize that leaders' actions are scrutinized for information, and even seemingly minor interactions can have significant effects on team members and office culture. 00:28:47 - The Importance of the Receiver, Communication is about influencing and changing the behavior of the person you're communicating with. The receiver is the only person that matters because if they don't understand or take what you intended, you have failed in your communication goals. 00:29:19 - Recognizing Others' Perspectives, People often struggle to recognize that others may experience a situation differently than they do. It's important to be curious and try to understand the reasoning behind someone's behavior, even if it's surprising or upsetting to you. 00:31:41 - Curiosity and Self-Reflection, Curiosity is a powerful tool for understanding others. Instead of relying on assumptions, engage with someone to understand their experiences. Additionally, ask yourself how you may be contributing to a situation and recognize your agency in it. 00:32:32 - Addressing Confirmation Bias, It's challenging to get someone to see their own confirmation bias. Instead, focus on examining your own biases and seeking self-awareness. Understanding your own biases can lead to more productive conversations. 00:36:42 - Exploring Friendship, Lowery’s podcast "Know What You See" explores different themes, such as friendship, gender, and home. The upcoming episode on friendship discusses how people manage and maintain friendships in different life stages, including college, adulthood, and parenthood. 00:43:09 -  Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Brian:  Follow Brian on Twitter  Follow Brian on LinkedIn  Know What You See podcast 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: Selfless, by Brian Lowery How To Have Difficult Conversations About Race, by Kwame Christian Your Future Self, by Hal Hershfield A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: How To Have Difficult Conversations At Work, with Kwame Christian (ep 107) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Your Future Self, with Hal Hershfield (ep 329) Memory Biases (ep 280) A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh (ep 247) For The Culture, with Marcus Collins (ep 305) Priming (ep 252) Focusing Illusion (ep 330) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Melina Palmer dives deep into the concept of the focusing illusion and its impact on our perceptions and decisions. Melina introduces the concept by explaining that the focusing illusion is a cognitive bias where we give disproportionate weight to one specific aspect of a situation while neglecting other factors that matter and may have a greater impact. This bias can lead us to make decisions based on a distorted view of reality. The discussion moves on to how the focusing illusion affects individuals and businesses alike.  Melina shares examples such as people overestimating the impact of winning the lottery on their happiness, or forming negative perceptions of a restaurant based on a single negative review about the cleanliness of the floor. These examples highlight the importance of looking beyond surface-level factors and considering the broader context. By understanding the influence of the focusing illusion, businesses can make more informed decisions that align with reality and effectively tailor their messaging to resonate with their target audience. Whether you're an individual looking to make better personal choices or a business seeking to improve your marketing strategies, this podcast episode offers help so you navigate the pitfalls of this cognitive bias.  In this episode: Explore the profound reach of the focusing illusion on your perspective and decision-making. Gain unique insights into how the focusing illusion shapes our happiness projections. Understand the danger of exaggerating the significance of certain variables on your happiness. Dive into how businesses can use the focusing illusion. Appreciate why pinpointing the focusing illusion is a necessary step in decision-making processes. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces episode 330 of The Brainy Business podcast, which focuses on the concept of the focusing illusion and its impact on our perception of happiness. 00:03:08 - The Focusing Illusion, The focusing illusion is a cognitive bias that causes us to place too much weight on certain aspects of our lives or experiences, leading us to overestimate their impact on our overall happiness. 00:07:11 - Impact on Decision Making, The focusing illusion can influence our decision-making by causing us to prioritize certain factors, even if they are not truly as important as we believe them to be. This can lead to biased perceptions and actions. 00:09:27 - The Halo Effect, The halo effect is a related cognitive bias that can be influenced by the focusing illusion. It causes us to form positive or negative impressions of someone based on limited information or initial traits. 00:12:39 - Sequence Matters, The sequence in which we observe characteristics or information about a person can heavily influence our perception and interpretation. The halo effect and the focusing illusion can both be influenced by the order in which information is presented. 00:16:27 - The Impact of Bias on Relationships, Bias can create a self-fulfilling prophecy in relationships, leading to a vicious cycle of negative interactions. It's important to step back and consider if your bias is guiding your interactions and if there may be a different perspective to consider. 00:18:13 - The Focusing Illusion and Facing Mortality, The focusing illusion causes us to focus on the potential last interactions with loved ones when facing serious illnesses or life-changing events. But the truth is, every interaction could be the last, so it's important to let go of grudges and focus on what really matters. 00:21:09 - Applying the Focusing Illusion in Business, The focusing illusion can impact our approach to projects and business decisions. By changing our filter and considering different perspectives, we can uncover hidden problems or opportunities that may have been overlooked. 00:24:57 - Narrowing Your Message for Business Success, In business, it's important to focus on what really matters to your target market. By narrowing your message and aligning it with your customer's mind state, you can create a stronger connection and motivate them to take action. 00:27:31 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Selfless, by Brian Lowery What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Marketing to Mindstates, with Will Leach (ep 88) Counterfactual Thinking (ep 286) Prefactual Thinking (ep 232) Loss Aversion (ep 316) How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics (ep 83) Social Proof (ep 87) Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 210) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) Avoiding Everyday Work Disasters, with Gleb Tsipursky (ep 111) Hate Being On Camera? Behavioral Economics Can Help (ep 95) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Mountain Clarity Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer?  A Focusing Illusion Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction

Hal Hershfield is here to discuss the concept of the future self and its impact on decision-making, featuring insights from his new book, Your Future Self. Hershfield explains that humans often prioritize their present desires over their future goals, leading to short-term thinking and procrastination.  He highlights the importance of considering future outcomes when making choices and provides strategies for aligning present actions with future desires. This episode is relevant for individuals seeking to overcome present bias and improve their decision-making skills. By understanding the principles of what Hal calls “mental time travel” and applying the techniques discussed in the episode, listeners can increase their long-term goal prioritization and make more informed choices that lead to long-term success. In this episode: Discover the intriguing concept of the future self and how it shapes our perceptions. Uncover the power of your future self for superior decision-making. Establish an emotional bond with your future self, fostering personal growth. Understand the application of mental time travel in business to strengthen your strategies.  Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer interviews Dr. Hal Hershfield, author of Your Future Self. They discuss the concept of time discounting and the ways in which our present and future selves are connected. 00:02:08 - Understanding the Self, Hal explains that the self is a bundle of associations, emotions, thoughts, and ideals that have some stability over time. He explores the idea of how we define ourselves and how our perception of our future selves affects our decision-making. 00:06:00 - Similarity with Future Self, Hal highlights the importance of feeling a sense of connection and emotional overlap with our future selves. The more we see ourselves as similar to our future selves, the more likely we are to make decisions that benefit them. 00:11:42 - The "We" Aspect, The concept of the "we" relationship, similar to how we view our relationships with others, can also apply to our relationship with our future selves. Thinking of our future self as part of our collective identity can help us make decisions that benefit both our present and future selves. 00:13:23 - Reframing Future-oriented Decisions, Hal discusses the importance of reframing future-oriented decisions to provide immediate benefits and satisfaction. By finding pleasure in doing something good for our future selves, we can increase motivation and make better long-term decisions. 00:14:44 - Making Decisions with the Future Self in Mind, Hal emphasizes the importance of considering how we will look back on our decisions instead of focusing solely on our immediate feelings. By stepping into the shoes of our future selves, we can reassess our choices and consider the value of relief in completing tasks versus the regret of procrastinating. 00:15:11 - The Hidden Zero Effect, Dr. Hershfield introduces the concept of the "hidden zero effect" in decision-making. By considering both the immediate benefits and long-term consequences of our choices, we can make more informed decisions. This approach helps us avoid neglecting the potential negative outcomes or overlooking the relief we may feel in completing tasks. 00:16:34 - Mistakes in Mental Time Travel, Hal discusses three common mistakes in mental time travel: missing your flight, poor trip planning, and packing the wrong clothes. These mistakes, which are all featured in his book, Your Future Self, highlight how we can become too focused on the present moment and fail to consider the future implications of our actions. By avoiding these mistakes, we can make better decisions for our future selves. 00:19:24 - Short-Term vs. Long-Term Focus in the Workplace, In the context of work, it is important to balance short-term and long-term focus. Hal suggests considering whether we prioritize urgent tasks over important ones and how we can shift our mindset to focus on long-term goals. This applies to both individual employees and collective organizations. 00:28:28 - Learning from Individuals, The conversation discusses the importance of learning from individuals within an organization and how their actions can be used to overcome challenges. 00:29:23 - Exciting Future Research, Dr. Hershfield shares his excitement about two areas of future research. The first is a deeper exploration of commitment devices and understanding the predictors of their adoption. The second is focusing on collective decisions, environmental decisions, and end-of-life planning, including the use of letter-writing exercises. 00:32:35 - Balancing the Present and Future, Hal discusses the concept of balancing the present and future. He shares a personal story about realizing that there will be a day when his children no longer want to spend time with him, highlighting the importance of living in the present while also considering future goals and values. 00:34:46 - Behavioral Change Intervention, Hal and his colleague are working on a project using the idea of balancing the present and future as a behavioral change intervention. They aim to apply this concept to various areas, including parent-child relationships, to help individuals make choices aligned with their long-term values. 00:38:42 - Intentional Mental Time Travel, The conversation emphasizes the importance of intentional mental time travel. Instead of reactive thinking, individuals should make deliberate choices about when to live in the moment and when to consider the impact of their actions on the future. 00:43:07 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Connect with Hal: Follow Hal on X  Follow Hal on LinkedIn Hal’s website 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: Your Future Self, by Hal Hershfield How To Change, by Katy Milkman Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis The Power of Regret, by Dan Pink Outsmart Your Brain, by Dan Willingham Top Recommended Next Episode: Time Discounting (ep 322) Already Heard That One? Try These:  How To Change, with Katy Milkman (ep 151) Both/And Thinking with Wendy Smith (ep 261) Loss Aversion (ep 316) The Power of Regret, with Dan Pink (ep 214) The Power of Us, with Dominic Packer (ep 304) Precommitment (ep 120) How To Set and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Outsmart Your Brain, with Dan Willingham (ep 281) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Hal’s faculty page at UCLA

Melina Palmer discusses the concept of time discounting, which she calls the "I'll Start Monday Effect." Time discounting refers to the tendency to value immediate benefits more than future benefits. This can lead to procrastination and difficulty in making long-term decisions. Melina explains how time discounting impacts individuals in various aspects of their lives, such as productivity, health, and finances. She also explores how businesses can use this concept to understand and influence consumer behavior. In this episode: Understand the often underestimated role of time discounting in shaping our decisions and influencing business outcomes. Acquaint yourself with powerful strategies to mitigate the effects of time discounting, enhancing efficiency and results in the workplace. Imbibe the importance and implementation of visual aids and cues in combating time discounting - a novel approach to efficient strategizing. Learn to apply principles of behavioral economics to positively steer customer behavior, creating an enhanced customer experience. Absorb how to maximize the benefits derived from conferences and learning tools by effectively managing time discounting. 00:00:00 - Introduction,  Melina Palmer introduces the topic of time discounting, also known as hyperbolic time discounting or as she prefers to call it, the "I'll Start Monday effect." She explains that this concept is important for personal productivity as well as understanding its impact on team members and customers. 00:03:18 - The "I'll Start Monday Effect,"  Melina describes the common experience of setting goals for the future but struggling to follow through when the time comes to take action. She explains how our brain perceives our future self as a different person, making it easier to commit to future plans but harder to follow through with them in the present moment. 00:09:29 - Testing Time Discounting,  Melina presents two hypothetical scenarios to illustrate how our preference for immediate rewards can change depending on the time frame involved. She explains that our brain often prioritizes immediate gratification over delayed rewards, even when the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term gains. 00:12:10 - Overcoming Time Discounting,  Melina offers reassurance that struggling with time discounting is a common experience and not a personal failing. She emphasizes that understanding the concept allows us to "hack" our brain and make changes in our behavior. She also highlights the power of defaults and choice architecture in helping people overcome inertia and make better choices. 00:16:23 - The Challenge of Making Good Choices,  Melina discusses why it's difficult for people to make good choices, especially in overwhelming situations. She suggests alternative approaches to decision-making, such as providing reminders or incorporating choices into annual training. 00:17:29 - Opting In vs Opting Out,  The concept of opting in versus opting out is explored in relation to making better decisions. Forcing people to choose more often can lead to worse decisions, while automatic opt-ins can be more effective. 00:18:09 - Save More Tomorrow Program,  The Save More Tomorrow program, developed by Richard Thaler, is highlighted as an effective way to increase retirement savings. By automatically allocating a portion of future raises towards retirement, individuals are less likely to opt-out and experience significant increases in savings. 00:19:54 - Impact of Save More Tomorrow Program,  The success of the Save More Tomorrow program is revealed, with 78% of people opting to participate and significant increases in average savings rates. This program shows that helping individuals overcome time discounting can lead to better financial outcomes. 00:22:14 - Visualizing the Future Self,  The use of renderings and personalized visualizations is discussed as a means of making the future self more visible in the present. This technique can be applied to various areas, such as retirement planning, to help individuals make better choices. 00:33:25 - Helping Employees Find Blood Drives and Voting Booths,  Provide clear directions and maps to help employees find important locations like blood drives and voting booths. Pre-assigning time slots and providing reminders can make the experience more real and activate mirror neurons. 00:35:20 - Overcoming Time Discounting with Customers,  Time discounting affects customer decision-making, especially for big purchases. Simplify the decision-making process and use present bias to your advantage. Consider offering incentives and reminders to encourage customers to take action today. 00:36:20 - Overcoming Analysis Paralysis in Wedding Dress Shopping,  Wedding dress shopping often leads to analysis paralysis. Offer incentives like discounts for making a decision on the spot. This helps customers overcome time discounting and reduces the pressure to make the perfect choice. 00:39:12 - Using Visual Cues to Overcome Time Discounting,  Use visual cues to keep important tasks top of mind. In a study Melina did with a credit union, participants were given a refrigerator magnet to track their savings progress. Constant reminders help overcome time discounting and keep goals in the forefront. 00:41:26 - Setting Realistic Goals to Overcome Time Discounting,  Set realistic goals to avoid overwhelming clients. Focus on one top priority and provide visual reminders. Incorporate loss aversion to motivate clients to keep their commitments and avoid procrastination. 00:48:38 - Getting the Most Out of Conferences,  Melina discusses the challenge of implementing conference takeaways once you get back to the office due to time discounting. She advises focusing on one important task at a time to make progress. 00:49:21 - Overcoming Procrastination,  Melina emphasizes the tendency to prioritize routine tasks over implementing new ideas. She encourages taking small steps to prevent inspiration from collecting dust. 00:49:54 - The Power of Focus,  Melina emphasizes the importance of focusing on one thing that truly matters. By narrowing our focus, we can make meaningful progress and avoid feeling overwhelmed. 00:50:53 - Conclusion,  Melina teases the next episode of The Brainy Business with Hal Hirschfield discussing his book, Your Future Self. She invites listeners to tune in for an engaging conversation when episode 329 comes out on Friday. 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: Your Future Self, by Hal Hershfield Simpler, by Cass Sunstein Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein How To Change, by Katy Milkman Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Top Recommended Next Episode: The Power of Habit (ep 22) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Memory Biases (ep 48) Present Versus Future Biases (ep 49) Selective Attention Biases (ep 50) Herding (ep 264) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Habits (ep 256) Defaults – The “D” in NUDGES (ep 20) Intro to Nudges and Choice Architecture (ep 35) Overwhelm and Its Impact on Decisions (ep 32) Loss Aversion (ep 316) iNcentives – The “N” in NUDGES (ep 272) Expect Error – The “E” in NUDGES (ep 39) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving Impulsivity and Cigarette Smoking: Delay Discounting in Current, Never, and Ex-smokers. Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review Increasing Saving Behavior Through Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting Initial Examination of Priming Tasks to Decrease Delay Discounting Unstuck in Time: Episodic Future Thinking Reduces Delay Discounting and Cigarette Smoking Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans. Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self-Control by Precommitment The Power of Small Wins

Matt Abrahams, a leading expert in communication and a lecturer at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, shares valuable insights on improving communication skills in spontaneous situations on The Brainy Business podcast hosted by Melina Palmer. In this episode, Abrahams discusses key strategies from his book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter, which focuses on helping individuals feel more comfortable and confident in impromptu speaking scenarios. Abrahams draws from personal experiences and observations to develop his methodology. He highlights the challenges individuals face in speaking spontaneously and emphasizes the importance of confidence and commitment when responding. Through anecdotes and practical tips, Abrahams shows how anyone can enhance their communication skills in impromptu situations. Throughout the episode, Abrahams discusses the significance of active listening, reframing situations as opportunities, and effective structure in communication. He encourages individuals to embrace uncertainty, take risks, and prioritize listening over speaking. Abrahams' book offers practical steps and exercises to help listeners practice and refine their communication skills. Professionals seeking to improve their spontaneous speaking and communication skills–from presentations to job interviews to networking events–will find this episode insightful and actionable. Abrahams' expertise and relatable anecdotes make it a valuable resource for individuals looking to enhance their speaking abilities in spontaneous situations. In this episode: Explore how proficient communication in unexpected situations can give you an edge. Learn how enhancing your active listening abilities can drastically improve the quality of your communication. Delve into the significance of preparing for spontaneous conversations. Master the art of using concise structures to drive powerful communication. Get a grip on actionable strategies for honing your communication skills in unplanned situations–from speaking on a stage to job interviews to networking events and more. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer welcomes Matt Abrahams, a leading expert in communication and a lecturer at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. They discuss Matt's new book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter, which focuses on speaking effectively and confidently in spontaneous speaking situations. 00:03:10 - The Need for Spontaneous Speaking Skills, Matt explains how his personal experiences and feedback from students led to the development of his methodology for speaking confidently in the moment. He emphasizes the importance of spontaneous speaking skills in everyday communication. 00:05:23 - Overcoming Spontaneous Speaking Challenges, Melina shares her own experience of struggling with spontaneous speaking during a job interview. Matt tells a story about an unexpected question he faced during an interview and how he turned it into an opportunity to showcase his skills. The lesson is, even when you are caught off guard, to connect to something and commit to your response. 00:09:31 - Confidence and Commitment in Spontaneous Speaking, Melina highlights the importance of confidence in spontaneous speaking, as people can sense if you're not confident. Matt explains that committing to your response, even if it's unexpected, is crucial and draws parallels with the world of improvisation. 00:13:25 - Lessons from Improvisation, Matt discusses the influence of improvisation on his methodology and shares the principle of "failing big." He encourages speakers to commit fully to their responses and not be afraid of failure, as it can lead to unexpected successes. 00:15:24 - The Power of Getting Lost, Matt Abrahams discusses the importance of getting lost and embracing uncertainty in order to expand what's possible in spontaneous situations. He explains how striving for control and perfection can actually limit our potential, and how cognitive bandwidth affects our performance. 00:16:25 - Striving for Mediocrity, Abrahams encourages his students to strive for mediocrity in order to achieve greatness. By focusing on getting things done rather than judging and evaluating, individuals can have more resources to perform well. He emphasizes the need to embrace uncertainty and take risks. 00:17:43 - Allowing Yourself to Get Lost, Abrahams explains the importance of allowing oneself to get lost and try new things in order to broaden what's possible and stay focused in the present moment. While it can be challenging, embracing uncertainty can lead to rewarding outcomes. 00:18:42 - Overcoming the Fear of Average, Melina shares a personal anecdote about feeling overwhelmed by being graded on a curve in college. Matt highlights the concept that from average, greatness can emerge, and emphasizes the need to focus on personal growth rather than labeling ourselves with grades. 00:20:04 - The Six Steps to Better Communication, Abrahams outlines his six-step methodology for improving communication, which includes managing anxiety, getting out of our own way, reframing spontaneous speaking as an opportunity, emphasizing the importance of listening, using structure, and maintaining focus. 00:29:22 - The Value of Listening, Matt discusses the importance of listening in conversations and the benefits it brings to the listener. He explains that listening is a muscle that needs to be strengthened and that good listeners help speakers solve their problems instead of immediately jumping in with solutions. He also emphasizes the need for space, pace, and grace in listening. 00:30:58 - The Mindset of Listening, Matt Abrahams shares insights from an interview with a listening researcher, Guy Ichakov, who highlights the mindset of a good listener. He explains that a good listener's job is to help the speaker solve their problem, rather than trying to solve it themselves. Abrahams reflects on his own tendency to jump into problem-solving mode and actively works on adopting a listening mindset. 00:32:21 - The Power of Structures in Communication, Matt Abrahams discusses the importance of using structures or frameworks in communication to help organize and prioritize information. He introduces the "Swiss Army Knife" structure of three simple questions: What? So what? Now what? This structure helps in formulating clear and concise messages that are easy for the audience to understand. 00:35:51 - Preparing for Spontaneous Conversations, Matt Abrahams explains the irony of being able to prepare for spontaneous conversations. He compares it to jazz musicians following certain chords and patterns, or athletes training specific behaviors to respond spontaneously in a game. Abrahams emphasizes the value of frameworks and structures in preparation, using an example of three simple questions. 00:40:01 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Think Faster, Talk Smarter, by Matt Abrahams A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Influence, by Robert Cialdini Presuasion, by Robert Cialdini Connect with Matt:  Think Fast Talk Smart podcast Follow Matt on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode:  Focusing Illusion (episode 330) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Framing (ep 296) How to Pitch Your Business (ep 326) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Prefactual Thinking (episode 232) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Functional Fixedness (ep 194) What is Cognitive Semiotics? (ep 259) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Habits (ep 256) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

A company’s success nowadays is so reliant upon pitching–whether you are looking to land a new client or get quoted in the media. Having a credible source say positive things about you and your company can be pivotal when it comes to whether your brand is going to be seen or not. That is exactly why this episode of The Brainy Business is dedicated to giving you some concise tips on how to use behavioral economics to pitch your brand. Pitching yourself can feel awkward, but when you understand the brain science it doesn’t have to be, especially if you follow Melina’s tips! In this episode, Melina Palmer discusses different brain biases such as social proof, authority bias, familiarity bias, and availability bias. Availability bias gets a big focus because it is one of the most critical to pitching success. You can take advantage of it by predicting and paying attention to trends and finding a way to offer people a fresh perspective on them. The episode closes with three key points to keep in mind when pitching: (1) keep it short (2) be happy with your language and (3) follow directions. This is just scratching the surface of what you’ll get in this episode, one of the top 10 downloaded episodes of The Brainy Business of all time. Listen now to learn how to use behavioral economics to successfully pitch yourself and your business… In this episode: Gain knowledge on crafting compelling business pitches that seize opportunities. Unearth techniques to fight self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and potential slants in your business pitches. Learn how to leverage social proof to boost business credibility, attracting a wider customer base. Learn to spot niche perspectives and fresh ideas that attract media attention for your business. Understand why it is important to plan ahead much further than you think is necessary, with tips for how to get started immediately. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the episode, which focuses on how to successfully pitch your business. She mentions that pitching can be uncomfortable and discusses the brain biases that often hold people back from pitching themselves. 00:03:12 - Overcoming Biases and Procrastination, Melina acknowledges that pitching oneself can be challenging and discusses how various brain biases, such as imposter syndrome and the focusing illusion, can hinder the pitching process. She encourages listeners to focus on the positive aspects and prioritize pitching as a goal. 00:08:27 - The Importance of Pitching, Melina explains the three main benefits of pitching the media: social proof, familiarity bias, and availability bias. She emphasizes the value of social proof and how being featured in the media can enhance credibility and trust in your brand. 00:11:50 - Availability Bias, Melina delves into the concept of availability bias and its relevance to pitching. She provides examples, such as flood insurance and crime rates, to illustrate how frequent exposure to certain topics can skew our perception of risk and importance. 00:15:18 - The Power of a Unique Perspective, Having a unique perspective can help you stand out in the media. By offering a fresh angle on a popular topic, you can become the go-to expert in your field. Melina shares a real-world example of how a handwriting expert found success by providing insights on the signatures of Prince William and Kate Middleton before their wedding. 00:17:01 - Reporters are People Too, Overcoming the fear of pitching reporters is crucial. They are just people doing a job and are constantly in need of content. By understanding their needs and offering valuable insights, you can become their solution and build a positive relationship with them. 00:18:35 - Finding Your Unique Perspective, To find your unique perspective, look at upcoming events, trends, and topics in various fields. Even if it seems unrelated to your work, there may be a niche you can carve out for yourself. By thinking outside the box, you can offer valuable insights on seemingly random topics. 00:19:44 - The Importance of Personalized Pitches, Sending generic pitches to reporters is ineffective. It's essential to do research and understand what each writer and/or outlet covers. By personalizing your pitches and showing how your expertise aligns with their audience's interests, you increase your chances of being featured in the media. 00:26:42 - Using Help a Reporter Out (HARO), HARO is a free service that connects reporters with expert sources. Signing up for HARO and responding to relevant inquiries is a great way to start getting some media coverage because it isn’t a cold pitch. 00:30:10 - Tips for Pitching, Melina summarizes her tips for pitching, emphasizing that these tips can be applied to pitching anything, not just traditional news media. She advises deciding if pitching is a main goal for your business, making a list of top outlets and reporters, and practicing looking at trending topics or events. She also encourages getting out of your own way and just starting, even if it feels scary. 00:31:42 - Pitching as an Achievable Task, Melina reassures listeners that pitching is achievable and encourages them to realize their story's potential. She highlights the various opportunities for pitching, whether it's for publications, clients, promotions, or projects. Melina emphasizes the importance of taking initiative and making your own opportunities. 00:32:34 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer You’re Invited, by Jon Levy The Hype Handbook, by Michael F. Schein The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Top Recommended Next Episode: Availability Bias (episode 310) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Herding (ep 264)How To Set, Achieve, and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Familiarity Bias (episode 149) Confirmation Bias (episode 260) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Social Proof (episode 87) Reciprocity (episode 238) Herding (episode 19) Focusing Illusion (episode 330) Prefactual Thinking (episode 232) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter HARO – Help A Reporter Out Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics at Texas A&M

In episode 325 of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Christian Madsbjerg, author of the book Look and an expert in human observation. Madsbjerg discusses the importance of observation in understanding human behavior and helping organizations make better decisions. He emphasizes that many companies make big mistakes by not asking the right questions and relying too heavily on data abstractions and groupthink. According to Madsbjerg, companies need to constantly study the questions that are most meaningful in their industry in order to stay relevant and successful. Christian highlights the necessity of observing and describing social phenomena before forming opinions and challenges individuals and companies to question their assumptions. Madsbjerg introduces the concept of hyper-reflection, which involves analyzing how people pay attention, to gain deeper insights into human behavior. The conversation provides valuable insights into the power of observation and description in understanding the world around us and making more informed decisions. In this episode: Recognize the critical importance of keen observation in comprehending complex human behavior. Learn about the pitfalls and misleading aspects of treating the human brain like a digital interface. Delve into the influence and impact of societal constructs on human behavior. Harness the capacity of hyper-reflection to delve deeper into your own thoughts and perceptions. Appreciate the added value of integrating observational techniques into scientific enquiry. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Christian Madsbjerg and his Background Melina introduces Christian Madsbjerg, the author of the book Look, and discusses his background in utilizing observation techniques to help organizations better understand human behavior. 00:02:45 - The Importance of Asking the Right Questions Asking the right questions makes a huge difference for companies. They discuss the dangers of jumping into problem-solving mode without fully understanding the problem. Christian explains how companies that fail to constantly study meaningful questions often struggle to adapt and remain successful in their industries. 00:07:49 - The Class on Human Observation Christian shares his experience creating and teaching a class on human observation at the New School in Manhattan. The class focused on using observation techniques inspired by philosophy and anthropology to study social phenomena. He explains that the book is a reflection of that class, allowing more people to learn about observation. 00:11:50 - The Journey of Observation and Curiosity Christian discusses his natural inclination towards observation and curiosity. He reflects on how studying philosophy and different historical perspectives helped him develop a deeper understanding of the assumptions we make about the world. He emphasizes the importance of observing without preconceived opinions and describes observation as a technique for scrutinizing our own assumptions. 00:14:49 - Perception and Intuition Christian challenges the misconception that humans perceive the world as atomistic data. He explains that humans perceive things holistically, seeing things as part of a larger social context rather than as individual data points. He highlights the importance of understanding the relationship 00:18:17 - The Danger of Comparing Computers to Human Brains, Comparing computers to human brains can lead to a misunderstanding of what it means to be human. Humans are not just intellectual beings; much of our experience and understanding comes from our bodies and the spaces we inhabit. 00:19:55 - The Problem with Having Strong Opinions, Having strong opinions about everything can create a filter between us and the world. It prevents us from seeing things objectively and directly, as we interpret everything through a political or opinionated lens. 00:21:54 - The Importance of Describing Social Phenomena, In order to better understand the world and the work we do, we need to study and describe the social phenomena at the center of our work. By understanding the context and dynamics of a situation, we can provide better advice and make more informed decisions. 00:25:30 - Case Study: Observing Fundraising Strategies, By observing people in the streets trying to raise funds for the white rhinos, a student learned valuable lessons about effective fundraising. He discovered that gentle and subtle approaches were much more successful than aggressive or shaming tactics. 00:30:44 - The Power of Hyper Reflection, Hyper-reflection is a type of attention that allows us to observe how others pay attention. By practicing hyper-reflection, we can better understand the dynamics and behaviors of people and organizations, leading to innovation and positive change. 00:35:36 - The Importance of Observation and Description, Christian discusses the importance of observing and describing social phenomena in order to gain insight and break down biases and prejudices. He emphasizes the value of feeling connected to the world and having a direct relationship with it. 00:37:35 - Building Trust and Observing Humans, Melina mentions how this work reminds her of an Apple Fitness’ “Time To Walk” episode with Jane Goodall she recently listened to. Christian draws a parallel between Jane Goodall's observations of chimpanzees and his own observations of humans. He highlights the need to build trust with people in order to accurately describe and understand group dynamics and assumptions. 00:40:11 - Different Perspectives on the Same Phenomena, Christian recognizes that he and Melina approach the same phenomena from different angles, with behavioral science and cognitive science on one side and philosophical perspectives on the other. They agree on the importance of diverse methods and techniques in gaining insight. 00:42:33 - Observation in Science, Christian and Melina discuss the role of observation in scientific breakthroughs and paradigm shifts. They agree that observation is at the heart of good science and that scientists should incorporate more observation into their work. 00:44:50 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Look, by Christian Madsjberg Sensemaking, by Christian Madsjberg The Moment of Clarity, by Christian Madsjberg A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Connect with Christian:  Follow Christian on LinkedIn Christian’s website Top Recommended Next Episode: How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 210) Already Heard That One? Try These:  For The Culture, with Marcus Collins (ep 305) Survivorship Bias (ep 110) What Problem Are You Solving? (ep 126) Mental Accounting (ep 282) What is Cognitive Semiotics? (ep 259) Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Habits (ep 256) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain (ep 237) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (ep 314)  Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Functional Fixedness (ep 194) A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Evolutionary Ideas, with Sam Tatam (ep 204) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Anthropology, Market Research and BE, with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) Using Ethnography in Business (ep 324) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Melina Palmer speaks with ethnographer Dr. Felicity Heathcote-Marcz about the significance of ethnographic research in understanding customer behavior and organizational culture. Ethnography, a research methodology rooted in anthropology, has found new relevance in the business world. Felicity explains that ethnographic research involves immersing oneself in the studied context, actively interacting with people, and collecting qualitative data to gain deep insights. The episode emphasizes ethnography's value in the transport industry, highlighting various projects that have uncovered valuable insights into future mobility trends and incident management. Felicity also addresses challenges such as time constraints and the Hawthorne Effect. Business professionals looking to make informed decisions and improve organizational culture will find this episode informative and practical, offering a comprehensive introduction to ethnographic research and its applications. In this episode: Uncover the profound effects that ethnographic research has on interpreting customer behavior and shaping organizational culture. Tackle the burdens of integrating ethnographic research into a business context and explore practical solutions. Gain an understanding of the longitudinal character and direct benefits of ethnographic research. Deconstruct the Hawthorne effect and its significant role in any research project you might take on. Discover the emerging role of behavioral science and nudges in revolutionizing transportation research. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the episode and the guest, Dr. Felicity Heathcote-Marcz. She mentions that ethnography is an important method for understanding customers and lays the groundwork for the upcoming episode on observation skills with Christian Madsbjerg. 00:02:21 - What is Ethnographic Research?, Dr. Felicity Heathcote-Marcz explains that ethnographic research originated in anthropology and involves studying cultures and local contexts to gain a deep understanding of people and their behaviors. She discusses how ethnography has evolved and how it is now used in business to gain insights into customers and organizational culture. 00:08:29 - Role of an Organizational Ethnographer, Dr. Felicity Heathcote-Marcz describes her role as an organizational ethnographer at Atkins, an engineering and transport consultancy. She explains that she studies the culture within organizations, conducts research on future trends in the transport industry, and collects immersive data by observing and interacting with customers in their natural environments. 00:11:05 - Impact of Ethnography on Organizations, Felicity discusses how ethnography can provide organizations with a deeper understanding of their customers and employees. She explains that ethnographers can identify opportunities for improvement, inform decision-making, and facilitate cultural change within organizations. 00:13:26 - Ethical Considerations in Ethnographic Research, Felicity emphasizes the importance of reflexivity and self-awareness in ethnographic research. 00:16:19 - Ethnographic Methodologies in Business Contexts, Felicity discusses the challenges of utilizing ethnographic methodologies in a business context, where time constraints often limit the depth and richness of the data collected. While some purist academic ethnographers may object to condensed time periods, Felicity suggests spending as much continuous time as possible with a specific group to establish rapport and gain valuable insights. 00:18:09 - Accompanied Drives and Ethical Considerations, Felicity explains her approach to conducting accompanied drives, where she sits in the passenger seat with the driver and encourages them to share their thoughts and experiences. She emphasizes the importance of maintaining participant anonymity and establishing trust to overcome suspicion and encourage open communication. 00:21:28 - Nudges and Behavioral Science in Transportation, Felicity discusses her work with local transport authorities in the UK, focusing on designing behavioral nudges to encourage residents to shift from private cars to public transport or active modes of travel. She highlights the importance of considering contextual factors, such as weather and incentives, to effectively change behavior. 00:25:10 - The Effectiveness of Nudges in Shifting Behaviors, Felicity presents findings from a study conducted in Manchester, where text message nudges were used to encourage walking, cycling, or using public transport for commuting. The results revealed that the effectiveness of nudges varied depending on contextual factors, such as weather, and suggested that larger incentives may be needed to change behaviors in unfavorable conditions. 00:31:44 - Social Pressure and Incentives for Mask-Wearing, The discussion focuses on the social pressure that exists regarding mask-wearing in different countries and contexts. In some places, there is a need to set up schemes to incentivize mask-wearing, while in others, people automatically conform and penalize those who don't. 00:33:05 - Importance of Ethnographic Research, Ethnographic research is highlighted as a valuable approach to understanding differing opinions and behaviors. By taking interlocutors seriously and stepping into their worlds, researchers can gain insights into their motivations and beliefs. This approach requires being present and observing without bias or preconceived notions. 00:34:13 - Understanding Beliefs and Motivations, Ethnographic research delves beyond surface-level behaviors and artifacts to uncover the deep-seated beliefs, cultural influences, and personal experiences that shape people's actions. By exploring these underlying factors, researchers can gain a comprehensive understanding of individuals and their perspectives. 00:36:22 - Immersion and Risk in Ethnographic Research, To truly understand certain contexts and realities, ethnographers may need to immerse themselves in potentially risky situations. This could involve not wearing a mask in a non-mask space or accompanying individuals into dangerous environments. Immersion allows for a more accurate and complete depiction of people's experiences and challenges. 00:38:16 - Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Engaged, by Amy Bucher Behavioral Science in the Wild, by Dilip Soman and Nina Mazar What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Designing for Behavior Change, by Stephen Wendel Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy Connect with Felicity:  Felicity on LinkedIn Felicity on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Hawthorne Effect (ep 117) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Questions or Answers? (ep 4) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) (ep 81) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Colu (ep 113) The Littery (ep 75) Incentives - The “N” in Nudges (ep 272) Finding Confidence in Conflict, with Kwame Christian (ep 107) Mixed Signals with Uri Gneezy (273) Introducing the Behavioral Science Club, with Louise Ward (ep 118) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Anthropology, Market Research and BE, with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 210) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Marcey Rader, author of the book Work Well, Play More. They delve into the importance of habits in achieving efficiency and work-life balance. Marcey shares her personal journey of making small, manageable changes in her life and emphasizes the need to focus on the behaviors underlying productivity. She highlights the value of breaking down goals into smaller tasks and tracking progress to stay motivated. The conversation also covers strategies for setting boundaries, prioritizing tasks, and incorporating movement into daily routines. Whether you're a busy professional looking to enhance your productivity or seeking a better work-life balance, this episode offers actionable advice and inspiration. Don't miss the opportunity to learn from Marcey's expertise and improve your efficiency and overall well-being. In this episode: Uncover the critical crossroads of health, productivity, and behavioral economics, providing an enriched understanding of personal and professional efficiency. Appreciate the transformational power of habits in attaining a meaningful work-life balance, preparing you for a balanced and fruitful lifestyle. Realize the necessity of establishing boundaries and prioritizing tasks, seeding the prevention of potential fatigue and burnout. Delve into the profound significance of immersing oneself in work and taking necessary breaks, instilling a refreshed sense of focus and vigor. Relate to Marcey Rader's personal journey, promoting an invaluable dimension of empathy and connection to her work. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces Marcey Rader, an author and health, productivity, and digital wellness expert. They discuss the importance of health in powering productivity and how habits and behavior change play a significant role in achieving work-life balance. 00:05:16 - Background and Journey, Marcey shares her journey from working in clinical research to becoming a productivity coach and speaker. She talks about how her own struggles with burnout and health issues inspired her to help others find a healthier and more efficient approach to work and life. 00:10:41 - Minimalism and Productivity, Marcey discusses how reading the book The Power of Less by Leo Babauta sparked her interest in minimalism and productivity. She shares how adopting minimalist principles and simplifying her life helped her improve her focus, efficiency, and work-life balance. 00:13:25 - Personal Experience and Empathy, Melina and Marcey emphasize the importance of personal experience and empathy when helping others make behavior changes. They discuss the value of relatability and understanding in guiding individuals towards healthier habits and a more productive lifestyle. 00:14:51 - Overcoming Overwhelm, Melina and Marcey address the feeling of overwhelm that many people experience when trying to make multiple behavior changes at once. They emphasize the importance of breaking changes down into smaller, manageable steps and starting with one area at a time for sustainable progress. 00:16:40 - Making Small Changes for Personal Growth, Marcey Rader shares her method of making personal and behavioral changes by breaking them down into smaller, manageable tasks. She shares her experience of creating a list of 100 things she wanted to change about herself and how she tracked her progress by checking off each task every day. (And, yes, acknowledges this approach may not be for everyone.) 00:19:20 - The Importance of Small Wins, Marcey emphasizes the importance of celebrating small wins and finding quick wins to build momentum. She shares her personal journey of gradually increasing her vegetable intake and how she started with just one serving a day and gradually worked her way up to five or six servings. 00:23:17 - Work Well, Play More Book Overview, Marcey discusses her book, Work Well, Play More, which covers topics of productivity, clutter, and health. The book is divided into twelve months, and each month focuses on a different area with novice, pro, and master levels. It can be used as a guide for making changes at your own pace and choosing your own adventure. 00:28:03 - Tackling Decluttering in Different Areas, Marcey explains how her book caters to different levels of expertise in each area. She shares examples of decluttering tips, such as cleaning up contacts in your phone, and how she personally used the process of decluttering contacts to reconnect with people during the COVID-19 pandemic. 00:30:10 - Top Tips from the Book, Marcey shares a top tip from each section of the book: productivity, health, and clutter. 00:34:59 - Being Flexible with Dietary Restrictions, Marcey shares her experience of being gluten-free for digestive reasons but not wanting to restrict her diet too much. She emphasizes the importance of looking for flexibility and balance in everything, including one's dietary choices. 00:35:36 - Breaking Habits and the Two-Minute Rule, Melina and Marcey discuss the challenge of breaking habits. Marcey shares about OHIO and Melina introduces the concept of the two-minute rule. They explain how tackling small tasks immediately can lead to a significant impact on productivity and organization. 00:37:15 - Organizing Information for the Book, Marcey shares her process of organizing the information for her book by using sticky notes and categorizing them by topic. She explains how this method helped her create a cohesive journey for her readers. 00:42:02 - Working with Companies, Marcey explains her approach when working with companies, which includes assessing their email behaviors, communication, time management, and meeting effectiveness. She also shares an example of implementing "design days" to promote deep focus and productivity within a company. 00:46:58 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Work Well, Play More, by Marcey Rader Subtract, by Leidy Klotz The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta Essentialism, by Greg McKeown Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Connect with Marcey:  Follow Marcey on LinkedIn Follow RaderCo on YouTube RaderCo website Top Recommended Next Episode: Habits (ep 256) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Loss Aversion (ep 316) Good Habits, Bad Habits with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Framing (ep 296) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Reciprocity (ep 238) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Priming (ep 252) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain (ep 237) Subtract, with Leidy Klotz (ep 322) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Bikeshedding (ep 99) How To Change, with Katy Milkman (ep 151) How To Set, Achieve and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Indistractible, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Get Ready for Act Two, with Kate Gigax (ep 321) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Marcey’s Powered Path Playbook Health Powered Productivity podcast

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, guest Leidy Klotz shares his research on the psychology of subtraction and its importance in decision-making and problem-solving. Klotz discusses how our natural instinct is to add rather than subtract when trying to improve a situation, and he provides insights into why this is the case. He explains that humans have a desire to display competence, and adding to a situation is a visible way to demonstrate that we can deal with the world effectively. However, Klotz argues that we can also display competence through subtracting, but it may require more effort to make it noticeable. He shares studies conducted with LEGO structures, itineraries, recipes, and computer grids, which consistently showed that people overwhelmingly choose to add rather than subtract. The episode explores concepts such as loss aversion and the IKEA effect, which contribute to our preference for adding. The conversation also touches on the concepts of minimalism and essentialism, and how subtracting can be a powerful tool for displaying competence and achieving goals effectively. Listeners will gain valuable insights into the psychological biases that hinder effective decision-making and problem-solving, and learn practical strategies to prioritize and achieve what truly matters.  In this episode: Discover the pivotal role subtraction plays in effective decision-making and problem-solving. Learn how our instinctive preference for addition can obstruct optimal solutions. Grasp how to confront biases and initiate shifts towards a subtractive mindset. Understand the immense benefits of streamlining and eliminating needless aspects of daily life. Acquire empowering strategies for integrating subtraction practices into your everyday living. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the episode and its focus on the power of subtraction with Dr. Leidy Klotz. She emphasizes the importance of optimization, reduction, and efficiency in various areas of life. 00:03:20 - Dr. Leidy Klotz's Background, Dr. Klotz shares his background in engineering and how his interest in sustainability led him to behavioral science. He highlights the overlap between engineering, architecture, and behavioral science in terms of creative application and design. 00:08:56 - Uncommon Paths to Behavioral Science, The conversation explores the diverse backgrounds of behavioral scientists, including Dr. Klotz's experience as a professional soccer player. They discuss how different disciplines, like marketing and sports, can contribute to the field of behavioral science. 00:11:50 - Personal Backgrounds and Professional Work, Melina and Dr. Klotz discuss how personal backgrounds, such as being an opera singer or playing basketball, can shape a person's approach to problem-solving. They highlight the value of diverse experiences in the field of behavioral science. 00:13:35 - Introduction to Subtract, Dr. Klotz introduces his book, Subtract, and explains how it explores the concept of subtraction as a means of optimization. He discusses the relationship between design, sustainability, and the creative application of behavioral science principles. 00:15:26 - The Instinct to Add, Leidy discusses how our first instinct when trying to improve something is to add, rather than subtract. This instinct is seen across various contexts, including LEGO structures and itineraries. The guest also mentions a study where people were given a task to make quadrants symmetrical and found that people overwhelmingly added blocks instead of removing them. 00:17:27 - Overlooking Subtraction, The guest explains that our tendency to overlook subtraction is due to various factors such as loss aversion, the endowment effect, and the IKEA effect. The book explores these factors and delves into the biological, cultural, and economic forces that contribute to our preference for adding. 00:18:47 - Science-Informed Strategies, Leidy discusses the latter half of the book, which focuses on utilizing science-informed strategies to get better at subtraction. By understanding the science behind our inclination to add, we can develop strategies to improve our ability to subtract. Leidy emphasizes the importance of creating a list of "stop doings" instead of solely focusing on a long list of to-dos. 00:21:06 - Minimalism and Essentialism, Leidy notes the connection between the book's concept of subtraction and minimalism and essentialism. He and Melina highlight the value of decluttering and getting rid of excess in order to display competence. Leidy also mentions the satisfaction that comes from having a focused to-do list with achievable tasks. 00:30:08 - The Importance of Subtraction, The conversation begins with the idea that subtraction is often overlooked in our society, and how we need to shift our mindset to value subtraction as much as addition. The guest, Leidy Klotz, mentions historical figures like Da Vinci and Lao Tzu who understood the importance of subtraction for design perfection and gaining wisdom. 00:31:01 - Subtraction as a Valuable Skill, Klotz discusses how his book aims to help people understand the science and stories behind subtraction, and encourages readers to adapt the principles to their own lives. He emphasizes the importance of subtracting first and how it can lead to better decision-making and problem-solving. 00:32:48 - Overcoming Challenges with Subtraction, Klotz addresses the challenges people face when considering subtraction, such as loss aversion and the fear of regret or guilt. He suggests mindset shifts, such as reframing subtraction as a positive improvement and emphasizing the benefits of subtracting. He also highlights the role of valence in perception and the value of thinking of add and subtract as complementary approaches. 00:35:53 - Add and Subtract, Klotz discusses the misconception that add and subtract are opposites and explains how they can coexist as complementary ways to make change. He encourages people to consider both options and think about the potential gains and losses associated with each. This mindset shift can lead to more effective decision-making and problem-solving. 00:44:27 - Introduction to the Book Work Well, Play More, Melina introduces the book Work Well, Play More by Marcey Rader, which builds upon the concepts of productivity and distraction introduced in "Indistractable." The book focuses on three areas: productivity, clutter, and health, providing a twelve-month approach to improve each area and reclaim time and mental well-being. 00:45:02 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Subtract, by Leidy Klotz The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo Essentialism, by Greg McKeown How to Change, by Katy Milkman Work Well, Play More, by Marcey Rader Connect with Leidy:  Leidy on LinkedIn Leidy on Twitter Leidy’s website Top Recommended Next Episode: Quit, with Annie Duke (ep 227) Already Heard That One? Try These:  NUDGES and Choice Architecture (ep 35) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Endowment Effect (ep 139) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Indistractible, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) How To Change, with Katy Milkman (ep 151) The Elements of Choice, with Eric Johnson (ep 174) Functional Fixedness (ep 194) A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Evolutionary Ideas, with Sam Tatam (ep 204) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Bikeshedding (ep 99) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) IKEA Effect (ep 112) Loss Aversion (ep 316) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Leidy at the University of Virginia

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Kate Gigax, founder of Development Corps, to discuss the transition from “Act One” to “Act Two” in one's career and life. The conversation focuses on being confident in expressing what you want and the value you bring. Kate emphasizes the importance of finding time for oneself and engaging in self-reflection. She encourages listeners to break up their schedules and find small pockets of time for rejuvenation and self-discovery. Through personal examples, she demonstrates how taking risks and pursuing what feels out of the ordinary can lead to greater success and fulfillment. The episode challenges the misconception that transitioning to Act Two always means becoming an entrepreneur. Kate and Melina highlight that there are various paths to finding fulfillment and creating change, whether it's within existing structures or through entrepreneurship. They emphasize the need for self-worth and believing in one's capabilities beyond societal expectations.  Listeners of this episode will gain practical advice on navigating transitions, finding personal fulfillment, and becoming confident in expressing their value. By embracing self-reflection, taking risks, and designing their own path, individuals can create a more meaningful Act Two in their careers and lives.  In this episode: Discover the art of embracing Act Two in your professional and personal life for renewed achievement. Learn why introspection and ‘me-time’ are essential for your mental health and holistic success. Unearth the thrill and potential benefits of venturing into uncharted, even taboo, territories. Grasp the courage to voice your needs and showcase your worth confidently. Explore ways to find fulfillment that extend beyond starting your own business and learn why variety is important. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer welcomes Kate Gigax to The Brainy Business podcast and introduces her as a leadership coach and facilitator with expertise in organizational psychology and neuroscience. 00:03:23 - Connection to Arizona State University, Kate discusses her connection to Arizona State University and her work with Robert Cialdini, Steve Neuberg, Doug Kenrick and Dave Lundberg-Kenrick on the Psych for Life initiative, which aims to make peer-reviewed psychological research more accessible. 00:07:42 - Psychological Contracts, Kate explains her research on psychological contracts, which are the expectations and perceptions individuals have about their relationship with their organization. She discusses the impact of breaches in these contracts and the importance of effective communication in managing change. 00:11:25 - Managing Change and Preserving Relationships, Kate emphasizes the role of managers and supervisors in preserving relationships and managing change effectively. She highlights the importance of open communication, empathy, and acknowledging the difficulty of the situation. 00:14:40 - Leadership Development and Coaching, Kate discusses her work as an executive coach and her focus on helping high-achieving individuals navigate their careers and define their own success. She emphasizes the importance of mindset shifts and rewiring old thinking habits for achieving success and fulfillment. 00:16:10 - Importance of Difficult Conversations, Melina and Kate discuss the significance of having difficult conversations in the workplace and how they contribute to building trust and maintaining a high relational psychological contract. They emphasize the need for clear communication, transparency, and addressing challenging topics in order to foster a positive work culture. 00:17:53 - Recommended Resources on Difficult Conversations, Melina suggests listening to Kwame Christian's podcast, Negotiate Anything, and watching his Ted Talk on difficult conversations. They also mention Stephen M.R. Covey's episode on The Speed of Trust and Scott Miller's book, The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship, which provides valuable insights on setting boundaries. 00:19:08 - The Implicit Parts of Culture, Kate highlights the importance of being intentional about addressing the implicit parts of organizational culture. They discuss how implicit cultural norms around conflict and boundaries can impact relationships and collaboration. They encourage leaders to be transparent and deliberate in fostering a positive work culture. 00:23:39 - Repairing Breached Contracts, The guest advises leaders to have difficult conversations to repair breaches in the psychological contract. They emphasize the need for consistency, action, and acknowledging fault. They also discuss the importance of helping employees feel valued and recognized, as this contributes to repairing relationships and maintaining trust. 00:26:35 - The Power of Recognition and Specific Feedback, Kate emphasizes the importance of recognizing and appreciating employees' contributions in a specific and meaningful way. She shares the SBI model and why it is one of her go-to recommendations for people to use. 00:30:18 - The Desire for Simpler Jobs, Many people daydream about having simpler jobs that are less stressful, but in reality, these jobs may not provide the fulfillment and satisfaction they think they want. High achievers often find ways to excel in any role and end up back where they started. 00:31:34 - Act Two: Middle Career, Act Two occurs in middle career when individuals go through a transition period. This often happens due to a breakdown, such as burnout or a wake-up call. Act Two is about designing a life based on personal wants and needs, rather than striving for success. 00:37:25 - Starting Act Two, Starting Act Two can be overwhelming, especially for those who have been focused on others and their careers. Starting small by identifying personal wants and needs is crucial. Developing reflective practices, clarifying values, and recognizing strengths are key steps in the transition to Act Two. 00:39:37 - The Importance of Values, Knowing one's values is essential in Act Two. Values act as guideposts for decision-making and help individuals align their actions with what truly matters to them. Values can also provide clarity when facing difficulties or making important life and career choices. 00:42:43 - Doubling Down on Strengths, Act Two is about betting on oneself and building a career around personal values and strengths. Utility players in Act One, who try to be everything for everyone, must shift their focus to double down on their unique abilities and become 00:44:26 - The Importance of Finding Time, Kate and Melina discuss the importance of finding time for oneself. Melina shares insights from Cassie Holmes’ book, Happier Hour, that people are happiest when the have between two and five hours of discretionary time during the day. She shares about the need to break up the 2-hour time commitment into manageable chunks. 00:46:09 - Embracing the "Wouldn't It Be Cool If" Mindset, Kate introduces the concept of the "Wouldn't it be cool if" mindset and encourages listeners to explore their own version of what they would love to do, regardless of feasibility. 00:47:55 - Challenging Limiting Beliefs, Act Two is about challenging the belief that certain goals are impossible and pushing beyond your comfort zone to achieve even greater success. Kate encourages listeners to design their own path instead of playing within someone else's design. 00:51:44 - Selling Your Value, Kate emphasizes the importance of selling your ideas and passions with confidence to attract the right people and opportunities. It's about claiming your worth and showing the value you bring to the table. 00:54:09 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Finding Confidence in Conflict, by Kwame Christian The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship, by Scott Miller Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Connect with Kate:  Follow Kate on LinkedIn Follow Kate on Instagram Development Corps website Top Recommended Next Episode: Happier Hour, with Cassie Holmes (ep 257) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 296) Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Habits (ep 256) Reciprocity (ep 238) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) How To Have Difficult Conversations at Work, with Kwame Christian (ep 107) Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship, with Scott Miller (ep 307) The Speed of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (ep 320) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 312) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone-Age Brain (ep 237) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

This episode of The Brainy Business podcast features an insightful interview with Stephen M. R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust. Covey shares his expertise on building trust through transparency and authenticity, drawing from his personal experience within Franklin Covey. He explains how trust serves as the foundation for effective relationships and collaboration within teams. Covey dives into the quantifiable value of trust, showcasing its impact on speed and cost. He shares two compelling examples to illustrate the economic benefits of trust, including the power of referrals and Warren Buffett's surprisingly successful acquisition deal. Throughout the conversation, Covey emphasizes the need for discernment in extending trust and the importance of creating a high trust culture. The episode provides practical insights and actionable strategies for leaders and managers to nurture trust within their organizations. By listening to this episode, business leaders can gain a deeper understanding of the economic and psychological benefits of trust and learn strategies to foster trust within their teams for increased productivity and success. In this episode: Realize the significant role trust plays in enhancing teamwork, productivity, and collaboration. Uncover the transformative power of transparency and authenticity within organizations, through the personal experiences of Stephen M. R. Covey. Appreciate the crucial interplay between trust and successful change management during periods of organizational transitions. Discover the foundational role of trust in boosting both speed and cost efficiency in business operations and its impact on economic outcomes. Identify the balance and discernment imperative in extending trust, a concept encapsulated as 'Smart Trust.'  Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode and welcomes Stephen M.R. Covey, the son of Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. They discuss Stephen's family legacy and how he has built upon his father's work with a focus on trust. 00:02:18 - The Importance of Trust, Stephen explains the concept of trust and how it impacts relationships and organizations. He shares a personal story about the Franklin Covey merger and the importance of transparency and authenticity in building trust. 00:06:11 - Trust and the Covey Legacy, Stephen discusses how his family legacy and the reputation of his father have influenced the level of trust people have in him. He emphasizes the importance of backing up trust with skills and research. 00:08:37 - The Gift of Transparency, Stephen shares a story about a meeting he had with the Franklin Covey employees after the merger. By being open, transparent, and addressing their concerns, he was able to build trust and create a stronger team. 00:13:13 - Calming the Elephant, Melina relates Stephen's story to the concept of “calming the elephant,” referring to addressing the underlying concerns and fears that people have during times of change. She shares an example of how taking the time to listen to an employee's personal stress helped improve their productivity. 00:14:44 - The Economics of Trust, Stephen discusses the economic impact of trust in organizations, and explains how his formulas for the economics of trust work. 00:15:20 - The Power of Understanding, Understanding others increases influence and builds trust, leading to better teamwork and improved outcomes. 00:17:15 - The Economics of Trust, Trust affects speed and cost in any relationship or environment. When trust decreases, speed decreases and cost increases. Conversely, when trust increases, speed increases and cost decreases. 00:20:33 - Examples of Trust in Action, Trust is a vital factor in word-of-mouth referrals, where trust leads to faster and less costly acquisitions. Stephen shares an example from Warren Buffett's handshake deal, which was completed quickly and without the traditional due diligence process due to high trust. 00:25:44 - The Cost of Distrust, Distrust leads to longer processes and higher costs, as seen in increased airport security measures and compliance rules after corporate scandals. The cost of distrust is real, while the dividends of high trust can be monetized. 00:28:22 - Balancing Trust and Caution, It is possible to be both too trusting and too suspicious. Finding the balance of smart trust involves being aware of potential risks while also recognizing the costs of not trusting enough and stifling creativity and innovation. 00:31:05 - The Importance of Smart Trust, Stephen Covey discusses the concept of smart trust, which involves assessing the likelihood, cost, and consequences of extending trust to someone. He emphasizes the importance of credibility and judgment in determining how much trust to give and acknowledges that blindly trusting someone who has proven to be untrustworthy is not wise. 00:32:33 - Building Trust and Overcoming Fear, Covey explains that extending trust can lead to great outcomes and results, as most people respond well to being trusted. He encourages leaders to focus on the 95% of trustworthy individuals and not let the 5% of untrustworthy people define their approach. Covey suggests using judgment and assessing the risk before trusting someone, but also highlights the importance of not being overly cautious and missing out on possibilities. 00:36:04 - The Power of High Trust Cultures, Covey discusses how high trust cultures can be more effective and accountable than rules-based cultures. He explains that when trust is present, people hold each other accountable and the culture itself becomes a reinforcer of trust. Covey emphasizes the need for organizations to design for the majority of trustworthy individuals rather than focusing on the few untrustworthy individuals. 00:37:29 - One More Behavior: Practicing Accountability, Covey introduces the behavior of practicing accountability, which involves creating agreements and expectations with individuals and allowing them to take responsibility for evaluating their own performance. He believes that involving people in the accountability process can build trust and lead to greater commitment and engagement. 00:46:15 - The Power of Trust, Trust is the most inspiring form of human motivation and brings out the best in people. 00:46:30 - Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Friction, by Roger Dooley What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Connect with Stephen:  Speed of Trust Website Stephen on Twitter Stephen on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Framing (ep 296) Endowment Effect (ep 139) Indistractible, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Friction with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Social Proof (ep 87) Habits (ep 256) Reciprocity (ep 238) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (ep 314)  Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) IKEA Effect (ep 112) How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 210) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Melina Palmer interviews Andrea Learned, a climate communications strategist and host of the Living Change Podcast, on the topic of building a leadership platform and personal brand for influence. Melina and Andrea discuss the importance of being authentic and engaging on social media to attract media attention and build trust with others. They emphasize the value of showcasing expertise and being seen doing the things you promote, as it builds credibility and inspires others to take similar actions. The conversation also highlights the power of aligning personal brand with initiatives and causes that align with one's values. Overall, the episode emphasizes the need for leaders to be visible and engaged on social media platforms to have influence and make an impact.  In this episode: Unearth how to harness your influence (around climate or anything else) as a tool for personal and professional progression. Construct a powerful leadership platform that amplifies your influence. Explore the narrative magic of storytelling that can pivot climate and consumption behavior. Discover your genuine voice to effectively spur behavior modification. Amplify your climate advocacy through savvy social media engagement. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces Andrea Learned, host of the Living Change podcast, and shares how they connected through a post Melina shared on LinkedIn asking for suggestions from fans for potential podcast episode topics. They discuss the importance of influence and how it can be applied to climate change and other causes. 00:03:47 - Building Climate Influence, Andrea shares her expertise in climate influence and how she helps leaders in the clean energy, food systems, transportation, and policy sectors leverage their platforms to drive scalable climate action. She emphasizes the importance of being visible and accessible on social media to gain influence and attract media coverage. 00:08:55 - Leveraging Leader's Influence, Andrea discusses the power of leaders in driving climate influence and how their engagement on platforms like LinkedIn can differentiate them from competitors and amplify their brand's messaging. She emphasizes the need for brands to support and empower their leaders to build their influence. 00:11:49 - Nudging Behavior Change, Melina and Andrea explore the role of influence in behavior change and pitching ideas. They discuss the importance of making it easy for others to follow your influence and how leaders who are visible and engaged can create a path for media and other stakeholders to follow. 00:13:29 - Media Pitching and Visibility, Melina and Andrea highlight the benefits of having a visible leader in media pitching efforts. They discuss how a leader's visibility and engagement on social media can make it easier for the media to identify the right person to pitch and provide a blueprint for their expertise and messaging. 00:15:19 - Importance of Building a Leadership Platform, Building a leadership platform for your sector allows you to have a warmer and more interesting conversation with the media. It also gives you social capital that you can carry with you wherever you go, even beyond your current organization. 00:17:24 - Importance of Media Training and Polished Communication, Media training and being able to communicate in good sound bites are valuable for building influence. It is important to align your personal brand with your organization's initiatives and show that you can be a polished spokesperson. 00:18:35 - Being Seen Doing the Things You Advocate For, It is important to be seen doing the things you are advocating for. Andrea shares real-world examples of leaders and influencers riding bikes, going plant-based, or taking other actions that align with their message. These actions influence others and encourage them to follow suit. 00:24:54 - The Power of Vulnerability and Building Trust, Being willing to be visibly vulnerable helps build trust with others. Taking the first step and showing you are on a journey, even if you are not perfect, encourages others to be braver and join in the cause. 00:26:47 - Examples of Influential Leaders, Examples of influential leaders include Malala who advocated for girls' education and Jane Goodall who used her work with chimpanzees to raise awareness about climate change and poverty. These leaders align their personal brand with their cause and use their influence to make a difference. 00:30:51 - The Impact of Consumer Recommendations on the Planet, Andrea discusses the importance of being aware of the impact our consumer recommendations have on the planet. She emphasizes that if we claim to care about the environment, we should consider the items we recommend or use, as they can influence others to emulate our behavior. 00:31:52 - The Power of Conversion Storytelling, Melina and Andrea explain that conversion stories, where someone makes a significant change in their behavior, can be incredibly powerful in influencing others. Stories of personal transformation, such as transitioning from meat-eating to a plant-based diet or switching from driving a big truck to riding a bike, can have a strong impact on inspiring change. 00:33:34 - Seeing Yourself in the Story, Melina highlights the importance of seeing oneself in a story to overcome resistance to change. By sharing relatable stories of individuals who have made similar changes, it becomes easier for others to envision themselves making similar shifts in their behavior. This can lead to increased motivation and action. 00:34:49 - Making Change Accessible, Consider making change accessible by setting short-term challenges or goals. For example, committing to meatless Mondays for a month or riding a bike for short trips three days a week. By breaking change into manageable steps, it becomes less overwhelming and more likely to be adopted. 00:39:43 - Influencing Others through Personal Expression, Andrea discusses the power of personal expression in influencing others. Sharing stories of personal journeys, like Mark Marin's, for example. 00:44:41 - Leveraging LinkedIn for Influence, Melina discusses the strategy of posing things as questions on LinkedIn to invite engagement and leverage social proof. Asking questions and opening up conversations is a powerful way to pull in more people and increase influence. 00:45:11 - Walking as a Form of Leisure and Errands, Melina shares her recent experience of going on a three-hour walk to the farmers market and running errands along the way. Walking is a preferred activity for her and her husband, and they enjoy the combination of leisure and productivity. 00:46:21 - Tips for Subtle Influence, Be brave enough to contribute and add value, even if it's not broadcasted. Engaging in social media comments and gradually becoming comfortable with sharing ideas and opinions can lead to a bigger platform and influence in the long run. 00:47:26 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Neurobranding, by Peter Steidl Friction, by Roger Dooley Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance The Power of Saying No, by Vanessa Patrick Connect with Andrea:  Follow Andrea on LinkedIn Andrea on Twitter Living Change podcast website Top Recommended Next Episode: Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) Already Heard That One? Try These:  You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Framing (ep 296) NUDGES and Choice Architecture (ep 35) Social Proof (ep 87) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 312) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) How Minds Change, with David McRaney (ep 210) Corporate Social Responsibility in Saudi Arabia, with Wiam Hasanain (ep 211) How to Pitch Your Business (ep 177) Friction with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Vanessa Bohns, a social psychologist and author of You Have More Influence Than You Think. The conversation explores many concepts, including the spotlight effect, invisibility cloak illusion, the focusing illusion, and more, and how they impact the way we show up in the world. Vanessa explains that even when it feels like everyone is looking at you, people are more focused on themselves and are not constantly judging our every move. The episode also dives into the importance of dissent and expressing our opinions, highlighting that speaking up can have a significant impact on conversations. The challenges of virtual presentations are discussed, including the absence of audience feedback. Vanessa shares techniques to keep virtual meetings engaging, such as utilizing the chat function and allowing everyone to contribute. She also reassures listeners that it's more important to focus on the overall message than getting every word perfect. The main takeaway is that individuals have more influence than they think, and being mindful of our words and actions can have a profound impact on others. This episode provides valuable insights for individuals looking to enhance their influence and navigate communication (both virtual and in-person) effectively. Delve into the fascinating realm of influence and perception and learn their true power in your life and business. Unveil the intriguing concepts of the spotlight effect and invisibility cloak illusion and explore how they could be affecting your view of yourself and others. Discover the significant role of audience reactions on speakers and understand the saying-is-believing effect from an all-new perspective. Identify the challenges of virtual presentations and learn effective techniques to engage and sustain the interest of your participants. Realize the extent of your influence and the imperative need to practice mindfulness in your interactions. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces episode 318 of The Brainy Business podcast featuring Dr. Vanessa Bohns. She mentions that this episode is a refresh of a previous conversation and explains the reason for choosing to revisit this topic because of how it ties in with this upcoming Friday’s conversation with Andrea Learned. Melina encourages listeners to consider their own influence and how they can make positive changes.  00:02:35 - Vanessa Bohns' Background and Approach to Influence Vanessa Bohns, an experimental social psychologist, discusses her unique approach to studying social influence, which focuses on examining the gap between our intuitions about influence and the reality of our influence. She shares a personal research experience that led her to explore this topic and highlights the importance of understanding how we perceive our own influence. 00:05:59 - The Spotlight Effect and the Invisibility Cloak Illusion Vanessa explains the spotlight effect, which refers to our tendency to believe that others are paying more attention to our embarrassing or negative features than they actually are. She also discusses the invisibility cloak illusion, where we feel invisible to others but are actually being noticed more than we think. These concepts demonstrate that people pay attention to us as a whole, not just our insecurities. 00:09:47 - Having More Influence Than We Think Vanessa discusses how our influence extends beyond our self-perceived flaws and insecurities. She explains Erica Boothby's research on the invisibility cloak illusion, showing that people pay attention to us and our behaviors more than we realize. This insight reveals that we have more influence over others' behavior and actions than we think. 00:14:44 - The Influence of the Audience, Just being their–even if you don’t say anything–can shape the experience and conversation. For example, the presence of a woman in a room can shape the way others talk about an issue as people engage in audience tuning. The audience's reactions and nonverbal cues can shape the beliefs of the person speaking, leading to a change in the message being delivered now and into the future. 00:15:28 - Virtual Presentations and Feedback, Virtual presentations can be challenging without the immediate feedback of the audience's reactions. The loss of laughter and nonverbal cues can lead to uncertainty and the need to adjust. Incorporating polls, chat questions, and breakout rooms can help maintain engagement and gather feedback. 00:21:16 - Maintaining Engagement in Virtual Meetings, In virtual meetings, it's important to ensure that everyone remains engaged and participates. Encouraging turn-taking and giving everyone a chance to voice their thoughts can help prevent people from getting lost or feeling unheard. Breakout rooms can also be used to facilitate discussions. 00:25:38 - The Power of the Audience in a Virtual World, In a virtual environment, the power of the audience's nonverbal communication is diminished. Those who are shy or hesitant to speak up can utilize the chat function to express their thoughts and contribute to the discussion without having to interrupt or speak aloud. Writing out thoughts in advance can also help overcome shyness and articulate ideas effectively. 00:30:05 - The Opportunity for Thoughtful Input, It's difficult for people to speak up (and dissent) unless they care deeply about a topic. The virtual setting provides an opportunity for more thoughtful input as people can take their time to think and prepare questions in advance. The chat function allows for engagement and gives a voice to those who may have been overshadowed in in-person meetings. 00:31:59 - Engaging Through the Chat, The chat function in virtual meetings can be advantageous as it allows participants to ask questions and contribute without the pressure of speaking up. It can also shape the way people listen and think about the discussion. The chat provides an opportunity to be seen and have an impact. 00:34:31 - The Importance of Influence, Having influence in meetings matters because there are opportunities that can be missed. Research shows that people listen, believe, and are more likely to do things for us than we think. By holding back or doubting our influence, we may miss out on making a real impact. It's also important to be mindful of the potential negative influence we can have on others. 00:36:50 - Being Mindful of Impact, It's crucial to focus on the impact our words and actions have on others rather than obsessing over how we are being judged. Even small comments can carry weight, especially when we are in positions of power. Being thoughtful and mindful can help prevent negative or unintended consequences. 00:38:59 - Moving Away from the Focusing Illusion, Instead of just worrying about how other people are focusing on you, reframe and refocus to be mindful of the impact your words and actions are having on others.  00:44:45 - "Gaining Perspective on Relationship Dynamics", Dr. Vanessa Bohns shares a technique in which individuals write about a fight they had with their partner from a third-party perspective. This exercise helps to see the ways in which they may be contributing to the dynamic and understand their impact on others. 00:45:26 - "The Liking Gap and Accurate Perspectives", The liking gap phenomenon suggests that people underestimate how much others like them. Third-party perspectives, such as in videos or compliments, can provide accurate insights into how others perceive and appreciate us. 00:46:42 - "The Power of Outsider Perspective", Taking an outsider's perspective can help increase self-awareness and understanding of one's influence on a situation. This perspective can be achieved through exercises like imagining oneself as a friend. Melina relates this back to Dove's Real Beauty campaign. 00:47:53 - "The Impact of Positive Feedback", Expressing gratitude and acknowledging the positive impact others have on us can create a ripple effect of spreading gratefulness. Compliments and feedback can have a lasting impact and should be shared more often. 00:48:24 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Influence, by Robert Cialdini The Power of Us, by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel Reinforcements, by Heidi Grant Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott Connect with Vanessa:  VANESSA’S WEBSITE VANESSA ON TWITTER VANESSA ON LINKEDIN Top Recommended Next Episode: Hate Being On Camera? Brainy Tips To Combat It (ep 95) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 312) 5 Years, 299 Episodes, These Are Your Favorites (ep 299) How To Sell From The Stage (episode 6) Sense of Sight (episode 24) Partitioning (episode 58) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 304) Framing (ep 296) Herding (episode 264) Partitioning (ep 254) Social Proof (ep 87)  Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Dove Real Beauty Campaign Devil Wears Prada Clip The Invisibility Cloak Illusion The Spotlight Effect

Eden Brownell, director of behavioral science at MPulse Mobile, joins Melina Palmer on The Brainy Business podcast to discuss the application of behavioral science in healthcare delivery. The conversation, which was conducted live at Greenbook’s IIEX North America conference, delves into the use of behavioral interventions to drive behavior change in healthcare. Brownell shares two case studies that highlight the power of storytelling, social influence, and understanding user experience to improve patient engagement and outcomes.  From using videos to simulate the consequences of non-compliance to leveraging loss aversion, the episode demonstrates the effectiveness of behavioral design in healthcare. Brownell emphasizes the importance of addressing real barriers to behavior change and tailoring interventions to the specific needs and motivations of the target audience. Everyone interested in implementing evidence-based behavioral strategies to improve engagement and behavior change will find this episode insightful and practical (it’s not just for the healthcare industry). Delve into the cutting-edge fusion of behavioral science and healthcare, and its role in optimizing patient results. Learn about the intriguing complexities of healthcare compliance and the psychology behind procrastination and time discounting. Be intrigued by real-world examples of how behavioral science can massively up the ante when it comes to adherence of medical tests. Discover the transformative power of personalized interventions in enhancing health outcomes with the aid of technology. Understand the synergy between behavioral science and healthcare as a pivotal solution to overcoming prevalent health barriers. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the podcast episode and welcomes Eden Brownell, the Director of Behavioral Science at MPulse Mobile. This episode is a replay of the live podcast interview conducted at Greenbook’s IIEX North America conference. 00:03:24 - Getting to Know Eden Brownell, Eden shares her background and how she got into the field of behavioral science, drawing on her love for understanding human behavior and psychology. 00:06:35 - The Intersection of Theater and Behavioral Science, Eden discusses how her background in theater research has influenced her love for research and understanding human behavior. 00:08:57 - The Challenges of Healthcare Compliance, Melina and Eden explore the issue of compliance in healthcare and how behavioral science can help address it. They discuss the concept of present bias and its impact on healthcare decisions. 00:12:07 - Overcoming the Say-Do Gap, The conversation dives into the say-do gap and the challenges of committing to future actions. Eden shares a case study on healthcare compliance and how behavioral science can be applied to improve outcomes. 00:15:26 - Overcoming Engagement Challenges, Eden discusses the challenges of getting people to engage with colon test kits and the importance of getting their attention. They conducted an A/B test using behavioral science messaging to create a sense of ownership (leveraging loss aversion) and found a significant increase in engagement. 00:17:33 - The Endowment Effect and Psychological Barriers, The endowment effect is discussed as a psychological factor that increases the value of something once it is owned. The guest explains how reframing the message to create a sense of ownership can overcome psychological barriers and increase the likelihood of engagement. 00:19:15 - Increasing Engagement with Colon Test Kits, The results of the A/B test showed a 10-15% increase in engagement when using behavioral science messaging and the endowment effect. Eden discusses the importance of addressing barriers and lowering the perceived effort for members to complete the test. 00:20:44 - Next Steps: Completing the Colon Test Kits, The next step is to focus on increasing completion rates for those who have opted in to receive the test kit. Eden discusses using AI and natural language processing to identify barriers and provide resources to overcome them. 00:26:22 - Using AI to Overcome Barriers, AI is used to identify common barriers mentioned by members and provide targeted responses. Eden emphasizes the importance of allowing barriers to be uncovered and addressing them in real time to increase engagement. 00:30:13 - Encouraging Behavior Change, Eden discusses the importance of using nudges and partitions to encourage people to opt in for important activities such as cancer screenings. She emphasizes the need to make the process simple and streamlined while highlighting the value of health care and preventing cancer. 00:31:29 - Successful Storytelling with Video, Eden shares a passion project that involved using video to promote diabetic eye screening. By utilizing loss aversion and creating an emotional impact, the video successfully increased the click rates for scheduling eye exams by over 200%. 00:35:01 - Using Emotion and Storytelling, Eden discusses the power of emotion and storytelling in driving behavior change. By creating videos that evoke strong emotions and resonate with the audience, it becomes easier to connect people to their future selves and encourage them to take action. 00:39:10 - Leveraging Self-Determination Theory, Eden talks about the impact of self-determination theory and social proof in healthcare. By providing real-life experiences and engaging content, such as videos of moms sharing their concerns and experiences, it becomes easier to spark engagement and provide valuable information to individuals. 00:42:19 - Simplifying the Experience, Eden emphasizes the importance of simplifying the experience for individuals. By reducing complexity and perceived effort, it becomes easier to encourage behavior change and make the overall experience more enjoyable and engaging. Examples include incorporating moments of sunshine and removing unnecessary friction. 00:45:50 - Boosting Engagement and Motivation, The discussion focuses on using social aspects and storytelling to drive engagement and motivation in healthcare. By sharing stories and creating content that can be shared with friends and family, healthcare providers can have a bigger impact on the health and well-being of their members. 00:46:51 - Presenting Health Plans to Prioritize Health, Health plans are often focused on making money, but there is an opportunity to push them to prioritize the healthcare of their members. By testing ideas like sharing messages and content that can be easily shared on social media, health plans can have a broader impact on the health of their members and their extended group. 00:47:33 - Messaging and Social Proof, The conversation highlights the importance of messaging and social proof in healthcare. Simply stating statistics like "one in four women will get breast cancer" may not have the desired impact because people often think they won't be the one affected. Finding ways to effectively communicate and simplify these statistics using images and videos is crucial. 00:48:14 - Simplifying Healthcare Information, The discussion emphasizes the need to simplify healthcare information, especially considering low literacy levels and health literacy levels. Using images, videos, and infographics can help bridge the literacy gap and make healthcare information more understandable and accessible. 00:49:16 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Engaged, by Amy Bucher Friction, by Roger Dooley Behavioral Science in the Wild, by Dilip Soman and Nina Mazar What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Designing for Behavior Change, by Stephen Wendel Connect with Eden:  Follow Eden on LinkedIn MPulse Mobile Top Recommended Next Episode: Engaged, with Amy Bucher (ep 164) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Loss Aversion (ep 316) Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Endowment Effect (ep 139) NUDGES and Choice Architecture (ep 35) Social Proof (ep 87) Partitioning (ep 254) Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) Behavior Change at WW and Beyond (ep 98) Behavioral Science Testing In Real Businesses (ep 94) Behavioral Science in the Wild, with Dilip Soman (ep 241) Designing for Behavior Change with Stephen Wendel (ep 116) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

In this episode, explore the fascinating concept of loss aversion and its implications in business. Yes, it applies to marketing and sales strategies, but loss aversion is more than that. Loss aversion is the tendency for individuals to prefer avoiding losses rather than acquiring gains. This cognitive bias can be harnessed to increase customer engagement and conversion rates. Throughout the episode, host Melina Palmer delves into various examples and case studies to illustrate how businesses can leverage loss aversion to influence decision-making. From offering money-back guarantees to triggering the fear of regret, the key is to focus on avoiding losses rather than promoting gains. (Don't worry, it doesn't have to be negative.) By framing offers and rewards as something that has already been gained and must be maintained through specific actions, businesses can tap into the deep-rooted fear of loss within our subconscious brains. For business owners and marketers seeking to improve their marketing and sales strategies, this episode is a must-listen. Understanding the science behind loss aversion and learning how to apply it in your marketing efforts can significantly impact your bottom line. By appealing to people's fear of loss, you can increase engagement, drive conversions, and ultimately achieve greater success in your business. Throughout the episode, you'll hear real-world examples and case studies to demonstrate how businesses can leverage loss aversion to influence consumer behavior. In this episode: Gain insights into the persuasive power of loss aversion in business. Identify how diverse fields such as consulting, tax, and real estate harness loss aversion. Experience how loss aversion can work within the wedding industry. Harness the potential of digital sales by applying loss aversion through creative messaging and pop-up interventions. Understand how your own loss aversion can be used to help you get more done with Melina's "Loss Aversion Jar" and more. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Introduction to the episode and the importance of loss aversion in understanding consumer behavior–regardless of industry or role. 00:03:12 - Loss Aversion Defined, Loss aversion is the concept of valuing losses more than gains. People are more averse to losing something than gaining something. Research has found again and again that it takes double the joy felt by a gain to equal the pain felt by a loss. So, if you lose $20 you need to gain $40 to feel whole. 00:06:01 - The Power of Loss, Our brains are wired to avoid losses, and this behavior is deeply ingrained. Traditional economic models that focus on gains overlook the power of loss aversion. 00:10:26 - Practical Applications, Flipping the messaging from potential gain to potential loss can be a powerful motivator. Examples include financial institutions offering money upfront and entrepreneurs using regular check-ins to hold clients accountable. 00:13:59 - Long-Term Goals and Commitments, Loss aversion can be leveraged to help clients stay committed to long-term goals. Regular check-ins and accountability help prevent procrastination and maintain focus. 00:17:07 - Loss Aversion Jar, Melina’s loss aversion jar technique and how it can help people keep themselves and their clients on track. 00:18:14 - Applied Example for Accountants, Melina explains how people are more motivated to seek help with taxes if they anticipate owing money rather than expecting a refund. Highlights the fear of being audited and suggests messaging that emphasizes reducing the amount owed instead of the potential return someone might receive. 00:20:21 - Visualizing Product Ownership, Melina explores the concept of perceived ownership and loss aversion in relation to physical products. She recommends strategies such as allowing customers to touch and interact with products to increase their attachment and desire to own them. 00:23:33 - Applied Examples from the Wedding Industry, When Melina bought her wedding dress, there was an ingenious loss aversion technique that helped her to buy her dress (and feel great about it) on the first visit to the first shop she went to. This was a big win for all involved. Learn how they did it and what this might look like in your business. 00:26:25 - Over-the-Top Online Sales Tactics, Melina critiques an extreme example of using loss aversion in online sales, where customers are presented with a long and exaggerated paragraph highlighting the potential loss of not purchasing. She emphasizes the importance of subtlety and avoiding tactics that may turn customers away. 00:33:43 - Overcoming the Fear of Change, Melina encourages listeners to embrace change and work to let go of their own loss aversion, familiarity bias, and status quo bias. Taking risks and trying new things can lead to growth and success. 00:34:39 - Embracing Change for Growth, Melina emphasizes the importance of making space for new opportunities by letting go of things that no longer serve us. She invites listeners to share their experiences and changes with her. 00:35:10 - Feedback and Continuous Improvement, Melina values listener feedback and wants to know what resonates with them. She mentions the need for businesses to adapt and evolve to stay successful. 00:36:24 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Subtract, by Leidy Klotz Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo Top Recommended Next Episode: Framing (ep 296) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Herding (ep 264) Mixed Signals, with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) Unlocking Employee Motivation with Kurt Nelson (ep 295) Secrets of Incentives and Motivation, with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) Why Less is Not a Loss, with Leidy Klotz (ep 162) The Power of Touch (ep 302) Booms, Bubbles, and Busts (ep 30) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Endowment Effect (ep 139) How To Set, Achieve, and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Econometrica What Is Loss Aversion? What Is Loss Aversion? Losses attract more attention than comparable gains. Loss aversion These Are the People Who Are Most Likely to Get Audited

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer is joined by Dr. Tessa West, a renowned expert in social psychology and communication. They dive deep into the topic of workplace jerks, exploring the different types of jerky behaviors that exist and providing valuable insights on how to address and prevent these behaviors. Throughout the conversation, Melina and Tessa discuss the complexities of workplace dynamics, highlighting the structural issues that enable jerky behaviors to flourish. They emphasize the importance of recognizing these underlying systems and structures, rather than only viewing jerky behaviors as isolated incidents caused by individual bad apples. By understanding the systemic factors that contribute to such behaviors, individuals and organizations can take proactive steps to create a healthier work environment.  Tessa also shares practical tips for individuals to identify red flags during the job interview process and early on in a new job. By being aware of the organizational structures and systems that may contribute to jerky behaviors, individuals can make informed decisions about their long-term job satisfaction. Overall, this episode offers valuable insights and advice for both managers and employees dealing with workplace jerks. It provides a fresh perspective on the topic, emphasizing the importance of addressing structural issues and fostering a healthy work environment to improve overall workplace dynamics. Recognize markers of negative characters in your workplace and their potential effects. Master techniques to dissolve issues arising from uneasy workplace interactions. Appreciate how our use of language subtly influences our perspective and behavior. Identify the link between empathy and successful communication, charting a path for stronger relationships. Understand how stereotypes maneuver personal and team performance and the ways to buffer their influence. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Host Melina Palmer welcomes Dr. Tessa West. Tessa discusses her background as a social psychology professor and her research on uncomfortable social interactions. 00:03:07 - Uncomfortable Social Interactions, Dr. West explains her research focus on uncomfortable social interactions and how she measures discomfort using physiological responses. She discusses the prevalence of discomfort in the workplace and the lack of effective strategies for handling it. 00:06:07 - Freezing and Rationalizing Discomfort, The tendency to freeze and rationalize discomfort in the workplace is discussed. Tessa emphasizes the need to address small discomforts before they accumulate and cause stress-related health issues. She offers tips on handling discomfort without confrontation. 00:08:24 - Cumulative Discomfort and Health, Dr. West explains how cumulative discomfort in the workplace can lead to stress-related health issues. She highlights the importance of addressing small discomforts and offers strategies for managing them effectively. 00:11:42 - Tell Us About Your Dissertation, Tessa briefly discusses her dissertation on interpersonal accuracy and the motivation to be inaccurate when accuracy threatens relationships. She shares an unpublished study on how threat affects individuals' perception of their partner's attractiveness. 00:14:26 - "Introduction and Funny Dissertation Stories", Melina shares a humorous anecdote from a Friends episode and Tessa jokes she could have just cited that instead of doing her dissertation. They discuss the interesting process of doing a dissertation and how it shapes one's work. 00:15:11 - "Types of Jerks at Work", Tessa breaks down the different types of jerks at work featured in her book, starting with the "kiss up kick downer" who impresses the boss but treats colleagues poorly. She also discusses the "credit stealer," "bulldozer," "free rider," "micromanager," "neglectful boss," and the more manipulative "gaslighter." 00:19:10 - "Micromanagers and Neglectful Bosses", Tessa delves deeper into the micromanager, who tends to have control issues and struggles with balancing their old job and new management role. She also discusses the neglectful boss, who oscillates between micromanagement and neglect, causing stress and instability. 00:20:56 - "Gaslighters at Work", Tessa explains the manipulative tactics of gaslighters, who lie to create a false reality and often have power and status. Gaslighters can make it difficult for their victims to fight back due to their strategic manipulation and the victims' own involvement in potentially unethical actions. 00:28:18 - Understanding the Root of Workplace Problems, Tessa West advises people to look beyond individual "bad apples" and consider the structural issues within their workplace that breed toxic behavior. By examining the systems and incentives that allow these behaviors to occur, individuals can make more informed decisions about their work environment. 00:29:27 - Red Flags to Look for in a New Workplace, Tessa suggests paying attention to red flags during the interview process or when starting a new job. She recommends looking for signs of a workplace that values certain behaviors, such as promotions based on sales rather than training and development. Identifying these red flags can help prevent future toxic behavior. 00:30:47 - Longevity of a Job and Workplace Dynamics, Tessa emphasizes the importance of considering the longevity of a job and how workplace dynamics can change over time. Just because a workplace seems great initially doesn't mean it will remain that way. A few bad hires or a workplace that fosters toxic behavior can quickly turn a positive environment into a negative one. 00:31:43 - Advice for Small Business Owners, Tessa offers advice for small to mid-sized business owners who may feel overworked and stressed, leading to toxic behavior. She suggests that uncertainty is often a trigger for “work jerkery.” By addressing uncertainty and creating a psychologically safe environment, business owners can prevent themselves from micromanaging or neglecting their team. 00:36:12 - Identifying if You're the Jerk at Work, Tessa discusses ways that the listener can determine if they are the “jerk” as well as what to do when you realize you have been a jerk (it happens!) 00:42:10 - Show Notes and Resources, Melina reminds listeners to check the show notes for links to past episodes and books mentioned in the conversation, including Jerks at Work, The Power of Us, How Minds Change, Getting Along, and The Microstress Effect. 00:42:39 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Jerks at Work, by Tessa West The Power of Us, by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel How Minds Change, by David McRaney Getting Along, by Amy Gallo The Microstress Effect, by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon Connect with Tessa:  Follow Tessa on LinkedIn Tessa on Twitter Tessa’s website Top Recommended Next Episode: Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) Already Heard That One? Try These:  How To Change, with David McRaney (ep 210) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) The Power of Us with Dominic Packer (ep 304) Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Reciprocity (ep 238) Unity (ep 216) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Mixed Signals, with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) Unlocking Employee Motivation with Kurt Nelson (ep 295) Secrets of Incentives and Motivation, with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Tessa West’s lab

It is common for organizations to say they want to remove all bias from their workplace or to become a completely unbiased organization. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible because our brains run on bias in order to make decisions. Instead of trying to eliminate bias, it is best to understand and work with it. When we know what tendencies the brain will try to use and when/where they come into play, there is an opportunity to reframe and turn those biases into an engine for moving forward. This episode from Melina Palmer is an introduction to the many biases we have toward others who are not like us, including groups, to start you thinking about and understanding which biases exist and figuring out how to start navigating them in your life and organization. In this episode: Hear a little bit about a lot of biases we humans have toward others. This includes both how we look at groups and how we perform inside them.  Understand how those biases impact you and those in your life and work.  Get some tips for starting to think about how to navigate these biases (since they can’t be eliminated). Reframe your brain from “removing” bias, to leveraging and working with it.  Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, In this episode, Melina Palmer introduces the topic of biases toward others, including groups. She mentions that this episode is a refresh of a previous episode and hints at an upcoming interview with Dr. Tessa West on dealing with difficult people at work. 00:03:16 - Groupthink, Groupthink occurs when people in a group make irrational decisions to maintain harmony or avoid conflict. This can lead to poor decision-making and a lack of critical evaluation of different options or viewpoints. Melina shares an example of Amazon's approach to combating groupthink by implementing a silent start to meetings. 00:06:29 - Shared Information Bias, Shared information bias occurs when a group spends more time discussing topics that all members are familiar with, neglecting unshared information. This can hinder progress and prevent important topics from being addressed. Melina suggests encouraging group members to discuss difficult topics and avoid rehashing the same information. 00:07:36 - Bandwagon Effect, The bandwagon effect refers to the tendency to do or say things just because everyone else is doing or saying them. This bias influences decisions such as following people on social media, listening to podcasts with positive reviews, or choosing restaurants with high ratings. Melina emphasizes the importance of building a social presence and gaining followers, even though the number of followers does not necessarily indicate quality. 00:09:48 - Cheerleader Effect, The cheerleader effect is the tendency to think that a group looks more “attractive” (including its ideas) when there is a group than those individuals might appear on their own. This can also impact how someone feels about challenging or approaching a group instead of individuals. 00:16:18 - Stereotypes and Implicit Association, Melina discusses how stereotypes and implicit association play a role in our thinking and decision-making process, particularly in relation to gender and job titles. She shares about some research being done at Texas A&M University in the Human Behavior Laboratory. 00:18:00 - Cognitive Bias and Prejudice, Explores how cognitive bias and association can lead to prejudices, even when we are not consciously aware of them, and the potential impact this can have in various situations, including in HR scenarios. 00:20:07 - Fundamental Attribution Error, Explores the concept of the fundamental attribution error, where we tend to attribute others' behavior to their personality while attributing our own behavior to external factors, and the importance of considering different perspectives and giving the benefit of the doubt. 00:21:51 - Group Attribution Error, This is where we tend to generalize the characteristics of one person to the entire group and assume that a group's decision reflects the preferences of everyone in the group, highlighting the need to challenge these biases and consider individual differences. 00:23:10 - Halo Effect, This is where one positive or negative quality of a person influences our perception of their other qualities, and the importance of avoiding generalizations and considering individuals as multidimensional beings. 00:33:15 - Biases in Interacting with Robots, Due to form function attribution bias, people make systematic errors when interacting with robots, possibly due to intimidation or assuming robots think quicker. Biases and assumptions don't reflect the function of the robot. Be aware of biases towards robots, animals, and others. 00:34:08 - Identifying Biases, Spot biases in your life by identifying where you anthropomorphize or unfairly judge others. Consider if these biases are right or serving you, and who you may be inadvertently holding back or should give the benefit of the doubt. 00:36:24 - Avoiding Jerk Breeding Environments, In Friday’s upcoming episode, Tessa West will discuss her book Jerks at Work, providing insights into different types of toxic coworkers and how to work better with them. She will also give tips for entrepreneurs to avoid creating a jerk breeding environment and talk about the role of incentives. 00:37:56 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Jerks at Work, by Tessa West Getting Along, by Amy Gallo Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Drive, by Dan Pink A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh  Top Recommended Next Episode: Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Herding (ep 264) Social Proof (ep 87) Mixed Signals, with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) Unlocking Employee Motivation with Kurt Nelson (ep 295) Secrets of Incentives and Motivation, with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) An Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (ep 33) The Power of Us with Dominic Packer (ep 304) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter ‘Silent Start’: The Brilliant (and Surprising) Meeting Method From Amazon Hostile Attribution Bias 21 Things You Didn’t Know About Bronies Brony Herd Census & State of the Herd Report Moral Credentialing and the Rationalization of Misconduct Susan Boyle Audition HD – FULL Top 10 Professions Dominated by Women University of Phoenix: Red Socks Marketing Myopia Do Dogs Smile? The Science Behind the Looks We Get From a Happy Dog

The art of storytelling plays a critical role in engaging and captivating an audience during presentations. A good story has the power to capture attention, foster emotional connections, and render complex ideas more relatable and understandable. However, the effectiveness of storytelling lies in its delivery. Presenters should aim to weave their key messages into a compelling narrative that provides value to the audience. Troy Andrews discusses the importance of storytelling in presentations using the metaphor of the Brooklyn Bridge which he used extensively in his book, Bridges and Barriers. In his view, the bridge represents the journey of taking an audience from one point to another, with the barriers symbolizing the obstacles or concerns that can hinder this process. By leveraging storytelling, Troy suggests that presenters can facilitate this journey more effectively, turning obstacles into opportunities for engagement and interaction. His unique approach to storytelling in the book doesn't follow a linear format, reflecting the idea that confident presenters can break from tradition to create more memorable and impactful presentations. In this episode: Discover the secrets behind creating powerful presentations that captivate and inspire. Decode the crucial role audience analysis plays in delivering meaningful and persuasive speeches. Learn how the strength lies in vulnerability and collaboration to foster trust and uplift your confidence. Understand the impact of strategic storytelling to craft enthralling presentations – even when you’re just pitching for more budget next quarter. Learn the value of confidence (and practice) and the role it plays in giving compelling presentations. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Introduction to the podcast episode and the guest, Troy Andrews. He is the author of the book Bridges and Barriers and specializes in applying behavioral science and persuasion theory to presentations. 00:02:23 - Troy's Background and Transition, Troy shares his background in the construction industry and how his experience in communication and project management led him to pursue a career in presentation coaching. He discusses his move to Shanghai, China, in 2008 and his passion for behavioral economics and science. 00:06:15 - Leveraging Presentations for Career Growth, Troy emphasizes the importance of using presentations as an opportunity to shape others' perception of you and advance your career. He suggests focusing on the adjectives or nouns you want to be known for and strategically incorporating them into your presentations. 00:08:31 - The Role of Persuasion in Presentations, Troy highlights the role of persuasion in presentations and the misconception that there is a magic pitch or specific words that guarantee agreement. He discusses the importance of audience analysis and finding common ground to establish rapport and influence others. 00:12:53 - Genuine Connection and Persuasion, Troy shares an example of using audience research to establish a genuine connection with a potential client and how it positively influenced their conversation. He emphasizes the line between persuasion and manipulation and the importance of genuine care and thoughtfulness in establishing rapport. 00:15:06 - Building Relationships and Gaining Influence, Troy shares a story about how Benjamin Franklin won over an opponent by discovering their shared love for rare books. By finding common ground and asking for help, a mentor-mentee relationship was formed, leading to increased trust and support. 00:19:19 - The Art of Woo, Troy recommends "The Art of Woo" (link below) as a book that explores the principles of influence and persuasion. He highlights the importance of understanding influential people within an organization and tailoring presentations to address their concerns. 00:20:51 - Overcoming the Confidence Barrier, Melina and Troy discuss the challenge of confidence in presentations. They emphasize the need for confidence to be backed up by thorough audience analysis and preparation. Practice, understanding the audience's worries, and being well-versed in the content are key to building confidence. 00:24:33 - The Importance of Presentation Structure, Melina shares the importance of structuring presentations with a clear arc and a central message. By guiding the audience through a storytelling journey and incorporating emotional elements, presenters can create impactful and memorable presentations. 00:28:09 - Embracing Failure and Building Real Confidence, Troy promotes the idea of embracing failure and being okay with uncertainty. Real confidence comes from giving your best effort and being resilient, even in the face of potential failures. Building confidence through exposure and experience is key. 00:31:14 - Focusing Illusion in Presentations, The conversation discusses the focusing illusion in presentations, where presenters often fixate on one thing they think the audience is paying attention to (like when they messed up that word), but in reality, the audience may not notice or care about it. Tips are shared on how to avoid getting hung up on minor details and maintain confidence during presentations. 00:32:38 - Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking, Troy emphasizes the importance of building confidence when it comes to public speaking. Exposure therapy is suggested as a way to gradually overcome the fear. Starting with small actions like asking questions in meetings can help individuals become more comfortable expressing themselves and eventually improve their presentation skills. 00:35:48 - Storytelling and the Brooklyn Bridge, Troy shares how he came up with the idea of using the Brooklyn Bridge as a metaphor for presentations in his book, Bridges and Barriers. He wanted to simplify the concept of carrying the audience across from one point to another and highlight the importance of addressing barriers that may prevent them from accepting the message. The non-linear storytelling approach in the book is discussed. 00:45:48 - Importance of Personal Style and Confidence in Presentations, Melina and Troy discuss the importance of personal style in presentations and how it can help people remember you. He emphasizes the need to be confident and comfortable with your choices, whether it's your clothing or hairstyle. Being true to yourself and owning it is key. 00:46:24 - Overcoming Fashion Norms and Embracing Individuality, Melina shares how she started wearing sneakers to conferences instead of uncomfortable shoes, and how she owns his choice by wearing bright, bold colors. She mentions that most people don't say anything at all, and those who do have had kind things to say. It's about being comfortable with your own truth. 00:48:08 - Troy's Top Tip for Better Presentations, Troy recommends a practical practice for improving presentation skills. He suggests recording a 1-minute video of yourself every day for a month, using an app like PowerPoint with an AI coach to track your progress. He advises focusing on energy and turning up the voltage to engage your audience. 00:50:21 - The Power of Energy in Presentations, Troy emphasizes the importance of energy in presentations and how it can make a significant difference in how it is received by the audience. 00:39:04 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Bridges and Barriers, by Troy Andrews The Art of Woo, by G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa Influence, by Robert Cialdini Presuasion, by Robert Cialdini Influence Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance Connect with Troy:  Follow Troy on LinkedIn Presentation Persuasion Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 312) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Reciprocity (ep 238) Unity (ep 216) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Rebrand, Refresh or Reinforce? (ep 44) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) What is Cognitive Semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Pratfall Effect

The principle of unity, now featured as Robert Cialdini's 7th Principle of Persuasion in the New and Expanded version of Influence, is important for anyone in business to understand. Fundamentally, it is about fostering a communal sentiment between the communicator and the audience, making them feel as if they are part of the same group. This unity transcends mere similarities and taps into shared identities such as nationality, family, or political affiliation. More than being an effective tool for persuasion, creating a sense of unity also helps build stronger, more meaningful connections with others. Throughout the interview, Dr. Cialdini explains all seven principles of persuasion: reciprocity, authority, liking, consistency/commitment, social proof, scarcity, and unity. He provides thought-provoking examples and tips that anyone in business can learn from and start being more influential (and persuasive) immediately! Don't miss this one. In this episode: Uncover the basic principles of persuasion and their impressive influence on human behavior. Learn about the (now) 7 Principles of Persuasion from the godfather of influence himself. Hear some questions from listeners like you, that Melina asked Dr. Cialdini! Embrace ethical persuasion and the responsible handling of influence strategies. Discover a little about what Bob is doing now, as Melina mentions the Cialdini Institute, a new initiative that has launched since this refreshed episode originally aired. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, The episode introduces Dr. Robert Cialdini, a renowned persuasion scientist, and discusses his iconic book "Influence" and its new and expanded version, which includes the seventh principle of persuasion, Unity. 00:03:15 - Cialdini's Background and Research, Dr. Cialdini shares his background as a persuasion scientist and his early research, which involved immersive observational studies of various professions that rely on influencing others. He emphasizes the importance of studying naturally occurring environments and the common principles of persuasion he discovered. 00:06:41 - The Original Six Principles of Persuasion, Bob presents the six original principles of persuasion: reciprocity, liking, social proof, authority, commitment and consistency, and scarcity. He explains each principle and how they influence people's decision-making processes. 00:15:55 - The Seventh Principle: Unity, Dr. Cialdini introduces the seventh principle of persuasion, Unity, which focuses on creating a sense of shared identity between the communicator and the audience. He explains how unity can break down barriers to influence and strengthen the impact of persuasive messages. 00:19:45 - The Cuban Missile Crisis and Reciprocity, The conversation begins with a discussion of the Cuban Missile Crisis and how the commonly held belief that Kennedy stood firm against Khrushchev was not entirely accurate. It was actually a reciprocal exchange of concessions, with Kennedy promising to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey in exchange for Khrushchev removing missiles from Cuba. 00:23:05 - Problem-Free vs. Problem-Freed Experience, The conversation shifts to the importance of resolving problems for customers in business. It is argued that a problem-freed experience, where a problem is resolved in favor of the customer, can lead to increased loyalty and advocacy. Customers appreciate when problems are quickly and effectively addressed. 00:29:40 - Principles of Influence in a Digital World, The conversation explores how the principles of influence adapt to a digital world, such as social media. While the platforms may change, the principles themselves remain consistent. Social proof, in particular, has gained traction with the availability of online reviews and testimonials. 00:33:53 - The Effectiveness of Persuasion Principles, Melina asks a question from a listener on whether or not the principles are less effective now that people are aware of them and the landscape is changing. Dr. Cialdini explains his thoughts on this question. 00:39:32 - Reader Letters and Social Proof, The inclusion of reader letters in the book was not initially intended as a social proof strategy, but rather as a way to engage with readers. However, the readers' reports became a popular feature, providing social proof of the principles of the book in everyday situations. 00:41:46 - Future Book Plans, Dr. Cialdini mentions his plan to write his next book as a collection of readers’ reports, with his thoughts on each. This format has been well-received by readers and provides valuable insights into how the principles of persuasion work in various contexts, so he thinks it could make a good full book. 00:42:41 - The Power of Unity, Dr. Cialdini shares a personal story of how the principle of Unity helped him obtain data for a grant application from a colleague who is known to be less-than-helpful. By emphasizing their shared history and belonging to the same department, he was able to persuade his colleague to provide the necessary data. 00:45:30 - Learning More from Dr. Cialdini, To learn more from Dr. Cialdini, listeners can visit the Influence At Work website, where they can access his other books and also find information on training programs. Dr. Cialdini emphasizes the importance of ethical persuasion and offers resources to help individuals become effective and ethical persuaders. 00:45:57 - Reflecting on Influence, Melina reflects on her conversation with Dr. Cialdini and highlights the power of reciprocity, liking, and social proof and how they can all be achieved in one act – in this case, the endorsement he provided for her second book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You. Melina also shares a bit of what Dr. Cialdini is up to now, including the newly launched Cialdini Institute (links below). 00:46:54 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Presuasion, by Robert Cialdini Influence Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Robert:  Robert Cialdini on Twitter Follow Robert Cialdini on LinkedIn Cialdini Institute Website Top Recommended Next Episode: The Unity Principle (ep 216) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Reciprocity (ep 238) Social Proof (ep 87) Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) Framing (ep 296) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Priming (ep 252) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) 5 Years, 299 Episodes, These Are Your Favorites (ep 299) The Power of Scarcity, with Mindy Weinstein (ep 271) Precommitment (ep 120) Scarcity (ep 270) Familiarity Bias (ep 149) Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Negative Reviews and How to Deal with Them (ep 163) Episode 76: The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (ep 225) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Influence At Work, Cialdini’s website

Do you want people to be more likely to follow whatever rules, policies, or procedures you create? It's time to make them more human. Understanding and empathizing with the perspectives of others plays a crucial role in effective rule adherence. Comprehending the dynamics of rules can lead to beneficial outcomes in various aspects of life, from lessening conflicts to fostering compliance within organizational settings. Those who understand and communicate the reasons behind their rules are more likely to gain cooperation from those affected. It also helps reduce misunderstanding and resistance, promoting a smoother and more efficient implementation of rules or policies. Guest Christian Hunt, during his conversation with Melina Palmer, explained his thoughts on this matter, drawing on his experience as the founder of Human Risk, host of the Human Risk podcast and author of Humanizing Rules. Hunt believes that, to instill rule adherence, it is important to understand the perspectives of individuals subjected to those rules. He also iterated the need for effective communication, emphasizing that rules are more likely to be accepted and adhered to when individuals understand the rationale behind them. Christian introduces his HUMANS framework during the conversation, and shares interesting, real-world examples from transportation, Netflix, and more. In this episode: Understand the relevance of emotional intelligence and empathy in compliance with rules. Acquire knowledge about the role of clear communication in improving rule compliance. Analyze the issues linked with changing speed limits and the crucial role of enlightenment. Appreciate the need to present regulatory efforts as advantageous and pertinent to the workforce. Learn Christian's HUMANS framework and how to start using it in your business. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces Christian Hunt, the founder of Human Risk, a company that specializes in using behavioral science to manage the risks of human decision-making. Christian shares his background in financial services and regulation, which led him to focus on the human side of compliance and ethics. 00:02:20 - Unique Perspective from Regulation to Compliance, Christian discusses his unique experience of transitioning from a regulator to a compliance professional, allowing him to see both sides of the problem when he had to enforce his own rules (and realized they didn't align properly). He emphasizes the importance of understanding the reasons behind rules and regulations in order to effectively manage them. 00:05:57 - Applying Behavioral Science to Ethics and Compliance, Christian explains how his experience in risk and compliance led him to realize the relevance of behavioral science in influencing human decision-making. He shares his mission to help organizations use behavioral science to get the best out of their people while mitigating risks. 00:08:03 - Navigating "Weird" Rules, Christian provides advice for individuals who find themselves dealing with rules that seem strange or unnecessary. He suggests understanding the reasons behind the rules and considering whether they serve a genuine purpose. Having a dialogue and presenting alternative perspectives can be helpful in managing such rules. 00:11:41 - Balancing Compliance with Dialogue, Christian acknowledges that in tightly regulated industries, dialogue may not always be possible. However, for those who can engage in discussions, he emphasizes the importance of approaching the conversation with empathy and understanding of the other party's perspective. 00:12:37 - Understanding the Fundamental Attribution Error, Christian Hunt discusses the difficulty of putting oneself in someone else's shoes and the tendency to blame others instead of seeking to understand their rationale. He emphasizes the importance of pausing and considering where others may be coming from in order to find better solutions. 00:13:30 - The Importance of Questioning What is Normal, Christian highlights the concept of "normal" and how rules and expectations are often based on extreme, non-common examples. He shares a story about his train journey and the importance of understanding the rationale behind rules. He initially dismissed the need for bag labels, but a staff member explained that they were necessary in case of train evacuation. This experience taught him the importance of not making presumptions and considering the reasoning behind rules. 00:18:25 - Learning from Mistakes and the Dunning-Kruger Effect, Christian discusses the Dunning-Kruger effect and admits to falling victim to it himself. He shares a story about a rule regarding variable speed limits on roads, where drivers often question the need to slow down. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing that rules are often in place for valid reasons, even if they may not be immediately apparent. 00:24:53 - The Frustration with Rules, Christian discusses how rules can be frustrating when they are imposed due to the actions of others. He highlights the need for clear communication and understanding between authorities and the people being controlled. 00:25:49 - Societal Reasons for Rules, Christian acknowledges that some rules are put in place for the greater good, such as slowing down traffic for the safety of elderly drivers. He emphasizes the importance of considering the rationale behind rules and whether they apply to specific subsets of the population. 00:26:39 - The Challenge of Communicating Rules, Christian recognizes the challenge that authorities face in communicating the reasons behind certain rules. He believes that authorities should be more transparent and ethical in their communication, especially in democratic societies. 00:28:00 - The Employment Contract Fallacy, Christian discusses the fallacy of relying solely on the employment contract as a reason for imposing rules. He argues that just because authorities have the power to enforce rules doesn't mean they should, and they should consider the perspective of those being controlled. 00:31:02 - Differentiating Between Rules, Christian explains the importance of distinguishing between rules that are irrecoverable (serious violations) and rules that are recoverable (less serious violations). He uses Netflix's approach of focusing efforts on irrecoverable actions as an example of effective rule implementation. 00:37:23 - Understanding Requirements and Imposing Tasks, The importance of understanding requirements and tasks from both the perspective of the person giving the task and the person receiving it. It is crucial to ensure that the person giving the task understands what they are asking for and the potential challenges involved. Imposing tasks without understanding can lead to frustration and inefficiency. 00:38:09 - Recognizing Risk and Impact on Employees, It is essential to recognize the potential risks and impact of imposing tasks on employees. If a task is likely to be unhelpful and difficult for the employee to understand, it poses a higher risk. Employers should consider whether the benefits outweigh the potential negative impact on employee relationships and trust. 00:39:30 - Using Behavioral Science as a Design Tool, Behavioral science can be used as a design or diagnostic tool to improve task implementation. If reality cannot be changed, the perception of a task can be altered through framing or breaking it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Understanding the impact and finding ways to make tasks more user-friendly is crucial. 00:40:43 - The Pitfalls of Compliance Training, Compliance training exercises often fall short in effectively teaching and assessing employee understanding. Testing employees on obscure information that is unlikely to be relevant to their job can lead to frustration and a sense of wasted time. Employers should reconsider the purpose and effectiveness of compliance training exercises. 00:49:38 - Introduction to Incentives, Companies often use incentives, such as prize drawings, to encourage customers to fill out surveys. The same principle applies to employees in the workplace. Incentives can increase compliance and the quality of work. 00:50:22 - Importance of Incentives, Incentives are crucial for tasks that require a high standard of work. If people don't see the value in doing something, they are less likely to do it. Consider what's in it for them as an individual and find ways to make tasks feel worth doing. 00:51:11 - Feasibility of Compliance, Consider whether it is feasible for individuals to comply with a rule or task. If something is too difficult or requires significant effort, compliance is less likely. Make tasks easier to increase compliance. 00:52:02 - Acceptability of Rules, Just because a rule can be imposed doesn't mean it will be accepted. Consider whether employees find a rule acceptable based on their specific circumstances and employment. Overreach can lead to resistance. 00:53:44 - Social Proof and Normalcy, The perception of what is normal and acceptable plays a role in compliance. Consider social proof and whether other people in similar circumstances are being asked to do the same thing. Make rules salient and relevant to increase compliance. 00:56:04 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Humanizing Rules, by Christian Hunt Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Friction, by Roger Dooley Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Christian:  Christian on Twitter Follow Christian on LinkedIn Human Risk Podcast Top Recommended Next Episode: What Problem Are You Solving? (ep 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 266) Adam Hansen and the Curse of Knowledge (ep 176) Inequity Aversion (ep 224) Behavioral Science in the Wild, with Dilip Soman (ep 241) Framing (ep 296) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Design for Decision, with Sam Evans (ep 291) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 157) Mixed Signals, with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) Good Habits, Bad Habits with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Overwhelm and Decision Making (ep 32) Reciprocity (ep 238) Social Proof (ep 87) Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Melina as a guest on the Human Risk podcast 

Understanding cognitive biases can inform marketing and advertising strategies in businesses. Availability bias causes individuals to rely on immediate information, which is easily accessible, instead of thorough research. If it comes to mind easily, we think it is more true or likely than if it doesn't come to mind as easily. Of course, that isn't always the case. Availability bias can deeply influence decision-making processes both within a company and for its customers. For businesses, understanding this bias can provide pivotal insights about consumer behavior--one great way to use this, which host Melina Palmer discusses in detail throughout the episode, is in pitching your business and getting PR. During the podcast, Melina vividly illustrates the concept through examples, such as the typically contrasting associations with the words "shark" and "cow." She points out that these associations are borne out of the easily available information about these animals, rather than a comprehensive understanding of their respective behaviors. (Which do you think is more deadly? If you said a shark...you're in for a surprise!) Understanding availability bias and how it can be leveraged is essential for business owners and marketers to craft strategies that share the right message at the right time. In this episode: Unlock insights into availability bias and its impact on decision-making. Hear some fun examples -- like, should you be more scared of sharks or cows? -- that will show how your own mind is tricking you regularly. Learn why you should be following trends (and predicting them) so you communicate the right messages at the right time. Hear the fascinating story of the diamond industry and how they used availability bias to shape the narrative. Find out what HARO is, and how it can help your business to gain visibility along with availability bias. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the episode and explains that availability bias is one of her favorite concepts from behavioral economics. She mentions that availability bias is the tendency to judge the likelihood of something happening based on how easily examples come to mind. 00:01:10 - Importance of Availability Bias, Melina explains that availability bias is important because it affects our perception of risk and influences our decision-making. She gives examples of how availability bias can impact our view of certain events or situations. 00:09:06 - Swapping Out Questions, Melina discusses how our brains often swap out difficult or unfamiliar questions with easier ones (known as satisficing). She uses the example of solving a complex math problem and how our brains substitute it with a range of possible numbers instead. This swapping out can lead to / go hand-in-hand with availability bias. 00:11:21 - Impact of Stories and Personal Experiences, Melina explains that stories and personal experiences have a significant impact on availability bias. Our brains are more likely to remember and be influenced by vivid examples and stories rather than statistics or abstract information. 00:14:01 - Applying Availability Bias in Business, Melina advises businesses to be mindful of availability bias when developing their strategies. She emphasizes the importance of using social media as a tool to support other business objectives rather than relying solely on it for monetary gain. (Will 1 million YouTube downloads a month make you rich?) 00:18:00 - How Our Brains Associate Information, Our brains associate information in very literal ways. Melina shares examples of travel to Norway increasing dramatically because of a cartoon, and skyrocketing sales in Mars bars when the Mars rover was in the news. Aligning your business with popular topics can help boost your visibility and engagement. 00:19:07 - Being Aware of Trends, Stay aware of what's trending in social media, news, and pop culture. Find ways to connect your business to these trends and get associated with what people are talking about and searching for. Especially in areas that may seem unrelated (more on that as we go). 00:20:46 - The Power of Rose Gold, Rose gold has become a popular trend, and businesses that offer products in this shade can attract customers who are actively seeking it. By using scarcity and availability, you can create a buzz and fuel interest in your offerings. If rose gold isn’t cool anymore by the time you are listening to this – or not aligned with your brand – what is the new “it” color? What is the Pantone color of the year, for example? 00:23:50 - Making Your Own Luck, Instead of waiting for opportunities to come your way, actively seek ways to connect your business to current conversations and trends. Look for unique and unexpected angles that can make you stand out from the crowd. 00:26:19 - Combinatorial Thinking, Combining seemingly unrelated ideas or concepts can lead to innovative and novel solutions. Don't limit yourself to obvious connections; think outside the box and explore new possibilities for your business. 00:37:36 - The Success of the Diamond Advertising Campaign, The advertising agency reported impressive results in its campaign, with diamond sales increasing by 55% in the United States from 1938 to 1941. The campaign focused on the emotional value of diamonds and created a new form of advertising that has been widely imitated. 00:38:48 - The Impact of De Beers' Advertising, De Beers continued to innovate its advertising approach, creating the "Diamonds are Forever" line in 1947 and utilizing television and a diamond information center. They even changed marriage traditions in Japan to incorporate diamond engagement rings. De Beers' advertising efforts led to a significant increase in diamond sales and a 100-fold increase in sales value by 1979. 00:42:12 - Importance of Research and Timing, De Beers understood the importance of solid research and finding new ways to reach consumers. They leveraged the popularity of influential figures, such as the royal family, to increase interest in their products.  00:44:04 - Conclusion,  Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Contagious, by Jonah Berger Magic Words, by Jonah Berger A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman The Hype Handbook, by Michael F. Schein Top Recommended Next Episode: How to Successfully Pitch Your Business (ep 177) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Relativity (ep 12) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Herding (ep 264) Social Proof (ep 87) Scarcity (ep 270) Questionstorming, with Mars (ep 215) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Cows Are Deadlier Than You Ever Knew Human Shark Bait In the War Between Sharks and People, Humans Are Killing It Why ‘Success’ on YouTube Still Means a Life of Poverty Frozen Has Massively Increased Tourism to Norway Rose gold: The fashion trend that just won’t go away HARO Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? The ‘Oprah effect:’ Does everything she touch turn to gold?

Dr. Vanessa Patrick, a respected marketing professor at the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, is revered for her notable research on the psychology of saying no. This research acts as the foundation of her book, The Power of Saying No. The seemingly simple act can be a strenuous inner struggle, but Vanessa insists it's an essential skill for preserving personal dignity and establishing a balanced life. Understanding the psychology behind our hesitance to refuse can liberate individuals from overcommitment and enable them to set healthier boundaries. In her conversation with Melina Palmer, Vanessa articulated that the challenge of saying no often stems from our fear of negatively impacting relationships or tarnishing our reputation. However, people's constant attempt to please others leads them to become a pushover, gradually erasing their individuality. Vanessa conveyed that saying no (using her method of empowered refusal) allows you to not just create and uphold your unique identity but also to avoid turning into a person who mindlessly accepts every request. In this episode: Discover the influence of saying no and how it enhances the quality of relationships and life. Learn actionable strategies to establish personal boundaries and become uncompromisingly committed to them. Recognize the primary function of personal motivations and beliefs in setting energized refusal. Grasp the dilemma of saying no in contrasting situations and the art of diluting social pressure. Acquaint yourself with the principle of opportunity cost and its immense relevance to making mindful trade-offs. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Dr. Vanessa Patrick is the author of The Power of Saying No and a professor of marketing. Her research focuses on understanding why people struggle with saying no and the importance of setting boundaries. In this episode, she discusses the dual drivers behind saying yes when we want to say no. 00:05:39 - The Fear of Saying No, Dr. Patrick explains that the fear of saying no stems from our desire to be liked and our concern for our reputation. We often say yes to maintain relationships and be seen as competent. However, saying no strategically can actually help us develop our unique skills and be known for our expertise. 00:07:50 - The Motivation Behind Studying Saying No, Dr. Patrick shares that her initial research focused on self-discipline and resisting temptation through self-talk. After publishing her findings, she realized the widespread struggle with saying no and the importance of understanding how to say no effectively. This led her to further explore the topic and eventually write her book. 00:11:25 - The Power of "Don't" vs. "Can't" Dr. Patrick introduces the concept of using "don't" instead of "can't" when saying no. By saying "I don't" instead of "I can't," we appear more empowered and in control. This small shift in language can make a significant difference in how others perceive our refusal. 00:16:05 - Building Personal Policies, Vanessa Patrick discusses the importance of reflecting on our beliefs and values to establish personal policies that guide our actions and decisions. These policies, similar to mental budgets, help us stick to our desired goals and make it easier to say no in various situations. 00:18:04 - Being the "Kind of Person" Who Says No, Vanessa emphasizes the power of framing our decisions as reflections of our identity. By saying "I'm the kind of person who..." we can effectively communicate our boundaries and say no more effectively. 00:19:26 - Navigating Asks in the Workplace, Vanessa provides a framework for deciphering asks in the workplace. She distinguishes between urgent and important tasks that require immediate action, and non-promotable tasks that may distract from our main responsibilities. She highlights the importance of balancing participation in non-promotable tasks and ensuring fairness in task distribution. 00:23:24 - Finding Value in Non-Promotable Tasks, Vanessa acknowledges that some individuals may find value in non-promotable tasks, such as party planning, as it aligns with their personal interests or provides visibility. However, she encourages individuals to ensure they are not solely responsible for these tasks and to create an environment where everyone's strengths are leveraged. 00:27:28 - Reframing Saying No, Vanessa reminds us that saying no is not a rejection of the person making the request, but a refusal of the ask. By reframing our mindset, saying no can become much easier. 00:32:25 - Is It A Salt or Lasagna Ask?, Vanessa explains the concept of "pass the salt" asks, which are easy and low-cost requests that can have a high benefit for the person asking. She also introduces the idea of "bake your famous lasagna" asks, which are requests that are costly for the person asked but have no real impact. Vanessa emphasizes the importance of saying no to these types of asks and prioritizing the "Hero's Journey" asks that make a difference in the world. 00:35:13 - Opportunity Cost and Saying No, Vanessa discusses the concept of opportunity cost and how every time we say yes to something, we are saying no to other opportunities. She highlights the need to intentionally consider the opportunity cost of our decisions and the importance of saying no to things that don't align with our values and goals. 00:37:10 - The (Non)Selfishness of Saying No, Vanessa challenges the notion that saying no is selfish, explaining that it is actually selfish for someone to ask us to do something that doesn't matter to us or leverage our strengths. She encourages individuals to recognize their right to say no and not feel guilty about it. 00:38:02 - Tips and Resources for Saying No, Melina mentions that Vanessa's book provides valuable tips and strategies for saying no, especially in different situations such as with bosses. Vanessa emphasizes the power of an empowered refusal, which effectively conveys your stance based on your values and priorities. She encourages individuals to own their no's and not make excuses or be wishy washy -- own those nos! 00:39:04 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Saying No, by Vanessa Patrick Influence Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Magic Words, by Jonah Berger What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Vanessa:  Vanessa on Twitter Follow Vanessa on LinkedIn Vanessa’s Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Influence Is Your Superpower, with Zoe Chance (ep 308) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Behavioral Science in the Wild, with Dilip Soman (ep 241) Framing (ep 296) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 157) Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) Game Theory (ep 228) Inequity Aversion (ep 224) Mental Accounting (ep 282) Get It Done, with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) Defaults (ep 38) Subtract, with Leidy Klotz (ep 162) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Dr. Zoe Chance emphasizes the importance of examining problems from different perspectives and setting long-term goals for success. Approaching problem-solving differently can result in innovative solutions that others might overlook. By aligning these objectives with Zoe's "magic question," individuals can foster a sense of collaboration and create opportunities for progress. Throughout the podcast, Dr. Chance shares stories of how people have successfully applied the magic question in various situations. For instance, she recounts the story of Gloria Steinem, who addressed the issue of sex trafficking in a Zambian village by asking the magic question, leading to a revelation that an electric fence was required to protect crops from elephants. Such examples reinforce the importance of aligning long-term goals with the magic question in order to effectively influence and create meaningful change. This episode, which features many insights from Zoe's book, Influence is Your Superpower, also highlights the importance of saying "No" (with a challenge to do so to every request for 24 hours) and the interesting way she set up her book chapters (along with some tips for aspiring authors). In this episode, you will be able to: Enhance your connections and communication through the strength of influence. Achieve better work-life balance by saying 'no' and outlining clear-cut boundaries. Embrace an innovative way of addressing problems and designing future targets. Comprehend the workings of decision-making and how to convince others with competence. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces Zoe Chance and her book Influence Is Your Superpower. She highlights the relevance of the topic to the upcoming guest, Vanessa Patrick's book, The Power of Saying No. 00:03:24 - From Theater to Sales, Zoe talks about her experience in theater and how it helped her develop the skills to communicate, move, and connect with people. She also narrates her experience in sales, door-to-door sales, telemarketing, and marketing, where she learned about rejection and the importance of being comfortable with saying (and hearing) no. 00:06:44 - The Power of No, Zoe introduces her 24-hour no challenge, which she did for a whole month one November, and the 24-hour no challenge she gives her students. She explains how saying no can help build healthy relationships and create space in one's life. She also emphasizes the importance of not justifying one's no and the need to disentangle the request from the relationship. 00:10:23 - Handling Objections, Zoe talks about handling objections in sales training, addressing all the different kinds of objections that someone might have. She reveals that most sales training is about handling objections. She adds that it is often a good idea not to justify one's no because it can create a way for them to convince you to change your mind. 00:13:00 - The Worst Thing They Can Say is No, Zoe explains the mindset that "the worst thing they can say is no," -- how this is both helpful and harmful. 00:15:33 - Framing and Half Chapters, Zoe discusses her use of framing in her book, Influence Is Your Superpower, and how she structured the chapters to include shorter chapters between longer ones to create more momentum and ease of reading. She also shares her love for Harry Potter and how she used references to create a little magic for readers. 00:19:16 - The Magic of Harry Potter, Melina and Zoe bond over their love for Harry Potter and share their experiences visiting the Harry Potter Studios outside London. They discuss the level of thoughtfulness and detail that went into creating the world of Harry Potter and how it inspires them in their own work. 00:23:49 - The Power of Framing, Zoe explains the concept of framing and shares an example from her idol, Derren Brown, a mind reader and illusionist who is a master at directing attention. She discusses how framing works to focus our attention on one thing and make us ignore everything else, and how this is a metaphor for how our brain makes decisions. 00:29:22 - The Influence of Derren Brown, Melina and Zoe discuss the work of Derren Brown and how he is an expert in influence, even though he is not an academic. They share examples of how he uses questioning techniques to get people to believe certain things and how he can get them to choose something different from what they originally wanted. 00:31:38 - The Importance of Experimentation, Zoe emphasizes the importance of experimentation in behavioral science and how it is critical to test and iterate on things. 00:31:31 - Setting Goals and The Magic Question, Dr. Zoe Chance shares tips on setting long-term goals and using the magic question to collaborate and problem-solve with others. The magic question involves asking "What it would take...?" to achieve a specific goal or overcome an obstacle. By doing this, it shifts the mindset from resistance to collaboration, and the other person becomes committed to supporting the outcome. 00:35:20 - Personal Journey of Transformation, The book Influence Is Your Superpower is a personal journey of transformation to becoming someone that people want to say yes to. It provides readers with the tools needed to gain influence through personal and professional relationships. The book is focused on collaboration and problem-solving to achieve goals. 00:37:06 - Connecting with Zoe Chance, The best way to get the book Influence Is Your Superpower is through Zoe Chance's website, Zoechance.com. You can connect with her on Twitter, where she shares tips and engages with readers. She encourages readers to share how they use the tips from the book. 00:38:39 - Using the Magic Question, The magic question "What would it take?" is a simple yet powerful tool that can be used to achieve goals and overcome obstacles. It involves asking the other person what it would take to achieve a specific goal or overcome an obstacle. This approach shifts the mindset from resistance to collaboration and helps to identify the roadmap needed to achieve the desired outcome. 00:39:14 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Magic Words, by Jonah Berger The Power of Saying No, by Vanessa Patrick What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Zoe:  Zoe on Twitter Follow Zoe on LinkedIn Zoe’s Website Top Recommended Next Episode: A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 296) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 157) 5 Years, 299 Episodes, These Are Your Favorites (ep 299) Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) What is Questionstorming? (ep 215) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) What is Cognitive Semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Leveraging Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181)  Magic Words, with Jonah Berger (ep 301) The Sense of Sight (episode 24) The IKEA Effect (ep 112) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Zoe’s Yale Faculty Page How to Make a Behavior Addictive: Zoë Chance at TEDxMillRiver Derren Brown, The Apocalypse Derren Brown, Perfect Present

Mentorship is a critical component of personal and professional growth. A supportive mentor enables mentees to develop critical skills, make better decisions, and achieve their goals faster by providing guidance, perspective, and encouragement along their journey. Furthermore, mentors benefit by expanding their network, reinforcing their knowledge, and deriving satisfaction from contributing to the success of others. Mentorship is a valuable, reciprocal relationship that fosters learning, development, and change for both the mentor and mentee. In the podcast, Scott Miller shares his insight into how mentorship can impact individuals in various aspects of life. He offers personal stories and experiences, highlighting the importance of recognizing the potential mentorship opportunities that exist beyond traditional boundaries. By emphasizing the powerful and transformative effects of mentorship, Miller encourages listeners to actively pursue mentoring relationships that enrich personal and professional lives, and explains the 13 roles mentors play, based on information in his book The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship. In this episode: Unveil the importance of mentorship and why anyone can be a mentor. Decode the 13 essential roles of mentors in guiding their mentees. Realize the value of genuine feedback and vulnerability in fostering strong mentor-mentee connections. Examine the lifelong benefits that mentorship can provide for you and your career. Identify how everything from setting boundaries to celebrating matters in the mentor-mentee relationship (and some language to help you along your way!) Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Scott Miller is a multi best-selling author, special advisor on thought leadership for the Franklin Covey Company, and a globally celebrated keynote speaker. He has previously been a guest on The Brainy Business podcast to discuss his books Marketing Mess to Brand Success and Management Mess to Leadership Success. In today's episode, he talks about his new book, The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship. 00:06:42 - Importance of Mentorship, Mentorship is a key part of companies' employee development plans. However, most people don't know what to do as a mentor. Scott wrote The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship to help people become better mentors. The book outlines 13 roles that all mentors can play, which will help them ask better questions, be more patient, and be more thoughtful. 00:10:16 - Informal Mentorship, Scott shares the story of how Bruce Williams, a radio host who has since passed away, became a mentor to him without ever knowing it. This highlights the importance of informal mentorship and how people can redefine what mentorship looks like. For example, by following favorite bloggers or podcasts, those thought leaders can be a mentor to you (even if you never talk to them and they don’t know your name). 00:14:21 - The Power of Mentorship, Scott and Melina discuss the impact of mentorship on individuals and society, highlighting the importance of having a framework for effective mentorship. Scott introduces his book, The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship, and introduces the 13 roles a mentor can play. 00:17:32 - The 13 Roles of Great Mentorship, Scott discusses the 13 roles a mentor can play outlined in his book, emphasizing that a mentor may not necessarily play all 13 roles and why they need to adapt their role depending on the mentee's situation (you aren’t just one “type” of mentor, you need to wear multiple hats during your time as a mentor). He highlights the importance of having an awareness of these roles and how they can be used to support a mentee effectively. 00:21:01 - The Importance of Validation in Mentorship, Scott shares his personal story of being validated by a stranger at a young age, which had a profound impact on his life. He emphasizes the role of the Validator in mentorship and the power of validating a mentee's genius, skill, and talent. He provides tips for how to effectively validate a mentee and how this can be a transition point for them to move towards more effective mindsets. 00:23:05 - Scott's Six-Step Closing Process, Scott introduces his six-step closing process, which includes naming what has been learned from the mentee, validating their genius, and setting them on their way. He emphasizes the importance of taking away something from each mentor session and using it to improve oneself. 00:28:34 - Caution for the Validator, The Validator role in mentoring should be used with care. Rather than validating mentees for small actions, acknowledge their genius, and give them lifelong courage to retrieve it when they need it. 00:32:41 - The Flagger Role, The Flagger is the challenger on steroids, who stops a conversation in its tracks to challenge an idea. Diplomatically flagging issues prevents potential conflict in the future. 00:37:57 - The Boundary Setter, Setting boundaries is an uncomfortable yet essential conversation that every mentor needs to have. Mismatched or unfulfilled expectations cause most conflicts in life, and setting clear boundaries is key to avoiding any potential issues. Scott provides some sample language the listener can use in their own mentoring sessions immediately. 00:41:24 - Honing in on Boundaries, It's important to have a clear understanding of each other's boundaries in mentorship. Starting with an uncomfortable conversation about boundaries can prevent future awkwardness and allow for a more productive relationship. 00:42:53 - Importance of Situational Mentorship, Scott emphasizes the importance of situational mentorship and tailoring conversations to the mentee's needs. He suggests checking out greatmentorship.com for videos and tools, and invites people to connect with him on social media. 00:44:27 - Scott's Impact on Melina, Melina thanks Scott for being a mentor to her, and Scott reflects on how anyone can be a mentor (with or without realizing it). They encourage listeners to reflect on who has impacted their lives and consider sharing their gratitude with them. 00:45:00 - What is Mentorship?, Melina and Scott discuss the meaning of mentorship and how it can be informal and brief. They encourage listeners to reflect on the mentors in their lives and consider sharing their impact with them. 00:46:19 - Reflecting on Impactful Moments, Melina encourages listeners to reflect on small or big moments that were impactful and consider who was part of them. She suggests telling mentors how they have impacted their lives and invites listeners to connect with her and Scott on social media. 00:46:30 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship, by Scott Miller Management Mess to Leadership Success, by Scott Miller Marketing Mess to Brand Success, by Scott Miller Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Scott:  Scott on Instagram Follow Scott on LinkedIn Scott’s Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Management Mess to Leadership Success, with Scott Miller (ep 69) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Marketing Mess to Brand Success, with Scott Miller (ep 156) Overcoming Imposter Syndrome (ep 306) Change Management: It’s Not About The Cookie (ep 226) Anchoring and Adjustment (ep 11) Relativity (ep 12) On-Air Coaching Call with Mariel Court (ep 10) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) The IKEA Effect (ep 112) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 248) Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think (ep 236) Stressed and Overcommitted? Tips to Overcome Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Scott’s Site: GreatMentorship.com

Self-doubt can be a significant barrier to success in business, holding individuals back from pursuing opportunities or capitalizing on their strengths. Overcoming self-doubt requires anyone in business (especially entrepreneurs) to develop a positive mindset, embrace their expertise, and trust their instincts in decision-making. By actively combating self-doubt and harnessing confidence, entrepreneurs can overcome the obstacles holding them back, paving the way for professional and personal growth. Host Melina Palmer emphasizes the importance of overcoming self-doubt in the episode, offering practical advice for those grappling with imposter syndrome or a lack of confidence. She endorses the use of daily affirmations, practice in speaking confidently, and actively engaging in activities that boost self-esteem. By overcoming self-doubt, entrepreneurs can unleash their full potential, contribute positively to their businesses' success, and advance toward the realization of their goals and ambitions. In this episode, you will be able to: Realize the significance of a positive attitude in boosting entrepreneurial achievements. Master techniques to conquer impostor syndrome through role-playing and self-assurance methods. Grasp how flexible thinking can break barriers and facilitate entry into new markets or pricing changes. Learn about anchoring and adjustment to establish pragmatic and rational goals. Appreciate the influential role of mentorship in sculpting personal and career advancements. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina welcomes listeners to episode 306 of The Brainy Business podcast, which is all about adjusting one's mindset and overcoming impostor syndrome, particularly when it comes to pricing. She encourages listeners to be open-minded and ready to adjust their anchors, priming, and mindset to achieve their goals. 00:03:36 - Mindset Challenges, Melina notes that mindset issues can make or break one's business and impact confidence around pricing and offerings. She emphasizes the need for listeners to be aware of vicious cycles that can drag them down and to focus on virtuous cycles such as the confidence-competence loop. Melina recommends practicing saying new prices aloud, building one's confidence and training one's brain to project confidence. 00:08:25 - The Role of Confidence, Melina shares her experience working at Alaska Airlines and how her training there helped her project confidence when quoting prices. She explains how projecting confidence is vital in sales and how, regardless of the price, one needs to say it confidently without hesitation. Melina also shares how her first agency job helped shape her mindset about billable hours and not discounting on the back end. 00:11:45 - The Importance of Confidence, Melina highlights how projecting confidence is essential when quoting prices and how the subconscious brain of buyers pick up on the slightest sense of hesitation. She advises listeners to train their brains by practicing saying new prices aloud, projecting confidence, and speaking as if they were telling someone the weather. 00:16:22 - Mindset is Key for Success, Melina emphasizes the importance of having a positive mindset and believing in your worth. She explains that having the right mindset is crucial in pricing conversations, networking events, live videos, and other situations where you need to show your worth. 00:17:35 - Setting Realistic Anchors, Melina talks about the behavioral economics of mindset, specifically anchoring and adjustment and relativity. She explains that we tend to set an unrealistic anchor by comparing ourselves to top-performers in our industry, which can result in feeling stuck and not taking action. She advises resetting your anchor to where you are now and taking small steps each day. 00:19:31 - Setting Achievable Goals, Melina encourages listeners to focus on where they are now instead of setting unrealistic goals for the future. She emphasizes the importance of taking small steps each day and adjusting your anchor to the present offering you have out there. She also highlights the importance of long-term planning sessions and having goals for where you want to get to eventually. 00:21:07 - Overcoming Self-Doubt, Melina acknowledges that self-doubt and imposter syndrome are common among many people. She advises listeners to take small steps each day to gain more competence and confidence. She also shares some Dr. Seuss quotes that she finds inspiring and applicable to mindset. 00:28:19 - The Importance of Mentorship, Melina talks about her upcoming episode with Scott Miller (307), where they will be discussing his new book. The Ultimate Guide to Great Mentorship. 00:29:04 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Us, by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel Magic Words, by Jonah Berger A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis The Power of Saying No, by Vanessa Patrick Top Recommended Next Episode: Management Mess to Leadership Success, with Scott Miller (ep 69) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Relativity (ep 12) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Leveraging Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181)  Overview of Personal Biases (episode 45) Herding (episode 264) Overwhelm and its Impact on Decisions (ep 32) Selective Attention Biases (ep 50) Ultimate Pricing Confidence (ep 66) How to Set, Achieve, and Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Prefactual Thinking (ep 232) Counterfactual Thinking (ep 286) How To Stack and Bundle Products and Services (ep 84) How To Raise Your Prices (ep 77) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Yes, Impostor Syndrome Is Real. Here’s How to Deal With It Cognition and Performance: the Relation to Neural Mechanisms of Consequence, Confidence, and Competence 37 Dr. Seuss Quotes That Can Change the World

To build authentic brand connections with customers, it is essential for marketing professionals to understand the unique cultural context within which their target audience exists. This encompasses not only the cultural values and beliefs of the intended market but also the broader societal context within which these individuals reside. By accurately identifying their congregation (NOT target market) and their specific cultural attributes, marketers can create tailored messaging that communicates more effectively with the intended consumer base. In the podcast, Dr. Marcus Collins discusses his experience working with various brands, such as Beyoncé, Budweiser, and the Brooklyn Nets, that have built authentic connections with their customers by leveraging behavioral science. As a marketing professor and industry professional, Collins emphasizes the importance of finding a "congregation" of like-minded individuals who share the same beliefs, values, and attitudes as the brand. By focusing on these shared attributes, companies can create more genuine and meaningful relationships with their customers, fostering loyalty and a sense of real connection. In this episode, you will: Understand the significance of culture in crafting effective marketing campaigns. Realize the potential of focusing on a congregation over a target market for greater influence. Grasp the art of blending brand values with cultural norms to create authentic connections. Appreciate the benefits of a humble approach in navigating the ever-changing societal landscape. Analyze successful implementations of cultural marketing by leading companies. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Host Melina Palmer introduces Dr. Marcus Collins, an award-winning marketer, cultural translator, and author of For the Culture. 00:02:21 - Dr. Marcus Collins' Background, Dr. Collins talks about his background, growing up in Detroit, studying engineering, and his journey into marketing, including working at Apple and running digital strategy for Beyoncé. 00:06:29 - Importance of Culture, Dr. Collins explains the importance of culture and how it influences people's behavior and decision-making. He believes that understanding and respecting culture is crucial for businesses to effectively connect with their audiences. 00:09:40 - Learning About People, Marcus shares a pivotal moment in his career when he realized that his understanding of social media was limited because he didn't understand people. This realization led him to study human behavior and psychology, which has been instrumental in his work as a marketer. 00:14:13 - Marketing to Diverse Audiences, Dr. Collins discusses the importance of marketing to diverse audiences and the challenges that come with it. He emphasizes the need for businesses to go beyond surface-level diversity and truly understand different cultures and communities. 00:14:22 - The Power of Influence, Marcus Collins talks about the power of influence and how he became a better practitioner by studying network theory and the social sciences. He also shares how theory helped him launch campaigns for the Brooklyn Nets and Budweiser. 00:15:45 - Career Journey, Marcus Collins shares his journey from wanting to study musical theater to becoming a marketer and eventually pursuing a doctoral degree in sociology. He also talks about the importance of having mentors. 00:19:13 - Learning from Dan Ariely, Marcus shares his experience of being connected to Dan Ariely. Melina also shares about the kind nature of Dan. They collectively agree on the power of asking questions and being generous with others. 00:22:06 - Consumer Culture Theory, Marcus Collins talks about his doctoral research on consumer culture theory and how he became interested in the role of culture in understanding consumer behavior. He also discusses the evolution of marketing, from using psychology to sociology to culture to better understand people. 00:27:21 - Find a Congregation, Marcus discusses the importance of finding a congregation – or a group of people who share your values and beliefs – rather than a generic target market. He emphasizes the need for brands to focus on building a community and connecting with their audience on a deeper level. 00:28:37 - Understanding People and Business, People are at the core of business. Culture is anchored in our identity, and our identity is the character in the story we tell ourselves. Therefore, companies should target people who see the world the way they do, and those people will not only consume but also tell other people like them. 00:31:23 - Finding the Congregation, The biggest cheat code for understanding the underlying physics of humanity is behavioral sciences. Consumption is a cultural act, and our consumption is a product of our cultural subscription. Therefore, companies should focus on finding the congregation of people who see the world the way they do, and those people will do the marketing and communication for them. 00:35:01 - Relating it to Nike's Core Belief, Nike believes that every human body is an athlete, and they exist to help people realize their best athletic self. Nike talks to athletes, not people who just buy sneakers. They preach the gospel to their congregation, which is made up of many tribes who see the world the way they do. And those people not only consume but also share the gospel with other people. 00:38:55 - Consumption is a Cultural Act, Understanding the underlying physics of humanity is the biggest cheat code for any profession, whether you're an accountant, finance person, marketer, HR, leader, or C-suite. Consumption is a cultural act, and our consumption is a product of our cultural subscription. Therefore, companies should leverage the behavioral sciences to segment, target, and activate the market. 00:44:06 - Theoretical vs. Practical, Marcus Collins discusses how everything is theoretical in social sciences and how he spends more time contextualizing his explanations than teaching theories. He talks about how he breaks down complex ideas for students, and this approach has helped him socialize thinking within organizations. 00:45:16 - Humility in Academia, Collins talks about approaching academia from a humble place and realizing that everything is based on what is known at present. He believes that looking at the world from a more humble state has helped him be a better corporate citizen and partner. 00:47:53 - Melina's Closing Thoughts, Palmer discusses the idea of building a congregation of listeners and how understanding identities and tribalism can help businesses connect with consumers. She encourages listeners to consider what their brand could do to embrace culture and create a mutual benefit for everyone involved. 00:49:20 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: For The Culture, by Marcus Collins Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Influence, by Robert Cialdini What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Marcus:  Marcus on Twitter Follow Marcus on LinkedIn Marcus’ Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Dan Ariely – What is Shapa? (ep 101) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Social Proof (ep 87)  Neuroscience and Psychology in business, with Matt Johnson (ep 160) Branding That Means Business, with Matt Johnson (ep 231) Why We Like The Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman (ep 172) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) Habits (ep 256) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) The Network Effect (ep 262) The Endowment Effect (ep 139) The IKEA Effect (ep 112) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) What is Cognitive Semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Multinarrative Storytelling, with Troy Campbell (ep 293) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Effective leadership involves being aware of and managing one's social identities within the workplace. To foster a sense of teamwork and shared purpose, leaders should focus on building an environment where employees feel heard, understood, and valued. This not only strengthens group dynamics but also reduces the instances of us-versus-them mentalities. Packer shared insights on how leaders can better manage their social identities, emphasizing the need to validate group identities continually based on his research and book, The Power of Us. He warned against potential pitfalls when employees get promoted, urging them to be cautious of their friendships at lower organizational levels. Packer underscored the importance of ensuring actions don't alienate leaders from the rest of the group, as this can negatively impact their ability to lead effectively. In this episode, you will: Discover how group identity influences individual behavior and decision-making. Explore strategies for maintaining unity while encouraging constructive dissent within teams. Uncover the nuances of identity shifts, allowing you to better understand and predict consumer behavior. Learn about the critical role diversity and inclusion play in collaborative environments. Gain insights on translating group behavior principles to foster a thriving organizational culture. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina welcomes Dr. Dominic Packer to the podcast and introduces the topic of the power of group identity and collective behavior, as featured in Dominic's book, The Power of Us. 00:02:22 - Shifting Identities, Melina and Dominic discuss the multiple aspects of identity and how individuals shift between different identities based on context and group membership. 00:05:16 - Writing Through the Pandemic, The conversation shifts to the challenges of writing a book with a co-author during the pandemic, including the need for accountability and social support. (With lessons any aspiring author can use today.) 00:08:41 - Influence of Group Norms, Dominic explains how group norms can influence behavior through social pressure, informational influence, and signaling of group identity. 00:10:12 - Types of Identity, The three types of identity – personal, relational, and collective – are discussed, with a focus on how collective identities can become emotionally important and drive decision-making. 00:14:59 - The Flexibility of Identity, Identity is not only discerning, but also flexible, malleable, and adaptive to current circumstances. People have a readiness to identify, and a new way of categorizing ourselves can create a new identity. The story of two brothers who split their shoe making business in Germany during WWII divided a town into a fierce rivalry. This shows how categorizing the world can produce identities and group-based differences. 00:19:43 - Cooperating Opportunities with Others, Groups are fundamental to human survival, and we tend to band together for collective achievements. A thing we have in common with others is an opportunity to cooperate. By extending a little more trust to others and receiving a little more trust from them in return, it facilitates collaboration and allows groups to achieve things that they couldn't achieve on their own. 00:23:13 - Multileveled Identities, Lower-level identities in company corporate situations like different divisions or units are not necessarily bad. One solution to reduce tensions and rivalries between the lower-level identities is to shift people's focus from their lower level identity to their higher level identity, the superordinate identity, which is the company as a whole. Companies need to create conditions that bring people together through common goals and shift people's focus from their lower-level identity to their higher-level identity. 00:25:45 - Incentive Structures and Resource Allocation, Leaders need to create conditions by which people can see themselves as part of something larger than just their immediate experience. 00:29:56 - The Importance of Divergent Opinions in Groups, It is important for groups to have divergent opinions and new ideas to innovate and become more productive in the long term. Dissenting behavior is often seen as annoying or slowing down the group, which could be a threat, but that isn't the whole story. The most identified group members are the most likely to dissent because they care a lot about the group. It is important for leaders to create a psychologically safe environment where people feel comfortable speaking up and being critical. 00:35:59 - Tips for Creating a Culture of Dissent, It is important to distinguish between dissenters who are trying to change the group in a positive way and troublemakers who stir up trouble just to be difficult. Leaders should encourage a culture where dissenters who are positively motivated feel comfortable speaking up, engage in behaviors themselves that validate the group's identity, and make sure they embody it. Leaders should avoid behaviors that differentiate them too much from the rest of the group and reduce large-scale pay discrepancies between people at the top of an organization and the average employee. 00:39:15 - Leadership and Managing Social Identities, Leaders need to manage the social identities of the people they are leading, foster it, build it, and help people experience it and see it. A fundamental idea that arises from this is that followers are much more likely to be inspired and motivated by leaders who they see as one of us, that they see as possessing an identity in common. Leaders need to engage in behaviors themselves that are continually validating of an identity, reduce things that can work against that, 00:45:10 - Balancing Identity and Groups, Dominic Packer discusses the importance of balancing identity and groups, how our identities shift throughout the day, and how it affects what we buy and consume. He emphasizes the need for leaders to understand their roles within different groups and how they can be more effective members of the global collective. 00:46:28 - Key Takeaways, Melina reflects on the importance of understanding how easily we can be influenced by our identities and group affiliations. She highlights the concept of the "Town of Bent Necks" and sibling rivalries that can change what we buy and wear. She encourages listeners to read both The Power of Us and For the Culture, two books that teach valuable lessons for anyone in business. 00:48:14 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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 Us, by Dominic Packer and Jay Van Bavel Magic Words, by Jonah Berger For The Culture, by Marcus Collins How Minds Change, by David McRaney What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Jonah:  Dominic on Twitter Follow Dominic on LinkedIn The Power of Us Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Social Proof (ep 87)  Already Heard That One? Try These:  Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (episode 46) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) What is Cognitive Semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Leveraging Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181)  Multinarrative Storytelling, with Troy Campbell (ep 293) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Overview of Personal Biases (episode 45) Herding (episode 264) The Science of Opinions, with Dr. Andy Luttrell (episode 173) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES (episode 272) Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh (episode 153) Priming (episode 252) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The Power of Us Newsletter

The importance of data visualization cannot be overstated, as it plays a crucial role in making complex data accessible, engaging, and actionable. Presenting data in a way that clearly communicates an underlying narrative or message can lead to more effective decision-making and a deeper understanding of data-driven insights. Additionally, data visualization assists in conveying these messages to different audiences, ensuring that the information is received and interpreted accurately. In her conversation with Melina Palmer, Sarah Kay Miller discusses the importance of crafting a narrative with data visualization and how it can effectively communicate complex information. She notes that data visualization is not merely about producing visually appealing designs but also about presenting data in such a way that resonates with the intended audience. Throughout their discussion, Miller emphasizes the importance of thoughtfulness and creativity in creating meaningful data art. In this episode: Delve into the captivating realm of data visualization and data art to transform information processing. Understand the difference between data visualization and data art. Appreciate the critical connection between narrative and impactful data visualization and data art. Obtain key pointers to design compelling data visuals that resonate with diverse audiences. Identify the value of thought-provoking comparisons for maximum effectiveness in data presentations. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the Brainy Business podcast and welcomes Sarah Kay Miller, a data visualization designer, to the show. She also announces the 5-year anniversary of the podcast and the data art created by Sarah Kay to celebrate the milestone. 00:02:29 - About Sarah Kay Miller, Sarah Kay Miller is an independent data visualization designer with a background in graphic design. She defines data visualization as the process of visualizing data, making it more intuitive for humans to understand patterns, trends, and comparisons. Data art, on the other hand, is a broader category of creative endeavors that draw inspiration from or are touched by data. 00:05:00 - Data Visualization vs. Data Art, The line between data visualization and data art is blurry. Data visualization involves creating charts and graphs that help people understand data more intuitively, while data art is a creative endeavor that draws inspiration from data sets. Both are necessary and can be used in different contexts. 00:08:00 - Process of Data Visualization, Sarah Kay Miller spends a lot of time investigating data sets and collaborating with clients to understand domain expertise. Data visualization involves threading a narrative through the data to make it more interesting and engaging. It allows people to communicate messages, insights, or ideas more effectively. 00:13:21 - Sarah Kay's Process, Sarah Kay Miller's process involves three main phases: groundwork, design, and iteration. She elaborates on each phase and how she approaches them. 00:15:37 - Designing Data Visualizations, Sarah Kay Miller talks about her process of designing data visualizations. She discusses how she dives into the data and visualizes it in many ways -- everything from basic charts to the more elaborate and artistic. She also talks about the importance of understanding brand identity and color palettes when designing. 00:17:08 - Insights from Data Visualization, Miller shares her insights from visualizing data from The Brainy Business podcast. She talks about the upward trend in podcast downloads since 2018 and the number of downloads per episode. Melina and Sarah Kay also discuss the impact of the first two episodes on listeners, and how people tend to go back and listen to the earlier episodes. 00:22:49 - Design Ideas & Brand Identity, Miller talks about her design ideas for The Brainy Business podcast. She discusses the importance of staying within the brand identity of the podcast and how she used inspiration from the typography of the logo to create a groovy and energetic design. 00:27:03 - Final Product & Data Art, Miller shares the final product of her data visualization for The Brainy Business podcast. She talks about how she played with the layout of the circles to give it more movement and how she used a brighter blue to make it pop on thumbnails. She also talks about the importance of showcasing the global reach of the podcast and how everyone matters. 00:30:49 - Data Visualization as Data Art, Sarah discusses the importance of representing data in a visually appealing way and the power of data art to convey information. She talks about her love for creating unique and unusual chart types and how they can help tell a story. 00:34:05 - Fun Project on Architecture, Sarah shares details of a project she worked on for Space 10, a subsidiary of IKEA. She talks about how they created a data set for a visualization of the history of tools architects use and how digital tools have impacted building design. The end result was a comprehensive and beautiful data visualization that straddled both data visualization and data art. 00:40:53 - Data Visualization for Social Media, Sarah talks about the challenges of creating data visualizations for social media, where attention spans are shorter and space is limited. She discusses the importance of video and motion design in creating engaging and informative data stories for platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 00:43:51 - Time Required for Projects, Sarah explains that the timeline for a data visualization project varies depending on the scope, and collecting data can add time to the process. She suggests that two to three months is doable for a small to medium-sized project, but larger or more complex projects can take longer. 00:46:44 - The Importance of Data Visualization, The value of data art and visualization in effectively communicating data to viewers. She emphasizes the need to understand numbers and find meaningful comparisons to make data more relatable to humans. 00:47:25 - Impactful Data Visualization Examples, Melina shares about an article in The New York Times on vacant office spaces in New York City as an excellent example of impactful data visualization. The comparison of the number of vacant spaces to the Empire State Building makes the data more memorable and understandable. 00:48:01 - Pareto Principle in Data Visualization, The Pareto principle or 80/20 rule is discussed for data visualization. Melina recommends spending 80% of the time on the 20% of data that's most important or interesting to make the visualization more impactful. 00:48:34 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Magic Words, by Jonah Berger Getting Along, by Amy Gallo A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh The Future Normal, by Rohit Bhargava What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Jonah:  Sarah Kay on Instagram Follow Sarah Kay on LinkedIn Sarah Kay’s Website Top Recommended Next Episode: A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) A More Just Future, with Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Non-Obvious Thinking, with Rohit Bhargava (ep 297) Sight or Vision? (ep 24) Power of Touch (ep 302) NUDGES and Choice Architecture (ep 35) What is Questionstorming? (ep 215) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Social Proof (ep 87)  Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) What is Cognitive Semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Leveraging Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181)  The Power of Us, with Dominic Packer (ep 178) Multinarrative Storytelling, with Troy Campbell (ep 293) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Sarah’s work on Mindworks: The Science of Thinking

In the context of business, the sense of touch plays a crucial role in building emotional connections with consumers and driving their purchasing behavior. Understanding and harnessing the power of touch can significantly improve the perceived quality of products and services, strengthening the brand image and fostering customer loyalty. By integrating touch into marketing and branding efforts, entrepreneurs can create a multisensory experience that has a lasting impact on their target audience.  Melina Palmer emphasizes the importance of touch in business, discussing how it is directly connected to emotional language and can influence both our perceptions and actions. Throughout the podcast, she explores the science behind touch and how it can be strategically employed by businesses to engage consumers on a deeper level. Melina highlights the need for businesses to consider the various ways they can incorporate touch, ensuring it is utilized effectively and appropriately to deliver the desired effect. In this episode, you’ll: Discover the secrets behind utilizing touch in business for better connections and results. Learn why investing in thoughtful materials that align with your message boosts your brand image and customer satisfaction. Uncover the powerful connection between emotional and visual touch in material choices. Explore innovative ways to incorporate touch into service-based and virtual businesses. Get a sneak peek at Friday’s enlightening interview on the art of data visualization. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina welcomes listeners to a special episode on the sense of touch, which celebrates the five-year anniversary of The Brainy Business podcast. She talks about the importance of touch in our lives and how it is directly linked to emotional language. Melina also thanks listeners for their support and explains the purpose of the episode. 00:04:44 - How Touch Works, Melina explains that the skin has many nerve endings, and they all have different jobs of being receptive to temperature, pressure, or pain. She also discusses the concept of relativity and how it impacts our sense of touch. Melina compares the subconscious brain to a small child and how emotional touch and sensation are closely linked. 00:09:06 - Touch and Teamwork, Melina discusses the importance of human contact, especially touch, on our development throughout our lives. She explains how touch impacts the overall effectiveness of teams and cites a study from UC Berkeley that found NBA teams who engaged in more celebratory touch won more games and played better together. 00:14:22 - The Power of Touch in Business, Melina talks about the impact of touch in business, including the endowment effect, perceived ownership, and loss aversion. She explains how touch triggers these concepts and increases the value of products. Melina also discusses how touch impacts customer experience and how businesses can use it to their advantage. 00:19:34 - Touch Without Touch, Melina talks about the power of touch without touch, which is how even service-based businesses and those entirely online can leverage the sense of touch. Hint: your eyes are amazing! 00:16:32 - Incorporating Touch Appropriately, HR departments should be consulted to ensure touch is incorporated appropriately. Touch is a powerful tool for creating impressions, so it's important to be mindful of the message being conveyed through touch. 00:17:37 - The Power of Texture in Print, Texture plays a crucial role in creating a favorable impression in print materials. The texture of paper can say a lot about a business, and investing in high-quality materials can reflect positively on the brand. 00:20:14 - The Importance of Touch in Sales, Touch is a crucial element in sales, as it increases the sense of ownership that a person feels over an item. Even online sales can benefit from the power of touch, as images and descriptions can trigger perceived ownership and lead to buying. 00:23:11 - The Impact of Touch in Personal Interactions, Touch plays a significant role in personal interactions. Service businesses should consider how they interact with clients and what impression they are leaving, as touch is one of the key senses that people use to interpret others. 00:31:40 - How Touch Influences Perception, Touch influences perception, and people tend to associate touch terms with the way they interpret brands and people. It's important to consider the impression being left on others in interactions and what it means in touch terms. 00:34:04 - The Value of Touch and Concrete Concepts, Melina discusses the importance of touch and how it can make something feel real even when it's just words or an idea. She highlights the value of metaphors and concrete concepts in making ideas more relatable and actionable. This sets the foundation for the upcoming conversation with data artist Sarah K. Miller. 00:35:16 - Celebrating Five Years of The Brainy Business, Melina announces the upcoming five-year anniversary episode with data artist Sarah K. Miller. She encourages listeners to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review to help spread the word about making business more brain-friendly. She also highlights her book, What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, which features the sense of touch in the priming chapter. 00:36:27 - Building Your Knowledge on the Sense of Touch, Melina encourages listeners to dig deeper into the sense of touch by exploring related past episodes, books, and articles. She emphasizes the importance of applying the senses in business and how they can help to drive action. 00:37:13 - Conclusion, Melina’s top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 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: Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Magic Words, by Jonah Berger Top Recommended Next Episode: What is Cognitive Semiotics? (ep 257) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Sight (ep 24) Hearing (ep 300) Taste (ep 26) Smell (ep 298) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Herding (ep 264) Change Management: It’s Still Not About The Cookie (ep 226) Your Guide to Create a Brainy Brand (ep 230) Rebrand, Refresh, or Reinforce? (ep 44) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You (ep 147) Evolutionary Ideas with Sam Tatam (ep 203) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Endowment Effect (ep 139) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The Science of Touching and Feeling | David Linden | TEDxUNC Grinch’s Heart Grows Sense of Touch New Study: When NBA Players Touch Teammates More, They and Their Teams Play Better Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership Visual Perception of Texture of Textiles

The power of language is paramount in any form of communication. How one utilizes language can significantly impact the outcome of conversations and the ability to persuade others. By understanding the intricacies of language and the psychology behind it, communicators can craft more effective messages that resonate with their target audience. With a focus on desired identities, motivations, and subtle shifts in language that can encourage or discourage behavior, communicators can directly influence the consumption and sharing of content.  During Jonah Berger's discussion with Melina Palmer, he stressed the importance of language and provided insights from his book, Magic Words. Dr. Berger highlighted the difference between nouns and verbs and how a slight modification in language, such as changing from "help" to "helper," could significantly alter the perception of the task at hand. By diving into the psychology behind language, Jonah offers practical tips to enhance communication, ensuring messages are better received and understood. He also briefly discusses one of his other books, Contagious (a favorite of Melina's!), and the SPEACC framework in Magic Words. Hone your ability to communicate powerfully through thoughtful language choices. Explore the influence of converting verbs into nouns in shaping personal and professional identities. Recognize the effect linguistic similarity has on building rapport and attaining success. Examine the role of cutting-edge technology in unbiased research and in-depth analysis. Understand the vital importance of concrete language in creating compelling marketing and communication tactics. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces Dr. Jonah Berger, Wharton professor and author of the new book Magic Words. 00:05:24 - Tips for Making Content Viral, To make content stand out, communicators need to think less about the product or service they are selling and more about the audience and why they might want to share it. Understanding why people share is key to making word-of-mouth marketing effective. 00:08:28 - The Power of Language, Subtle shifts in language can have a big impact on persuasion. For example, calling someone a "helper" instead of asking them to "help" can increase the likelihood of them taking the action you want. Turning actions into identities can make people more likely to claim desired identities. 00:17:26 - The Power of Stories, Stories are powerful because they activate different parts of the brain and help people remember information better. To make a story more effective, focus on the emotions and how the story relates to the audience's experience. 00:24:31 - The Power of Social Influence, Social influence is powerful because people are more likely to take action if they see others doing it. To make social influence work for you, focus on the early adopters and influencers and make it easy for them to share your message. 00:12:52 - The Value of Metaphor and Concrete Language, Jonah discusses the importance of using concrete language to show others that we have heard them, and how this can lead to increased customer satisfaction. For example, saying “Your refund will be there soon” feels very different from “Your money will be in your account tomorrow.” The latter (which is more concrete) had increased customer satisfaction scores. He also explains the difference between concrete and abstract language and how it can be applied in different contexts. 00:16:13 - The SPEACC Framework, Jonah breaks down the six key types of language covered in his book and provides an overview of each one. These include the language of Similarity and difference, Posing questions, Emotion, Agency and identity, Concreteness, and Confidence. 00:18:12 - Linguistic Similarity, Jonah explains how linguistic similarity can be used to build relationships and connections in the workplace, and how it can even predict future outcomes such as promotions or employee turnover. He also discusses the benefits of being both similar and different in terms of content and language design. 00:19:40 - When to Use Concrete Language, Jonah discusses the research that shows when it is beneficial to use more abstract language, such as in the case of entrepreneurs pitching a business idea. He also explains the importance of adapting to the linguistic culture of a workplace and how it can impact career success. 00:21:34 - Language Similarity and Affiliation, Jonah provides examples of how linguistic similarity can impact personal relationships, such as speed dating or building friendships in the workplace. He also discusses the importance of linguistic cues like pauses and intonation in building trust and increasing positive perceptions. 00:25:47 - Making Your Brand an Identity, The importance of making your brand an identity for your customers, highlighting the significance of transitioning from a verb to a noun. By finding opportunities for customers to be a part of the brand, or the brand to be a part of them, companies can create a stronger connection with their audience. 00:27:13 - The Power of AI, Melina mentions how Jonah and his team use technology, including AI and machine learning, to analyze large amounts of data, which allows them to remove human bias and get results much faster. By using technology to their advantage, businesses can unlock valuable insights that may have been missed or too costly to produce. 00:28:47 - Insights from Magic Words, Jonah's book, Magic Words, provides insight into how language affects business outcomes. From using concrete language in pitches to predicting employee retention based on the language used in emails, businesses can use language as a tool for success. 00:29:31 - Finding Insights in Data, The insights found in Magic Words and Jonah's research demonstrate the power of analyzing data to uncover valuable insights. By asking great questions and using technology to analyze data, businesses can make informed decisions and achieve success. 00:29:44 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Magic Words, by Jonah Berger Contagious, by Jonah Berger The Catalyst, by Jonah Berger Invisible Influence, by Jonah Berger What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Jonah:  Jonah on Twitter Follow Jonah on LinkedIn Jonah’s Website Resources Top Recommended Next Episode: What is Cognitive Semiotics? With Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Already Heard That One? Try These:  A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Social Proof (ep 87)  Using Semiotics in Retail, with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) Leveraging Metaphor, with Olson Zaltman (ep 181)  The Power of Us, with Dominic Packer (ep 178) Multinarrative Storytelling, with Troy Campbell (ep 293) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Get Jonah’s Resources

The ability to identify and interpret sounds is a vital aspect of human existence, shaping how individuals interact with the world around them. Sound can be both comforting and distracting, encompassing a wide spectrum of experiences. For this reason, understanding the impact of sound in marketing can be a game-changer, as it allows businesses to create more immersive experiences for customers and foster an emotional connection. Moreover, sound can help guide consumer behavior, enhancing their experience with a brand or product. Melina Palmer emphasizes the significance of sound on human emotions and interactions, and how it can be harnessed in marketing to influence buying behavior. Analyzing the journey of sound waves as they travel from the eardrum to the brain, she identifies music as a particularly powerful element of sound, with the unique ability to provoke strong physical and emotional reactions. Discover the crucial role of hearing in successful marketing campaigns. Learn how music can effectively steer consumer choices. Uncover the remarkable influence of jingles on brand loyalty. Find out why sound can create different perceptions of price. Celebrate the milestone 300th episode and show appreciation to our loyal listeners. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer celebrates the podcast's 300 episode milestone (woo!) and explains about these refreshed episodes on senses. This episode discusses the sense of hearing and complements Melina's conversation with Jonah Berger (coming this Friday in episode 301), where they talk about his new book, Magic Words. 00:03:22 - How We Hear, Melina explains how sound waves turn into physical vibrations, which then stimulate tiny hairs in the ear that move molecules around and send signals to the brain for interpretation. The brain interprets the signals and determines what we're hearing. 00:08:12 - The Power of Sound, Sound has a significant impact on our ability to focus and perform. Noise-canceling headphones can help block out distractions, allowing people to focus better. Music is also powerful and can impact our bodies physically and emotionally. 00:11:14 - Music and the Brain, Humans are unique in their ability to understand, predict and interpret music. Music releases chemicals in the brain that can make people feel good or bad. It can also help people heal, as seen in studies with Parkinson's patients and those with brain injuries. 00:15:38 - Sound in Business, Atmospherics, including sounds, can be used in marketing to trigger emotional states that influence buying behavior. Restaurants can play faster music to turn over more clientele, while slower music can make people stay longer and buy more. 00:17:20 - Importance of Music in Stores, Studies show that stores need to carefully select brand-matching music to encourage shoppers to stay longer. Music that fit the brand persona increased time in store and the amount purchased. Familiar music may seem to make people stay longer, but in reality, it's the unknown music that has the increase. 00:19:31 - The Power of Jingles, Sound has a strong connection to memory, emotion, and behavior. Jingles associate brands into our brains in a different way than words or images. Little changes in sound can make a big difference. 00:23:06 - The Impact of Sound on Podcasts, The sound on the podcast intro and outro helps people relate to the host. The right voice, vocal inflection, and even smiling while talking can change the podcast experience. Sound is everything leading up to the sale conversation. 00:25:00 - Sound Impact on Pricing, The way a number is sounded out can impact the perception of price size. Some vowels give off the perception of being bigger than others, and this translates to a bigger price in the brain. This impact can happen even when prices are not heard or spoken. 00:29:48 - Thank You and Resources, Melina thanks listeners for 300 episodes and celebrates the mostly audio show with an episode on The Sense of Hearing. Resources, related past episodes, books, and articles are available in the show notes. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Magic Words, by Jonah Berger Top Recommended Next Episode: The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Sight (ep 24) Touch (ep 28) Taste (ep 26) Smell (ep 298) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Herding (ep 264) Change Management: It’s Still Not About The Cookie (ep 226) Your Guide to Create a Brainy Brand (ep 230) Rebrand, Refresh, or Reinforce? (ep 44) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You (ep 147) Evolutionary Ideas with Sam Tatam (ep 203) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter How Do We Hear? Hearing & Balance: Crash Course A&P #17 Beats by Dre goes ‘Above the Noise’ with Olympic athletes in latest campaign Beats by Dre x Colin Kaepernick Hear What You Want Commercial Explained Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You – Loop Pedal Version Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool The Effects of Background Music on Consumer Responses in a High-end Supermarket The Impact of Music on Consumers’ Reactions to Waiting for Services 10 Iconic Horror Theme Songs Are Emotionally Different with a Major Key Change Mrs Doubtfire Recut as a Horror Movie The Shining (happy version) Small Sounds, Big Deals: Phonetic Symbolism Effects in Pricing

On the eve of the 300th episode of The Brainy Business, it felt like the perfect time to do a “best of” episode from the first five years of the show (another milestone we are just a couple of weeks away from!). How do we find out the “top” content around here? Thankfully, I don’t have to choose (each episode is like one of my babies), and, we don’t even have to ask.  You have been voting every day for the last five years as you have chosen which episodes to listen to. And, in these five years, you have cast 904,605 “votes” that made it into the final tally that created this Top 20 list. Thank you to everyone in the more than 170 countries who have listened to, rated, reviewed, subscribed to, and shared The Brainy Business podcast over the last five years. We wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for you – please keep it up (and we plan to too!) In this episode:  Delve into the psychology behind consumer decision-making and its impact on businesses. Reinforce your learning by revisiting earlier podcast episodes and mining hidden gems. Embrace the concept of continuous improvement by experimenting and testing new ideas. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Celebrating the First 5 Years, In this episode, host Melina Palmer celebrates The Brainy Business podcast's 299th episode and the first five years of the podcast. She shares that upcoming new episodes include an interview with Jonah Berger (301) to kick off the next hundred, as well as the five-year anniversary episode and data visualization designer Sarah K. Miller (303), who created an amazing piece of data art to commemorate the top downloads for the first five years. 00:02:00 - Top 20 Most Downloaded Episodes, Melina shares that 904,605 votes from over 170 countries were cast for the top downloaded episodes – so cool! She then goes on to list the top 20 most downloaded episodes, starting with The Voltage Effect, by John List. Other top episode guests from 11-20 include Kurt Nelson, Troy Campbell, Eric Johnson, Prince Ghuman, and Katelyn Bourgoin. Not to mention, several solo episodes from Melina, like the one on the behavioral economics of Starbucks. 00:09:47 - How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss, Melina talks about the 13th most downloaded episode of all time, episode 185, with Dan Gingis. They discuss his book The Experience Maker and how to create great experiences using his WISER methodology. 00:12:00 - How to Successfully Pitch Your Business, Melina shares her tips on great pitches in the 11th most downloaded episode of all time, episode 177. She also mentions that if listeners are interested in consulting or improving their pitches, they can book a strategy session or send her an email. 00:13:33 - How to Make Online Courses People Enjoy with Chris Rawlinson, Melina talks about the 10th most downloaded episode of all time, the shocking completion stats for most courses, and how 42 Courses have exceeded all expectations. In this episode, founder Chris Rawlinson shares his tips for creating awesome online courses that people actually complete (and enjoy). 00:17:23 - You Love Influence, Three episodes from specialists in the area of influence, including Vanessa Bohns (You Have More Influence Than You Think), Yale Professor Zoe Chance (Influence Is Your Superpower), and, Robert Cialdini (Influence) all made the top 10. Where specifically did they land and what are some of Melina’s favorite insights from these episodes? Give it a listen. 00:21:06 - The Paradox of Choice, Episode 171 focused on the work of Barry Schwartz and how more choices can often lead to overwhelm and a tendency to choose nothing. People are less likely to buy when there are too many choices, so it's important to make it easier for them to choose. This is the 5th most downloaded episode of all time. 00:22:16 - The Dunning Kruger Effect, Episode 198 (refreshed as episode 266) discussed the interesting relationship between confidence and competence and how when we know very little about something (low competence) we have ridiculously high confidence. Once we get more competence and start to see all that we don't know, confidence tanks. This was the 4th most downloaded episode of all time. 00:24:49 - Get It Done, Based on the work of Ayelet Fishback, episode 186 gives tips and insights into the science of motivation to help you complete your goals and get more of the right things done. It's about setting the right goals in the right way and avoiding the relentless pursuit of goals that can sometimes come at our own detriment. Congratulations to Ayelet on the interview with the most downloads ever and the 3rd most-downloaded episode of The Brainy Business podcast! 00:27:01 - The Top Two, Are The First Two, The first two episodes have been the two most downloaded from the beginning. Melina explains why she thinks this is, and some of what you will find in those episodes. 00:32:54 - Recap of the Top 20 Episodes, Get the full list of the 20 most downloaded episodes of all time, so you can add them to your listening queue! 00:33:37 - Thank You, Melina expresses gratitude to all listeners for making the first five years of The Brainy Business podcast a success beyond anything imagined. She also teases new projects coming soon and encourages listeners to sign up for the newsletter/connect on social media to be the first to know. 00:34:31 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz Influence, by Robert Cialdini Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Top Recommended Next Episode: Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain (ep 1) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Voltage Effect, w/ John List (ep 190) Motivation & Incentives at Work, w/ Kurt Nelson (ep 187) The Science of Cool, w/ Troy Campbell (ep 169) The Elements of Choice, w/ Eric Johnson (ep 174) Starbucks: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 278) Why We Like the Things We Like, w/ Prince Ghuman (ep 172) Creating Content People Can’t Help but Engage with, w/ Katelyn Bourgoin (ep 201) How To Create Remarkable Experiences, w/ Dan Gingiss (ep 185) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) How To Successfully Pitch Your Business (ep 177) How to Make Online Courses People Enjoy (& Complete!) w/ Chris Rawlinson (ep 193) Amazon: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 159) You Have More Influence Than You Think w/ Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Influence Is Your Superpower, w/ Zoe Chance (ep 189) Influence, w/ Robert Cialdini (ep 157) The Paradox of Choice (ep 171) The Dunning Kruger Effect (ep 266) Get It Done, w/ Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Incorporating the sense of smell in branding is an effective way to create emotional connections with customers. By utilizing scents that evoke positive memories and emotions, businesses can foster a sense of familiarity and trust, directly influencing consumers' perception of a brand's value. The appropriate application of scent marketing can significantly impact customer behavior and sales performance. Melina Palmer delves into the strategic use of scent in branding and shares examples of successful scent marketing in action. She discusses how a powerful scent can have surprising consequences on a consumer, with a personal story about Lush. Her insights provide a powerful blueprint for marketers and business owners to successfully integrate scent into their branding strategies, leading to enhanced customer experiences and brand loyalty. Discover the fascinating impact of scent marketing on consumer behavior and decision-making. Uncover the deep connections between smell, memory, and emotion and their role in guiding customer choices. Learn how businesses create unforgettable experiences and associations through strategic scent implementation. Explore real-life examples of successful scent marketing across diverse industries and contexts. Grasp the significance of selecting the right scents to create a cohesive customer journey and achieve your objectives. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction,  Melina introduces the episode and explains why she has started doing a refresh of earlier episodes each week. She discusses the upcoming special episodes and show milestones, and gives a brief overview of the topics that will be covered. 00:05:22 - How Smell Works, Melina explains how the sense of smell works and how it is closely linked to memories and emotions. She discusses the evolution of smell and how it has helped humans survive. 00:09:23 - The Power of Memories, Melina talks about how smell is linked to memories and how it can trigger vivid emotions that “take you back” to an earlier time. She explains how childhood memories are the most powerful and discusses the association between scent and physical attraction. 00:12:10 - Using Smell in Branding, Melina discusses how businesses can use scent to create positive associations with their brand and products. She talks about how the sense of smell can be used in real estate to sell homes and gives examples of brands that use scent marketing and scent logos. 00:15:58 - Signature Scents, Melina talks about how signature scents for brands and colognes are complex and often contain a mix of different smells. She provides a link for listeners to find out the ingredients in their favorite perfume or cologne and discusses the power of scent in branding. 00:17:25 - The Power of Scent in Business, Scent has the ability to impact the way customers interact with a business. Studies have shown that pleasant ambient odors can increase sales and improve behavior. Companies can hire experts to help them choose the best signature scent for their brand, because the associations made in the brain matter. 00:21:47 - The Impact of Different Scents, Different scents can trigger different emotions and behaviors. For example, a feminine scent in a women's clothing store can increase sales, while the scent of lemon can encourage people to order seafood at a restaurant. The context is important, and brands need to be strategic and intentional with their scent choices. 00:25:49 - The Importance of Scent in Branding, Scent is closely related to our memories and nostalgia, which can have a significant impact on buying behavior. Good smells can improve recall of brands, while bad smells can make it difficult to focus. Brands need to understand their customers and the context to choose scents that align with their brand experience. 00:28:27 - Mirror Neurons and Scent Memory, Mirror neurons are one reason why our brain reacts to certain words or images and can trigger scent memory. This is why the Food Network carefully chooses trigger words to influence food memories and make people hungry. Even if a business doesn't sell food, they can still use scent to prime behavior and trigger emotions. 00:32:07 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Sight (ep 24) Hearing (ep 27) Touch (ep 28) Taste (ep 26) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Herding (ep 264) Change Management: It’s Still Not About The Cookie (ep 226) Your Guide to Create a Brainy Brand (ep 230) Rebrand, Refresh, or Reinforce? (ep 44) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You (ep 147) Evolutionary Ideas with Sam Tatam (ep 203) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Let Them Sniff, Customers Will Buy More The Science of Smell: How Retailers Can Use Scent Marketing to Influence Shoppers Good Smells are Good Marketing: How to Use Scent to Your Advantage Making Sense of the Hotel Guestroom The Impact of Ambient Scent on Evaluation, Attention, and Memory for Familiar and Unfamiliar Brands Smells Like Psychology The Smell of Commerce: How Companies Use Scents to Sell Their Products The Science of Sensory Marketing Productivity Hack Of The Week: Use Aromatherapy To Improve Your Work Inside the Invisible but Influential World of Scent Branding The Art of Scent Marketing 2-Minute Neuroscience: Limbic System How Do We Smell? – Rose Eveleth The Power of Scent Hippocampal Projections to the Anterior Olfactory Nucleus Differentially Convey Spatiotemporal Information During Episodic Odour Memory The Neuroscience of Smell Memories Linked to Place and Time Smells Ring Bells: How Smell Triggers Memories and Emotions How Does Scent Drive Human Behavior? Fragrant Flashbacks Perfume Directory

Non-obvious thinking is an essential skill for marketers who want to innovate and stay ahead in their respective industries. By being open to new ideas, recognizing patterns between seemingly unrelated things, and fostering a curiosity-driven mindset, marketers can unlock significant opportunities that others may overlook. Non-obvious thinking enables individuals to explore new territories and challenge conventional wisdom, leading to breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business growth.  During the conversation, Rohit Bhargava discusses this crucial aspect of thinking and its relevance in today's rapidly changing world. He shares his journey of developing the non-obvious platform through his books and thinking, emphasizing the importance of intersection thinking and breaking away from media bias. By adopting non-obvious thinking, marketers can effectively navigate the ever-changing landscape and consistently deliver exceptional value to their audiences. In this episode: Tap into the significance of non-obvious thinking for exceptional marketing and business approaches. Discover the magic of storytelling as a powerful method for resonating with and engaging audiences. Develop a savvy mindset to detect non-obvious trends within data to stay ahead of the game. Embrace the indispensable roles curiosity and observation play in cultivating trailblazing ideas. Transform your perspectives to see a brighter and more promising outlook on the future. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina welcomes Rohit Bhargava: a bestselling author and speaker on trends, innovation, and marketing. Rohit talks about his background and expertise in non-obvious thinking and behavioral economics. 00:06:30 - Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit talks about his platform, Non-Obvious, which emphasizes the importance of being a non-obvious thinker and finding ideas in unusual places. Melina talks about combinatorial thinking, and Rohit shares his framework for intersectional thinking, which involves seeing connections between seemingly unrelated things. 00:09:00 - Importance of Diverse Perspectives, Rohit emphasizes the importance of exposing oneself to diverse perspectives and media to avoid being manipulated or outraged. He notes that this approach can also lead to creativity and innovation. 00:14:45 - Non-Obvious Examples, Rohit shares the example of Starbucks and how Howard Schultz's visit to Milan led him to discover the importance of coffee shops as community spaces. (An idea he would have missed if he had been looking down at a phone.) He also talks about the importance of non-obvious thinking in marketing and advertising to creatively solve problems and understand people's behavior. 00:20:25 - The Future Normal, Rohit discusses his latest book, The Future Normal, which offers insights into what the future may hold. He emphasizes the importance of being adaptable and open-minded in a rapidly changing world. 00:15:03 - Importance of Being Observant, Rohit Bhargava shares the story of how Howard Schultz's observant nature led to the creation of Starbucks. He emphasizes the importance of being observant and paying attention to the things around us instead of being distracted by technology. 00:17:01 - The Five Habits of Non-Obvious Thinkers, Bhargava talks about the five habits of non-obvious thinkers, which include being observant, curious, thoughtful, fickle, and saying things elegantly. He explains that these habits can be learned and practiced to improve communication skills. 00:21:24 - The Importance of Understanding People, Bhargava emphasizes that people who understand people will always win, even in the age of technology. He explains that emotions play a big role in decision-making and that understanding how to connect with people is crucial in many fields, including marketing, advertising, and leadership. 00:25:32 - The Power of Storytelling, Bhargava discusses the importance of storytelling in communicating ideas and engaging with people. He shares the story of Dick Fosbury, the Olympic athlete who revolutionized the high jump with his unconventional technique (now known as the Fosbury Flop), and explains how stories can help people understand complex concepts in a relatable way. 00:28:27 - Using Analogies in Storytelling, Bhargava suggests that storytelling doesn't always have to be long and drawn out, but can also be as simple as using an analogy. 00:30:00 - The Importance of Storytelling in Presentations, Rohit emphasizes the importance of storytelling in presentations and how it can take the audience on a journey. He also stresses the need to read the room and adjust the storytelling approach accordingly. 00:31:07 - Storyboarding for Presentations, Bhargava talks about storyboarding, a process of outlining the flow of the presentation, which he compares to scene planning in screenwriting. He suggests watching master storytellers or reading books on screenwriting to learn the techniques used in creating engaging stories. 00:34:19 - Becoming a Great Presenter, Bhargava shares his journey of becoming a great presenter, emphasizing that natural talent is not the only factor in achieving this goal. He recommends finding what you are good at and honing your skills, investing time and effort into learning new ones, and practicing. 00:35:44 - Tips for Writing a Book, Bhargava suggests being honest with oneself about their relationship with writing and finding joy in it. He stresses that there is no one right way to write a book, and one should choose a method that works for them. Bhargava also talks about the different experiences he's had in writing his nine books. 00:39:00 - The Future Normal, Bhargava's latest book, "Future Normal," showcases trends that will shape the future, spanning topics such as space tourism, virtual relationships, weather control, and artificial intelligence. 00:44:39 - Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Future Normal, by Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason Personality Not Included, by Rohit Bhargava Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Rohit:  Rohit on Twitter Non-Obvious Nation on LinkedIn Get the Non-Obvious Newsletter Top Recommended Next Episode: Evolutionary Ideas, with Sam Tatam (ep 204) Already Heard That One? Try These:  A More Beautiful Question, with Warren Berger (ep 200) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 296) Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Behavioral Storytelling, with David Paull (ep 289) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You (ep 147) Starbucks: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 278) Design for Decisions, with Sam Evans (ep 291) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Get the Non-Obvious Newsletter

In the context of business messaging, frames play a crucial role in shaping the way potential customers perceive products and services. Different frames can evoke distinct emotions or reactions, as well as influence the customers' decision-making process. When applied effectively, framing can make a product or service more appealing, inspiring curiosity and generating positive associations in the minds of potential buyers. Framing can also demonstrate the benefits and value provided by a particular offering, ultimately increasing the chances of conversion.  In the podcast, Melina Palmer discusses the importance of framing in marketing and advertising. She emphasizes that the presentation of a message, including the choice of words and phrasing, can have a significant impact on the way it is received and acted upon by the target audience. As such, marketers should carefully consider the use of frames, always taking into account the context in which they communicate their offering. By doing so, they can maximize their chances of resonating with potential customers and increase sales. Insights in this episode will help you to: Grasp the power of framing and its influence on people's perception and communication. Master the art of employing framing tactfully in advertising and marketing campaigns. Adopt ethical framing practices to genuinely benefit consumers. Implement insightful techniques for effective framing in your business messaging. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the topic of framing and explains why it's essential for anyone looking to apply behavioral economics to their business. 00:03:24 - The Power of Frames, Melina explains how frames impact the way we perceive the world around us and how our subconscious brain evaluates everything very quickly. 00:09:23 - The Nail Salon Example, Melina uses the nail salon example from episode 2 to illustrate how framing can make a difference in how people perceive your business. 00:12:51 - Loss Aversion and Framing, Melina discusses how framing can impact loss aversion and how losses are actually twice as powerful a motivator as gains according to research by Kahneman and Tversky. 00:14:44 - Examples of Framing, Melina provides examples of how framing impacts the way we perceive things, such as labeling food as "90% fat-free" vs. "10% fat" or saying "Serena lost" vs. "Osaka won" in the context of the US Open. 00:17:16 - Importance of Context in Framing, The way a message is framed can impact how someone reacts to it, based on their individual context. For example, promoting a credit card bonus offer may annoy existing cardholders who are not eligible. Therefore, it's crucial to consider the context and placement of messaging when developing marketing strategies. 00:18:15 - Tversky's Studies on Framing, Tversky conducted several studies on framing, including one on the impact of framing on doctors' decisions about lung cancer treatment options. The study showed that framing the same information differently can lead to significantly different outcomes. 00:20:07 - The Disease Problem, The Disease Problem is a classic example of the impact of framing on decision-making. In the study, participants were more likely to choose a risky option when the information was framed positively, as opposed to when it was framed negatively. 00:25:33 - Examples of Verbiage Using Framing, Verbiage such as "Chevron with Techron" or "America's best selling brand" are examples of framing in marketing. The way a message is presented can impact how it's received by the audience, and it's crucial to choose the right framing to achieve desired outcomes. 00:29:43 - The Impact of Naming on Framing, Choosing the right name for a business can impact its success. A poorly framed name such as "Avg Daycare" can negatively impact business, whereas a well-framed name can have a big positive impact. 00:35:39 - The Impact of Framing on Consumer Behavior, Framing can impact the way consumers feel about a product or service. A well-worded frame can help someone appreciate a product or service, while a poorly worded frame can repel them from it. It's important to use framing in a way that helps people see the benefits of a product or service without tricking them. 00:39:27 - The Power of Claiming Ownership, When a company makes a claim, even if it's something their competitors could also claim, it becomes associated with their brand. The power of claiming ownership is evident in BECU's marketing campaign, which made it difficult for other credit unions to use similar messaging (even though it was true for them as well). 00:43:38 - Implementing Framing Strategies, Melina's top three framing strategies to try right now: replacing "if" with "when," using "everyone" instead of "anyone," and ending with a question. Curious why? Listen in... 00:47:22 - Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Minds Change, by David McRaney What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Getting Along, by Amy Gallo Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Top Recommended Next Episode: The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (ep 252) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Herding (ep 264) Unlocking the Power of Numbers (ep 17) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Change Management: It’s Still Not About The Cookie (ep 226) Your Guide to Create a Brainy Brand (ep 230) Rebrand, Refresh, or Reinforce? (ep 44) Present vs Future Biases (ep 246) Counterfactual Thinking (ep 286) Prefactual Thinking (ep 232) The Littery (ep 75) How To Become Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) The Hype Handbook, with Michael F. Schein (ep 143) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You (ep 147) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Dr. Kurt Nelson is a behavioral scientist and founder of the Lantern Group. His expertise involves helping businesses align incentives and motivation to improve sales, productivity, and employee happiness. With a strong focus on incorporating behavioral science principles into goal-setting and motivation strategies, Kurt offers valuable insights for individuals and organizations seeking to enhance their overall success. During the podcast, Melina and Kurt discuss the Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, keystone goals, incentives, priming, framing, and so much more. Want to reduce turnover rates in your organization? Kurt explains why this requires a holistic approach that addresses multiple aspects of employee engagement and satisfaction. These might include clear communication of goals and expectations, a strong organizational vision, appropriate incentives, a psychologically safe environment, and acknowledging employee contributions. Implementing these elements effectively within the organization can result in a considerable reduction in turnover rates and a more motivated workforce. He shares a case study of a client company that initially had a 42% turnover rate, which is now under 5%. They achieved this by improving communication and creating a clear vision, which involved offering incentives designed to promote desired behaviors rather than instilling fear. Regular town hall meetings and a national employee meeting facilitated better communication and helped everyone stay informed. Additionally, they worked with managers to enhance their communication skills and foster better relationships with their teams. Learn all about this fascinating example and more in this episode, including: Elevate employee engagement through comprehensive strategies for lasting retention. Manage workload effectively and prioritize tasks to minimize burnout. Infuse meaning, purpose, and creativity into your work culture for a thriving environment. Enhance communication, vision, and incentives to diminish staff turnover. Employ behavioral science techniques for successful goal-setting and motivation. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Dr. Kurt Nelson, co-host of Behavioral Grooves and CEO of the Lantern Group, discusses his expertise in employee incentives and motivation in the workplace. 00:03:35 - Employee Experience, Organizations are refocusing on the employee experience and how they can ensure they are doing right by their employees to increase engagement and motivation. 00:08:34 - Human Complexity, Organizations need to understand that humans are complex and are driven by various factors, such as their external environment, social environment, and managerial challenges at work. Employees want a psychologically safe environment where they feel respected and fulfilled. 00:11:23 - Quiet Quitting, Employees are pushing back against the expectation to give 150% effort every day. Organizations should not expect employees to go above and beyond all the time, but they need to create jobs that allow employees to be creative and bring passion into their work. 00:14:22 - Full Self in Work, Employees who bring their full selves into work find more meaning and purpose in their jobs. Organizations need to make sure they are creating an environment that allows employees to find fulfillment at work. 00:15:58 - The Importance of Frontline Managers, Frontline managers are often promoted for their individual job skills rather than their ability to manage. This can lead to a lack of understanding of how to engage and work with employees, causing turnover and "quiet quitting." 00:18:23 - Case Study: Decreasing Turnover Rates, Working with a company that had a 42% turnover rate, Kurt and his team's focus was on improving communication from executive leadership to employees, setting a clear vision and incentives, and training managers on how to communicate and engage with their team. The result was a decrease in salesforce turnover rate to under 5%. 00:22:23 - Priming and Framing, Changing 12 words in an email to incorporate qualified achievement words increased performance by 15% and decreased the need for escalation by 30%. Framing incentives in a gain or loss context can also impact behavior. Psychological safety is important for employees to feel valued and heard. 00:28:46 - How to Be a Better Organization, Align incentives with desired behaviors, create a psychologically safe environment where employees feel valued and heard, and provide tools for managers and employees to break down goals and understand how to engage and motivate teams. Changing behavior is key to achieving success, and incentives are key to that. 00:30:29 - Summary, To decrease turnover rates and create a better organization, focus on aligning incentives, creating a psychologically safe environment, and providing tools for managers and employees. Changing behavior is key to achieving success. 00:31:03 - Lantern Group's Tools, Dr Kurt Nelson talks about the Lantern Group's tools that help employees set and achieve their goals. He introduces the Brain/Shift Journal, a 13-week guided journal with daily prompts based on behavioral science insights. The journal helps users create keystone goals, break them down into milestones, track progress, and cultivate gratitude. 00:32:46 - Keystone Goals, Keystone goals are those that have a larger-than-life impact, which align with keystone habits. The journal helps users determine the right goal and break it down into milestones. It includes prompts like priming, gratitude, and progress tracking to keep users motivated and on track. 00:35:02 - Conclusion Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy Getting Along, by Amy Gallo Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Connect with Kurt:  Kurt on Twitter Lantern Group’s Website Kurt on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, with Tim Houlihan (ep 109) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 157) Nudges and Choice Architecture (ep 35) Priming (ep 252) Framing (ep 16) iNcentives: The “N” in NUDGES (ep 272) Mixed Signals, with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) The Human Experience, with John Sills (ep 277) Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) The Microstress Effect, with Rob Cross (ep 287) I Human, with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (ep 267) Cobra Effect (ep 220) Inequity Aversion (ep 224) Avoiding Everyday Disasters at Work, with Gleb Tsipursky (ep 111) Motivation and Incentives at Work, with Kurt Nelson (ep 187) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Smart Behavioral Economics Secrets Every Marketer Needs, with Melina Palmer Using Behavioral Economics to Help Businesses, with Melina Palmer

In the context of choice architecture, mapping involves organizing options to make them easily comprehensible and help customers make better decisions. By presenting choices in a simple and quick-to-understand manner, customers can avoid getting overwhelmed and make choices they are confident about. It is important, however, to carefully consider how options are presented, as offering too many choices can lead to confusion and regret.  For the best results, businesses should strive to make options easy to compare and understand. Melina Palmer explains that mapping is a critical part of structuring complex choices, the "U" and "S" in NUDGES, and can be used to make customer decision-making more accessible and efficient. Proper mapping can result in better outcomes for both the customer and the business. Palmer highlights examples from several industries, including ice cream, hospital treatments, megapixel cameras and product guarantees, to illustrate how mapping concepts can be utilized to guide customers towards the best choice while maintaining their freedom to choose. Understand the role of mapping in choice architecture for superior customer selections. Convert complex choices into approachable, meaningful opportunities. Help people get from where they are to where they want to be in the easiest way possible. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the topic of the episode, which is the “U” in NUDGES: understanding mapping. She explains that the concept of mapping is important in choice architecture and nudging, which are foundational in behavioral economics. 00:04:03 - What is Mapping?, Mapping refers to the relation between choice and welfare. The example given by Thaler and Sunstein in Nudge is choosing a flavor of ice cream versus choosing a medical treatment. The mapping for choosing ice cream is relatively easy, while the mapping for choosing a medical treatment is much more complex and difficult. 00:07:07 - Five-Step Process to Understanding Mapping, Melina’s five-step process to understanding mapping includes: 1) encourage thoughtful review and open-mindedness, 2) break down the options, 3) make it relatable, 4) help them to get there, and 5) call to action. This process is essential in building the map and guiding the customer to the right recommendation. 00:10:22 - Encouraging Thoughtful Review, It's important to understand the biases and mental state of the customer or patient in making big decisions. The best choice architect will encourage thoughtful review and open-mindedness, especially in highly emotional situations. 00:12:08 - Breaking it Down and Making it Relatable, The second and third steps in the five-step process are breaking down the options and making it relatable. This means anticipating the questions and needs of the customer and presenting relatable information in their language. In the example of buying a camera, the mapping will be different for each type of customer and their needs. 00:16:34 - Mapping in a nutshell, Every choice can be broken down into a simple rule of thumb to use. Sticking with the camera example, megapixels are confusing. Saying it can be “billboard” or “poster size” or “web only” means something that can help someone make an informed decision. 00:19:54 - Air Conditioning Mapping Example, To map the seemingly simple choice of buying air conditioning, let’s encourage thoughtful review, break it down, make it relatable, help them get there, and set our call to action. 00:27:17 - Mapping in the Restaurant Industry, Mapping in the restaurant industry involves sorting menu items into categories, relatable descriptions, and making it easy to choose. Staff picks, chef specials, bolded options, and images can also help with the mapping process. 00:31:44 - Mapping in the Beauty Industry, Nail salons and other businesses in the beauty industry can learn from mapping practices. Simplify options, categorize services, and provide clear descriptions to help customers make informed choices. 00:32:45 - The Importance of Mapping, Adding more options to a product can cause confusion and overwhelm for the consumer, making it harder for them to make a decision. It is important to provide a map or a clear comparison of options to aid consumers in making a choice. 00:37:12 - The Significance of Incentives in Mapping, Consumers perceive fees differently than rates and how incentives play a role in mapping. Companies should present information in a relatable way to consumers to aid in making better decisions. 00:42:09 - The Importance of Trailers and Descriptions in Mapping, Trailers, reviews, and ratings help customers map their options when it comes to choosing movies to watch. Brands can use visuals, such as commercials that show someone using their product, to help consumers create a mental map and make a decision. 00:44:38 - The Benefits of Trial Periods and Satisfaction Guarantees, Companies can offer trials or guarantees of their products to help consumers test their welfare and make a more informed decision. 00:46:45 - The Importance of Showcasing Benefits in Mapping, Category headings like "Most Popular" or "Best Value" can help direct consumers towards the best options. It is important to ensure that these headings accurately reflect the product to avoid nudging consumers towards a bad choice. 00:48:31 - Understanding Customer Behavior, To understand customer behavior, it's important to consider the options they have and the criteria they use to make decisions. Creative solutions and presenting information in the best way possible can help businesses stand out from competitors and win repeatedly. 00:48:59 - Value and Testing, Understanding where customers experience value and knowing how to present information takes time and testing, but it pays dividends. Businesses can unlock the most effective ways to encourage customers to buy and motivate employees to buy in by using proper mapping. 00:49:28 - Incentivizing Employees, Incentivizing employees can be challenging, but with the right approach and understanding of their motivation, businesses can achieve success. The effort put in upfront can lead to significant dividends in the long run. 00:50:08 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Illusion of Choice, by Richard Shotton Elements of Choice, by Eric Johnson Top Recommended Next Episode: The “N” in Nudges – iNcentives (ep 272) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Mixed Signals, with Uri Gneezy (ep 273) The Illusion of Choice, with Richard Shotton (ep 275) Choice Hacking, with Jennifer Clinehens (ep 141) Priming (ep 252) Loss Aversion (ep 9) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) Anchoring and Adjustment (ep 11) The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Sludge (ep 179) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter 1995 Breyer’s Ice Cream Commercial Nudges Blog Choice Architecture

The core idea of multi-narrative storytelling involves identifying a central message or concept that resonates with the audience and then expanding on it through a series of complementary stories. While each narrative can stand alone, together they create a comprehensive and compelling representation of the brand's identity and message. Two major brands that have successfully utilized multi-narrative storytelling in their marketing campaigns are Nike and Apple. Both brands have managed to create a global impact with their advertisements, encouraging consumers to connect with the brand on a personal level. By using multiple storylines, these giants have enabled their campaigns to resonate with a wide range of individuals, allowing for broader appeal and deeper emotional connections. During the podcast, Melina and Dr. Troy Campbell discuss how both Nike's "Just Do It" and Apple's "Think Different" campaigns are prime examples of effective multi-narrative storytelling. Companies can learn valuable lessons from these successful brands and apply the same techniques to their own business strategies. This episode will help you to: Uncover the power of multi-narrative storytelling in enhancing brand communication. Master the art of crafting a compelling personal brand identity through diverse stories. Grasp the importance of themes, metaphors, and language in creating engaging narratives. Cater to diverse customer groups by implementing a multi-narrative approach. Gain insights from storytelling techniques employed by successful companies. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Dr. Troy Campbell is back on The Brainy Business podcast (one of our few three-peat guests!) to talk about multi-narrative storytelling, building on his background as a former Disney Imagineer and Netflix Consumer Insights employee. 00:05:02 - Shades of Black, Troy talks about how Netflix uses different shades of black to differentiate importance cues on their platform. 00:11:19 - Definition of Multi-Narrative Storytelling, Multi-narrative storytelling involves telling a core story or idea through multiple complementary narratives. Nike and Apple's famous ad campaigns, "Just Do It" and "Think Different," are examples of multi-narrative storytelling. 00:13:48 - Nike and Apple as Examples, The "Think Different" campaign started as a multi-narrative by showcasing the “misfits” and “rebels” who changed the world. 00:15:10 - The Power of Multi-Narrative Storytelling, Multi-narrative storytelling is about getting a core idea across. It involves creating a core story that is the center of your messaging, which is surrounded by different stories that are used to convey your message. This technique involves using narratives that have associations with your brand that the audience will recognize. (As an example in the Apple campaign, showing a picture of Einstein is powerful because of the associations we all have with him and what his image means.) 00:16:52 - Core Idea of Multi-Narrative Storytelling, The core idea of multi-narrative storytelling is to create a cause-and-effect story. It involves telling a story that explains who you are and what you're trying to achieve, and then surrounding that story with other narratives that support your message. You can use existing stories or create original ones. 00:19:15 - Using Existing Stories as Associations, Multi-narrative storytelling can involve using existing stories as associations to convey your message. This technique involves using stories that your audience is already familiar with and borrowing elements of those stories to support your message. This approach makes it easier for your audience to understand and relate to your message. 00:22:28 - The Power of Metaphor and Semiotics, Metaphor, semiotics, and word choice allow for a deeper level of understanding of how to convey messages. Using these techniques and creating a multi-narrative story around them can make the messaging more powerful and effective. 00:30:36 - Multi-Narrative Storytelling, The concept of multi-narrative storytelling involves creating a core story with multiple examples or narratives that support it. This approach allows for flexibility in communication and can be used to convey complex or abstract ideas. Multi-narrative storytelling is useful in branding, marketing, and other areas of business where a clear and compelling message is necessary. 00:32:19 - Just Do It, Nike's "Just Do It" slogan is specific enough to be relatable and broad enough to appeal to a wide range of audiences. This approach can be applied to other branding or marketing efforts by creating a core story that is supported by multiple narratives or examples. 00:38:01 - Branding, Effective branding involves creating a core story that is supported by multiple narratives or examples. This approach allows for flexibility in communication and can help to appeal to a wider range of audiences. The branding of The Brainy Business podcast is an example of this approach, using a fun and relatable logo to convey complex ideas. 00:41:29 - Thesis and Proof, Effective marketing involves creating a clear thesis and using specific examples to prove it. This approach can be used to convey complex or abstract ideas to a wider audience. The selection of imagery, titles, and stories should support the thesis and help to prove its validity. 00:47:12 - The Power of Storytelling, The way Troy implements his “scientific mind and artistic heart” approach can help businesses understand and leverage techniques from other companies like Disney or Nike to improve their own storytelling strategies. 00:47:43 - Multi-Narrative Storytelling, Companies can use multi-narrative storytelling to tie together narratives within their own organization, for the benefit of both customers and employees. Understanding the stories woven within a brand is essential for weaving them together to make a great brand. 00:48:37 - Related Episodes, Other podcast episodes relating to storytelling include David Paull on behavioral storytelling, Dr. Michelle Auerbach, and Sam Evans. These episodes and their related materials are linked below. 00:49:10 - Conclusion,  Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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! CONNECT WITH TROY TROY’S WEBSITE ON YOUR FEET TROY ON LINKEDIN 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: Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Top Recommended Next Episode: The Science of Cool, with Troy Campbell (ep 169) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Flip The Script! With Troy Campbell (ep 253) Why We Like The Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman (ep 172) Disney: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 292) Starbucks: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 278) Costco: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 47) Peloton: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 86) Choice Hacking, with Jennifer Clinehens (ep 141) Social Proof (ep 87) Priming (ep 252) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Surprise and Delight (ep 276) The Life-Saving Skill of Story, with Michelle Auerbach (ep 288) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Creating brain-friendly experiences involves understanding how human psychology and behavioral principles can be integrated into the design of products and services. By recognizing and leveraging these concepts, brands can establish a stronger emotional connection with their customers and create experiences that resonate long after the interaction has ended. In the podcast, Melina Palmer advocates for infusing behavioral economics concepts into business practices and learning from Disney's approach. She encourages brands to delve into the "why" behind their existence and explore principles like framing, nudges, and nostalgia to foster lasting relationships with customers. The goal is to deliver unforgettable experiences that keep customers coming back for more, just as Disney has managed to do, time and again. Discover the art of blending novelty and nostalgia to create Disney magic. Unravel the secrets behind Disney's scarcity and identity-based marketing techniques. Learn how to improve customer experience during those unavoidable wait times. Implement Mickey's Ten Commandments and Imagineering Team's guiding principles. Uncover brain-friendly storytelling methods that boost revenue generation. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the podcast episode, which is about the behavioral economics of Disney. She talks about how Disney is part of our culture and upbringing and how it is a complex web of companies. 00:06:42 - Disney's Focus on Innovation, Disney's focus on innovation and constantly working to be better has stuck with the company for over 90 years. They balance expectations with surprise and delight in a way that works with the brain's bias for the status quo. 00:09:19 - Nostalgia, Disney embraces nostalgia in its parks, movies, and merchandise. They keep some things static over decades to evoke a feeling of nostalgia and balance it with new adaptations to keep it fresh. 00:12:17 - Novelty and the IKEA Effect, Disney incorporates novelty and the IKEA effect, which is the idea that people value things they helped create. Disney has little surprises throughout its parks, like hidden Mickeys, and Easter eggs in its movies. They also let people create their own experience with the brand, like embroidering names onto Mickey ears. 00:15:00 - Emotional Bonding, Being part of the fun and shaping the experience makes people emotionally bonded to the Disney brand. Helping pick out Mickey ears or discovering hidden Mickeys can prime memories and conversations and helps people like the brand more. 00:16:07 - Scarcity and Buzz, Disney's scarcity of specialty ears creates buzz and excitement among park visitors, who love to follow the crowd. This generates social proof, making the limited item even more popular and highly sought after. It's a stroke of genius by Disney to create scarcity in a way that gets people talking about the brand. 00:19:22 - Thoughtfulness in Experiences, Disney is known for being thoughtful in their experiences, making even the bad moments an experience all their own. By creating fun and engaging interactions including, hidden Mickeys, and themed line experiences, Disney turns waiting in a long line into a dopamine-generating, anticipation-building experience. This thoughtfulness is a gift that people repay with loyalty and fandom. 00:23:18 - Mickey's Ten Commandments, Mickey's Ten Commandments are a set of guiding principles that define Disney's values and handbook. Two commandments that stand out are to "avoid overwhelm" and "tell one story at a time." By simplifying the customer experience, reducing decision fatigue, and thinking through every experience, Disney can remain the happiest place on Earth for over 65 years. 00:28:17 - Imagineering Process, Disney's Imagineering Team goes through a process of asking questions to guide every new project, starting with what could it be and ending with how did we do? By using this process, Disney creates a flexible approach that allows for variety while still maintaining a high level of thoughtfulness and attention to detail. 00:31:03 - Starting with Story, Disney starts by creating a great story and then builds everything around it. This approach is different from the standard approach where a product is created, and then a story is created around it. By starting with a story, Disney ensures that the audience is emotionally invested in the story and the products or services associated with it. 00:31:51 - Brain-friendly Experiences, Brands can benefit from creating brain-friendly experiences by starting with a story. Starting with a story creates a sense of emotional investment and makes the experience more memorable. Incorporating various concepts from behavioral economics, such as framing, nudges, and nostalgia, can help create a more brain-friendly experience. 00:33:36 - Insights and Inspiration, Disney is a master of creating a balance between novelty and nostalgia in their experiences. They recognize that people want to share their childhood experiences with future generations, and they create experiences that allow them to do so. Disney also pays attention to the true end of the experience, which is not when someone leaves the park, but when they can relive the experience through photos. Companies can learn from Disney by creating similar brain-friendly experiences. 00:35:09 - Making Memories, Disney understood the true end of their experience, which was the moment when people could relive the experience through photos. They worked with Kodak to paint the park in colors that would look best when printed on photo paper, creating amazing, stellar pictures that helped make the memories stronger. Creating brain-friendly experiences involves paying attention to the details that make all the difference. 00:35:08 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Top Recommended Next Episode: Why We Like The Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman (ep 172) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Starbucks: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 278) Costco: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 47) Peloton: Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 86) Choice Hacking, with Jennifer Clinehens (ep 141) Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions (ep 79) Social Proof (ep 87) Priming (ep 252) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Habits (ep 256) Surprise and Delight (ep 276) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) IKEA Effect (ep 112)  Scarcity (ep 270) Reciprocity (ep 238) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter The Psychology Behind Disney’s “10 Commandments” for Experience Design The Science Hiding in Mickey’s Pixie Dust Disney Proves That Profitable Marketing Is About Brand Stories Be Like Disney: Why You Should Embrace Imagineering Principles in Branding How Disney Built An Empire By Designing Brand Experience Why are so many adults obsessed with Disney theme parks? Here’s an upside-down Mickey at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Frontierland

In order to design effective solutions, businesses need to have a clear understanding of the different types of decisions their customers make. Not all decisions are created equal, and handling them differently ensures better outcomes. Companies should avoid applying a one-size-fits-all approach, instead aiming for a tailored response that addresses the specific needs of each consumer decision. By having a better grasp of decision-making processes, businesses can create products, services, and experiences that truly resonate with their audiences. In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Sam Evans emphasizes the importance of diagnosing the decision before prescribing a solution. Instead of providing a standard response to every challenge or query, businesses should seek to comprehend the decision type, the question being asked, and the desired outcomes. Evans highlights that businesses must go beyond just addressing jobs to be done but also consider the deeper aspirations and self-identity of customers. Uncover the pivotal role of the decision-making process in designing impactful solutions. Create a practical decision spectrum to categorize customer decision-making styles. Engage customers effectively while providing answers that direct them to optimal choices. Explore the power of weaving engaging stories and emotions into the decision-making framework. Devise immersive experiences that naturally drive customer engagement without forcefulness.  Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Sam Evans, founder and CEO of Design for Decision, talks about his background in brand strategy and innovation and his passion for helping teams design products, services, and experiences that change behavior and drive growth. 00:03:40 - From Reputation Management to Behavioral Science, Sam shares how his career has been about designing for behavior change, starting with reputation management and public affairs, then moving to brand strategy and innovation at Pepsi, and eventually launching Design for Decision. 00:07:29 - Design for Decision's Mission, Sam talks about Design for Decision's mission to put the latest science of how people think, decide, and behave into action for the purpose of winning brand positioning, meaningful innovation, and more engaging cross-channel experiences for big brands, non-profits, and startups. 00:09:27 - Connections with Behavioral Science Experts, Sam talks about his connections with behavioral science experts like Robert Cialdini, Steve Wendell, and Nir Eyal, and how he has integrated their ideas into his work at Design for Decision. 00:14:31 - Designing for Decision, Sam explains how designing for decision is more than just designing for the jobs to be done, and how not all decisions are created equal. He talks about the importance of understanding the decision before designing anything and how businesses can do social good by helping people make more confident, effective, and efficient decisions. 00:15:56 - Understanding Different Types of Decisions, Sam Evans emphasizes the need to move away from the assumption that all clients face the same challenges or require the same toolkit to solve their problems. He suggests that different types of decisions should be diagnosed first and then solutions prescribed to answer questions based on the decision-making needs of the customers. 00:18:38 - The Decision Design Spectrum, Sam Evans introduces the idea of a decision design spectrum, which classifies different types of decisions into deliberation, default, and deciding. He explains that depending on where a decision falls on this spectrum, different tactics must be employed for effective engagement. 00:21:08 - Educating vs Engaging, Sam differentiates between educating and engaging customers, citing the success of smoking cessation campaigns that used negative reinforcement instead of education to deter smoking. He recommends engaging customers in ways that inspire and answer their questions instead of educating them on why a product is important. 00:25:18 - The Importance of Translating and Avoiding Math, Sam Evans advises businesses to avoid asking customers to do math and include technical jargon. Instead, communicate in simple language. He suggests providing familiar concepts and translating information to help customers make informed decisions. 00:28:04 - Engaging Customers in the Right Way, Sam Evans highlights the success of brands like Amy's Kitchen in engaging customers through appealing visuals and inviting experiences. He suggests businesses find ways to engage customers based on their decision-making preferences, whether it's System 1 (subconscious) or System 2 (conscious). 00:29:30 - Understanding Decision Making & Behavior, Sam Evans highlights the importance of understanding decision making and behavior. He emphasizes that it is crucial to diagnose the decision before prescribing the solution. He also notes that not all decisions are created equal, and it is essential to consider the type of decision before designing a solution. 00:31:00 - Leading with Behavior, Sam and Melina discuss the importance of leading with behavior when it comes to growing a brand. Sam argues that focusing on behavior first is crucial because people buy based on behavior. He suggests that the emphasis should be on designing for behavior rather than forcing things on people. 00:32:15 - Education vs. Behavior, Sam and Melina discuss the challenges of educating people about a product or service. They note that the goal is often to get people to care about something in the same way the company cares about it (which is a bad approach). Sam argues that it is more important to focus on designing an experience that is engaging and inviting rather than leading with education. 00:33:40 - Behavioral Design for Good, Sam emphasizes that he would love to have more conversations with those who are trying to do good by people and change the world. He notes that private organizations, public organizations, nonprofit, and startups are all welcome to reach out to him. Sam highlights that the goal of behavioral design is to make a connection and design an amazing experience that is really engaging. 00:38:02 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Hooked, by Nir Eyal Influence, by Robert Cialdini What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Designing for Behavior Change, by Steve Wendell Connect with Sam:  Design For Decision website Sam on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Become Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 290) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Influence, with Robert Cialdini (ep 157) Marketing to Mindstates, with Will Leach (ep 88) Nudges and Choice Architecture (ep 35) Priming (ep 252) Designing for Behavior Change, with Steve Wendell (ep 116) Behavioral Science in the Wild, with Dilip Soman (ep 241) Cognitive Semiotics, with Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Habit Weekly’s Samuel Salzer (ep 284) Get It Done, with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Dealing with distractions is a common challenge that many professionals face in their everyday lives. Traction (the opposite of distraction) is the force that drives us towards our goals and objectives, keeping us focused on the tasks that really matter. In order to combat distractions, it's vital to create a plan that outlines the necessary steps for achieving success. This includes setting clear objectives and breaking down goals into manageable tasks, while also allocating specific time for relaxation or personal enjoyment.  By doing so, individuals can achieve a balanced life that fosters productivity and happiness. During this conversation with host Melina Palmer, Nir Eyal emphasized the importance of distinguishing between distraction and traction. Contrary to popular belief, the opposite of distraction isn't focus, but rather traction. Eyal explained that distractions are anything that pulls us away from our true goals, while traction is any action that brings us closer to achieving them. He urged listeners to create schedules that align with their values and to stick with them, ensuring that they devote the necessary time and focus to what truly matters. Enhance concentration through gaining traction and structured planning to mitigate distractions. Utilize technology with intention for peak productivity and enriching personal experiences. Overcome internal triggers by comprehending the nature of discomfort and controlling urges. Create value-driven schedules to bolster time management and sharpen focus. Employ tactical tools and approaches to curb the influence of digital distractions. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the episode and the guest, Nir Eyal, who is a behavioral designer. She talks about how Nir's book, Indistractable, helps people overcome distractions and become more productive. 00:04:30 - Personal Reason for Writing Indistractable, Nir Eyal shares his personal reason for writing Indistractable. He talks about how he was distracted by his phone while spending time with his daughter. Research and personal testing made him realize the problem was much deeper than just technology. He decided to explore the root cause of distraction and find an answer that actually worked. 00:09:40 - Distraction is an Old Problem, Nir talks about how distraction is not a new problem and has been with us for at least the past 2500 years. He explains how people have always blamed various forms of entertainment and technology for distracting them, and how it's lazy thinking to blame technology for distraction without understanding the root cause. 00:11:14 - The Opposite of Distraction is Traction, Nir Eyal explains that the opposite of distraction is not focus, but traction. He defines traction as any action that pulls you towards what you want to do, and distraction as any action that pulls you away from what you plan to do. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the difference between the two. 00:12:27 - Tools for Finding Balance, Nir Eyal talks about the importance of finding balance when it comes to using technology. He shares some tips and tricks anyone can use to help with this (a tiny sample of all the resources in his book). 00:13:47 - Understanding Distractions and Traction, Nir Eyal explains that distraction is anything that pulls us away from what we planned to do and anything can be a distraction. Conversely, anything can be traction if we make time for it and plan it according to our values. Becoming indistractable means living with personal integrity and knowing why we got distracted. 00:18:28 - The Root Cause of Distraction, Eyal identifies the root cause of distraction as our inability to deal with discomfort in a healthy manner. We use distraction as psychological pacification and escape uncomfortable emotions. To become indistractable, we must first learn to deal with the discomfort in a healthy way by fixing the source of discomfort or finding ways to cope. 00:19:48 - Human Motivation, Nir explains that human motivation is not about the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain but rather spurred by discomfort. We have two neural circuits, the liking system and the wanting system. The purpose of the wanting system is to create discomfort to get us to act. Time management is pain management, and to master distractions, we must first master internal triggers. 00:22:21 - Time Management and Addiction, Addiction isn't just about substances or behaviors but is more about our need to escape from discomfort. We must fix the source of discomfort or learn to deal with it in a healthier way. Eyal shares the story of Dr. Zoe Chance, who became temporarily addicted to her pedometer as she was using it to escape her life. 00:27:21 - The Evolution of Internal Triggers, Evolution has made us perpetually perturbed and hardwired for things like hedonic adaptation, rumination, and boredom to keep us searching for more. We are not designed by evolution to be satisfied, but to strive, search, want, and crave, which helped our species progress. The idea is to channel these uncomfortable sensations towards traction rather than distraction. 00:29:21 - Mindset and Reimagining Temptation, Our brains are wired for mindset issues, and we need to reimagine our temperament to become indistractable. If we have an issue, we need to understand the root cause and channel our mindset towards traction instead of distraction. We can reimagine the task, trigger, or our temperament to master the internal triggers, which is crucial to becoming indistractable. 00:32:00 - The Nuances of Technological Distraction, Our relationship with technology and other distractions is a nuanced discussion. Everything has unintended benefits and harms, and it is crucial to take a deeper look. We need to understand the good stuff that's happened and not just the negatives. If something is not serving us, we should disconnect and use what we want with intent. 00:35:23 - The Story Behind the Moral Panic, Every moral panic throughout the years has had a scapegoat, and this time, it's technological distraction. It's dangerous to believe in scientifically unsupported theories, which leads to learned helplessness. The evidence is scant, and the story is much more nuanced. 00:41:33 - Why We Need to Become Indistractable, Nir Eyal talks about how constant interruptions from Facebook and the news distract us and how hacking back our phones and offices can help us become indistractable. 00:42:14 - How Distractions Come from Colleagues, Eyal discusses how distractions from colleagues in open-office plans can impede work progress and how a simple explicit message can help. 00:43:10 - The Role of Pre-Commitments, Eyal explains how pre-commitments can help prevent distraction and promote personal integrity. 00:48:29 - The Antidote to Impulsiveness, Eyal emphasizes that the antidote to impulsiveness is forethought and how we should use our ability to see into the future to plan ahead. 00:50:08 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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: Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Hooked, by Nir Eyal Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Nir:  Nirandfar.com Nir on Twitter Nir on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance Already Heard That One? Try These:  Availability (ep 15) Habits (ep 256) The Power of Habit (ep 22) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) Tips To Overcome Imposter Syndrome (ep 13) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (ep 67) Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (ep 29) Sense of Hearing (ep 27) How To Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics (ep 83) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Temptation Bundling (ep 250) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions How This Year’s Nobel Prize Winning Research in Economics Can Help Your Business

In today's fast-paced world, attention spans are shorter than ever. By making stories concise, engaging, and to the point, marketers can cater to the needs of overwhelmed audiences while still delivering powerful messages. Short stories leave out unnecessary details while retaining the most critical elements, ultimately making them more memorable and easier to digest. David Paull considers short stories to be particularly useful tools in marketing and communications. He cites the popularity of TED Talks as evidence that people are drawn to concise yet impactful stories. In the podcast, he discusses the importance of refining messages through a careful editing process, distilling them down to their most essential aspects, and making them as powerful and engaging as possible. In this episode: Unleash the potential of behavioral storytelling to revolutionize your branding and marketing efforts. Learn how Dialsmith dials offer an innovative way to non-consciously measure audience reactions. Discover how to implement the RSPCT framework for designing impactful and convincing messages. Realize the significance of concise, emotionally charged stories for capturing your audience's interests. Leverage testimonials and social proof to amplify your persuasion techniques. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces David Paull, CEO of Dialsmith and founder of Lillian Labs. She highlights David's expertise in using storytelling to build brands and introduces his behavioral storytelling framework. 00:04:02 - Dialsmith, David Paull talks about Dialsmith, his insights technology company that develops dials used in focus groups during presidential debates and State of the Union addresses. He also discusses the online version of the dials and the consultancy arm of the company, Lillian Labs. 00:11:56 - Storytelling, David shares his journey in becoming interested in storytelling through his work on strategic communications and messaging. He talks about how he got involved with the Story Conference in Nashville and the experiments and thought exercises he did on cognitive biases and behavioral economics. 00:15:33 - Behavioral Storytelling, David Paul explains how he blends insights and storytelling to create behavioral storytelling. He provides an example of working with clients on climate issues and how they isolate the real problem and test their messaging with the market. The goal is to take the audience on an emotional or intellectual journey that leads to action. 00:19:25 - TEDxPortland, David Paul discusses his involvement with TEDxPortland, the largest indoor TEDx in the world. He talks about the importance of having a diverse group of speakers and how they select the speakers for the event. 00:16:25 - The RSPCT Framework, David Paull discusses his RSPCT Framework, which involves determining the real problem for the target audience, understanding what's at stake if the problem is not solved, identifying the perfect outcome, crafting an effective call to action, and providing testimonials and social proof for added credibility. 00:19:23 - The Danger of Stressing the Problem, Melina Palmer and David Paull discuss how stressing the problem too much can lead to unintentional normalization of the behavior you want to change. Instead, they highlight the importance of including testimonials and social proof to make the audience feel comfortable with the solution being proposed. 00:24:56 - Tips on Delivering a TED Talk, David Paull shares his experience as a speaker coach for TEDxPortland. He emphasizes the importance of keeping talks short, with a focus on big original ideas and tangible takeaways. He also recommends a strong emphasis on editing to distill the message down to its most essential elements. 00:27:38 - The Power of Short Stories, Melina Palmer and David Paull highlight the power of a short story to convey complex ideas in a short amount of time. They use examples from famous TED Talks, including one that was only two minutes and fifty-two seconds long. They emphasize the importance of making every word count to deliver a compelling message that resonates with the audience. 00:30:24 - Make It as Short as Possible, David Paull shares a quote from Albert Einstein about making scientific work. 00:31:51 - Finding the Real Problem, The first step in problem-solving is identifying the real problem. Keep peeling back the layers until you find the underlying issue by asking "why" until there's nowhere else to go. Then determine what's at stake and what the perfect outcome would be if the problem is solved. 00:32:34 - Using Storytelling to Evoke Emotion, Describing the perfect outcome in a way that can be felt is crucial. Storytelling evokes emotion, making it easier for people to make a decision. The call to action should demonstrate how your solution solves the real problem, alleviates what's at stake, and delivers the perfect outcome. 00:33:13 - Testimonials and Social Proof, Sharing testimonials and social proof will help people feel comfortable. It's important to tap into how people process information and make decisions. Using quantifiable data is better than squishy information when demonstrating the effectiveness of a solution. 00:33:47 - Additional Resources, The podcast episode mentions additional resources, including episodes on Herding and Social Proof, as well as a link to Michelle Auerbach's episode on the importance of emotion in decision-making. All resources can be found here in the show notes.  00:34:08 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation, a recap of the RSPCT framework, and items for you to consider as you implement what you learn. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Life-Saving Skill of Story, by Michelle Auerbach Ted Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking, by Chris Anderson Contagious, by Jonah Berger A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown Connect with David:  DavidPaull.com David on Twitter David on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Power of Storytelling, Michelle Auerbach Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anchoring (ep 11) Find Your Purpose, with Gina Bianchini (ep 263) The Importance of Connection, with Nick Epley (ep 265) Framing (ep 16) IKEA Effect (ep 112) Reciprocity (ep 238) The Science of Cool, with Troy Campbell (ep 169) Social Proof (ep 87) Herding (ep 264) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Stories have a tremendous impact on the way we perceive the world and make decisions. They are deeply rooted in our human nature and can be incredibly effective for marketing and brand strategy. Utilizing storytelling in marketing creates an emotional connection with the audience, which is integral for influencing decisions and shaping behavior. Stories have a unique ability to captivate attention, evoke emotions, and create a sense of empathy with the characters, all of which are powerful tools for businesses to reach their target customers. During the podcast, Michelle Auerbach shared the importance of focusing on a specific character or situation when crafting a story, to achieve a strong emotional impact. By providing a relatable context, stories can effectively communicate complex messages and ideas that may get lost or appear less engaging when presented as plain data or statistics. Auerbach emphasized that incorporating storytelling into marketing and brand strategy can be an essential factor for success, as it encourages the audience to connect with the brand and take action that benefits everyone involved. Master the art of storytelling for influencing human behavior and boosting your business potential. Implement the three-point story arc for powerful communication and establishing deeper connections. Trigger emotions through captivating storytelling techniques that drive decision-making and prompt action. Reinforce group cohesion and empathy through genuine and relatable stories. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina introduces the episode and its focus on the power of story. She explains that over the next few weeks, there will be guests discussing various aspects of storytelling in life and business. 00:03:14 - Michelle Auerbach's Background, Michelle talks about her childhood and her love for stories, which led her to pursue a degree in literature and a career in teaching that as well as ancient world languages. She then transitioned to organizational change and leadership development, using storytelling to help organizations develop culture and change. 00:06:01 - Story's Role in Change Management, Michelle explains how story impacts change management in several ways. Story has a somatic impact on the brain, helps with co-regulation, facilitates learning, and helps people see possibilities they wouldn't otherwise see. Story also helps people focus and remember information, and it produces cortisol and oxytocin, which encourage pro-social behavior. 00:11:10 - The Power of Story in Marketing and Brand Strategy, Melina and Michelle discuss how storytelling is used in marketing and brand strategy. Michelle explains that storytelling can help organizations connect with their audience by creating empathy and helping people understand the impact of their work. By focusing on one person's story, it can create a powerful emotional response and motivate people to take action. 00:13:29 - The Biology of Storytelling, Michelle explains the biology of storytelling and how it impacts the brain. Story produces cortisol and oxytocin, which help people focus and remember. 00:14:50 - The Importance of Storytelling in Business Michelle shares her expertise in storytelling and how it can be applied to business. She emphasizes the power of story in bridging gaps in communication, sharing scientific information, and even changing perspectives. She also suggests a simple three-part story structure that can be used in presentations, conversations, and even conflict resolution. 00:19:28 - Different Story Structures Michelle talks about the diversity of story structures found in different cultures and how they can be used in storytelling. She gives examples of Japanese and West African story structures and emphasizes the importance of not forcing one's own story structure on others. She also suggests ways to learn about other people's favorite stories and how it can build affinity and rapport. 00:25:06 - Using Story Cubes to Open Up Melina shares her experience using Story Cubes in her workshops to help people open up and share more about themselves. Story Cubes are a fun tool that uses images to trigger memories and stories that people might not have shared otherwise. Michelle also shares her love for Story Cubes and how they can help people tap into different parts of their memories and experiences. 00:27:00 - Priming with Storytelling Michelle talks about the concept of priming and how it can be used in storytelling to set the tone and mood for an event or meeting. She gives examples of how organizations with a strong "why" or Credo can use storytelling to bring that purpose into the room and lead from that place. 00:28:59 - Using Story Cards, Michelle created story cards with pictures from art students to help people tell stories and add visuals to presentations. The details in stories evoke feelings that anchor learning and change. 00:30:25 - Using Visuals in Storytelling, Adding visuals to storytelling evokes feelings in another way and helps with group cohesion. It's using our biology to benefit learning and decision-making functions. 00:33:01 - Overcoming Biases with Storytelling, Storytelling helps overcome biases, especially status quo bias, by evoking feelings in the decision-making processes. It's important to make people feel the impact of a situation rather than just presenting data. 00:37:51 - Top Tips for Using Storytelling, Start by listening to other people's stories and figuring out what you like and what's possible for you to do. Practice being a good story listener and asking story questions. Then, tell stories from an authentic place and don't tell people how to feel about a situation. Instead, ask them to tell you about their own experiences. 00:41:26 - Storytelling for Behavior Change, Michelle shares her experience in Japan, where a doorman's story about wearing masks "for politeness" helped her quickly change her behavior. When telling stories, it's important to share your own motivations rather than telling people what to do or feel. 00:43:20 - The Power of Story, Michelle explains that storytelling has been part of human culture for thousands of years. She shares that stories are powerful because they evoke emotions, which are needed to make decisions. A good story is relatable and makes abstract concepts more tangible. By telling stories, you can help people understand and feel your message. 00:44:16 - Everyone Can Tell a Story, Michelle encourages people to embrace their storytelling skills. She says that everyone is born with the ability to tell a story and it's a skill that can be developed. Michelle suggests that to become a better storyteller, you should listen to stories and figure out your own storytelling style. Don't try to be someone else because it will be inauthentic and not work as well. 00:45:30 - Using Storytelling in Business, Michelle explains that storytelling can be used in business to help with change management, persuasive presentations, and creating compelling sales pitches. She recommends using a simple structure to tell stories, answering the questions: what's going on, what did you do, and what happened. The right metaphors and connections can make a story more powerful. 00:48:30 - Connecting Through Stories, Michelle shares that she includes a recipe in her weekly newsletter because food is part of cultural stories. She believes that by sharing stories and experiences, you can create connections with people. Michelle encourages people to use stories to engage with others and make them feel something. 00:49:13 - Conclusion, Melina's top insights from the conversation, a recap of Michelle’s three-part storytelling framework, and items for you to consider as you implement what you learned. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Life-Saving Skill of Story, by Michelle Auerbach A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger The Hype Handbook, by Michael Schein What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Connect with Michelle:  Michelle’s Website Michelle on Instagram Michelle on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: DOSE Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Change Management (ep 226) Framing (ep 16) Novelty & Stories (ep 54) Priming (ep 252) Mirror Neurons (ep 31) IKEA Effect (ep 112) Availability (ep 15) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (ep 46) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Interview with Michael Schein ep 143) Expect Error (ep 39) Give Feedback (ep 40) Disney (ep 144) What is Behavioral Baking? (ep 155) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

The manner in which we communicate plays an essential role in contributing to or easing microstress. With the proliferation of remote work and numerous communication channels, it is vital to be mindful and intentional in our communication with colleagues and acquaintances. Establishing positive communication norms can alleviate microstress and create a more collaborative and productive work environment. Rob Cross highlighted the need for thoughtful communication in his conversation with Melina Palmer. He shared that teams should establish clear communication norms, such as using bullet points rather than lengthy paragraphs, avoiding unnecessary CC in emails, and refraining from sending messages after a particular time. By adopting such positive communication practices, teams can work towards fostering a supportive workplace culture and minimizing the impact of microstress on all members. Unveil the methods for recognizing and neutralizing everyday workplace microstressors to elevate your work experience. Comprehend the ramifications of toxic relationships on your well-being and establish pathways for transformation. Benefit from Rob Cross's research on the microstress effect and its applications to your personal and professional sphere. Refine your communication skills to address microstress mindfully and cultivate enriching connections. Bring about small alterations that result in remarkable betterment of your holistic well-being. Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Host Melina Palmer introduces Dr. Rob Cross, who is the Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College and the co-founder and director of the Connected Commons. The episode is about the new book he co-authored with Karen Dillon, The Microstress Effect. 00:03:02 - Background, Rob Cross talks about his background and his work with the Connected Commons, a consortium of over 150 leading organizations that sponsor research into ways of looking at networks and relationships in organizations. 00:06:32 - The Impact of Negative Relationships, Social psychology has shown that the negative interactions we have tend to have 3x to 5x the impact of the positive. Rob Cross shares his thoughts on the best practices for organizations to cultivate relationships that positively impact their employees' wellbeing. 00:08:15 - Resilience and Connections, Resilience is not just about grit and fortitude. It's about how we fall back on others in difficult times. Rob Cross discovered that there are eight predictable things we get from others when we have the connections in our lives. Without these, it's harder to navigate through difficult times. 00:12:23 - Understanding Microstress, Rob Cross shares how he stumbled onto the idea of microstress through his research. He found that there are 14 pretty consistent types of microstress that tend to accumulate around us each day and week at a pace and volume our brains just aren't designed to handle. These microstresses grow behind the scenes in a way that sneaks up on us until they become overwhelming. 00:14:55 - The Impact of Microstress, Rob discusses the impact of microstress on one's life, particularly when they are not aware of it. He talks about how the stress is just beneath the surface of awareness and can be creeping up on us. 00:17:09 - Types of Microstress, Rob explains that microstressors can come from different sources, including emails, instant messaging applications, and team collaborative spaces. He shares that it affects the metabolism differently, and people under this form of stress metabolize their meals differently. 00:22:44 - Cascading Effects of Microstress, Rob shares that microstressors can lead to cascading effects that people don't often think about. For example, a leader or stakeholder that shifts expectations can cause extra work, and employees may have to protect their team and go back into the team to keep engagement high. 00:24:24 - Tips on Dealing with Microstress, Rob suggests a table in the book with the 14 microstressors and categories of people where they come from, and answering three questions around them. He advises people to think about which stressors have become systemic in their lives and what stress they are creating for others. Rob also mentions the importance of finding groups outside of one's profession that they can be an authentic part of. 00:27:15 - Avoiding Getting into the Minutiae, Rob suggests focusing on getting out of the minutiae by finding groups outside one's profession that one can be an authentic part of. He shares that people who are happiest in this work typically have at least two or three groups outside their profession. 00:28:27 - The Impact of Traumatic Events, When experiencing a traumatic health diagnosis or event, people often reflect on what previously seemed important and realize it was insignificant. Those who maintain dimensionality in their life are better equipped to handle such events. Reflecting on interactions and adapting them can have a significant impact on how one feels day-to-day. 00:30:24 - The Impact of Communication on Stress, Poor communication habits, such as overdramatizing gossip or sending excessive emails, can lead to unnecessary stress and negative work interactions. Thoughtful and intentional communication, such as establishing positive norms and reducing unnecessary communication, can help reduce microstressors. 00:34:06 - Decreasing Collaboration Overload, Collaboration overload, where the amount of collaboration outweighs the increase in work, is a significant source of microstressors. By creating positive norms, such as bullet points instead of long paragraphs, or agreeing on a set number of emails per day, the collaborative footprint of work can be reduced. 00:37:36 - The Impact of Small Communication Habits, Small communication habits, such as sending vague or poorly-worded emails or leaving a negative aftertaste in interactions, can accumulate and have a significant impact on work stress levels. Thoughtful interactions, such as being intentional with emails or setting clear expectations for team collaborations, can help reduce microstressors. 00:41:20 - The Impact of Trust and Expectations, Lack of trust and unclear expectations can lead to stress when working on collaborative projects. People often work harder to compensate for small misses from team members, perpetuating the cycle of stress. Setting clear expectations and building trust can help reduce microstressors in collaborative work environments. 00:42:12 - Drains to Capacity, The 14 microstressors that affect our ability to get work done can be categorized as drains to capacity that hit us emotionally (such as worry or concern for people we care about), or value disconnects, where we slowly feel interactions moving us away from who we set out to be. 00:43:28 - Counterfactual Thinking, Dwelling on what had happened or what might happen in the future can be a big contributor to microstress. This can be interactions abroad where we are trying to protect our team, family, or friends. It can also be a conflictual conversation that needs to happen, which can cause disproportionate stress. 00:45:23 - Specific Ways to Manage Conflictual Conversations, Conflictual conversations can be cathartic and good for people if we keep things data-driven and do specific things. We tend to think a lot about it before, during, and after the interaction, and this can cause stress. There are specific ways to handle conflictual conversations that can reduce stress. 00:47:10 - Importance of Small Stuff, Small stressors in our lives and those of people around us can cause massive amounts of stress that are totally unnecessary. Often, we don't realize the impact that our actions are having on others. The book, The Microstress Effect, provides charts and mockups of questions to ask and ways to work through microstress to have an impact on our lives and those around us. 00:49:31 - Closing Thoughts, Melina's top insights from the conversation, and items for you to consider as you implement what you learn. What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. 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.com 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 Microstress Effect, by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon The Fun Habit, by Mike Rucker Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Getting Along, by Amy Gallo  What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer   Connect with Rob:  Rob on Twitter Rob on LinkedIn Rob’s Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Counterfactual Thinking (ep 286) Already Heard That One? Try These:   The Fun Habit, with Mike Rucker (ep 251) Happier Hour, with Cassie Holmes (ep 257) Negativity Bias (ep 223) Find Your Purpose, with Gina Bianchini (ep 263) The Importance of Connection, with Nick Epley (ep 265) Framing (ep 16) IKEA Effect (ep 112) Prefactual Thinking (ep 232) The Speed and Economics of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (ep 148) Reciprocity (ep 238) Getting Along, with Amy Gallo (ep 269) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Counterfactual thinking (when we mentally "undo" events that have already happened and imagine different outcomes) can contribute to personal and professional growth when applied constructively. This type of thinking is closely related to prefactual thinking, which involves imagining future scenarios, alternatives, and opportunities. Both types of thinking can aid in regulating behavior, problem-solving, and goal setting, ultimately contributing to improved performance and success in life and business. This episode highlights the interplay between counterfactual and prefactual thinking and how both can foster unique perspectives and considerations that set individuals and businesses apart from the competition. There is immense value in adopting a curious, open-minded approach when engaging in these thought processes, which can ultimately lead to personal development, innovation, and cultivating a successful and resilient mindset. Here's some of what you'll get from this episode: Explore the intriguing effects of counterfactual thinking on emotions and behaviors. Identify the fine line between helpful and detrimental counterfactual thoughts. Learn effective tactics for managing counterfactual thinking in tough situations. Uncover the power of combining counterfactual and prefactual thinking for a winning strategy. Master transforming negativity into productive and positive actions.  Show Notes: 00:00:00 - Introduction, Melina Palmer introduces the podcast episode (a refresh from one that originally aired in October 2019) focusing on counterfactual thinking and how it is central to being human. She explains the different types of counterfactuals and the impact they can have on our emotions and way of thinking. 00:05:06 - Types of Counterfactuals, Melina explains the difference between upward and downward counterfactuals, omissions and commissions, rumination and undoing, and usual or extreme events. She encourages listeners to reflect on their own types of counterfactuals and how they have impacted them in the past. 00:09:25 - Target of Counterfactuals, Melina discusses how the target of counterfactuals can impact the thought process. She gives an example of how people tend to focus on themselves even when they are not to blame, which can lead to distress and anxiety. 00:13:32 - Example of Unhealthy Counterfactual Thinking, Melina provides an extreme example of unhealthy counterfactual thinking where a woman dwells over a nonevent at work and becomes distressed and angry, constantly dwelling over what the woman in HR did or didn't do and how she could have acted differently. 00:14:50 - Recap, Melina summarizes the key takeaways from the episode so far and encourages listeners to use counterfactual thinking as a tool for setting and achieving goals, while also being mindful of when it becomes unhealthy and causes distress. She reminds listeners to download the free counterfactual thinking worksheet (and get more resources) in the show notes. 00:14:57 - The Impact of Counterfactual Thinking, Counterfactual thinking can lead to spiraling thoughts and negatively impact interactions. Dwelling on negatives can be harmful and counterproductive. It's essential to focus on the present and not dwell on the past. 00:19:07 - A Study on Counterfactual Thinking, A study on counterfactual thinking found that over half of the respondents were undoing a traumatic event in their minds. The distress level and frequency of undoing did not differ based on whether the item being undone was usual or exceptional; omission or commission. 00:25:31 - Focus on Self, Those who were undoing the event in their minds were more focused on their own actions or the actions of their loved ones than the other driver's behavior, even though the other driver was (typically) at fault. This shows how quickly the brain can compartmentalize and can lead to feelings of regret, guilt, and responsibility. 00:28:54 - Recency of Undoing, The recency of the undoing process (note: this is not the recency of the event) impacted distress levels. Those who were still undoing the event were more distressed than those who had never undone or had undone in the past, but stopped. This suggests that undoing may be a distress-driven cognitive process. 00:31:15 - Changing Focus, The action that people actively undo overwhelmingly changes over time. People may focus on themselves and their actions in a particular circumstance, but the specific action that they focus on can vary. The lesson is to focus on the present and not dwell on the past. 00:31:47 - The Effects of Undoing, Continuously undoing can increase distress levels, and guilt is the only negative emotion uniquely related to undoing. Guilt related to controllable events declines over time, but excessive undoing can perpetuate distress. 00:33:21 - Self Esteem and Counterfactual Thinking, People with low self-esteem may focus on their inadequacies in their counterfactuals, leading to more distress. Highly distressed individuals undo more frequently, perpetuating their distress. 00:35:09 - The Benefits of Counterfactual Thinking, Counterfactual thinking is crucial in regulating behavior and reaching goals. Failing to reach a goal often leads to counterfactual thinking, but reframing it can improve behavior. Turning counterfactual thoughts into actionable next steps can help reach goals. Plus, the one, most important phrase to help you leverage counterfactual thinking and use it to your advantage. 00:38:37 - Moving Forward from Counterfactual Thinking, Moving on from counterfactual thinking is crucial to prevent it from taking over your life and work. Asking questions like, "What can I do differently next time?" can help reframe counterfactual thoughts into positive next steps. An example from the Olympics, and how to use that most powerful language. 00:41:25 - Positive Thinking, Reframing, and a Refreshed Close, Acting as if you were a silver-lining person can trick your brain into thinking that way. Mental reframes and curious questions can change everything and set you and your business apart. Consider how different things might be if you flipped your counterfactual thinking around. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: Get your copies of Melina’s award-winning books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Microstress Effect, Rob Cross and Karen Dillon What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, Melina Palmer Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott Quit, by Annie Duke Power of Regret, by Dan Pink Top Recommended Next Episode: Prefactual Thinking (ep 232) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Questions or Answers (ep 4) Relativity (ep 12) Game Theory (ep 228) The Power of Regret, with Dan Pink (ep 214) Both/And Thinking, with Wendy Smith (ep 261) The Elements of Choice, with Eric Johnson (ep 174) Quit, with Annie Duke (ep 227) Priming (ep 252) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How to Break the Negative Cycle of ‘What If’ Thinking Improving Physical Task Performance with Counterfactual and Prefactual Thinking When Thinking It Means Doing It: Prefactual Thought In Self-handicapping Behavior Fixing Your Brain: A Guide to Balancing Neurotransmitters The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking Norm Theory: Comparing Reality to Its Alternatives The Undoing of Traumatic Life Events

In this episode of the Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Carlos Hoyos, a behavioral scientist and content creator from Latin America. They discuss the challenges of creating content in a non-English language and the importance of making behavioral science accessible to a wider audience. Hoyos shares his approach to creating content, including his YouTube channel, Behavioral Pills, and his e-learning platform, which offers one-hour sessions on various behavioral science frameworks. The conversation highlights the need for more diverse voices in the behavioral science community and the opportunities for growth and learning in different regions around the world. Show Notes: [00:42] Welcome Carlos Hoyos, Senior Behavioral Designer at BeWay, and Co-Founder at Kestudio. [02:19] Behavioral science is important everywhere.  [03:42] Carlos shares about himself, his background, and the work he does in behavioral science.  [05:35] In recent years he has dedicated his whole career to developing his knowledge in terms of behavioral science and design and specifically to find ways to apply it in business.  [07:15] Carlos was named Content Person of the Year by Habit Weekly. (Merle van den Akker – last week’s guest – and I were both finalists as well – congrats Carlos!)  [10:15] There are many companies now that are investing in behavioral science in Latin America.  [13:12] He sees himself as a content curator because he shares what other good professionals are doing.  [14:46] People love to talk about human behavior. It really connects to people.  [16:36] He found that there is so much information out there in English. Instead of being just one more, he decided to focus on Spanish because there is so little in Spanish right now.  [19:32] Daring to do the thing no one else has done yet is what helps people to stand out.  [22:20] Carlos shares some of the work he is doing with BBVA. They have merged behavioral science into day-to-day decision-making.  [24:53] One project they worked on at BBVA was with credit cards. People weren’t interested in applying for the credit cards because of a lack of trust – they wanted to change that.  [27:34] Experimentation and testing are a must in their projects.  [29:20] In 2022, they did more than 130 experiments in different areas of the business and that actually represented an extra income of around 45 million euros in the year.  [30:46] There are so many little things where behavioral science can make a very big impact in any type of business all around the world.  [32:20] There is plenty of opportunity and room for growth in behavioral science – in the US and around the world.  [35:16] The stress on the brain when you are trying to hurry and rush leads to problems that have to be fixed down the line.  [37:23] Experimenting and testing every decision you want to make will help you make better decisions now and for the future.  [38:42] If you torture the data long enough it will confess to anything.  [41:34] Carlo’s Behavioral Pills are one-hour e-learning sessions where he explains things concepts he considers basic for a behavioral scientist to know.  [43:33] Melina’s closing thoughts [45:03] Don’t be scared of being first. There are lots of people like you who have done this in their own way or their own language.  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.com 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: Outsmart Your Brain, by Dan Willingham Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam Friction, by Roger Dooley Connect with Carlos:  Carlos Website Carlos on LinkedIn Carlos on YouTube Top Recommended Next Episode: How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Saving Peru’s Environment One Nudge At A Time with BE OEFA (ep 195) Habit Weekly: A Discussion With Creator Samuel Salzer (ep 284) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (ep 101) Nudges and Choice Architecture (ep 35) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Evolutionary Ideas with Sam Tatam, Ogilvy’s Global Head of Behavioural Science (ep 204) Herding (ep 264) Priming (ep 252) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, with Jennifer Clinehens (ep 141) The Speed and Economics of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (ep 148) Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Sludge: What It Is and How to Reduce It (ep 179) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction with Richard Chataway (ep 134) Reciprocity (ep 238) Framing (ep 16) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Behavioral Pills Website

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, host Melina Palmer interviews Samuel Salzer, founder of Habit Weekly, a newsletter that curates the latest in behavioral science research and news. Salzer discusses the importance of creating content that people actually want (imagine that!) and the value of putting good things out into the world. He also shares insights on building habits and behavior change, and how businesses can apply these principles to their marketing and customer engagement strategies. Overall, the episode highlights the power of behavioral science in shaping our daily lives and the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest research and trends. Show Notes: [00:40] Today’s episode is a refresh of my conversation with Samuel Salzer, founder of Habit Weekly. [02:06] It is so fun to see how much things have grown at Habit Weekly in these three years. They have a full team of people now, and they’ve been doing their awards for a few years as well. I was honored to have been a winner in the inaugural edition, and a finalist in multiple categories every year. [03:29] Samuel shares about himself, his background, and how he started working in behavioral science. He has always been an entrepreneur and started his first business at 16.  [05:02] He found human decision-making fascinating.  [06:44] He wanted to learn more about what we can do to support people in making behavioral changes in their lives.  [08:42] For his work he focuses on how to scale behavioral change.  [09:56] You are succeeding if you help create value for your users and customers, understand them better, and help find a good solution for their problems.  [10:38] Whether we like it or not, behavior is quite complex. We are complex beings living in complex environments.  [13:06] Most businesses look at reducing friction in their customer journeys. Sometimes increasing friction is a good idea too.  [16:06] We are really good at creating stories and narratives in our minds to support whatever thing we really want to do.  [18:28] Just the simple shift of taking the word from reward to consequence makes it feel heavier in a way that can change behavior.   [19:39] Each individual choice matters. [20:50] We are often trying to do things that remove a negative effect. [23:17] The concept of “eating the frog” is doing the hard thing first.  [25:45] Samuel felt like it was hard to stay up on the content and research in the field so he started sharing links on LinkedIn.  [26:53] This eventually evolved into Habit Weekly. It’s now a mailing list that sends content related to behavioral design on a weekly basis. [28:27] You know you found something people really want if they are reaching out to you asking you to create a mailing list. It doesn’t have to be difficult to start an email list if you understand what drives people.  [30:27] His goal is to make sure that anyone interested in applying behavior change has the best and latest insights every week. [35:21] This field of behavioral science is still in the adolescent phase. In the near future, it is going to move into this more mature phase that is more about the process and learning more about applying these concepts in the best way.  [37:21] Samuel is really excited about the better understanding in the next few years of how any organization can easily start applying these concepts.  [40:17] His superpower or wish would be to see the world through other people’s eyes. (Melina would like to be able to speak and read every language fluently.) [40:58] He also loves books and movies. A really good book or movie can help show the world from someone else’s perspective.  [44:44] Many businesses create content people don’t want. If you start from a place of sharing, reciprocity will kick in eventually and people will appreciate what you are doing and what to give back to you one way or another.  [46:18] 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: Get your copies of Melina’s award-winning books.  Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Friction, by Roger Dooley What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Connect with Samuel:  Samuel’s Website Samuel on LinkedIn Samuel on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Framing (ep 16) Already Heard That One? Try These:  How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) (ep 81) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Time Discounting (ep 51) Partitioning (ep 58) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Optimism Bias (ep 34) What is BrainyTab? An Interview with the Founders Radu and Raluca Judele (ep 85) Reciprocity (ep 238) Booms and Busts (ep 30) How to Make Content People Can’t Help But Engage With, featuring Katelyn Bourgoin (ep 201) You Have More Influence Than You Think, with Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Sludge (ep 179) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Brain Science Behind Your Shopping Decisions (watch Melina’s TV interview!) Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time Habit Weekly

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Merle van den Akker. Merle is a behavioral scientist who has recently completed a Ph.D. at the Warwick Business School, studying the effect of different payment methods on personal finance management. She decided to leave academia to apply behavioral insights in the real world and has become a behavioral science manager at a financial well-being unit in an Australian bank. She continues to research and apply behavioral science to improve financial services and consumer (financial) well-being. Next to this, Merle is a science communicator, running the blog Money on the Mind, and the MoneyPsychologist TikTok account, where she disseminates insights from the intersection of behavioral science and personal finance. Last, to not leave academia behind fully, Merle also still teaches behavioral science as well as courses on fintech developments at top Australian universities. Merle was also a finalist for Content Person of the Year in the Habit Weekly Awards in 2022 along with myself and many other amazing content creators in the space including next week's guest who won the award last year. In today's conversation, we are talking about personal finance – both for individuals and how it applies to any business. Stress at home can impact performance at work, and there are some ways businesses can be helping their employees feel more comfortable -- and do better work -- if they are thoughtful about personal finances and what is going on in the world around them. Even if your company doesn't believe it is impacted by inflation or the massive layoffs that have been happening recently...think again. Merle and I dig in on how social media and other availability-bias- and herding-fueled messaging is impacting everyone, and what companies can be doing to help their employees to feel more secure and less stressed. Show Notes: [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Merle van den Akker. Merle is a behavioral scientist who has recently completed a Ph.D. at the Warwick Business School studying the effect of different payment methods on personal finance management.  [02:21] Stress at home can impact performance at work and there are some ways businesses can help their employees feel more comfortable and do better work.  [04:34] Merle shares about herself, her background, and the work she does. She runs the Money on the Mind blog, where she writes about how behavioral science applies to personal finance.  [06:42] Spending on a credit card is incredibly different than spending with cash.  [07:37] With contactless payments, people tend to spend a bit more and then they actually have a much worse recall of what they spent.  [09:32] Mental accounting is expenditure and research tracking in your head.  [11:51] It is important to ask thoughtful questions in business and research.  [14:25] You have a mental and a physical account for savings and your credit whether you are in debt or not.  [16:54] Behavioral science can contribute positively to the cost of living crisis in major ways. When people act out of fear they don’t make great decisions.  [18:54] Learned helplessness is a very dangerous state to get into. You need to be able to get into a mindset where you are still able to act.  [21:50] Having too much pressure on people’s time is impacting their ability to do really good, thoughtful work.  [24:28] The present bias is a very inconvenient bias and is something you should be aware of.  [27:31] As an employee, it is important to know what would and would not work and ask for that from your employer. An employer should be open and expectant to have these conversations.  [30:36] There can be more thoughtful and creative solutions for ways employers can help that don’t cost them a lot of money.  [32:45] You can help be a solution for customers and employees by having this overall awareness of what is happening in the world and how that is going to be impacting behavior.  [34:09] If your brain is in overload the last thing it wants is ambiguity.  [35:42] You don’t want people to act out of fear because they will make decisions that don’t benefit anyone in the long run. That is something we should really try to avoid.  [37:53] Social media algorithms give you more of what you show interest in. Something may feel like it is everywhere, when in reality the algorithms are just showing it to you a lot.    [39:46] Always take the time in stressful moments to breathe and get out of that hot state to look and see what you can do differently.  [41:01] It is a win-win situation to have employees that are not just cowering under an enormous load of stress and fear and as a result being rendered almost nonfunctional.  [42:34] Melina’s closing thoughts. [43:01] If you focus on helping your people with more aspects of their lives then just what feels immediately relative to your bottom line can have really great impacts financially and otherwise.  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.com 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: Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Scarcity, by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir  Subtract, by Leidy Klotz The Power of Scarcity, by Mindy Weinstein Connect with Merle:  Money on the Mind Merle on Twitter Merle on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Common Errors in Financial Decision Making with Dr. Chuck Howard (ep 213) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Pain of Paying (ep 240) Hindsight Bias (ep 167) Time Discounting (ep 51) Common Errors in Financial Decision Making with Dr. Chuck Howard (ep 213) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Mental Accounting (ep 282) That Time I Went Viral… with Dr. Daniel Crosby (ep 212) Survivorship Bias (ep 110) Herding (ep 264) Availability Bias (ep 15) Time Pressure (ep 74) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Past, Present, and Future Biases  (ep 246) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (ep 39) Give Feedback: The "G" in NUDGES (ep 40) Ambiguity Aversion (ep 243) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Learned Helplessness Invest now, drink later, spend never: On the mental accounting of delayed consumption

You’re likely familiar with accounting, so perhaps you can gather that mental accounting is essentially about how we account for things in our mind. But, you may not realize that it isn’t just mental math. This is about how we tend to create separate accounts for things in our minds that feel concrete, but often aren’t. When I give examples in this episode today, which originally aired in the summer of 2019, you are going to find yourself saying, “Well, obviously that is how it works!” And then when you realize it doesn’t have to be that way…it's kind of mind-blowing, but in a good way.  Mental accounting is great in a lot of ways. It helps us to save money and prioritize things that we might have a harder time with if everything was all lumped together. But it doesn’t mean it is the ONLY way or even the right way. It might just be the best way our brains are doing it right now, and it is always a good thing when you can know the rules your brain is using to make its decisions as well as that of your employees, peers, customers, and more.  So, why are we talking about mental accounting today? It’s because this Friday I am joined by Dr. Merle van den Akker, an expert on psychology and personal finances who runs the Money on the Mind blog. When she is here on Friday we discuss how the stress of money (fear of losing a job, concern about inflation, and the like) can impact employees. And, we of course take it a step further to unpack what businesses should know about these topics to better support their employees and why, even if a company thinks this doesn’t have anything to do with them…it absolutely does. This kind of stress has a lot of economic impact on an organization, and it doesn’t have to be difficult to support employees and achieve that win-win. We specifically talk about mental accounting in the episode, making it the perfect time to refresh it and get you set up for success for Friday! Show Notes: [01:21] Our brains make rules all the time. Sometimes they are really valuable — mental accounting is a great thing in a lot of ways. Sometimes, they aren’t necessarily serving us well. [03:21] The concept of mental accounting was introduced by Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler and is based on a human’s illogical approach to value in relative terms instead of looking at it as an absolute.  [06:00] Three examples of how mental accounting can impact the decisions we make. This concept is very ingrained in our brains.  [08:22] Money is commonly labeled as either: expenses, wealth, and income.  [10:48] Much like regular accounting in mental accounting, individuals will book and post any occurring or planned transactions to the mental account. However, small items may not be booked in the same way as a big item would be. As long as it is below a certain amount it doesn’t have to hit the mental account.  [12:38] We often don’t look at dollar bills and change the same.  [15:31] Similar to the process of rounding up change at the grocery store, adding a small amount to an already large payment doesn’t feel the same as having that payment on its own. This is because of decoupling.  [17:07] Vacations are enjoyed more when they are prepaid because it feels free.  [19:06] There are times when prepayment is necessary and beneficial for the overall enjoyment of an experience.  [22:34] When prepayment comes into play the impact of the payment gets completely wiped off the mental accounting sheet so its impact on the sheet becomes zero.  [25:11] Instead, internalize how the brain is wired to make its decisions around mental accounting.  [27:49] When it comes to wealth in these sorts of categories people are very influenced by paper gains and losses.  [29:26] Where you keep the money mentally or physically matters, but it also matters how you came across the money in question.  [30:53] The way you receive the dividend impacts your willingness to spend it.  [32:17] While it is easier to give cash than gifts, in many cases when the gift given is something someone really likes or enjoys it can have a greater value than giving cash.  [34:08] While losses should be lumped together, gains should be separated out to really feel their value. Don’t wrap all the Christmas presents in one box.  [35:14] Mental accounting affects more than just money.  [37:52] Context is important in the way people react.  [39:54] Talking on the phone is more enjoyable when you aren’t worried about how much it is going to cost you.  [41:57] If you struggle with work-life balance and want to make more time for yourself, your family, or date night, consider how the mental accounts for money were set up.  [43:47] Try to take a step back and have perspective on what’s a waste of time and how you could better allocate your mental time account.  [44:25] 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: Check out Melina’s award-winning books. Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Scarcity, by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir  Subtract, by Leidy Klotz The Power of Scarcity, by Mindy Weinstein Top Recommended Next Episode: Pain of Paying (240) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Costco (ep 47) Apple Card (ep 42) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Celebrating the First Year of the Podcast (ep 55) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Framing (ep 16) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Time Discounting (ep 51) Booms and Busts (ep 30) What is Value? (ep 8) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Pain of Paying The Red and the Black: Mental Accounting of Savings and Debt The Pain of Paying Tightwads and Spendthrifts: An Interdisciplinary Review Always Leave Home Without It: A Further Investigation of the Credit-Card Effect on Willingness to Pay Invest now, drink later, spend never: On the mental accounting of delayed consumption Mental Accounting Matters Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice

In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Dan Willingham, a memory expert with a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard. Dan’s new book Outsmart Your Brain (which we discuss today) will change your life. While the book is catered to K-16 learners (for example, it includes chapters on “how to take notes,” “how to listen to a lecture,” “how to read hard books,” and “how to take tests”) trust me when I say this book is for you and everyone you know. It is fascinating and will help you with any presentation you may give or meeting you will be in moving forward. Trust me, you’re gonna love this. A little more about Dan: His work has appeared in the Washington Post, The New York Times, and many other publications, and he is the author of several books – his writing has appeared in 18 languages! In 2017 he was appointed by President Obama to serve as a Member of the National Board for Education Sciences. Whether you want to be a better learner yourself or if you have kids (including college students) in your life whom you want to help be successful, this episode and book are for you. I can't wait to dive into this one because there is so much great stuff. Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Dan Willingham. Dan earned his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University in 1990. [03:03] Dan shares about himself, his background, and the work he does.  He was trained as a cognitive psychologist.   [04:04] He shares his transition from basic researcher to applied researcher.  [07:02] Often, we assume people know that thing that we know so we miss key things when presenting. That means they don’t get value from your talk.  [08:41] There are things we know we should do that we find difficult to implement. Sometimes we really don’t know what is optimal to do. We tend to do things in the moment that we feel are working and are not that difficult. (But often, the harder/counterintuitive thing will make a much bigger impact.) [11:16] Does cramming work? Dan says, “kind of.” It depends on what your goals are. If you do not care about remembering something in the long term then crowding it all in right before you need to perform is actually fine.  [12:50] The only way to ensure that you remember things in the long term is if your learning happens over time rather than all crammed together.  [15:42] If you are trying to master a new skill or a new topic and you feel like you need to wait to start until you have more than small bits of time, don’t wait! The data shows this is actually optimal for learning and retention.  [18:2326] Creating that consistent study or work habit by time and not by task is very important.  [21:04] We all procrastinate. It is a natural tendency.  [22:37] The key thing is you have to give yourself permission to stop if you want to.  [24:26] The night of sleep is important in consolidating the memories that were formed during the day. If you don’t get much sleep or you get low-quality sleep you are tampering with the learning that you put so much time into the previous day.  [25:40] Your intention or your desire to learn contributes nothing to whether or not you will learn something. There are lots of things we want to remember but don’t.  [27:26] Memory loves meaning. That is the main way we remember.  [29:05] You draw memory out the same way that it went in.  [30:53] Memories are going to be queued by thoughts or by things in the environment later. The way you are going to be able to draw memories out most successfully is when the queue is a good match for the way you thought about the memory at the time you were trying to remember it.  [32:51] When you are storing something away, think to yourself, “How am I likely later to try and remember this?” and make that part of the way it becomes retrievable.  [35:48] How do you organize 94 tips in one book? He chose to sort them by task. It is organized by things you would do that entail learning (how to read hard books, how to take notes, etc).  [38:45] When there is a hierarchical organization in speeches you are expected to make connections among the different things that you are hearing. Because it is not a narrative it is difficult to make those connections.  [41:45] You want to reframe to highlight what you enjoy instead of what is making you procrastinate. Looking at it in this way helps you overcome that.  [44:43] Allocate time to different tasks to help you get to the tasks that you tend to procrastinate on. Do the hard task first.  [46:40] It is not that what you are doing now is ineffective. It is that it can be slightly tweaked to be significantly more effective.  [48:31] What’s the simplest tip in the book? Some data shows that chewing gum helps you to focus for 20 minutes. Give it a try if you like gum! [50:328] Melina’s closing thoughts [51:39] In understanding how your own brain is wired to learn as well as others, and then how to "outsmart it" every step of the way is pure gold. 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.com 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: Outsmart Your Brain, by Dan Willingham Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Tiny Habits, by BJ Fogg You Are Not So Smart, by David McRaney A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Connect with Dan:  Dan’s Website Dan on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: An Overview of Memory Bias (ep 280) Already Heard That One? Try These:  How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 266) Habits (ep 21) Stressed and Overcommitted? Tips to Tackle Planning Fallacy, a behavioral economics foundations episode (ep 114) Framing (ep 16) Temptation Bundling (ep 136) Herding (ep 19) Time Discounting (ep 51) Good Habits, Bad Habits: An Interview with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Bikeshedding: Why The Simplest Tasks Can Keep You Stuck (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) (ep 99) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

Memory is a funny thing. We like to think we have these perfect pictures of what really happened in our minds waiting to be retrieved in pristine condition, but that’s not at all how it works. It turns out we have all sorts of biases that, well, bias our memories. And that is important to know in our interactions with other people in life and business.  The truth is: you can remember something completely different from someone else, and neither of you has to be wrong. Let me say that again, even if you remember something that is completely different than someone else, it doesn’t mean that either of you is wrong. Our brains screen for different information than what someone else might be screening for (focusing illusion and confirmation bias). That subconscious filter is sifting through a lot of stuff, and what mattered to you and what you remember is never the full picture. This episode, which originally came out in early 2019, is a quick run through of a bunch of memory biases (part of the 8-part “All the Biases”  series).  So, why was memory important to refresh today? It is because of the guest I am delighted to introduce you to this coming Friday, Dan Willingham, a memory expert whose book Outsmart Your Brain will change your life (and that of every learner you know). Outsmart Your Brain has chapters on “how to take notes,” “how to listen to a lecture,” “how to read hard books,” “how to take tests,” and more. It is fascinating and will help you with any presentation you may give or meeting you will be in moving forward. Trust me, you’re gonna love that conversation and Dan’s book, so be sure to subscribe to The Brainy Business podcast now (before you forget). (Haha, memory joke!) Show Notes: [00:39] Today’s episode is all about memory biases. Memory is a funny thing. [01:16] You can remember something completely different from someone else, and neither of you has to be wrong. [03:41] Today’s episode is going to be divided into three sections: general memory stuff, false memories, and tips on how you can use these biases to help you remember things better.  [04:45] Our memories are basically inaccurate renditions our brains tell us and every time we access them we change them a little. So the more you think about something the less and less it is like the original version. (Frustrating, but true.) [06:26] Your customers, coworkers, friends, and family all have these same biases, so hopefully learning more about all your brains will help in all sorts of interactions in the future.  [07:20] You are the hero of your own story and no one will remember your story as well as you do (but of course even you don’t remember your story correctly). The emotions tied to bad memories will fade quicker than the emotions tied to positive events.  [10:08] A few well planned surprise and delight moments throughout a relationship can create good peaks (and remember the most recent end holds the most weight).  [12:38] A false memory is when we accidentally think something we imagined really happened and misattribute it as a memory.   [14:15] Our brains are powerful, but they are easily manipulated too.  [15:39] The opposite of a false memory is called cryptomnesia when a real memory is mistaken as imagination because there is not a proper experience of it being a memory.  [17:21] We do tend to remember the efforts we had to put in as much higher than they were and toils more difficult as they were in reality.  [19:12] Don’t feel like you need to remember everything about everything. Instead, remember important things that can’t be easily looked up, and don’t gunk up your brain with all the trivial information. [20:45] If you want to be able to remember things better and with easier recall, it is best to have repeated exposure over a long span of time instead of trying to cram it all in at the last minute. [22:14] Try to commit things to memory in the context they belong to or multiple contexts so they are less isolated. The mood we are in is also tied to the context. [24:13] If you want to remember things, write them down.  [25:51] Visual images are often recalled by our visual subconscious faster and easier than words because of the picture superiority effect. [27:38] We all put so much effort into making things as easy as possible to read and process but in reality due to processing difficulty, stuff that takes longer to read and process is easier to remember.  [28:43] We are provided with lists of things all the time and the way those things are presented absolutely impacts memory.   [30:15] Due to the next in line effect you are less likely to remember the words people spoke just before you because you were distracted with what you wanted to say. Being a good listener is key to building relationships in life and business.  [31:40] 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.com 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 More and Support The Brainy Business: Get your copies of Melina’s Books.  Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Outsmart Your Brain, by Dan Willingham What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns You Are Not So Smart, by David McRaney  Unleash Your Primal Brain, by Tim Ash Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Costco (ep 47) Apple Card (ep 42) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) The Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Surprise & Delight (ep 276) The Peak End Rule (ep 97) Time Discounting (ep 51) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  COGNITION Chapter 6: MEMORY DISTORTIONS Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology The Science of ‘Accidental’ Joke-Stealing and Plagiarism

In today's conversation, I am joined by McDonald’s Lauren Kemp and Stephen Springfield from the Aspen Center for Consumer Science. Last fall I saw them give a talk at IIEX Behavior on how they used behavioral science to create an "irrational" loyalty program at Mcdonald's. It was instantly clear they had to be on the show to talk about this project, its insights, and what you can learn from it. It is such a great case study showing how real people inside organizations (and in this case, working with a great consultant), can create a program that infuses behavioral insights in a smart way -- that is often counterintuitive – to find a win-win for the company and its customers.  You'll also hear tips from Lauren about how she did her literature review and lots of other great insights. And, do know that while we joke about not loving the term "irrational" as it is popularly used in behavioral science, if there was ever a program that proved a lot of the choices people make aren’t exactly rational this would be it. You'll see what I mean as they dig in on the story in the episode… Show Notes: [00:46] In today's conversation, I am joined by Lauren Kemp and Stephen Springfield, whom I first saw while they were giving a presentation at Greenbook’s IIEX Behavior last fall. [03:44] Lauren shares about herself and her background. She works in consumer insights at McDonald’s on the US team. [04:41] Stephen shares about himself and his background. Stephen is the Founder and Principal at Aspen Center for Consumer Science.  [06:43] Novelty and the magic of the irrational attracted Stephen to behavioral science and behavioral economics.  [07:35] Behavioral science isn’t really about the irrational and the crazy cool stuff. It is about the scientific process applied to understanding behavior.   [10:35] Irrationality is where all the profit is. [13:05] Lauren started her career with an internship at Brain Juicer. They were pioneers in the behavioral economic space. McDonald’s was one of her main clients there.  [15:17] McDonald’s global team created the loyalty program so the individual markets had some space to make the program work in their specific market.  [17:17] She started with a literature review since loyalty programs were not new to the industry. She wanted to learn what was most important for a loyalty program and how they could design theirs to be successful.  [19:45] Top tips for doing your own literature review? Definitely start by bookmarking Google Scholar.  [22:11] The program needed to entice customers to engage with the program. They wanted it to be consumer centric.  [24:16] They knew it was very important for the program to be transparent enough and easy to understand. Consumers don’t like it when they feel they are being tricked or it is clouded. Transparency is so huge in our culture today. [25:57] They found that the value of a loyalty program is engagement with the program itself – not the reward that you get. The reward you get is transactional.  [28:27] Lauren spent a week or two on her literature review process and Stephen’s team did some additional research.  [30:39] It is important to invest the time in research, but it probably doesn’t need to take as long as you think.  [33:21] There is an aspect of irrationality and that is where the profit is.  You have to find a way to offer something of value that is not completely transactional.  [36:23] They wanted to find which items would drive trips because the point of the loyalty program is to get to people to visit more often.  [37:58] They tested five different point levels from 1 point to 10,000 points. They found that 100 points per dollar was easy and worked best.  [40:03] The goal is to get somebody to purchase something now with an eye toward achieving something later. Mental budgeting and being able to do the math towards a simple reward was a game changer.  [43:05] They continued coming back to the goal and objective: getting consumers to come to McDonald’s because they had rewards, and they want to accumulate more rewards, and at some point they would like to redeem those rewards.  [44:56] They found there was some linearity with the value of the item and the trip driving behavior, but there were also outliers drove trips.   [46:46] If there are products on the loyalty menu that are a lower cost to produce that would still drive engagement from a customer perspective and trips are a huge win.  [49:16] Consumers can’t tell you what they would do and why they would do it.  [51:35] Key Insight: The thing that drives that behavior doesn’t have to be the most expensive thing.  [53:18] Science isn’t really interested as much in truth as things that are reliably predictive.  [56:07] Melina’s closing thoughts [57:18] It doesn’t need to take eons to incorporate good behavioral science research into your projects.  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.com 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: Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach The Life Saving Skill of Story, by Michelle Auerbach Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz Connect with Lauren & Stephen:  Lauren on LinkedIn Stephen on Twitter Stephen on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Questionstorming at KIND / Mars with Beatrix Daros (ep 215) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) Marketing to Mindstates: A Discussion With Author, Will Leach (ep 88) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (ep 145) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (ep 101) The Science of Cool, with Dr. Troy Campbell (ep 169) Nudging for Good at Walmart with Sarah Wilson (ep 206) Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (ep 126) The Pain of Paying (ep 59) Framing (ep 16) Surprise and Delight (ep 276) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, interview with Jennifer Clinehens, author of Choice Hacking (ep 141) Paradox of Choice (ep 171) Unlocking the Power of Numbers (ep 17) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Aspen Center for Consumer Science

As a Seattle girl, I love me some Starbucks so it is fun to refresh this episode which was one of the first (and most popular) behavioral economics analysis episodes I’ve ever done. It is currently the 11th most downloaded episode of the show of all time, and with 277 episodes to date, that is a pretty big deal! If you aren’t familiar with this format, it is an episode where I talk about a well-known company and their practices to share what concepts from behavioral economics and behavioral science in their work so you can see what you might want to emulate and what isn’t a good fit for you in your company.  So, why this episode from late 2019, and why now? Well, it is because of the loyalty program and this coming Friday’s episode where I am joined by Lauren Kemp and Stephen Springfield to talk about how they created an “irrational” loyalty program at McDonald's during the pandemic. It is a fascinating story with lots of insights for you to learn. Today, I chose to share an episode that showcased another loyalty program doing a lot of smart things that are different from the traditional punch card approach to loyalty. (And, good news, there is a lot more to this episode that I know you’re gonna love.) So grab a coffee, and settle in… Show Notes: [00:40] Today’s episode is a behavioral economics analysis of Starbucks. [04:01] In this episode we are going to dig into their Star Rewards program, featured drinks, and products, the coveted red cups, their personality, overall brand choices, their logo, locations, social media, and pricing.  [04:23] Without the original brand and pricing, Starbucks would be just another coffee shop. [05:57] One of the big aspects Starbucks had to overcome was the pricing anchor.  [08:41] Howard Schultz and Starbucks took a step back. They got out of their own way and created a new category which ended up changing the conversation about coffee around the world. Asking good questions can help you get there.  [10:19] Price is never about the price. It is all about all the things that come before the price that matters more than the price itself. [12:02] The first big drink Starbucks made famous was the Frappuccino. There is a lot of effort that goes into turning these things into multibillion dollar industries.  This created a brand within a brand.  [14:27] Most everyone knows that the original PSL started at Starbucks. Pumpkin spice lattes are one of the seasonal drinks Starbucks brings out each year. They are only available for a few weeks or months until they are gone. This is scarcity in action.  [17:39] Starbucks changed the game. They created something different and managed to hold a big piece of the market even when imitators arose in every area.  [18:28] Starbucks is constantly testing and they are not afraid to have something really popular only available sometimes.  [19:24] Making and keeping a tradition alive is something Starbucks does amazingly well. The red cup first debuted in the 1997 holiday season and has been a staple ever since.   [20:19] When you become a lifestyle brand you bear the responsibility of being a big part of peoples’ lives. Your choices reflect theirs and when you do something out of character, they will tell you about it. This is both good and bad.  [22:30] Consistency is key and until you define what you are and are not you can’t be whatever it is consistently. When you have your own filters and know what you are about you can shout them from the rooftops and your tribe will resonate with them.  [24:49] The value of a brand is more than money and bottom-line sales. It is about the overall experience with the brand at its core.  [27:13] Find what people are already talking about and loving and see how you can be part of that conversation.  [28:39] The Star Rewards model is built to create habits for users and increase visits. It also encourages users to try new items and has limited-time offers, and customized preferences with an opportunity to get bonus stars.  [29:48] Being willing to test, experiment, and learn is something Starbucks does really well. Essentially Star Rewards is a huge testing ground of live field environments.  [32:15] Star Rewards is super easy and built-in. You have loss aversion and reciprocity built into the promotions.  [33:50] Star Rewards is a smart balance of loss aversion, scarcity, relativity, habits and more all executed through a series of experiments to see what is bringing the most value to the company and its customers.  [34:59] Scarcity is a powerful tool when used correctly, especially when properly paired with loss aversion to help people choose your product.  [36:31] Melina’s closing thoughts [38:39] There is a lot of value and loyalty that comes from delightful, unexpected experiences and a less formal program is perfect for that. 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.com 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 More and Support The Brainy Business: Get your copies of Melina’s award-winning books.  Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Engaged, by Amy Bucher Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Top Recommended Next Episode: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) Priming (ep 252) What is Value? (ep 234) Mental Accounting (ep 56) Partitioning (ep 254) Costco (ep 47) Apple Card (ep 42) Anchoring and Adjustment (ep 11) Herding (ep 19) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand (ep 43) Rebrand, Refresh or Reinforce? (ep 44) Availability (ep 15) The Sense of Hearing and Sound (ep 27) Habits (ep 256) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Relativity (ep 12) Reciprocity (ep 238) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales Every Starbucks Growth Strategy Is Working 30 Interesting Starbucks Facts and Statistics (2019) | By the Numbers How Starbucks Transformed Coffee From A Commodity Into A $4 Splurge Starbucks Didn’t Invent the Frappuccino. Here’s Who Did. Starbucks Has Made An Insane Amount Of Money From PSL Sales Starbucks Red Cups 2019: When Do Christmas Holiday Drinks Start Going on Sale? A Brief History of Starbucks’ Holiday Cup Controversies Starbucks Will Be Selling Fewer Limited-Time-Only Drinks That Can Be Super Hard To Make SPAM® Pumpkin Spice

In today's conversation, I am joined by John Sills. John is Managing Partner at the customer-led growth company, The Foundation. He’s been in front-line teams delivering the experience, innovation teams designing the propositions, and global HQ teams creating the strategy. He's been a bank manager during the financial crisis (which he says was not fun), launched a mobile app to millions of people (very fun), and regularly visits strangers’ houses to ask very personal questions (incredible fun). He now works with companies across industries and around the world, and before joining The Foundation spent twelve years at HSBC, latterly as Head of Customer Innovation. He regularly writes on Customer Experience and Innovation, and his first book, The Human Experience, just came out and is what we are discussing today. This was a really fun book, and it is chock-full of real life experiences from businesses (both good and bad) that you can learn from. John keeps it light, even when teaching some really important stuff, and helps us to see how we can all benefit from remembering that we are, at the end of the day, humans (and so are our employees and customers). So let's just bring a bit more human-ness back into our companies! Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by John Sills. John is the managing partner at the customer lead growth company, The Foundation.  [03:24] John shares himself and his background. [05:56] You really need to want to make things better for customers.  [08:41] You are closer to your colleagues, business, products, and services, but your customers are really important. We often write things that make sense to us but not to our customers.  [11:22] Factfulness is all about helping us challenge our perspectives of the world. It is easy for us to think we are the center of the world.  [14:01] Nearly all of the research we have is very inside out. It is all about the company and almost none of it is about the customer and how we can be useful to them.  [16:10] Companies should stay close to what matters most to their customers and their lives and then work out how to be useful to them.  [19:42] As a CEO if you don’t go and experience the other jobs in your company yourself then you never get the visceral connection to what is really mattering for your customers.  [23:07] A real sense of responsibility and ownership for the customer is missing in many organizations.  [24:09] John shares a wonderful customer experience he had with Swiss Rails.  [27:27] Bad customer experiences are really expensive to provide.  [29:35] If you give a good experience in the first place your customers will contact you less and everything will be more efficient.  [30:23] Failure demand is the demand that is put on your service or organization as a result of failures you made elsewhere in your customer experience or service.  [32:50] As humans we are truly loyal to very few things. Very rarely are we truly loyal to companies.  [34:02] If you as an organization stay more useful than your competitors then people will stay with you.  [35:09] Organizations spend very little time keeping the experience great and essentially ignore endings or make it difficult for customers to leave.  [37:35] If as the leaders in an organization, you really understand what matters to people in their lives then your singular job is to understand how you can be most useful to them in their life.  [38:30] What is at the heart of great organizations is really understanding their customers and really staying useful to them.  [39:55] If you can retain that humanness in your organization and let your people be human then they will understand customers and create things that are useful.  [41:43] No one has time to stop and think and it is really dangerous. It feels like it is really important to check things off a to-do list instead of really getting things done well.   [43:18] When you don’t have the time to step back, bad customer experience abounds.  [44:05] When you try to make it look like you know the person you are talking to and then you miss it feels a lot more painful and annoying than if you didn’t ask enough. [46:43] Over the last 20 years organizations have done a great job at trying to perfect the functional customer experience, but they have done that at the expense of the emotional and human experience. [48:27] Just be the human you have spent all your life training to be. Speak in a human way, think about what it is like to be on the other end, and take time to understand other people.  [50:00] Treat people the way you want your gran to be treated and make your mum proud of the decisions you make.  [51:30] Melina’s closing thoughts [52:28] If you consider the extreme costs when you have to fix things it is often more cost effective to do it right and more human the first time.  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.com 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 Human Experience, by John Sills Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, & Ola Rosling Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Ends, by Joe Macleod Connect with John:  John’s Website John on Twitter John on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: I, Human with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (ep 267) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Herding (ep 19)  Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Paradox of Choice (ep 171) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction (and the Lessons for any Business), Interview with Richard Chataway (ep 134) Using Ethnography to Understand Your Customers and Staff, an interview with Felicity Heathcote-Marcz (ep 137) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, interview with Jennifer Clinehens (ep 141) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) Framing (ep 16) Surprise and Delight (ep 276) Social Proof (ep 87) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (ep 185) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter CX Stories on Instagram CX Stories on Substack

Today’s episode is all about surprise and delight. Hopefully, the title concept of this episode already has you in a happy and delightful mood (that’s priming for you!) and you are ready for some fun. I love thinking about experiences and incorporating fun, delightful moments. It can be with customers or employees and in totally unexpected places (that is the best strategy) like an error page of a website or the legaleze people agree to.  Little moments of thoughtfulness are my favorite, and they help us to have fun at work (we should!) as well as help our customers and employees to enjoy interacting with us (which will make them want to do it more). And, while I don’t need much of an excuse to talk about surprise and delight, there is a specific reason I chose to refresh this episode from 2019 today, and that is as a lead into this coming Friday’s conversation with John Sills on his new book The Human Experience.  His book is all about creating better experiences. He features brands that are already doing an amazing job and how companies can make big leaps by remembering their humanness. Great experiences shouldn’t be surprising, but sadly they are as too often the experiences with brands are more of a pain than a pleasure. But it doesn’t have to be this way! This episode will share why delight is so critical to companies, why surprise matters, what it all has to do with loyalty and profitability and so much more. It’s a fun one and I can’t wait to share it with you Friday (if you aren’t already subscribed to the podcast, take a moment to do so now). And, in the meantime, let’s talk about surprise and delight. Show Notes: [00:38] Today’s episode is all about surprise and delight. [02:12] Great experiences shouldn’t be surprising, but sadly they are as too often the experiences with brands are more of a pain than a pleasure. [04:18] If a customer has an expectation they will either be satisfied or dissatisfied by the level at which that expectation is met or not. Expectation can’t lead to delight. [05:15] Ideally you are living in the satisfied territory most of the time with a few delights popping up here and there. Delighting customers takes extra work and it can be expensive, though it doesn’t have to be.  [05:38] Delight is much more likely to drive loyalty than mere satisfaction. [07:31] It is important to not get stuck in the traps of false loyalty.  [10:13] A 5% increase in loyalty can increase your profit by as much as 85%.  [11:03] Loyalty is huge for businesses and delight is a big key to earning it. Loyalty isn’t the only awesome thing to come out of delighting customers.  [11:57] The biggest issue is that there is no standard scale for measuring delight.  [14:14] Customers can’t tell you what would cause them to be delighted because they have to be surprised. They can’t be expecting it or it isn’t going to hit the delight scale.  [17:46] Finding someone who is influential and loves your brand and then finding a way to work with them can both delight that person and their following.  [19:39] If your delights become standard then they become expected. Surprise is key to delight.  [22:33] Having a great first encounter helps set the relationship off on a good start. Having a dose of delight every now and then keeps customers happy.  [24:09] Empowering employees to help customers and go the extra mile can make a big difference in loyalty scores and profitability.  [26:02] Sometimes the most delightful “WoW” moments happen in the blink of an eye. If employees are not empowered and need to cross layers of approval these moments could be lost forever.  [28:27] In other businesses this could be as simple as changing the radio station on a loaner car to match the customer's vehicle when it is brought in for repairs, or knowing when a client comes to your office for a meeting drinks chai tea lattes and having one waiting on them when they arrive. Little things can make a big difference and delight your customers.  [30:01] Businesses always need to be watching the market to see what the status quo is and how expectations have changed to keep up with delight.  [32:33] Melina shares one of her favorite examples of surprise and delight.  [34:35] There are countless other ways your company can implement surprise and delight for your customers.   [36:34] Listen to customers to understand what’s important to them.  [38:08] Delight is not something you do one off and hope for the best. It requires time and strategy, but it is absolutely worth it. When you give a little bit to people often they want to give back.  [40:45] Don’t let herding make you feel like you have to send stuff at the same time as everyone else. That is precisely why you should send something at another time because no one else is.  [41:37] Melina’s closing thoughts [43:41] It is important to take a step back and look around and disassociate from the current experience. Working with a consultant can be very helpful to bring fresh eyes to the situation.   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.com 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 How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Engaged, by Amy Bucher Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens  Top Recommended Next Episode: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) Priming (ep 18) Decision Fatigue (ep 132) Relativity (ep 12) Nudges and Choice Architecture (ep 35) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) The Sense of Touch (ep 28) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) The Pain of Paying (ep 240) Overview of Memory Biases (ep 48) Apple Card (ep 42) Herding (ep 19) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (ep 185) Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) Choice Hacking, with Jennifer Clinehens (ep 141) Engaged, with Amy Bucher (ep 164) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How to Delight Your Customers Customer Delight: Foundations, Findings, and Managerial Insight Delight by Design: The Role of Hedonic versus Utilitarian Benefits Ed Sheeran Launches Own Heinz Tomato ‘Edchup’ Ed Sheeran Edchup on Instagram Ed Sheeran on Instagram @teddysphotos The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful of Employee Empowerment Turkey Talk Line

In today's conversation, I am joined by Richard Shotton. His first book, The Choice Factory, is a best-selling book on how to apply findings from behavioral science to advertising. His new book, The Illusion of Choice: 16 ½ Psychological Biases that Influence Why We Buy, is a phenomenal add to what he has already contributed to the field of behavioral science.  This book (and conversation!) are both full of great examples from traditional academic research and from practical application. And, one of my favorite things that Richard does is take research and recreate it. Sometimes it replicates (and does even better than expected) and sometimes it doesn’t – whatever the results, they are shared and there are learnings for everyone involved. And, of course, that includes you.  Does precision matter? Should you speak in abstract or concrete terms? Tune in and get ready for these amazing lessons and many more… Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Richard Shotton. Richard is the author of The Choice Factory, a best-selling book on how to apply behavioral science to advertising.  [02:42] Richard shares himself, his background, and the work he does in behavioral science.  [04:06] There are thousands of biases. He covers 25 in The Choice Factory. His new book covers 16 and ½ more. (The half chapter is around the power of precision.)  [06:51] Precision is powerful. Generally if someone knows the subject they speak in precision, if not they speak in generalities.  [09:30] The precise price tends to be seen as lower than rounded ones.   [11:52] If you want to change behavior, remove friction. If you want to boost appreciation of your product, you might want to add some friction.  [13:10] The importance of framing the question is key if you are going to use behavioral science practically.   [15:42] You have this huge swing in memorability based on whether terms are concrete or abstract. If we can picture a term it becomes very sticky if not it becomes forgettable.  [18:02] Increasingly brands talk in abstract terms. It is ineffective to use that language. If you want to communicate one of those abstract objectives you have to translate it into more concrete terminology.  [20:43] Academics sometimes make behavioral science more complex than it has to be. Reading modern academic papers is a chore.  [22:41] The evidence shows that if you communicate simply you come across as more prestigious and more intelligent.  [25:50] People were twice as likely to remember the rhyming than the non rhyming phrases. Alliterating phrases have a boost of believability and memorability.  [28:06] We have to make sure that what we do is what our clients want us to do rather than worrying about the kudos that we as individuals get.  [30:19] The cafe had a problem that people didn’t want to go on a Monday. So if you go on Monday you get to roll the brass dice. If you roll a six everything you have eaten is free. (Love this!) [33:27] If you know that this is the thing on Monday, everyone is going to order a little bit more because they might get it all for free.  [36:01] People are not only interested in maximizing the financial benefit of the situation. They also wanted to know that they are being treated well and not being taken advantage of.   [38:35] Questions are so important. Questions can give people a pause for thought and influence them more subtly.  [41:12] Professionals are just as influenced as consumers with the vast majority of biases. The only difference is they are even more loathe to admit it.  [42:43] Podcasts and books are a wonderful way of quickly understanding lots of different experiments. The ones you think are most interesting are worth finding the original paper and exploring further.  [44:53] 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.com 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 Choice Factory, by Richard Shotton The illusion of Choice, by Richard Shotton Alchemy, by  Rory Sutherland Friction, by Roger Dooley Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Connect with Richard:  Richard’s Website Richard on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Friction, with Roger Dooley (ep 274) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Herding (ep 19) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) The Voltage Effect with John List (ep 190) What Problem are You Solving? (ep 126) Sludge: What It Is and How to Reduce It (ep 179) IKEA Effect & Effort Heuristic (ep 112) Habits (ep 21) Framing (ep 16) The Sense of Sight (ep 24) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Inequity Aversion: That’s Not Fair! (ep 224) Unlocking the Power of Numbers (ep 17) Relativity (ep 12) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) Social Proof (ep 87) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Schindler Precision Dynamic Pricing in a Labor Market: Surge Pricing and Flexible Work on the Uber Platform

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More and Support The Brainy Business: Check out Melina’s books.  Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Friction, by Roger Dooley What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Sludge, by Cass Sunstein  Connect with Roger:  Roger’s Website Roger on LinkedIn Roger on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Sludge (ep 179) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Relativity (ep 12) The Sense of Touch (ep 28) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Surprise and Delight (ep 60) Framing (ep 16) Priming (ep 18) Nudges and Choice Architecture (ep 35) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Decision Fatigue (ep 132) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy The Why Axis, by Uri Gneezy and John List Drive, by Daniel Pink Quit, by Annie Duke Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith & Marianne Lewis Connect with Uri:  Uri on LinkedIn Uri on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: The Voltage Effect with John List (ep 190) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview (ep 109) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (ep 187) Incentives (ep 272) Social Proof (ep 87) Cognitive Semiotics and Metaphors with Sarah Thompson (ep 259) Using Semiotics in Retail with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) The Cobra Effect (ep 220) Priming (ep 18) Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, with Annie Duke (ep 227) Both/And Thinking with Dr. Wendy Smith (ep 261) Framing (ep 16) Anchoring and Adjustment (ep 11) Mental Accounting (ep 56) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Mixed Signals, by Uri Gneezy Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Sludge, by Cass Sunstein What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Why Axis, by Uri Gneezy and John List Top Recommended Next Episode: The Cobra Effect (ep 220) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (ep 187) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview (ep 109) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) Understanding Mapping: The "U" in NUDGES (ep 37) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (ep 38) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (ep 39) Give Feedback: The "G" in NUDGES (ep 40) Structuring Complex Choices: The "S" in NUDGES (ep 41) Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same (ep 9) Scarcity (ep 270) Relativity (ep 12) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Unlocking the Power of Numbers (ep 17) The Overwhelmed Brain and its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) What is Value? (ep 234) Framing (ep 16) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice Architecture

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 over and over again. You want to mix it up so you don’t devalue your products or services.  [42:20] Discounting deeply is going to be going against a lot of these scarcity principles.  [44:36] Melina’s closing thoughts [45:43] You never know who you are influencing and what value each moment can have on the world. Have a conversation and be generous with your time. Even a few thoughtful minutes could change someone including you for the 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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Influence, by Robert Cialdini Influence PEOPLE, by Brian Ahearn What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Friction, by Roger Dooley Connect with Mindy:  Mindy’s Website Mindy on LinkedIn Mindy on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Scarcity (ep 14) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157) How To Ethically Influence People: Interview with Author Brian Ahearn (ep 104) Herding (ep 19)  Social Proof (ep 87) Coronavirus and How the Brain Responds to Pandemics (ep 91) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Time Pressure (ep 74) Surprise and Delight (ep 60) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 144) What is Value? (ep 234) Framing (ep 16) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (ep 72) Sludge (ep 179) Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same (ep 9) A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco (ep 47) Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 73) Priming (ep 18) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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) What is Value? (ep 234) Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same (ep 9) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) The Power of Regret with Daniel Pink (ep 214) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157) A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco (ep 47) Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 73) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 144) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  What is ‘Scarcity’ Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition) Narcissists as consumers: The effects of perceived scarcity on processing of product information The Top 10 Most Expensive Stamps In The World The Five Most Expensive Coins Ever Sold at Auction Costco Business Model and Their Strategy @TheRealPSL on Twitter Want a Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino? Too bad. Most stores sold out Starbucks Coffee Rose Gold Pink Sequin 24oz Venti Tumbler Cold Cup The Rarest and Best Disney Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ears How ‘Tickle Me Elmo’ Caused Holiday Hysteria Back In 1996 Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?

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 shares her top episode recommendations for the HBR Women At Work podcast.   [51:31] Melina’s closing thoughts [52:54] It is important to look at yourself before you look to change someone else. Amy gives tips for seeing how you are contributing to every difficult relationship, and to know that it starts with changing yourself. [54:08] There is always room to change, both for yourself and those you work with, and Getting Along is a great way to better understand what you have been doing yourself in life and work, and have a better experience with everyone tomorrow. 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.com 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: Getting Along, by Amy Gallo HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, by Amy Gallo A More Just Future, Dolly Chugh Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis Connect with Amy:  Amy’s Newsletter Amy on Twitter Amy on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Fundamental Attribution Error (ep 268) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Confirmation Bias (ep 102) A More Just Future, with Dr. Dolly Chugh (ep 247) How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race, with Kwame Christian (ep 221) Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (ep 267) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Both/And Thinking with Dr. Wendy Smith (ep 261) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Negativity Bias (ep 223) Herding (ep 19)  Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (ep 189) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Women at Work Podcast Sisterhood is Scarce Sisterhood is Trust Getting Along with a Passive-Aggressive Gossip Getting Along with a Political Operator Getting Along with a Biased Tormentor Getting Along with an Insecure, Know-It-All Pessimist Amy’s Website

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 find ways you are similar. [24:08] I gave the tip of starting with one group to begin with to get the ball rolling but once that snowball starts do what you can to add on and add on.  [25:10] It is important to look at your own behavior the way others do as well.  Try to stop writing an extrinsic story for why it is okay.  [26:41] When you understand how your brain is sorting other people and treating them differently and how you are many other peoples’ “them” it can really help you to adjust your own behavior so you can have better relationships at work and in your personal life. 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.com 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 Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Getting Along, by Amy Gallo A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh How Minds Change, by David McRaney  How To Have Difficult Conversations About Race, by Kwame Christian Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias (ep 102) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Time Discounting (ep 51) Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Biases Toward Others (ep 46) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Coronavirus and How the Brain Responds to Pandemics (ep 91) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (ep 67) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 248) The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Fundamental Attribution Error Here’s Why Rushing to Back-to-Back Meetings Is Hurting Your Reputation Why Learning To Embrace Criticism Should Be Your Top Resolution This Year

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 societies need to sort out the issue of reskilling and upskilling so people are not made useless or redundant.  [43:45] Businesses should find ways to really humanize work in the age of machines and AI is really important.  [44:56] Find the time to ask questions. Don’t take facts at face value. Focus on the things that you find interesting and useful.  [47:31] Melina’s closing thoughts  [49:26] A forced shift in teaching methods and how we test knowledge and show intelligence isn’t inherently bad. There are some real opportunities there.  [52:42] Try to understand your own brain’s tendencies and not believe everything you hear, see, or read. Find ways to do your own fact-checking whenever possible.  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.com 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: I, Human, by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How To Fix It), by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith & Marianne Lewis Beautiful Questions in the Classroom, by Warren Berger Connect with Tomas:  Tomas’ Website Tomas on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 266) Already Heard That One? Try These:  When Machine Learning Meets Neuroscience, with Ingrid Nieuwenhuis (ep 170) AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics with Manuj Aggarwal (ep 192) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (ep 101) Both/And Thinking with Dr. Wendy Smith (ep 261) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Herding (ep 19)  The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 178) Social Proof (ep 87) Unity (ep 216) Priming (ep 18) Avoiding Everyday Work Disasters, an Interview with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky (ep 111) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Questions or Answers (ep 4) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (ep 126) Negativity Bias (ep 223) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (ep 200) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? How ChatGPT Is Redefining Human Expertise: Or How To Be Smart When AI Is Smarter Than You.

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 are new discoveries and technologies and experts every day. [23:16] I just love this concept in so many ways. It is a great opportunity to look at ourselves, and others so we can overcome obstacles we may be putting in our own way, avoid big crashes into that valley of despair, be better at coaching others, and have better relationships with colleagues of all kinds — and even understand our relationship with technology. [24:12] Keep the Dunning Kruger Effect in mind as you look around at your own choices and the relationships you have with others over the next couple of weeks. 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.com 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: I, Human, by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders? (And How To Fix It), by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Getting Along, by Amy Gallo You Are Not So Smart, by David McRaney Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) Priming (ep 18) What is Value? (episode 234) Mental Accounting (ep 56) Partitioning (ep 254) How to Raise Your Prices (ep 77) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Decision Fatigue (ep 132) IKEA Effect & Effort Heuristic (ep 112) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Dunning-Kruger Original Research Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

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 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.com 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: Mindwise, by Nick Epley Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith & Marianne Lewis Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Connect with Nick:  Nick’s Website Top Recommended Next Episode: Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) 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) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) Herding (ep 19)  Focusing Illusion (ep 89) The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) You Have More Influence Than You Think, Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Both/And Thinking with Dr. Wendy Smith (ep 261) Herding (ep 19)  The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 178) Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited (ep 150) Reciprocity: The Amazing Power of Giving (ep 238) Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh (ep 153) Habits (ep 256) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Undersociality: miscalibrated social cognition can inhibit social connection Why Your Social Life Is Not What It Should Be Go Ahead, Ask for Help. People Are Happy to Give It. You Should Actually Send That Thank You Note You’ve Been Meaning to Write Small talk is boring. Our research shows how you can do better. The Unexpected Power of Random Acts of Kindness

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 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.com 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 What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman The Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Top Recommended Next Episode: Social Proof (ep 87) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) Priming (episode 18) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157) Unity (ep 216) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 178) You Have More Influence Than You Think, Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) Unlocking The Secrets Of The Brain (ep 1) Unlocking the Power of Numbers (ep 17) Availability Bias (ep 15) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Poll: Despite Record Turnout, 80 Million Americans Didn't Vote. Here's Why 6 in 10 Americans don't have $500 in savings Presidential Election Voting  Human Herding: How People are Like Guppies The Unwisdom of Crowds Herding, social influence and economic decision-making: socio-psychological and neuroscientific analyses Herd behavior in consumers’ adoption of online reviews Which restaurant should I choose? Herd behavior in the restaurant industry Watch These Awkward Elevator Rides From an Old Episode of Candid Camera Herding Behavior in Social Media Networks in China Herd Instinct Warren Buffett explains one thing people still don’t understand about bitcoin Herding behavior in cryptocurrency markets Science Of Persuasion Oxytocin The Brain and the Herd Mentality How to Start a Movement Derek Sivers

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Purpose, by Gina Bianchini A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger The Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer You’re Invited, by Jon Levy The Fun Habit, by Mike Rucker Connect with Gina:  Gina’s Website Gina on LinkedIn Gina on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Network Effect (ep 262) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think (ep 80) Framing (ep 16) Questions or Answers (ep 4) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (ep 200) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 178) Herding (ep 19)  Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited (ep 150) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) The Fun Habit with Mike Rucker (ep 251) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (ep 145) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (ep 72) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone Age Brain (ep 237) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Habits (ep 256) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter 

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 externalities of social proof and herding will be very valuable to attract new members to the network. Frame the messaging in a way to showcase the value.  [32:54] You can also have a powerful default option to make it easy for someone to choose to join the network. You want it to be as easy as possible, framed with the value, and set up so you can be part of their habits.  [35:37] Brand extensions are a delicate balance of finding something that is related enough to make some sense for tying it to the original brand but not so close it feels like it should have been the main offering, to begin with.  [37:03] 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.com 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: Purpose, by Gina Bianchini What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Friction, by Roger Dooley Sludge, by Cass Sunstein The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Top Recommended Next Episode: Availability Bias (ep 15) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) Creating Content People Can’t Help But Engage With featuring Katelyn Bourgoin (ep 201) Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 86) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (ep 38) Herding (ep 19)  Social Proof (ep 87) Loss Aversion (9) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) Relativity (ep 12) What is Value? (episode 234) Scarcity (ep 14) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (ep 72) Subscriptions and Membership Programs (ep 105) Defaults (ep 20) Habits (ep 21) The IKEA Effect (ep 112) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Network Effects: How Growing Your User Base Can Increase the Value of Your Product or Service The Network Effects Manual: 13 Different Network Effects (and counting) Network Effect VIRALITY VS. NETWORK EFFECTS Reverse Network Effects: Why Today’s Social Networks Can Fail As They Grow Larger Network Effects Aren’t Enough Why Network Effects Matter Less Than They Used To How To Harness The Power Of Network Effects Network Effects Network Effect 16 Ways to Measure Network Effects Consumer Evaluations of Brand Extensions 6 Worst Brand Extensions from Famous Companies

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith & Marianne Lewis The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz Paradoxes of Group Life, by Kenwyn Smith & David Berg A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Connect with Wendy:  Wendy’s Website Wendy on Twitter Wendy on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Framing (ep 16) Already Heard That One? Try These:  A More Just Future, with Dr. Dolly Chugh (ep 247) Paradox of Choice (ep 171) Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 198) Past, Present, and Future Biase (ep 246) Time Discounting (ep 51) What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (ep 225) Change Management (ep 226) Confirmation Bias (ep 260) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Functional Fixedness (ep 194) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (ep 200) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

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 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.com 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: A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Influence, by Robert Cialdini You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Top Recommended Next Episode: Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) A More Just Future, with Dr. Dolly Chugh (ep 247) IKEA Effect (ep 112) Reciprocity: The Amazing Power of Giving (ep 238) Priming (episode 18) Unity (ep 216) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 178) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (ep 126) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Decision Fatigue (ep 132) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How to Effectively Combat Confirmation Bias with Melina Palmer Texas A&M Certificate program Check out the Master Your Mindset Mini-Course

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 closing thoughts [55:02] Cognitive semiotics, understanding how the mind makes meaning, is so key to understanding behavior. And I can't wait to keep learning and researching more and more in this space in the years to come. 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.com 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: Using Semiotics in Retail, by Rachel Lawes Using Semiotics in Marketing, by Rachel Lawes Metaphors We Live, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Philosophy in the Flesh, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman Connect with Sarah:  Sarah on LinkedIn Live Neuron Labs Top Recommended Next Episode: The Power of Metaphors for Brands with Olson Zaltman (ep 181) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Using Semiotics in Retail with Rachel Lawes (ep 191) The Philosophical Side of BE, an interview with Dr. Nick Hobson (ep 161) Priming (episode 18) Framing (ep 16) The Sense of Sight (ep 24) The Sense of Taste (ep 26) Sense of Touch (ep 28) Sense of Sound (ep 27) Sense of Smell (ep 25) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Confirmation Bias (ep 102) Time Discounting (ep 51) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How to build a baby: II. Conceptual primitives Metaphors We Think With: The Role of Metaphor in Reasoning Database of Conceptual Metaphors Embodied metaphor and abstract problem solving: Testing a metaphoric fit hypothesis in the health domain Do metaphors in health messages work? Exploring emotional and cognitive factors The #ReframeCovid initiative: From Twitter to society via metaphor The Case Against Waging ‘War’ on the Coronavirus

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Using Semiotics in Marketing, by Rachel Lawes Metaphors We Live, by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Top Recommended Next Episode: Can behavioral economics increase savings? (65) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) Priming (episode 18) Color Theory (61) Loss Aversion (9) Time Discounting (51) Sense of Touch (28) Endowment Effect (139) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving Progressive TV Commercial For Name Your Price Tool Progressive TV Commercial ‘The Box’ Jogger Commercial | Allstate Mayhem

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 and smell the (literal or metaphorical) roses. If we are rushing because we are time poor through it all then we might as well not spend the time in the first place.  [53:13] Cassie explains why she doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions.  [55:41] Melina chooses a word and theme to help her through the whole year. [58:10] Why change something that is working. She wants everyday to be what she wants it to be.  [60:12] Melina’s closing thoughts [61:29] The balance of a couple hours a day is enough for real lasting happiness.  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.com 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: Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Indistractable, by Nir Eyal How to Change, by Katy Milkman The Fun Habit, Mike Rucker Connect with Cassie:  Cassie’s Website Cassie on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Using Motivation and Happiness Science to Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever (ep 249) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (ep 189) Framing (ep 16) Brainy Health Benefits of Nature, with Dr. Jay Maddock (ep 203) How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal (ep 78) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Confirmation Bias (ep 102) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  All The Books from the podcast in 2022 Some of Cassie’s research on Time Affluence vs. Time Poverty and its impact on well being Giving Time, Gives You Time Does variety among activities increase happiness?

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Good Habits Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Atomic Habits, by James Clear The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg Top Recommended Next Episode: Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Dr. Wendy Wood (ep 127) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Power of Habit (ep 22) Framing (ep 16) Priming (episode 18) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Decision Fatigue (ep 132) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (ep 38) Herding (ep 19)  Availability Bias (ep 15) Unlocking The Secrets Of The Brain (ep 1) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction, with Richard Chataway (ep 134) Using Behavioral Science in Healthcare, with Aline Holzwarth (ep 135) Sitting Down with Habit Weekly founder, Samuel Salzer (ep 90) How To Be Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 78) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Three Purchase States How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Backed by Science) Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life How Are Habits Formed: Modeling Habit Formation in the Real World How Long Does it Really Take to Break a Habit? The Amazing Power of ‘I Don’t’ vs. ‘I Can’t’ 5 Ways To Change A Habit Tiny Habits, by BJ Fogg

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 right here in the show notes. [36:26] I can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store. Right now…I’m most excited about speaking at SXSW which is coming up in Austin in March. 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.com 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: Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Influence Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns The Voltage Effect, by John List What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dunning-Kruger Effect (ep 198) The Cobra Effect (ep 220) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (ep 189) You Have More Influence Than You Think, Vanessa Bohns (ep 197) How To Make Online Courses People Enjoy (And Complete) with Chris Rawlinson of 42 Courses (ep 193) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (ep 187) The Voltage Effect with John List (ep 190) AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics with Manuj Aggarwal (ep 192) Creating Content People Can’t Help But Engage With featuring Katelyn Bourgoin (ep 201) Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (ep 196) Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, with Annie Duke (ep 227) Using Motivation and Happiness Science to Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever (ep 249) Best of The Brainy Business in 2021 (ep 184) The Best of The Brainy Business in 2020 (ep 133) The Best Content from the Brainy Business in 2019 (ep 82) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Best of 2021 Blog Post Best of 2020 Blog Post Best of 2019 Blog Post

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Friction, by Roger Dooley Sludge, by Cass Sunstein The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss The Selling Staircase, by Nikki Rausch Top Recommended Next Episode: Sludge: What It Is and How to Reduce It (ep 179) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (ep 72) How to Make it Easy to Do Business With You With Nikki Rausch (ep 96) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book (ep 147) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) Surprise and Delight (ep 60) Pain of Paying (ep 240) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (ep 85) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Nikki’s Website - Your Sales Maven

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 What Your Employee Needs and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Buying Signals, by Nikki Rausch Connect with Troy: Troy’s Website On Your Feet Troy on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Science of Cool, with Dr. Troy Campbell (ep 169) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Disney (ep 144) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Change Management (ep 226) Framing (ep 16) A Surprise Guest… (ep 152) Ultimate Pricing Confidence with Special Guest Interviewer Nikki Rausch (ep 66) Costco (ep 47) Amazon (ep 159) Starbucks (ep 73) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (ep 200) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Tingen Industries

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 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.com 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 Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Misbehaving, by Richard Thaler Neurobranding, by Peter Steidl The Buying Brain, by A.K Pradeep Top Recommended Next Episode: Sense of Smell (ep 25) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (ep 16) Change Management (ep 226) The Truth About Pricing (ep 5) The Sense of Sight (ep 24) The Sense of Taste (ep 26) Sense of Touch (ep 28) Sense of Sound (ep 27) Anchoring & Adjustment (ep 11) What is Value? (ep 234) What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (ep 225) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions Automaticity of Social Behavior: Direct Effects of Trait Construct and Stereotype Activation on Action Stereotype Susceptibility: Identity Salience and Shifts in Quantitative Performance “Math is Hard!” the Effect of Gender Priming on Women’s Attitudes New To Visualization? Here Are 5 Steps To Get You Started Here’s The Trick Olympic Athletes Use To Achieve Their Goals Who’s Minding the Mind? Material priming: The influence of mundane physical objects on situational construal and competitive behavioral choice Apple’s Logo Makes You More Creative Than IBM’s

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 compensation. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Fun Habit, Mike Rucker Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes How to Change, by Katy Milkman Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Connect with Mike:  Mike’s Website Mike on LinkedIn Mike on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Temptation Bundling (ep 250) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) Using Motivation and Happiness Science to Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever (ep 249) Temptation Bundling (ep 250) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Framing (ep 16) Priming (episode 18) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 248) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Habits (ep 21) Loss Aversion (ep 9) How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal (ep 78) Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Dr. Wendy Wood (ep 127) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) Do You Subtract Enough? with Leidy Klotz (ep 162) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 people you can learn from. Connection and friendship have suffered between colleagues working from home during the pandemic.  [54:17] Developing friendships with colleagues can be so hard through Zoom, but figuring out ways to bring people together to foster those relationships is so important.  [57:16] Do our panelists set resolutions? Melina and Cassie say no (listen in on her upcoming episode to find out why). Ayelet sets New Year’s resolutions because it is an opportunity to think about what she wants to achieve and where she wants to go.  [58:35] Melina’s closing thoughts [59:54] Melina chooses a word annually. It is a theme to guide her and keep her centered throughout the year on what she wants to accomplish.  [61:36] Thank you for supporting The Brainy Business! I appreciate you more than I can ever say!  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.com 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: Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach How to Change, by Katy Milkman Power of Regret, by Dan Pink Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Connect with Ayelet & Cassie:  Ayelet on LinkedIn Cassie on LinkedIn Ayelet on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (ep 29) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 248) Temptation Bundling (ep 136) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (ep 187) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview (ep 109) The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (ep 236) The Power of Regret with Daniel Pink (ep 214) Time Discounting (ep 51) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Dr. Wendy Wood (ep 127) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter Get it Done Happier Hour Ayelet Fishbach - University of Chicago Cassie Holmes - UCLA

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach Happier Hour, by Cassie Holmes Indistractable, by Nir Eyal How To Change, by Katy Milkman Atomic Habits, by James Clear Top Recommended Next Episode: Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (ep 186) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (ep 29) The Overwhelmed Brain and its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Optimism Bias (ep 34) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) How To Become Indistractable, with Nir Eyal (ep 78) Temptation Bundling (ep 136) Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think (ep 80) Habits (ep 21) The Power of Habit (ep 22) Herding (ep 19)  Good Habits, Bad Habits, with Dr. Wendy Wood (ep 127) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Brainy Business Courses

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.com 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: A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh Both/And Thinking, by Wendy Smith & Marianne Lewis How to Change, by Katy Milkman The Person You Mean To Be, by Dolly Chugh How Minds Change, by David McRaney Connect with Dolly:  Dolly’s Newsletter Dolly on LinkedIn Dolly on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Past, Present, and Future Biases (ep 246) Already Heard That One? Try These:  How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh (ep 153) Time Discounting (ep 51) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (ep 178) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (ep 145) Confirmation Bias (ep 102) Vulnerability Loops (ep 229) How Minds Change with David McRaney (ep 210) Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Ketchikan: Our Native Legacy

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 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.com 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: Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott A More Just Future, by Dolly Chugh A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger How Minds Change, by David McRaney Behavioral Investor, by Daniel Crosby Top Recommended Next Episode: Time Discounting (ep 51) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Focusing Illusion (ep 89) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Decision Fatigue (ep 132) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Optimism Bias (ep 34) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Math Is Hard (ep 242) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (ep 200) Endowment Effect (ep 139) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Diversification Bias: Explaining the Discrepancy in Variety Seeking Between Combined and Separated Choices Mixing Virtue and Vice: Combining the Immediacy Effect and the Diversification Heuristic Research on How Self-control Works Could Help You Stick With New Year’s Resolutions Free Will in Consumer Behavior: Self-control, Ego Depletion, and Choice A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect Hot–Cold Empathy Gaps and Medical Decision Making Exploring the Cold-to-Hot Empathy Gap in Smokers Anomalies: The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem Does Market Experience Eliminate Market Anomalies? The Case of Exogenous Market Experience

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Subtract, by Leidy Klotz The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz How to Change, by Katy Milkman Brain Meets World, by Behavioral Scientist   Connect with Evan:  Behavioral Scientist Website Evan on LinkedIn Evan on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Do You Subtract Enough? An interview with Dr. Leidy Klotz (ep 162) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Behavioral Science in the Wild with Dilip Soman (ep 241) Paradox of Choice (ep 171) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157) Do Nudges Work? with Michael Hallsworth (ep 218) Solving Modern Problems with a Stone Age Brain (ep 237) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Behavioral Scientist Newsletter A large-scale field experiment shows giving advice improves academic outcomes for the advisor Writing Workshops from Behavioral Scientist The Battle for Human Nature, by Barry Schwartz Barry Schwartz – Last Collection speech

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Essentialism, by Greg McKeown Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Friction, by Roger Dooley The Selling Staircase, by Nikki Rausch Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Top Recommended Next Episode: Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual - Which Side Is Your Business On? (episode 21) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Overwhelmed Brain & Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (episode 38) Good Habits, Bad Habits: An Interview with Wendy Wood (ep 127) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Time Discounting (ep 51) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (ep 72) How to Make it Easy to Do Business With You With Nikki Rausch (ep 96) Sludge: What It Is and How to Reduce It (ep 179) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How Many Daily Decisions Do We Make? Decision Fatigue: What it is and how it’s killing your focus, motivation, and willpower How Willpower Works: How to Avoid Bad Decisions When Thinking is Hard: Managing Decision Fatigue You’re facing a lot of choices amid the pandemic. Cut yourself slack: It’s called decision fatigue. What is Decision Fatigue? The Science of Decision Fatigue How to Identify When You’re Experiencing Decision Fatigue

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] Let’s look at the customer experience side. We like to think people want a lot of choices and to be treated as individuals with very unique experiences. While that can be true, there is also a real issue with the ambiguity side of things if we allow ourselves to rest on the easy answer of “it’s custom.” [29:56] When people feel uncertain, they are more likely to look to what others like them do in this situation, so testimonials, social proof, and case studies are all your friends in fighting ambiguity aversion. You don’t want or need to share all the nuts and bolts, but at least let them know that there is a process. [32:02] You owe it to your clients and customers to take the time to make this as easy and streamlined as possible – and the benefit is it will make it easier for people to choose you and do business with you. [32:29] 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 page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Friction, by Roger Dooley Top Recommended Next Episode: Inequity Aversion: That’s Not Fair! (episode 224) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Availability Bias (ep 15) Familiarity Bias (ep 149) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Loss Aversion (ep 9) Framing (ep 16) Bikeshedding (ep 99) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less (ep 171) Sludge: What It Is and How to Reduce It (ep 179) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (ep 35) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  RISK, AMBIGUITY, AND THE SAVAGE AXIOMS The Itch of Curiosity Ambiguity (uncertainty) aversion Treatment decisions under ambiguity

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 page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Behavioral Science in the Wild, by Dilip Soman & Nina Mazar Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner Top Recommended Next Episode: Behavioral Science in the Wild with Dilip Soman (episode 241) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Overview of Personal Biases (ep 45) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (ep 46) An Overview of Memory Biases (ep 48) Present Versus Future Biases (ep 49) Selective Attention Biases (ep 50) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories (ep 54) Anchoring & Adjustment  (ep 11) Loss Aversion (ep 9) IKEA Effect (ep 112) Time Discounting (ep 51) Booms, Bubbles, and Busts (ep 30) Mental Accounting (ep 56) Endowment Effect (ep 139) Negativity Bias (ep 223) The Cobra Effect (ep 220) Game Theory (ep 228) Duration Neglect and the Peak End Rule (ep 97) Planning Fallacy (ep 114) Status Quo Bias (ep 142) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Less Is Better: When Low-value Options Are Valued More Highly than High-value Options The Disposition to Sell Winners Too Early and Ride Losers Too Long: Theory and Evidence Treatment Decisions Under Ambiguity Ambiguity and Nonparticipation: The Role of Regulation Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms Statistics How To How to Feel Like You Have All the Time in the World (even If You Don’t)

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Behavioral Science in the Wild, by Dilip Soman & Nina Mazar The Behaviorally Informed Organization, by Dilip Soman Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein The Last Mile, by Dilip Soman Misbehaving, by Richard Thaler Connect with Dilip:  Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR) Dilip on LinkedIn Dilip on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Do Nudges Work? with Michael Hallsworth (episode 218) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Pain of Paying (episode 240) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) IKEA Effect (episode 112) Surprise and Delight (episode 60) Framing (episode 16) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (episode 38) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 51) Hawthorne Effect (episode 117) How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) (episode 81) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (episode 72) Precommitment (episode 120) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Duration Heuristic Virtual Progress A Megastudy of Text-Based Nudges Encouraging Patients to Get Vaccinated at an Upcoming Doctor’s Appointment Behaviourally Informed Organizations Go to basecamp.com/brainy and try Basecamp for free. 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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 uncouple them, you experience each item separately which can increase each unless you implement them properly.  [40:03] The pain of payment can be removed when the payment is taken care of before consumption.  [42:12] “Strong buffering and hence reduced the pain of paying occurs when the consumer can directly connect the costs in terms of money with the benefits in terms of product or service. The ability to associate costs and benefits is just as important in physical pain.” [44:26] The pain of paying was potentially completely eliminated when it was given as a gift. [45:06] Melina’s closing thoughts [45:26] The fact that we think about gifts differently than something we need — and that we want to spend LESS on the things we functionally NEED is so interesting. 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.com 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 How Customers Think, by Gerald Zaltman Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Engaged, by Amy Bucher Marketing to Mindstrates, by Will Leach Top Recommended Next Episode: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (episode 16) Priming (episode 18) What is Value? (episode 234) Mental Accounting: How To Make Your Money Math Work For You (episode 56) Partitioning How to Raise Your Prices (episode 77) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Decision Fatigue (episode 132) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280711796_The_Pain_of_Paying The Red and the Black: Mental Accounting of Savings and Debt The Pain of Paying Tightwads and Spendthrifts: An Interdisciplinary Review

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 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.com 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 Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Influence, by Robert Cialdini Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns How Minds Change, by David McRaney Connect with Luke:  Giving What We Can Website Luke on LinkedIn Luke on Twitter Giving What We Can on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Reciprocity: The Amazing Power of Giving (episode 238) Already Heard That One? Try These:  What is Value? (episode 234) Precommitment (episode 120) Availability Bias (episode 15) Framing (episode 16) Time Discounting (episode 51) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories (episode 54) Reciprocity (episode 23) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Social Proof (episode 87) The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Member Motivations: Why people pledged to give 10% of their income to effective charities Marketing Messages Trial for GWWC Giving Guide Campaign Can money buy happiness? A review of new data What Works to Increase Charitable Donations? A Meta-Review with Meta-Meta-Analysis

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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: Gratitude or Happiness: Which Comes First? (episode 236) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (episode 16) Priming (episode 18) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian (episode 107) Anchoring & Adjustment  (episode 11) Relativity (episode 12) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? (episode 3) How To Revisit & Update Your Lead Magnets, Freebies & Opt-Ins (episode 103) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The power of yard signs II: Escalation of commitment Compliance Without Pressure: the Foot-in-the-door Technique Need to Set Rates? Find Your “Resentment Number” Reciprocal Concessions Procedure for Inducing Compliance:The Door-in-the-Face Technique A Fresh Wave of Marketing: An Intentional Approach to Marketing for Visionary CEOsSweetening the Till: The Use of Candy to Increase Restaurant Tipping Poll Reveals Who Are the Best, Worst Tippers

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 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.com 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: Solving Modern Problems With a Stone-Age Brain, by David Lundberg-Kenrick and Douglas Kenrick Influence, by Robert Cialdini Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Tessa:  Dave on LinkedIn Doug on LinkedIn Dave on Twitter Doug on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anchoring & Adjustment (episode 11) Evolutionary Ideas with Sam Tatam, Ogilvy’s Global Head of Behavioural Science (episode 204) Precommitment (episode 120) The Overwhelmed Brain & Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) Time Discounting (episode 51) Framing (episode 16) Priming (episode 18) Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 86) Herding (episode 19) Unity (episode 216) Social Proof (episode 87) Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 42) Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? (episode 3) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Solving Modern Problems Website Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pick Three Zombified Podcast

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 with CEO Michael Manniche (episode 75) Counterfactual Thinking (episode 68) Prefactual Thinking (episode 71) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (episode 39) Priming (episode 18) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) The Power of Habit (episode 22) Framing (episode 16) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Surprising Science of Happiness Dan Gilbert TED2004 What Does It Take To Be Grateful? In Praise of Gratitude 5 Reasons Writing by Hand Is Good for the Brain and for Well-Being Three Ways That Handwriting With A Pen Positively Affects Your Brain 9 Incredible Ways Writing By Hand Benefits Our Bodies And Brains How Arianna Huffington, Tony Robbins and Oprah Winfrey Use Gratitude as a Strategy for Success

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 and Tessa Misiaszek Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh Connect with Tessa:  Tessa on LinkedIn Tessa on Twitter The Happy At Work Podcast Top Recommended Next Episode: Branding That Means Business with Matt Johnson (episode 231) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Neuroscience and Psychology in the Business World, An Interview with Matt Johnson  (episode 160) Why We Like the Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman, coauthor of Blindsight (episode 172) Introducing Kwame Christian and How to Use the Compassionate Curiosity Framework for Difficult Conversations (episode 107) What is Value? (episode 234) How to create a brainy brand (episode 230) That Time I Went Viral… with Dr. Daniel Crosby (episode 212) Reciprocity (episode 23) The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) IKEA Effect (episode 112) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Time Discounting (episode 51) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Korn Ferry Empathy Company Zappos 10 Core Values Embracing Change: Melina’s Episode on The Happy At Work Podcast Automatic Effects of Brand Exposure on Motivated Behavior: How Apple Makes You “Think Different”

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 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.com 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 Psychology of Price, by Leigh Caldwell Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Branding That Means Business, by Matt Johnson and Tessa Misiaszek The Behavioral Investor, by Daniel Crosby What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: Endowment Effect (episode 139) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Herding (episode 19) Loss Aversion (episode 9) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Branding That Means Business with Matt Johnson (episode 231) Wait…There’s a System 3? featuring Leigh Caldwell (episode 233) Familiarity Bias (episode 149) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Change Management: It’s Still Not About the Cookie (episode 226) How to Create a Brainy Brand (episode 230) Scarcity (episode 14) The Power of Story, with Michelle Auerbach Our Bias for Novelty and Story Anchoring & Adjustment Relativity  That Time I Went Viral… with Dr. Daniel Crosby (episode 212) Framing (episode 16) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Cost vs Price vs Worth vs Value This Simple Framework Can Help You Sell More of Anything Anomalies The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Human Herding: How People are Like Guppies Brother, Can You Spare An Organ? Basquiat painting smashes record with $110m sale People Try World’s Most Expensive Grilled Cheese How Your Brain Keeps You Believing Crap That Isn’t True

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 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.com 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 Psychology of Price, by Leigh Caldwell Branding That Means Business, by Matt Johnson and Tessa Misiaszek Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Connect with Leigh:  Leigh’s Website Leigh on Twitter Leigh on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Leveraging the Power of Prefactual Thinking (episode 232) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Questionstorming at KIND/Mars with Beatrix Daros (episode 215) Nudging for Good at Walmart with Sarah Wilson (episode 206) Behavioral Bartending with Maker's Mark, featuring Greta Harper (episode 207) Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (episode 196) Anchoring & Adjustment  (episode 11) Relativity (episode 12) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Neuroscience and Psychology in the Business World, An Interview with Matt Johnson  (episode 160) Employee Engagement and Branding, with Tessa Misiaszek (episode 235) What is Value? (episode 8) Time Discounting (episode 51) Do Nudges Work? with Michael Hallsworth (episode 218) Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Disney (episode 144) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (episode 145) The Power of Metaphors for Brands with Olson Zaltman’s Malcolm and Hannibal Brooks (episode 181) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (episode 38) Priming (episode 18) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Familiarity Bias (episode 149) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter

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 collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Psychology of Price, by Leigh Caldwell Get it Done, by Ayelet Fishbach How to Change, by Katy Milkman Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Top Recommended Next Episode: Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (ep 123) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (ep 39) The Overwhelmed Brain & Its Impact on Decision Making (ep 32) Peak-End Rule (ep 97) Priming (ep 18) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (ep 70) The Power of Habit (ep 22) Availability Bias (ep 15) Framing (ep 16) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (ep 63) The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How to Break the Negative Cycle of 'What If' Thinking Correction: Improving Physical Task Performance with Counterfactual and Prefactual Thinking When Thinking It Means Doing It: Prefactual Thought In Self-handicapping Behavior Fixing Your Brain: A Guide to Balancing Neurotransmitters

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 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.com 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 and Tessa Misiaszek Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Semiotics in Retail, by Rachel Lawes The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Matt:  Matt’s Website Matt on Twitter Matt on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Neuroscience and Psychology in the Business World, An Interview with Matt Johnson  (episode 160) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Why We Like the Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman, coauthor of Blindsight (episode 172) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (episode 145) The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Using Semiotics in Retail with Rachel Lawes (episode 191) Priming (episode 18) Novelty and Stories (episode 54) Framing (episode 16) How to create a brainy brand (episode 230) Social Proof (episode 87) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Atlantic Annie’s Newsletter

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: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Next Episode: Matt Johnson (episode 227) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Why We Like the Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman, coauthor of Blindsight (episode 172) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Priming (episode 18) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) The Power of Habit (episode 22) Availability Bias (episode 15)) Framing (episode 16) Surprise and Delight (episode 60) Reciprocity (episode 23) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 144) Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 42) Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 73) Questionstorming at KIND / Mars with Beatrix Daros  (episode 215) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (episode 39) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Unconventional Wisdom How to Make Your Content Go Viral Dogs on the Street, Pumas on Your Feet: How Cues in the Environment Influence Product Evaluation and Choice 15 Actors Who Went to Seriously Extreme Measures for a Role HR and Marketing: A Natural Partnership

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 ways to build trust is with the vulnerability loop. [23:30] In this climate of people feeling undervalued at work, like they aren’t appreciated and they don’t matter, this is such an affordable way to help them to know that they do matter. You don’t have to invest in expensive programs or wellness packages but if you don’t have the budget for them it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. You can encourage a little bonding and vulnerability and it can go a long way. [26:05] Coyle’s questions are a good place to start as you think about question prompts for your team. But asking these types of questions were found to make people feel 24 percent closer to the strangers they went through the questions with than those who had the easier types of questions like in the first set.  [26:52] Melina shares some of the questions she really likes from the list of 36, especially for teams.  [29:59] You don’t have to have the same exact item that you share with someone else, but the flip of that is that it is really important to not judge someone else’s vulnerability. [30:28] Being the second person in the loop is key to it being able to form. Make an attempt to be more attentive to the way someone is sharing their message with you. [31:21] One other important thing to remember, is to trust first. Be ready and leap and know that the right people will catch you. Don’t get discouraged if someone shuts you down – try again. 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.com 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 (new and expanded), by Robert Cialdini The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey You’re Invited, by Jon Levy What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Daring Greatly, by Brene Brown Top Recommended Next Episode: Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited (episode 150) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Unity (episode 216) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) The Speed of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Change Management: It’s Still Not About the Cookie (episode 226) Reciprocity (episode 23) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (episode 46) What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (episode 225) Game Theory (episode 62) Herding (episode 19) Social Proof (episode 87) Time Pressure (episode 74) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How showing vulnerability helps build a stronger team Activating Teams to Fight Burnout and Create Joy in Work

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 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.com 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 Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Quit, by Annie Duke Thinking in Bets, by Annie Duke How to Decide, by Annie Duke The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Top Recommended Next Episode: Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, with Annie Duke (episode 227) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Color Theory (episode 61) Anchoring & Adjustment  (episode 11) Change Management: It’s Still Not About the Cookie (episode 226) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) What is Value? (episode 8) Framing (episode 16) Surprise and Delight (episode 60) Reciprocity (episode 23) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories (episode 54) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (episode 46) What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (episode 225) The Speed of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) You Have More Influence Than You Think, Vanessa Bohns (episode 197) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  United Breaks Guitars The Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma and The Evolution of Cooperation Behavioral Game Theory The Ultimatum Game - Are people rational? The Dictator Game The Psychology of Revenge (and Vengeful People) An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining Behavioral Game Theory: Plausible Formal Models That Predict Accurately (Behavioral) Game theory

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 to turn to pedestal building rather than to quit (similar to bikeshedding).   [50:28] You should definitely tackle the monkeys first. [51:51] You follow the premortem by looking at the monkeys and pedestals. You figure out what the monkeys are and then you change your plans according to that.  [53:20] Kill criteria are what you could see or find out in the future that would tell you that you ought to quit.  [55:01] There is no point in tackling any low-hanging fruit if you can’t train the monkey. Figure out the hard problem first.  [57:34] Winners quit a lot. That is how they win. Winners sample a lot of stuff, settle on a course of action, tackle the monkeys first, and if the world gives them another signal they switch. [58:41] Winners pick the right things to stick to and they abandon everything else.  [60:52] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [61:08] Thoughtful quitting, stopping doing things that aren't serving you anymore isn't a failure -- that is a win. That is a sign of doing great big amazing things! If you never quit, you can never win because you will be spread too thin. 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.com 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: Thinking in Bets, by Annie Duke How to Decide, by Annie Duke Quit, by Annie Duke Superforecasting, by Dan Gardner and Philip E. Tetlock How to Change, by Katy Milkman Power of Regret, by Daniel Pink Connect with Annie:  Annie’s Website Annie on Twitter Annie on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Game Theory (episode 62) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Loss Aversion (episode 9) Framing (episode 16) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) 3 Steps to Better Decision Making, An Interview with Matthew Confer (episode 158) Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 51) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 92) Planning Fallacy (episode 114) Precommitment (episode 120) Hindsight Bias (episode 167) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Endowment Effect (episode 139) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) Mental Accounting (episode 56) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  A Slight Change of Plans Podcast with Maya Shankar Annie’s Newsletter

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 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.com 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 Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman Quit, by Annie Duke How Minds Change, by David McRaney Top Recommended Next Episode: What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You (episode 225) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Truth About Pricing  (episode 5) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Endowment Effect (episode 139) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) How to Sell From the Stage (episode 6) Herding (episode 19) Social Proof (episode 87) Reciprocity (episode 23) Framing (episode 16) Priming (episode 18) Scarcity (episode 14) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias

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. We are never going to eliminate that from our lives or organizations. Instead of looking to eliminate bias, companies need to look to understand and leverage it.  [36:15] A chapter in this section has one of my favorite openings of the entire book with details of the Challenger disaster and what we can all learn from it.  [37:54] The last section of Part 2 is called Us vs. Them and it digs in on all the ways our brains are biased to look at people who are different from us.  [38:37] The final part of the book is called Change Framework. This last part of the book brings it all together.  [41:30] You can read the first chapter of the book now for free to see if it is a fit for you.  [42:52] BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: We are going to be having episodes coming out twice a week starting this Tuesday, October 11th!  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.com 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 Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Voltage Effect, by John List How Minds Change, by David McRaney   How to Change, by Katy Milkman   Top Recommended Next Episode: Temptation Bundling (episode 136) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Bikeshedding (episode 99) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book (episode 147) What is Behavioral Baking (episode 155) How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics (episode 83) The Voltage Effect with John List (episode 190) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  20 Podcasting Insights and Tips After 200 Episodes of The Brainy Business

Today we are digging in on inequity aversion – which is featured in chapter 12 of my new book, What Your Employees Need And Can’t Tell You, titled “That’s Not Fair!”  Fairness is a fascinating topic and one that is really important in business. We strive to have fair standards in our business practices, in how we pay our employees, and in the offers we provide to customers…but should everything always be perfectly “fair”?  Does it have to be fair? And…what the heck is “fair” anyway? Who decides what is fair? (and is that fair?) Tune in to hear all about it. You will also get to hear why fairness is like air, and what a bunch of capuchins can teach us about work (and why your employees might be ready to throw cucumbers). Listen in to learn all about inequity aversion, why it matters to business, and some tips for how to keep this from being a big problem in your work. Show Notes: [00:40] Today we are digging in on inequity aversion – which is featured in chapter 12 of my new book, What Your Employees Need And Can’t Tell You, titled “That’s Not Fair!” [02:32] Inequity aversion is a pretty easy concept on the surface. We want things to be equal (unless we are the ones getting the benefits…then we tend to be a little more lax in our demands for equality, right?) [03:19] I want to point out that fair and equal are not the same, and furthermore, equality is not the same as equity – remember this is inequity aversion, not inequality aversion. Equality means that everyone is given the same resources and opportunities. Equity recognizes that not everyone has the same circumstances and therefore provides resources in a way that can help receive an equal outcome. [06:02] What is “fair” and who gets to decide? One of my favorite quotes on this is from Mathew Liebermann who said, “Fairness seems a bit like air—its absence is a lot more noticeable than its presence.” [08:22] When we realize we aren’t being treated or paid fairly – or even if we just suspect that something isn’t fair everything else can come to a grinding halt. [11:25] According to a Bloomberg article and research by Joblist of 15,000 workers who quit during this time, 40% said the job market was more difficult than they expected, 20% miss people at their old company (and many of them didn’t think that was going to impact them as much as it did), 17% said their new job is not what they hoped for, 16% realized their old job was better than they realized, and 9% have found themselves in a company with bad culture and management. 14% of those surveyed who had quit their jobs said they regretted it. [14:01] One thing we do know is that we pretty universally dislike and reject things that are unfair, the problem (as you are seeing here) is that what is fair is relative. [16:54] This brings up another interesting facet of inequity aversion – because we hate the inequitable, unfair and unequal, we will sometimes put ourselves in harm's way or give ourselves a worse outcome to keep someone else from getting an even better one. [19:07] A perceived slight from years back could combine with confirmation bias and the focusing illusion so one employee is sabotaging themselves and your team to keep someone in their or another department from “winning” anything. [21:00] Whenever there is a question of fairness, motivation will tank. We become distracted and disengaged regardless of whether we are intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. Incentives and motivation are so important when we think about job performance. [22:01] When it comes to our aversion to inequity, the best thing to do is to make sure your practices and policies (whether it is pay or anything else) are, of course, fair, and equitable to begin with. [23:37] Remember, of course, that something may not be equal and still be fair and equitable. [24:52] Start by asking what you are trying to achieve. [26:12] Next, what are your priorities? [28:04] Understanding the why behind the decision is really important. Some people might still feel slighted, but that is ok you just need to align that with your priorities and the different groups you are working with. [29:18] You have to be looking for the worst way this could be interpreted and what you might have missed. Who aren’t you thinking about? What aren’t you thinking about? Do not skip this step. [30:01] Don’t rush something out and expect people will give you the benefit of the doubt–it doesn’t often work that way. [30:50] Be as open, clear and transparent as you can be with as much as you can. This doesn’t mean you need to publicize how much everyone makes, but you can explain what the wage bands are for each role and why, or if there is an algorithm to determine who gets a bonus or what their base level salary will be or where the cap is, make that publicly known. [32:06] Once you can make it equitable, explainable, AND transparent, it allows the focus to come off of the external motivations and incentives (those grapes and cucumbers) and focus instead on the purpose of their work and hopefully doing a job they love. Everything becomes easier when people aren’t concerned about fairness, inequality, or inequity. 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.com 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: Drive, by Dan Pink Power of Regret, by Dan Pink What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race, by Kwame Christian Top Recommended Next Episode: Game Theory (episode 62) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Availability Bias (episode 15)) Herding (episode 19) Social Proof (episode 87) Confirmation Bias (episode 75) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Cobra Effect (episode 220) Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Prefactual Thinking (episode 71) How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race, with Kwame Christian (episode 221) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Monkey’s Reject Unequal Pay Why Monkeys (and Humans) are Wired for Fairness Millions of Americans Regret the Great Resignation Anomalies: The Ultimatum Game

Today we are digging in on negativity bias, which is featured in chapter 9 of my book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You. I also talked about this when Adam Hansen was on the show back in episode 176 and have planned to give it a dedicated episode for a long time, yet it has continued to hang out waiting for its moment in the sunshine – until today! It’s funny, because I think it really says something about my personality that optimism bias was episode 34 and we aren’t getting to negativity bias until nearly 200 weeks later. I’m ok with that, and, I’m so glad that this is finally becoming an episode because it really is a fascinating concept and super important for everyone in life and business. As with all the biases and heuristics you hear about on this show, I’m confident this will be one of those things that really changes your whole life and perspective once you realize it is there and impacting you. It’s shocking how rampant this can be running in our lives and businesses. Today we will cover the four aspects of negativity bias (plus a “bonus” one) as well as ways to think about this in your life and work. Show Notes: [00:41] Today we are digging in on negativity bias, which is featured in chapter 9 of my book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You. [03:13] In its most basic form, negativity bias is our tendency to put more emphasis on negative information than positive. [03:57] Negativity bias, putting more weight on the bad than the good. Being on high alert and paying attention to potential threats was key for our survival. This is a good thing and it still serves us well a lot in our life. Sometimes, the negativity bias goes a bit far and can result in phobias or other avoidances that don’t serve us well. [06:20] This is one aspect of negativity bias, where we put way, way, way more weight on the negative input than the positive. Our being a herding species is part of this as well. Being on the outskirts with the herd was something else that greatly threatened our survival back in the day. [06:53] In today’s world, this overweighting of negatives can be problematic and cause a real negative spiral that keeps you stuck; focused on the bad in a way that causes you to ignore all the good stuff. You can choose to focus on the good stuff and, while still learning from the bad, don’t let it have so much more impact on you than the good. [07:46] There are four aspects of negativity bias (as outlined in the original paper). The first is negative potency. It says that even if the two incidents were of the same type and size, they won’t necessarily be felt or remembered the same way. We tend to have longer memories of these negative items than the positive ones and feel them more strongly when they occur. [08:09] The second aspect is of steeper negative gradients. This says that as we get closer to a negative event, its felt more and more – and at an intensity that is more than a positive event. [10:10] Negativity bias is definitely related to loss aversion and they are similar (but not the same). Negativity bias is when people pay more attention to bad news than good news. Loss aversion is when people are more worried about losing something they have than getting something new. [10:42] Now, we move on to negativity dominance. This was sort of covered in the negative potency section, but it is more about how when there is an event, the negative events will make it so our whole impression skews toward the negative. [11:35] It is important to think about the overall experience people are having with you. Even one negative element can drag an otherwise good thing down. [14:22] Knowing that people are going to have this negativity bias – both those presenting the change and those receiving it – is important as you consider how you introduce anything to anyone. [16:42] Our final aspect is negative differentiation, which is about the effort it takes to process an event. The negative stuff is more difficult to process, so it uses up more energy and cognitive resources. That makes us remember it more and for longer. [18:54] Knowing that the negativity bias exists and taking a step back to get out of your own way is important as you look at your own behaviors and actions. [19:54] We are also biased to give people like us the benefit of the doubt and not give that to people who are outside our circle of empathy. [22:02] Contagion is such an important piece and it has one of my all-time favorite examples and lines because it is very memorable and you instantly get the problem and how this can be applied in other areas. “A single cockroach can ruin a bowl of cherries, but an individual cherry will do nothing for a bowl of cockroaches.” [23:53] When you think of reputation, that one negative can contaminate everything else and color your entire perspective of them and everything they touch. [24:35] It is important to realize when negativity bias, and specifically contagion, could be coloring a lot more than it should. [26:44] As we wrap up today’s episode, I want you to think about the negativity bias and how it is impacting you in your life and at work. [28:30] Learn from the negatives and let them sink in, but don’t let them control you and take over everything. [30:25] Make sure to clear out the cockroaches before you work on finding better cherries.  [32:02] Because of the negativity bias, we really love avoiding bad things. If we avoid all the things that have risks associated with them, we will not grow and change, and for both people and companies, that is a problem. [33:58] Pointing out flaws in ideas isn’t always saving you from a mistake. It might be saving you from the thing that could change everything for the better if you gave it a chance. What can you take a chance on today? 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.com 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: Outsmart Your Instincts, by Adam Hansen Power of Regret, by Dan Pink What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam Top Recommended Next Episode: Optimism Bias (episode 34) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Reframing Annoying Disruptions to Support Innovation, with Adam Hansen, coauthor of Outsmart Your Instincts (episode 176) Priming (episode 18) Reciprocity (episode 23) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Herding (episode 19) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Confirmation Bias (episode 75) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 92) Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Negativity Bias in User Experience Negativity Bias, Negativity Dominance, and Contagion Why is the news always so depressing? What Is Negativity Bias and How Can It Be Overcome?

In today's conversation, I am joined by Phill Agnew, host of the Nudge podcast. Phill and I have gotten to be friends over the last couple of years and I've been honored to have been a guest on his podcast before, but this is the first time he is joining me here on The Brainy Business. So, you may be wondering…why now? As you'll hear me share in our conversation, one main reason is that Phill has been EVERYWHERE on my social media recently. He is doing some amazing, relatable, applicable work. I love how he is showcasing the simple tests he is conducting to really practice what he preaches in the incorporation of behavioral economics into a business application. In today’s episode, he explains some of his top tips and insights – in a way you can absolutely go through and try yourself. Listen in and then get out there and create your own test to get started! (And share it with us using the social links below.) Small changes can make a big impact.  Show Notes: [00:40] In today's conversation, I am joined by Phill Agnew, host of the Nudge podcast.  [01:15] Phill is doing some amazing work. I love how he is showcasing the simple tests he is doing and really practicing what he preaches in incorporating behavioral economics into business applications.  [03:23] Phill shares about himself, his background, and what he does in the world of behavioral science.  [04:34] In 2019 he launched the Nudge podcast. He launched the podcast to learn more, interview experts, and pick their brains to learn even more. He has been growing the show for the last three years. It is really important to him that everything on the show is applicable.  [06:15] Small changes can make a big difference.  [07:27] Phil shares about his tests on TikTok using the curiosity gap.  [09:25] He found that his curiosity gap-inspired videos made people far more likely to watch the full video and become a follower of his channel.  [11:38] Before launching The Brainy Business podcast Melina went live on Facebook for 30 days to increase excitement.  [13:34] VIDEO TIP: Pack in as much curiosity as you can in the first 10 seconds.  [14:49] He spends a lot of time advertising and testing things out on Reddit.  [16:27] Phill shares about testing social proof. Social proof is the idea that we follow the actions of others.  [17:32] 75% of the time people will give the answer they know is wrong to go with the group. Showcasing an action that other people are doing can be really smart.  [19:08] Applying these small nudges to the way you communicate can make your communications more effective.  [20:14] When testing, your variant and control should be very similar. The only thing that is different is the thing you are trying to test. He uses Google surveys a lot.  [21:17] Fresh start effects can be really powerful. Phill shares about his tests using the fresh start effect.  [23:56] Classic commitment devices can definitely have an effect as well.  [25:38] Phill shares another Google survey he did about podcast cover art and what he learned from the test.  [28:01] Check out Phill’s podcast Nudge. [28:41] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [31:32] As you move forward with the insights from the episode, it is time to overcome your own time discount tendencies and optimism bias. Take a moment now to do something to start applying what you learned in the show today. Now is the time to do one thing. 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.com 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 Choice Factory, by Richard Shotton How to Change, by Katy Milkman When, by Dan Pink Power of Regret, by Dan Pink Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Connect with Phill:  Nudge Podcast Phill on Twitter Phill on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Already Heard That One? Try These:  NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts (episode 35) Creating Content People Can’t Help But Engage With featuring Katelyn Bourgoin (episode 201) Do Nudges Work? with Michael Hallsworth (episode 218) Reciprocity (episode 23) Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited (episode 150) IKEA (episode 112) Social Proof (episode 87) How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) (episode 81) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 51) The Power of Regret with Daniel Pink (episode 214) Precommitment (episode 120) Sludge (episode 179) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Coca-Cola Experiment Only 2% of People Will Return A Christmas Card From A Stranger Solomon Asch - Conformity Experiment

In today's conversation, I am joined by Kwame Christian, who I believe is our first 3-peat guest! (Though Dr. Marco Palma from the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M has technically been on the show three times, once was part of a panel when we launched the certificate program so I am going to say that Kwame is in a class all his own (for so many reasons)). Kwame was also my first guest on the first-ever live show of The Brainy Business on Fireside earlier this week. If you haven't heard of Fireside yet or checked out the show there, and if you don't yet have enough Kwame (I know I never will!) check out the replay within these show notes. Fireside is a new platform co-founded by Mark Cuban where I was recently invited to do a show. It lets the audience come up on stage to participate and ask questions. It is really cool and I’m going to be testing it out for a bit to see if this is a good permanent addition to the content you get from The Brainy Business. So if you want to stay around and have a chance to come behind the scenes and be part of the show, please come join us there. And of course, listen in on this episode as Kwame and I talk all about his new book, How to Have Difficult Conversations about Race.  Show Notes: [00:40] In today's conversation, I am joined by Kwame Christian, who I believe is the first guest to be here on the show three times AND my first ever guest on the live show on Fireside.  [01:42] Fireside is a new platform co-founded by Mark Cuban where I was recently invited to do a show. It lets the audience come up on stage to participate and ask questions. [03:20] Today we are talking all about Kwame’s new book, How to Have Difficult Conversations about Race, which officially comes out on September 13th.  [05:18] Kwame shares about himself and his background. Kwame is an attorney, does work in negotiation, and has a background in psychology.  [07:27] Kwame shares his journey in writing his new book. He wants to be where the toughest conversations are.  [08:47] He is not here to teach people how to think about race. He is here to offer guidance on how to talk about race.  [11:11] We are all biased in different types of ways and we need to think more broadly about bias. People need to have a more empowered stance when it comes to bias.  [12:32] Bias is real and it is going to play a role so why don’t we take the time to calibrate and manage the role of bias in our favor? It is a strategic tool we can leverage to our advantage.  [14:22] We are biased against bias.  [15:18] Let’s live with the fact that we have biases and learn to manage them.  [17:22] If we are not making any mistakes that might be an indication of us not interacting with people that see the world differently than us.  [18:11] We have to be outcome-oriented in our conversations. We need to know our goal and then reverse engineer a strategy for that goal.  [20:04] We need to recognize that we need to be aware of the biases but not fear them. Biases make us human.  [23:07] Kwame shares a true story from his book about a man named Daryl that tries to convert KKK members. He has converted over 200 members.  [25:51] We have more persuasive power than we realize.   [28:27] In these conversations we are not going to try to win.  [30:02] His new book can be used by anybody that has any goal in a difficult conversation.  [31:54] Anything that does not violate a physical law is negotiable. We can negotiate anything, we just need the right mindset.  [34:05] Conflict is an opportunity. These difficult conversations provide us with opportunities. We just need to be curious and listen.  [36:26] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [37:29] Not every battle is yours to fight. Choose where you can have or want impact and go full force, one strategic decision at a time. 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.com 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: Finding Confidence in Conflict, by Kwame Christian How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race, by Kwame Christian What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer How Minds Change, by David McRaney What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Kwame:  American Negotiation Institute website Kwame on Twitter Kwame on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Introducing Kwame Christian and How to Use the Compassionate Curiosity Framework for Difficult Conversations (episode 107) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Using Anchoring in Negotiations, an Interview with Kwame Christian (episode 146) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Anchoring (episode 11) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 92) Familiarity Bias (episode 149) How Minds Change with David McRaney (episode 210) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Framing (episode 16) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Brainy Business LIVE on Fireside Article Melina Wrote About NASA’s Leadership Strategies That Enabled the Moon Landing for Inc Magazine

Today, we get to talk about a very fun concept known as the cobra effect or the cobra problem. It is something I included in my upcoming book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, and I was very surprised at some of the early readers who work in the field and wrote comments like “WOW!” or called out this concept by name in their endorsement blurbs for the book. As I have said on the show before, there are hundreds of concepts, biases and heuristics in behavioral economics and behavioral science that are impacting our actions every day – it is near impossible to keep up with all of them, and sometimes you find a little golden nugget like this one which can be a new discovery for people even when they are experts in the field. I’m definitely not saying that I am the first person to talk about it or that no one knows about it. Rather, when I realized that it might be a little more obscure than I thought, it became a clear contender for its own dedicated episode sooner than later – plus it is awesome and the story of how it got that name is really interesting. Wanna hear that story and how you can use the cobra effect in business? Listen in… Show Notes: [00:41] Today, we get to talk about a very fun concept known as the cobra effect or the cobra problem. It is something I included in my upcoming book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You. [03:18] It all started way back when the British ruled India and the city of Delhi was infested with cobras. In order to help with the problem, the British set up a bounty and would pay anyone who brought in a cobra skin to help clean up the streets and keep people safe…but things didn’t work out quite as intended. [04:45] And while the effect got its namesake from this cobra incident, it is by no means an isolated problem. Apparently, there was a very similar problem in Hanoi in 1902 when the French put in their sewer system, which essentially became a rat superhighway. [06:21] Just like the cobras, when the French got wise of the scheme, they did away with the bounty and everyone let their rats go free creating an even worse (quickly multiplying) problem. [07:49] Our next example comes from Bogota, Colombia, which tried to cut down on pollution and congestion on the roads in 2008 by limiting how often you could drive. [09:42] In my research I also found a story where the government of Quebec gave considerably more money to mental health programs than to orphanages from 1940-1960. So, to try and help those orphaned children who otherwise would have had nowhere to go, the Catholic Church of Quebec reportedly misdiagnosed many children with mental illnesses to get more funding. [11:10] The main lesson from the cobra effect is that “no loophole goes unexploited.” Incentives are great and they can absolutely work, but you need to be really thoughtful about what someone might do to benefit from whatever you are proposing.  [12:16] It is always so important to look beyond the surface solution and consider the problem you are really solving before you move forward with a course of action. When you think about the problem, it is important to get out of your own perspective and understand what someone really needs and what is practical for them. [13:58] You need to consider the problem you are trying to solve AND how it lines up with the real behavior of other people, as well as what they have control over and what you have control over in the new world you are proposing. Nudges and other tactics can only get you so far. You also have to really get out of your own way and think about how someone might see this differently than you. [15:41] There are lots of valid and useful incentives and not everyone is going to take advantage of the loophole or even see it…but if the loophole is big enough and there are enough people willing to jump through it that can be a time where your solution makes the problem worse. [17:42] Every decision has an impact – even the decision to do nothing – and changing one thing can change many things that are related even if you don’t think about them (and it isn’t always in a positive way). [19:11] It is important to spend some more time thinking about those possible loopholes, and it is important to get into the mindset of the person who would be in the situation. [19:49] The ability to be “in the moment” with someone else, to empathize and imagine we are part of that experience and show “How might we?” is so valuable and such an amazing skill. When you put yourself in that space, you can think differently, and that is really helpful when you are looking for exploitable loopholes. [21:03] Melina shares questions you should ask if you are considering implementing a payout (use your free worksheet to follow along).  [22:19] Even small incentives can cause people to look for loopholes and to find opportunities for their own benefit. [25:38] Rules need to be put in place to adjust for possible loopholes. Maybe there are restrictions that need to go in place, but if there are too many restrictions, take a moment to consider if the plan is a good one or if it is time to go back to the drawing board. [27:54] It is better to be thoughtful about these loopholes and restrictions up front instead of looking back after the fact and regretting the choices you could have made differently once you have the power of hindsight. [29:02] If you haven’t already, will you consider pre-ordering a copy of my upcoming book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You? In it, I talk about the cobra effect, and so many other important concepts from behavioral science and how they can be applied to business to help teams work and communicate better together. 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.com 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: Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens Freakonomics, by Stephen Dubner & Steven Levitt Behavioral Insights, by Michael Hallsworth Drive, by Dan Pink What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: Nudging for Good at Walmart with Sarah Wilson (episode 206) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Do Nudges Work? with Michael Hallsworth (episode 218) Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview (episode 109) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (episode 187) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, interview with Jennifer Clinehens, author of Choice Hacking (episode 141) The Power of Regret with Daniel Pink (episode 214) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Incentives - The "N" In NUDGES (episode 36) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Cobra Effect: No Loophole Goes Unexploited What is the Cobra Effect The Cobra Effect The Most Ironic Examples Of The Cobra Effect Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Nancy Harhut, cofounder and chief creative officer of HBT Marketing. She loves getting people to take action and specializes in blending best-of-breed creative techniques with behavioral science to prompt response – online, offline, and in-person. She has spoken around the world, including numerous appearances at SXSW, and has been named one of the 10 Most Fascinating People in B2B Marketing, a Social Top 50 Email Marketing Leader, and a Top 40 Digital Strategist. Her articles and work have appeared in Admap, US Ad Review, Target Marketing, DM News, Graphis Magazine, B@B Magazine, Who’s Mailing What, Copywriting Insider, and “Open Me Now” by H.G. Lewis. Prior to co-founding HBT Marketing, Nancy held senior creative management positions with Hill Holliday, Mullen, and Digitas. She’s helped some of the world’s biggest brands create successful campaigns. Nancy and her teams have won over 200 awards for digital and direct marketing effectiveness, for clients such as AT&T, H&R Block, the GM Card, Dish Networks, and Nationwide. Today, we get to talk about her first book, Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, which just came out this week here in the U.S. Dive into the conversation and get ready to take action.  Show Notes: [00:44] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Nancy Harhut, cofounder and chief creative officer of HBT Marketing. [02:05] Her first book, Using Behavioral Science in Marketing just came out this week.  [04:20] Nancy shares about herself, her background, and how she found herself in the world of behavioral science.  [06:01] She took principles and research from behavioral science and applied/tested them in marketing.  [07:37] Anything she could find that might give her clients an advantage or extra edge was something she wanted to explore.  [10:20] It is important to test so we know what is working and what doesn’t work.  [11:10] Nancy’s examples in the book are very tangible, clear, easy, thorough, and thoughtful.  [13:49] Social proof is incredibly powerful. Nancy shares examples of using social proof with her clients and the results. [16:31] Nancy shares why she wrote her new book. People were often asking if she had a book, including her now publisher Kogan Page.  [16:54] Behavioral science and marketing absolutely work. Writing a book helps many more people to benefit from it.  [19:19] She wanted to create a book that was short on science and long on applicability. She wanted it to be practical, easy to read, and actionable. (“Mission accomplished!” says Melina.)  [21:30] She started her book with emotional and rational thinking because it was a good foundational factor and from there she started to talk about behavioral science principles that are strongly linked to emotion.  [23:24] Having more good books in the world is always a positive thing.  [25:44] If you present somebody with a couple of options as opposed to just one thing, they are much more likely to make a buying decision at the moment. If there are two options the question automatically changes to “Which of these two do I want?”  [28:29] When saying “You have to make a choice and if you don't, someone else is going to make it for you” leverages autonomy bias. There was a bigger response because people didn’t want someone making choices for them.  [30:04] Behavioral science is not just for marketing. It is applicable across so many areas and professions.  [33:04] Nancy shares an example of using choice architecture with a client that sold voluntary benefits.  [34:47] They made accepting the meeting the easy choice and the path with the least resistance.  [35:57] Melina shares an example of a blood drive on a college campus. [39:22] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [39:42] You are constantly communicating with people and there are small tweaks to your messaging that can make all the difference. [40:13] Melina’s new book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You is coming out on October 11th, 2022.  [42:04] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, by Nancy Harhut What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Influence (Expanded), by Robert Cialdini Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Connect with Nancy:  HBT Marketing Nancy on Twitter Nancy on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: What is Behavioral Baking? (episode 155) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (episode 101) NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts (episode 35) Sludge (episode 179) Relativity (episode 12) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Herding (episode 19) Social Proof (episode 87) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Reciprocity (episode 23) Framing (episode 16) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 51) Defaults: Why The Pre-Selected Choice Wins More Often Than Not (episode 20) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  A megastudy of text-based nudges encouraging patients to get vaccinated at an upcoming doctor’s appointment Behavior Change for Good Initiative Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

In today's conversation, I am joined by Michael Hallsworth, managing director for the Americas division of the Behavioral Insights Team, or BIT. Michael was on the show nearly two years ago in episode 125 when he was sharing about his book which is aptly named Behavioral Insights. The reason he is here today is to talk about a debate that has been going on across the behavioral science community for the bulk of this year: "Do nudges work?" Michael wrote an article recently in Behavioral Scientist which laid out all the points in a very clear way and talked about the real question we should be asking (as well as the next steps for the field in the future). I knew he was the perfect guest to come on and speak about this. He does a great job summarizing everything here and I hope you get value from this conversation. It can be hard to look at ourselves, the fields we are in, or ourselves personally, and embrace opportunities for improvement. But, it is so necessary in order to grow, change and thrive. The field is built on solid science, and we have an opportunity to do even more going forward. Listen in to hear all of our thoughts on this hot topic. Show Notes: [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dr. Michael Hallsworth, managing director for the Americas division of the Behavioral Insights Team. He was on the show nearly two years ago.  [02:37] It can be hard to look at ourselves, the fields we are in, or ourselves personally, and embrace opportunities for improvement. But, it is so necessary in order to grow, change and thrive. [05:00] Michael shares about himself and his background in behavioral science.  [06:56] Nudges guide people to decide while maintaining their freedom of choice.  [08:26] Publication bias is a problem that affects many disciplines (not just behavioral science) in the scientific literature. [11:19] Singular data points are not generalizable in other contexts. Context and testing are key.  [13:22] First we need to understand what is a realistic effect size for some of these interventions and can we get a better understanding of how context affects results.  [15:42] A missing piece of this debate around if nudges do or don’t work is looking at some work that is not affected by publication bias.  [16:59] We do have evidence for the real-world effects of nudging that are not affected by publication bias. Those effects are smaller than the ones in the original study but they are still meaningful.  [19:06] Human behavior is complex. Results vary by context and group.  [21:21] There are factors going into a result that are meaningful which may mean that something doesn’t work in a different situation.  [22:56] Instead of making overall claims we should be talking about some of these ideas a bit like scientists have talked about incentives.  [23:53] We don’t need to oversimplify or oversell because the results are there but they vary in ways we don’t understand (yet).  [25:34] Moving forward we can run multi-size studies so we can explore these differences more systematically.  [27:42] When you take your results together, you should be able to see which idea is more supported.  [29:49] They found that if you thought something was more context-dependent those studies were less likely to replicate success.  [31:35] It’s not about what you know. It is about how you match it to context to produce a result.  [33:56] Behavioral Science “in the wild” is different from behavioral science in the lab. [35:07] Within organizations it can be really hard to start tracing the threads between studies and looking into the connections.  [37:11] Michael shares about his upcoming manifesto.  [39:20] The overriding question he discusses in the manifesto is “How do we help behavioral science tackle some of those bigger questions?” [40:14] “Do nudges work?” is the wrong debate. There are ways we can take behavioral science forward.  [42:02] Anything that has happened so far isn’t bad or wrong. We are learning from what has happened and now we are moving forward.  [44:47] You may not be able to predict in advance all the potential outcomes, particularly if you are intervening in a complex environment with lots of things going on (i.e., the real world with human people). [46:11] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [47:21] The summary of what you heard from Michael is that, yes, nudges do work. And, as I have always said on this show, nothing is perfectly generalizable. [48:44] This idea of looking into the possibilities of more complex systems and being able to be even better at predicting what will happen when and why is fascinating, and something I look forward to being part of researching into the future. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Behavioral Insights, by Michael Hallsworth Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein How to Change, by Katy Milkman Behavioral Science in the Wild, by Nina Mazar & Dilip Soman Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer Connect with Michael:  Michael’s Website  Michael on Twitter Michael on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts (episode 35) Incentives - The "N" In NUDGES (episode 36) Understanding Mapping: The "U" in NUDGES (episode 37) Defaults: The "D" in NUDGES (episode 38) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (episode 39) Give Feedback: The "G" in NUDGES (episode 40) Structuring Complex Choices: The "S" in NUDGES (episode 41) How To Use Behavioral Economics to Create Thriving Cities, an interview with Colu (episode 113) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 51) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) How to Approach Negative Reviews Using Behavioral Economics (episode 163) Common Errors in Financial Decision Making with Dr. Chuck Howard (episode 213) Time Discounting (episode 51) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Making Sense of the “Do Nudges Work?” Debate The effectiveness of nudging: A meta-analysis of choice architecture interventions across behavioral domains No evidence for nudging after adjusting for publication bias Behavior Change for Good Initiative Behavioral Insights Team Website Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I’m joined by Scott Schutte and Dr. Janine Stichter, co-founders of the Healthy Behavior Institute. Scott is a personal trainer, weight loss behavior coach, gym owner, and fitness educator who has successfully guided thousands of people on their fitness journey. Janine (whom he calls “Dr. J”) has been in the field of behavior change for over 20 years as a researcher, author, educator, and practitioner.  Her career has focused on understanding the “why” behind behavior and identifying clear practices that are practical and result in sustained change. As part of her research, she has procured over 14M in federal grants, published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and three books. (As well as chairing 40+ doctoral dissertations and masters committees, providing over 150 international and national presentations, and over 80 workshops.)  Together, they co-founded the Healthy Behavior Institute, an educational platform for fitness professionals and gym owners that specialize in behavior modification. I was particularly interested in having on the show because they are changing an industry where everyone has just sort of accepted that people don't do what they “should,” yet where everyone keeps doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results instead of trying something new. Thankfully, they have, and so I have asked them to enlighten us on the work they do and the advice they would give to others looking to do something similar – in any industry.  Show Notes: [00:44] In today's conversation, I am joined by Scott Schutte and Dr. Janine Stichter (Dr. J), co-founders of the Healthy Behavior Institute. [02:21] The Healthy Behavior Institute is an educational platform for fitness professionals and gym owners that specialize in behavior modification. [05:14] Scott shares about himself, his background, and how his work is related to behavioral science.  [06:06] Dr. J shares about herself, her background, and how her work is related to behavioral science. She has a doctorate in behavioral analysis. [08:22] The case for the need for behavioral science often comes from a health or wellness example because it is an area where everyone knows what they “should” do…but behavior rarely changes.  [09:50] Many times fitness trainers or the industry have misinformation because they are looking at things through their own lens.  [11:50] A lot of us can do something for a period of time that is extreme but we don’t maintain it.  [12:15] Behavior does not persist unless it is being reinforced and serving a purpose.  [12:56] When they talk about the root causes they use the EATS Model - Escape, Attention, Tangible, and Sensory.  [14:21] If we can figure out and help people figure out what the root cause of the behavior is then we can find a replacement that matches that.  [16:09] Your eating behaviors and reasoning can flow throughout the day.  [19:01] Having a guide through these changes is the fast track and going to keep you on point.  [19:55] People go through different stages of life so they have different wants and desires. This is an ongoing process that we need to reevaluate and reconfigure along the way.  [23:16] We need to focus on the minimum we need to do to trend in the direction of our goals. Tracking or journaling can be a short term learning tool but it is not something everyone has to do long term.  [24:26] Your clients are coming with different personalities and different ways they are naturally wired – you need to meet them where they are at.  [25:45] Using tracking or journaling at certain points can be helpful when necessary to educate or just give a better picture.  [28:03] The EATS Model gives you a place to start to try to understand the behavior.  [30:37] We don’t have to adjust everything every day. We could make adjustments a few days a week and still see an impact.  [32:56] Understanding the problem and the behavior shift you are trying to make is so important.  [34:32] Be cognizant of not trying to address the symptom but actually look at the why. [35:55] Behavior is a manifestation of what is going on in our heads. It is just an outward expression and we often need to get past that symptom.  [38:39] In behavior analysis and research the EATS Model is called the four functions of behavior and it applies to all industries.  [39:48] Any one thing can be all of those things (escape, attention, tangible, and sensory) at any given time.  [41:46] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [43:26] Taking the time to explore and explain how every behavior could be a source of Escape, a way to get Attention, getting something Tangible, or being Sensory is a great way to better understand (and potentially shift) that behavior. [45:08] Thank you to Andrew Gavigan for recommending this week’s guest! If you have a recommendation for someone you think should be a guest on the show or a concept or topic you want to be sure I cover please reach out to me through email or social media.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Fitness Redefined, by Scott Schutte & Janine Stichter Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer Influence, by Robert Cialdini Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Tiny Habits, by BJ Fogg Connect with Healthy Behavior Institute:  Healthy Behavior Institute  Dr. J on Instagram Scott on Instagram Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Habits (episode 21) Announcing! Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Laboratory (episode 115) Using Behavioral Science in Healthcare, Interview with Aline Holzwarth (episode 135) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (episode 101) The Power of Habit (episode 22) Good Habits, Bad Habits: An Interview with Wendy Wood (episode 127) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Behavior Change at WW and Beyond, an Interview with Dr. Julie O’Brien (episode 98) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation with Ayelet Fishbach (episode 186) Framing (episode 16) Unity: Cialdini’s 7th Principle of Persuasion (episode 216) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction (and the Lessons for any Business), Interview with Richard Chataway (episode 134) Common Errors in Financial Decision Making with Dr. Chuck Howard (episode 213) Time Discounting (episode 51) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  EATS Model Become A Certified Behavior Change Coach Andrew Gavigan Fitness Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

A little over a year ago, in episode 157 of The Brainy Business, I was honored to have Dr. Robert Cialdini join me on the show to talk about the new and expanded version of his book Influence, which has sold many, many millions of copies around the world, and it is so impactful even nearly 40 years after its original publishing date. The new version added 220 (pure gold!) pages and a whole new seventh principle of persuasion – unity – which is of course the focus of today’s episode.  The six original principles of persuasion include reciprocity, liking, authority, scarcity, social proof, and commitment/consistency. Most of those already have their own episodes of the podcast, which are linked for you in the show notes along with my interview with Bob when he was on the show. So, why unity? As I said, while I’ve dedicated episodes to several of the initial six principles, including scarcity, social proof, reciprocity, and precommitment…I haven’t done them all yet…so why jump to the end with Unity before “completing the set” so to speak? Listen in to find out why and learn more about the amazing principle of unity.  Show Notes: [00:07] Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is all about Cialdini's new 7th principle of persuasion: unity. [00:48] In episode 157 of The Brainy Business, I was honored to have Dr. Robert Cialdini join me on the show to talk about the new and expanded version of his book Influence, which has sold multi multi multi million copies and it is so impactful even nearly 40 years after its original publishing date. [03:36] Unity is an underlying principle that runs through all the others. If you have unity, everything else can come easier, so understanding this technique can be impactful in most any approach. (A great reason to jump here first! It also has less info on it when you search since it is new, so I wanted to contribute there, and it has a big feature in my new book, What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You).  [04:54] Melina shares an overview of the first six principles. Reciprocity: when given a gift, even something incredibly small, people feel compelled to give back to the gifter. [05:51] People are more likely to do business with people they like. We are also influenced by people in authority even when they don’t have any expertise in the area we may be asking about. [06:28] Because we are a herding species, we are very influenced by social proof. We also are very influenced by items that are scarce. We find them more valuable, our FOMO and loss aversion are triggered.  [07:04] People like to be consistent and do what they have said they will do.  They also like to do business with people who do what they say they will do. Showing that you have done this is powerful. [08:02] If people aren’t buying what you have to sell, whether it is an idea or a physical product or service or anything else, it doesn’t necessarily mean the idea is wrong or bad. You can often change the way you are presenting the information and enjoy a different result. [08:35] Unity goes beyond liking or social proof and is in the space of how we are the same. It’s not just that I like you, but we are (as they say) cut from the same cloth. When you are part of my tribe, when we are a WE, I become more compelled toward whatever it is you are asking for or offering up. [09:36] We all have a lot of identities that we flow between throughout the day; they don’t have to be weighty to create that connection.  [10:54] It is pretty easy for people to come up with 20 self-defining things pretty quickly off the top of their head.  [12:32] The way we identify with a group can shape the way we see the world around us and the decisions we make. [14:31] A key to unity is finding what is central, core, or defining to both people. [16:25] When you find something that you like about someone else, it creates a connection that makes them, in turn, like you more. [18:03] Ask good questions and know there will be some commonality that will help you to find them more interesting and engaging, and give you something to talk about, and that it is possible they will think of you more fondly as well. [18:22] Know that when you need to ask people for things, your own affinity groups or people who you would say are part of your “I am” group are a great place to start because they are the most likely to say yes to you. [21:11] Bringing one particular aspect of your shared identity to the front of their mind at the right time – making that particular identity you share salient at the right moment – is key for using unity in your life and work communication. [22:17] People are busy and their brains are even busier. Reminding someone of that important detail at the right moment can have a massive impact. [23:32] We form an idea of who we are, what we are about, and the brain is really good at explaining why every action supports the way we see ourselves. [26:30] The main point I want to make is that our busy brains have a lot going on and when you are asking or offering something to someone, the way you present that information matters because the brain will assume that whatever you bring up is being brought up for some reason and it has a lot of weight on the decision the person makes in that moment. [28:46] Unity is an amazing concept that can help you relate better to those around you and have a higher likelihood that things will just flow better and be easier for you. [29:05] Take Melina’s Unity Challenge. Do the 20 statement challenge Dominic talked about in the snip from his episode on The Power of Us. Next, pick three people whom you can practice on finding a new opportunity for unity with. Use your freebie worksheet in these notes to help! [31:23] The second challenge you could take on would be to look at the short term, and if there is someone you need to ask for a favor from or to pitch something to. [32:31] Try out one or both of these challenges and share it with Melina on social media. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence (New and Expanded), by Robert Cialdini The Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer The Power of Regret, by Dan Pink The Influencer, by Brian Ahearn What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Top Recommended Next Episode: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Brainy Tips for Ethical Influence with Brian Ahearn (episode 199) Priming (episode 18) Reciprocity (episode 23) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Scarcity (episode 14) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 92) Social Proof (episode 87) Herding (episode 19) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Precommitment (episode 120) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  How To Ethically Influence People: Interview with Author Brian Ahearn (episode 104) Texas A&M Certificate Program Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

In today's conversation, I am joined by Beatrix Daros, Global Consumer Intelligence Director for Mars, and today we are talking mostly about a project we worked on together for KIND snack bars around healthy snacking and checkout/impulse buying in grocery stores. Beatrix also shares about some technology they used during the pandemic and her advice for others looking to incorporate similar work at their companies. This conversation is a revisit of the session we did together at IIEX Europe in Amsterdam a few weeks back, which was an awesome event -- thank you to Greenbook for having us out for that!  Beatrix is so awesome and I'm delighted that she is joining me on the podcast. The event space in Amsterdam didn't allow for the same easy replay on the podcast, so she was kind enough (pun intended) to do another recording with me here -- so even those who watched the session live in Amsterdam will get something a little different in the episode. We talk about the questionstorming session we did in 2019, the studies they implemented based on that work, her plans for future research, and so much more. Show Notes: [00:43] In today's conversation, I am joined by Beatrix Daros, Global Consumer Intelligence Director for Mars. [01:45] Melina) will be speaking at another upcoming Greenbook event IIEX Behavior in Chicago September 13th-14th. [03:35] The event space in Amsterdam didn't allow for the same easy replay on the podcast, so Beatrix was kind enough (pun intended) to do another recording with me here.  [06:02] Beatrix shares about herself and the work she does.  [07:07] KIND is a healthy snack bar with very low sugar levels, high content of nuts, and very little processing. It is called KIND because we need more kindness in the world.  [08:06] Beatrix shares her history and background.  [10:16] Research tip: the most important thing is really to connect with people from the segments you are working with. (In their case, it was countries.) [12:02] In some countries snacking is very established; it is considered part of the normal routine and part of their culture.  [13:18] How people make decisions related to health is very different across countries. They researched what is affecting these decisions. [15:11] They are doing research in the US, including looking at new products. In the rest of the world, they are looking to establish the brand like it is in the US.  [18:00] Impulse buys matter a lot for the Mars legacy brands. Bars, whether they are indulgent or healthy, are very often bought impulsively.  [20:43] Their expectation is that in the next five years other governments will likely follow what the UK is doing with their health regulations.  [23:18] They started by really trying to understand what goes on in the brain of the consumers and what influences their decisions. They also looked at behavioral science and how they could apply it.  [25:05] Melina worked with their team at a full-day workshop. They started off the day with Melina sharing about behavioral economics, how the brain works, and some specific concepts, and then they went to questionstorming.   [27:26] It is important for everyone to be part of the process even if their idea doesn’t ultimately get selected (this helps with the IKEA effect).  [29:45] Questionstorming was much more inclusive and improved engagement because every question found a space even if it wasn’t part of the first phase. It opened up and really brought people together.  [31:08] Technology was wonderful for their project (especially with the pandemic) because they could learn very fast and get super clear on the outcomes.  [33:19] They decided they would not go back to the way they did research before (in-person) because it was much more time-consuming. Technology can help you speed up and get results in 1-2 weeks. They may then test in stores for 4-6 weeks for validation, but it is still often faster than the old way of testing.  [34:29] Beatrix tip: rely on technology, it is very reliable and we should take advantage of it.  [36:25] The “deep human connection” goes back to the roots of the KIND brand. They were always in touch with the brand-consumer in a natural way.  [37:13] There are three layers where they try to create deep human connections with their consumers. The first layer is to be kind to the body. The second layer is to be kind to the community, and the third layer is to be kind to the planet.  [39:27] They launched a consumer closeness program. The first stream of the program was technology.  [41:19] The second stream of the consumer closeness program is a consumer and associate connect. Every team member is connecting directly with consumers and trying to understand what matters to them.  [44:26] Beatrix shares what she is excited about coming up in the future.  [45:52] There needs to be a healthy balance between using technology and keeping human connections.  [46:51] Since the pandemic, a lot of people became more conscious and we see the relationship between food and eating really changed in a positive way.  [48:09] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [49:58] Even when we have a small part in creating the project, and believe we were truly valued and part of the outcome, it can make a huge difference on whether or not people want to be part of and embrace that change initiative or recoil against it [50:59] The way change is presented is within your control and can help keep this from ever being a problem. This is the focus of my new book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You which is on presale now and hits shelves on October 11, 2022. [51:38] Could your team benefit from a questionstorming session? What projects do you have coming up in the next 6-12 months that are too important to fail? I would love to have a conversation with you and see if there is an opportunity for us to work together.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Start at the End, by Matt Wallaert Blindsight, by Matt Johnson & Prince Ghuman The Book of Beautiful Questions, by Warren Berger Connect with Beatrix:  Mars Wrigley Website Kind Website Beatrix on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Nudging for Good at Walmart with Sarah Wilson (episode 206) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (episode 196) Behavioral Bartending with Maker's Mark, featuring Greta Harper (episode 207) Why You Actually Taste With Your Nose - On The Sense Of Taste (episode 26) Why We Like the Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman, coauthor of Blindsight (episode 172) Using Ethnography to Understand Your Customers and Staff, an interview with Felicity Heathcote-Marcz (episode 137) Relativity (episode 12) Anchoring (episode 11) Questions or Answers (episode 4) Priming (episode 18) Loss Aversion (episode 9) IKEA (episode 112) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself Exploit & Explore: Two Ways of Categorizing Innovation Research Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

In today's conversation, I am joined by Daniel Pink; author of five New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward (which is the focus of our conversation today). His other books include When, A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell is Human. Dan’s books have won multiple awards, have been translated into 42 languages, and have sold millions of copies around the world. I reached out to Dan while I was writing my new book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You (which is now on presale and coming out on October 11, 2022) because I reference his book Drive a few times and wanted him to have a chance to weigh in and make sure I attributed everything correctly (something I do for every mention in my books). I was so deep in writing mode that I didn't realize he had a new book coming out at that time, so I asked him to come join me on the podcast to talk about his newest book, The Power of Regret. You will hear all about it in our conversation of course, but let me tell you, this book did not disappoint. It is full of great examples and extensive research -- it will change the way you think about regret and what it means to be human. You don’t want to miss this conversation where we talk all about it. Show Notes: [00:40] In today's conversation, I am joined by Dan Pink. He is the author of five New York Times bestsellers. [01:51] In this episode we talk about his newest book, The Power of Regret. [03:41] Dan shares about himself and his background. [05:49] He realized in his early thirties what he was doing on the side (writing) should be what he was doing full-time.  [07:12] He shares about the manga comic book he wrote called The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need. It is a 180-page graphic novel written in the Japanese comic form of manga.   [09:41] The book received a number of awards, including one from the American Library Association.  [12:06] In the first week the book came out he got an offer for the movie rights, which he declined, and he never got another one. (Per the theme of today’s episode…Does he regret it?)   [14:43] Dan’s tips for writing books: When it comes to writing and content creation there is a lot to be said for getting the reps. Start small and work up to writing a book. Listen to the feedback you get. [15:59] When writing a book you have to have a very high bar for whether something is worth writing a book about. Many ideas don’t have shoulders broad enough to carry a full book and they would be better as an article or essay.  [17:20] Writing a book is hard so if you don’t pick a topic that you are deeply interested in it is going to be a profoundly miserable experience.  [19:50] Does your book deserve 9 hours and 300 pages of someone else’s time? And, do you want to live with this for the rest of your life? [21:13] His early book Free Agent Nation was about the rise of people who were working for themselves.  [22:41] At any point in our lives we want to have some exploration but at a certain point, we have to execute.  [25:15] Dan loves sharing what he is working on along the way and getting feedback from others.   [27:14] Not only is regret normal and exceedingly common. Everybody has regrets.  [28:15] We want to use our regrets as information for understanding what our value is and learning to do better.  [29:21] He did two pieces of original research, one was The American Regret Project. It was a very large public opinion survey of the US population.  [30:59] He also did a piece of qualitative research called The World Regret Survey where he invited people around the world to submit their regrets (over 20,000 of them!).  [31:55] He found that people around the world had the same four core underlying regrets over and over again.  [33:42] One of the core regrets is foundation regrets. These are regrets people have about small bad decisions early in life that accumulate and have negative consequences later in life.  [34:23] Boldness regrets are if only I had taken the chance regrets. Moral regrets are if only I had done the right thing. Connection regrets are regrets about relationships.  [36:37] We need to process our regrets and use them as a force going forward. A starting point is looking at our regrets and deciding if they are regrets of action or regrets of inaction.  [38:15] Regret is one of the most common emotions that we have. Everybody has regrets.  [38:30] We have a massive amount of evidence that when we confront and think about our regrets we can use them to make better decisions, solve problems faster and better, avoid cognitive biases, become better negotiators and strategists, and find more meaning in life.  [39:59] Feelings are for thinking. They are signals, data, and information. When you have negative feelings even when it is unpleasant we need to figure out what it is teaching us to use them as a force of progress.  [41:35] You want to have way more positive emotions than negative emotions but a life well lived is not a life of only positive emotions. Negative emotions serve a role and are part of life. [43:43] Discomfort is a sign of growth so you want a little discomfort because that is how we learn and grow.  [46:00] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [48:15] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Power of Regret, by Daniel Pink Drive, by Daniel Pink When, by Daniel Pink To Sell is Human, by Daniel Pink A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink Connect with Dan:  Dan Website Dan on Twitter Dan on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Unleash Your Primal Brain, An Interview with Tim Ash (episode 124) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (episode 187) Prefactual Thinking (episode 71) Framing (episode 16) How Minds Change with David McRaney (episode 210) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Common Errors in Financial Decision Making with Dr. Chuck Howard (episode 213) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself Exploit & Explore: Two Ways of Categorizing Innovation Research Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Chuck Howard, an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. In his research, Chuck asks questions like, “Why do consumers so often underpredict their future expenses?” and “Why do people who work in the gig economy over-predict their future income?” He then designs simple solutions for these problems that help people improve their financial well-being. Chuck’s research has earned awards from the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, and the Behavioral Insights Group at Harvard University. Chuck earned his Ph.D. in Marketing and Behavioral Science from the University of British Columbia, and his BA in Economics and Finance from Ryerson University. I met Chuck on a recent trip to College Station and we have had a few conversations since then. Upon hearing about some of his recent research I thought it would be something that you would find interesting (I sure did!) and while it is more on personal financial decision-making, we definitely talk about this from a business aspect, and the insights are relevant to everyone -- especially all the people in the financial industry who I know listen to the show. Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Chuck Howard, an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. [03:36] Chuck and Melina didn’t meet in the same way as most guests of the show.  [04:04] Chuck shares about himself, his background (including a “gap decade”), and how he found himself in this space. [06:30] He was able to combine his passion and knowledge of psychology and economics to land on studying consumer financial decision-making. [07:38] Making ridiculously optimistic budgets or underpredicting your future expenses can help a lot of people spend less money. They often spend more than they budget (but still spend less than they used to) as long as they track their spending.  [10:12] Melina and Chuck talk about some weird common sayings and how they don’t always translate around the world. [10:51] There are a number of situations in which you need to have an accurate view of how much you are going to spend in the future.  [13:14] He was motivated to understand why people underpredict expenses and how we can improve their predictions and accuracy. He wanted to help people make better financial decisions to improve their financial well-being.  [14:25] People’s predictions of expenses are deeply grounded in their past experiences. The problem is they are only thinking of the very typical things they have endured.  [16:18] In their research, they never found that the tendency to underpredict expenses or over-predict income is tied to being an optimist. It is simply about what comes to mind most easily when you are making the prediction.  [18:23] Chuck shares about a study they did where they asked people over several weeks to tell how much they spent the week prior, how typical their spending was that week, and how much they think they will spend the following week.  [19:25] Atypical expenses are common in the sense that they happen a lot of the time, but then they are uncommon because it is not the same thing repeated over time so people don’t think they will happen again.  [22:20] If the person you are thinking of is similar to you then it could be helpful to think of their spending. It could help you gain perspective on your spending.  [24:59] To make more accurate expense predictions they prompt people to consider a handful of reasons why their expenses will be different than usual. This helps them think of those atypical expenses and increases prediction accuracy.  [26:23] So far, they have people type out the reason that their budget could be atypical. Writing it down may help because it takes a load off your working memory. [29:00] They were motivated to do budgeting research because there was a debate about whether or not budgets actually work.  [30:08] Even though peoples’ budgets are wildly optimistic and they never end up spending as little as they have budgeted, they still end up spending substantially less than they used to.  [32:23] You have to be tracking your spending against your budget. Once a week is ideal. [34:58] At the end of the day it is typically about understanding why. [36:53] Be very conscious of what information you are giving to people and when.  [38:55] Even if you haven’t hit your budget (because most people don’t), you are still spending less than you used to.  [41:40] They found that budgets are an effective way to decrease spending across a number of different personality traits.  [42:11] Tracking and monitoring your behavior against a goal can be very powerful. [45:21] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [47:40] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Friction, by Roger Dooley What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Chuck:  Chuck on Texas A&M Website Chuck on LinkedIn Mays Business School on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Checking in with Dr. Marco Palma (episode 202) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) Brainy Health Benefits of Nature, with Dr. Jay Maddock (episode 203) Behavioral Bartending with Maker's Mark, featuring Greta Harper (episode 207) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) Planning Fallacy (episode 114) Behavioural Science Club: Interview with Co-Founder Louise Ward (episode 118) Optimism Bias (episode 34) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 51) How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) (episode 81) Anchoring(episode 11) Pain of Paying: Why The First Item In A Purchase Is The Hardest: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode (episode 59) Using Biosensors to Unpack Human Behavior, with iMotions’ Jessica Wilson (episode 182) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Understanding and Neutralizing the Expense Prediction Bias: The Role of Accessibility, Typicality, and Skewness The Influence of Budgets on Consumer Spending Income Prediction Bias in the Gig Economy Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings and Member Loyalty? Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Before I introduce you to this week's guest, I want to take a moment to celebrate a very special anniversary...two days before this episode airs, on July 6, 2022, we celebrated the four-year anniversary of The Brainy Business Podcast! Four years, 212 episodes (including this one, of course) and we are also dangerously close to 600,000 downloads of the podcast from over 170 countries, which is so awesome! (Pretty confident this episode will push us over that threshold…) I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Daniel Crosby. In this episode, we talk a little about his books and the work he does in behavioral science around investing, which is very cool and so relevant. Investing is a time when we tend to throw logic out the window and the subconscious runs a bit rampant. But the main reason he is here today is that he recently had a tweet go viral. It had nothing to do with his work, and seemed like a fascinating opportunity to hear what it was like to create a tweet like that and live in the space of something everyone says they want -- to go viral -- and see what it has done for him personally, for his business, outlook...and any insights on what this says about human behavior that we can keep in mind for all the application in business. As I'm sure you can appreciate, this is so relevant to his work in investing and how people will randomly jump on one bandwagon over another and invest because the herd is doing so even when they haven't done their own research. Check out the episode to hear him tell you all about his viral tweet! Show Notes: [00:48] Two days before this episode airs, on July 6, 2022, we celebrated the four-year anniversary of The Brainy Business Podcast! [02:35] In the episode today, we talk a little about Daniel’s books and the work he does in behavioral science around investing, which is very cool and so relevant. [05:40] Daniel shares about himself, his background, and the work he does. [07:31] He loves studying human behavior and thinking deeply about why people do the things that they do but he didn’t want to do it in a clinical context.  [08:57] He has two popular books: The Behavioral Investor and the Laws of Wealth.  [11:03] The Laws of Wealth is his “ten commandments of investor behavior” and it talks about the power of behavioral principles.  [12:50] The Behavioral Investor is a deeper dive into externalities that are incredibly important but often overlooked.  [14:40] Dr. Crosby’s top investment tips: automate, have a financial process, and get a third-party opinion on decisions.  [16:02] One of the reasons folks have such a hard time investing is because it is so counterintuitive.  [17:40] Our herding instinct does not serve us well in investing.  [20:38] Daniel’s went viral with a tweet.  [22:17] When he figured out what was causing his tooth pain he decided he needed to make better health decisions and gave up Diet Coke.  [23:44] He snarkily tweeted that he had given up Diet Coke over a month ago and he didn’t have any of the joys people told him he would receive.  [24:39] Elon Musk responded to his tweet and it went crazy with over 32 million views and over half a million likes and retweets.  [26:34] Part of what made his tweet go so viral was that there were at least two camps chiming in the comments, especially Diet Coke addicts. It also went viral on TikTok and Instagram.  [28:12] It struck something powerful in two very different groups of people.  [28:39] The most fascinating piece to him was follower count because he initially lost thousands of followers and then he ended up about where he started.  [29:55] His analytics showed that he gained 87 followers from a tweet that 32 million people saw in one day. It shows that going viral in an off-brand way doesn’t do much for you.  [32:28] We spend so much time thinking about going viral and then it often doesn’t help much.  [33:42] It was uncomfortable for him to have the heat turned up that high and know that many people were looking at him.  [35:40] He decided not to use the viral tweet for self-promotion or business because the content was very different.  [36:32] Melina shares an article that she recently wrote for Inc. about Brand Lessons from the Michelob Ultra Guy.  [39:18] Daniel shares about the Ocean Spray guy and his interaction with an intern at Diet Coke. He got a 24-pack and 2 six-packs of free soda.  [42:08] Usually we expect viral posts to be over the top. His tweet was surprising, it was funny and still vanilla.  [44:53] There is nothing so low stakes on the internet that people can’t make a big deal about it. It gave him the sense of the power of a crowd so it actually made him go into his shell a bit.  [47:24] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [47:52] Melina shares Daniel’s full viral tweet. [49:02] We as humans feel this need to strive for that silver bullet...the one thing that will change everything, but in reality, it is a lot of little things that add up to a life and business that makes a difference. [50:45] Don't sit around hoping and lamenting over that one thing that could change everything. Instead, focus on one thing you can do each day to get a little bit closer to your goals and show up where it counts, so people can rely on you and your content. [51:44] Whenever you are listening, will you pay it forward and share an episode with a friend? If you love the Brainy Business, let's share it with more people from around the world who would love to be a little more brainy. None of this would be possible without you, so thank you again for listening, subscribing, sharing, rating, and leaving reviews. I appreciate you! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Behavioral Investor, by Daniel Crosby Laws of Wealth,  by Daniel Crosby Using Semiotics in Retail, by Rachel Lawes The Hype Handbook, by Michael F. Schein What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Daniel:  Daniel on LinkedIn Daniel on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Booms, Bubbles and Busts (episode 30) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Precommitment (episode 120) Herding (episode 19) Prefactual Thinking  (episode 71) Counterfactual Thinking  (episode 68) Social Proof (episode 87) What is Value? (episode 8) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Optimism Bias (episode 34) The Science of Opinions, with Dr. Andy Luttrell (episode 173) Using Semiotics in Retail with Rachel Lawes (episode 191) Designing for Behavior Change, Interview with Dr. Steve Wendel (episode 116) Time Discounting (episode 51) The Hype Handbook, an Interview with Author Michael F. Schein (episode 143) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode (epiosde 123) Creating Content People Can’t Help But Engage With featuring Katelyn Bourgoin (episode 201) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Daniel’s Viral Tweet 3 Brand Lessons From The Michelob Ultra Guy Standard Deviations Podcast Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Wiam Hasanain. Wiam is a seasoned social impact consultant, with 20 years of experience operating at the intersection of policy reform, societal development, behavior change, and civic engagement. She is a problem solver, utilizing data-driven insights to create practical approaches to resolving pressing social challenges on a range of projects and industries. She built her foundation at Unilever, and over the last decade, she has spearheaded nationwide programs in the areas of unemployment, health, financial literacy, sports, and career planning. She has established the structure and strategy for nudge units, set their national agendas, and designed behavioral interventions to serve public policy.  After consulting with Bain and Company Middle East she moved onto a senior role in her native Saudi Arabia; leading the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) function at a Mckinsey subsidiary and creating nationwide community programs. From there, she spent a decade as a partner at the foremost boutique consultancies in the GCC, leading social impact and behavior change efforts. Her passion is advising on behaviorally informed policies across sectors. Wiam believes strongly in spreading knowledge about the implementation of behavioral change across industries and has published a variety of articles on the practical application of behavioral science and has an MBA from UC Berkeley as well as a master's from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In continuing to have a more global view of the representation here on The Brainy Business, Wiam is our first guest from Saudi Arabia. I'm excited to share some of her work with you on a specific CSR project on the show today. Show Notes: [00:40] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Wiam Hasanain. Wiam is a seasoned social impact consultant, with 20 years of experience operating at the intersection of policy reform, societal development, behavior change, and civic engagement. [01:58] Her passion is advising on behaviorally informed policies across sectors. [04:27] Wiam shares about herself, her background, and how she found herself in this space.  [07:30] She is from Saudi Arabia and has spent the majority of her life there.  [08:16] She worked with a client on a corporate responsibility program that focused on helping the youth in Saudi Arabia find their career path.  [10:41] They agreed that they could help open the youths’ eyes to other careers that were out there as opposed to the traditional STEM careers.  [12:04] Their project was such a success that it ran for three years in a row and kept growing each year.  [14:29] It is really nice for her to see how the social norm has changed and know that they were part of this change.  [16:31] The parents along with the career counselors had to work together to really help the students bridge the intention to action gap. It was also important for the parents to see that these other jobs were acceptable as well.  [18:20] The parents had a different hang-up than the youth. (Know all your audiences and plan accordingly!) [19:55] Wiam shares how they reduced sludge and friction in their project and made things easier.  [21:41] They had over double-digit changes in their perceptions of certain careers. The short-term response was very promising.  [22:27] An RCT is a randomized control trial.   [24:03] You are always adding sludge and removing sludge in various ways. [24:54] Wiam shares how they added some sludge to help with the problem they were trying to solve. They made it difficult for students to leave without going through all the exhibits (to help increase exposure to careers that wouldn’t have been a focus previously).  [26:57] They utilized augmented reality in some of the exhibits so that would be where the majority of the students were drawn (and these were typically for the non-traditional careers to broaden horizons). The most desired careers were also at the end, so you had to have some exposure to the other careers no matter what.  [28:08] There are times when customer experience, behavioral science, and corporate responsibility all come together so be more concerned with your end objective.  [30:18] Whether you think about it or not you are influencing the decisions that people make with the way you put the booths in the space even – so you should definitely think about it! [31:43] Don’t think anything is too small to be considered a small step towards behavioral change. Be thoughtful and intentional.  [32:52] Melina’s three tips for setting up your own experiment are to keep it small, be thoughtful, and test often.  [34:29] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [35:41] My upcoming book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, is now on presale and will be in a bookstore near you on October 11, 2022. [36:21] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer A More Beautiful Question,  by Warren Berger Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Friction, by Roger Dooley Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Connect with Wiam:  Wiam on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Change Management (episode 7) Questions or Answers (episode 4) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Social Proof (episode 87) Availability Bias (episode 15) Sludge (episode 179) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (episode 72) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) IKEA Effect (episode 112) Herding (episode 19) Checking in with Dr. Marco Palma (episode 202) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to David McRaney, you may have heard of his first book You Are Not So Smart which is an international bestseller that is now available in 17 languages. He went on to create an awesome podcast of the same name and wrote a second book You Are Now Less Dumb. I highly recommend both of those and his podcast…and today we are talking about his new book, which just came out this week, called How Minds Change. As you will hear us talk about in the interview, this book is a fascinating journey we take along with David as he seeks to answer the question, "How do minds change?" The book is filled with interesting stories, lots of science, and fun anecdotes. I really enjoyed it and learned so much along the way, some of which you can hear about in today's episode. Join us to hear all about it! Show Notes: [00:43] Today I am very excited to introduce you to David McRaney. You may have heard of his first book You Are Not So Smart which is an international bestseller that is now available in 17 languages. He has a phenomenal podcast of the same name. [03:35] David shares about himself, his background, and how he found himself in this space.  [05:30] When his second book came out, he started a podcast. His podcast has been the centerpiece of his world for the last twelve years.  [07:55] David found something that he was interested in and wanted to find the answer to and he started to dig.  [09:01] Don’t jump into anything because you are trying to get rich quickly or because it is the hot new thing.  [10:27] Don’t follow the trends. Take the content you are skilled at and marry it to the thing you are obsessed with. Then plug away at it.  [13:39] Everything that you do builds a skill set that you can laterally apply to other stuff later.  [15:56] He writes his books by taking the reader along with him on the journey so they are able to learn with him.  [16:40] David shares about the cookie segment that he had on his podcast for 100 episodes. He and Melina bond over baking and business. [19:41] He started the cookie segment because of several cookie studies he read and he knew there was a way to put it into his show.  [22:26] He has gotten access to many different people in interviews for the book, podcast, and other work – how can you do the same?  [24:27] You can email anyone and at least they will tell you no, but 75% of the time people say yes.  [25:34] He explains in his emails that he is reaching out because he needs them and it would be a better show/book/project if they are part of it.  [27:33] When people realize that you genuinely care and are interested they are more likely to say yes.  [28:13] One of the biggest parts of How Minds Change is the exploration of “The Dress” and the neuroscience behind it.  [30:37] Reaching out to his connections often led to other connections and allowed him to create even more connections. [33:14] He shares about “The Dress.” The dress is an image that appeared on the internet where people could not agree on what they saw.  [35:23] With the dress, truly you saw it either one color (black and blue) or the other (white and gold) and you couldn’t see it any other way.  [37:32] When we see something that is overexposed we have no choice, the brain lowers the overexposure a bit to try to help us see what the image actually is.  [39:43] Everything you experience is only happening in your brain. Every color you see is an illusion. Colors are things the brain makes.  [42:23] There are two humongous populations of human beings that have had different life experiences, and because of those different life experiences they disambiguate an ambiguous image with a different kind of disambiguation than the other side and this leads to different conclusions. [43:57] When we try to prove that we are right, we miss out on getting to the deeper truth of the matter.  [45:04] Pascal’s team recreated the dress image using Crocs. They used Crocs and paired them with socks because it was an inanimate object with no default color.  [46:49] It seems like older people see white socks version because they have more experience in their lives with socks that weren’t colored.  [48:28] David shares about his new book, How Minds Change. [51:41] His book is an explanation of how people do and do not change their minds, understanding the nature of the resistance, and discovering what you have to do to overcome that resistance.  [54:54] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [55:55] One of my favorite things that David said in our conversation was that you need to "listen your way into changing somebody's mind" -- it isn't about force or proving someone that they are wrong, there is so much interesting work showcased in the book about how people can actually change their own minds when they are asked the right thoughtful questions and someone takes the time to listen. [57:18] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: How Minds Change, by David McRaney You Are Not So Smart,  by David McRaney You Are Now Less Dumb, by David McRaney Indistractable, by Nir Eyal Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer Connect with David:  David’s Website David on Twitter David on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias(episode 75) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (episode 189) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal (episode 78) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Priming (episode 18) What is Behavioral Baking? (episode 155) Partitioning (episode 58) You Have More Influence Than You Think with Vanessa Bohns (episode 197) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Reciprocity (episode 23) Why Burnt Popcorn Has Derailed So Many Meetings - On The Sense Of Smell (episode 25) Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain - On The Sense of Sight (episode 24) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  You Are Not So Smart Website The Dress Strawberry Illusion Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Agnis Stibe, a 4x TEDx speaker, MIT alum, YouTube creator, globally recognized corporate consultant, and scientific advisor. He is the Artificial Intelligence Program Director and Professor of Transformation at EM Normandie Business School, and the creator of the STIBE Method, which we will of course talk about in today's episode. He is also the Adjunct Professor of Human-City Interaction at the University of Oulu, Paris Lead of Silicon Valley founded Transformative Technology community.  While at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he established research on persuasive cities for sustainable wellbeing. We talk about his research, how social proof can change behavior when it is made more visible, the importance of testing, why you need to try different approaches for any concept, and so much more. Listen in! Show Notes: [00:43] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Agnis Stibe, a 4x TEDx speaker, MIT alum, YouTube creator, globally recognized corporate consultant, and scientific advisor. [03:19] Agnis shares about himself, his background, and the really fascinating work he does. He is passionate about helping people, teams, organizations, and societies to get where they want to get.  [04:17] It is our counterproductive psychology that is oftentimes our roadblock to our own success and happiness.  [07:22] Awareness is number one. Once awareness is there, then there has to be a degree of willingness.  [09:33] Not everything is worth coming up the “Slope of Enlightenment.”  [10:23] We have access to the same curiosity throughout our lives. The question is do we allow ourselves to be using it? [12:31] He encourages people to take away unnecessary bias before they start a conversation about AI. [14:13] Together we are on a journey and the only obstacles are our human biases. [15:32] Agnis shares some success stories.  [17:15] After five meetings using their transparent system, everyone was on time.  [18:18] Melina’s second book What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You comes out in October 2022.   [20:11] Many people don’t want to see themselves in comparison with others on the same screen, but that is their resistance speaking.   [22:02] Technology takes away the bias. It is a more reliable perspective that it makes existing patterns more transparent and visible.  [23:51] Agnis shares about The Littery and his role with it.  [26:32] They amplified the effects of that solution by adding a social layer. Technology also played a role in making things more transparent.  [28:28] Humans over our evolution have gained a lot and we have lost some essential awareness of who we are.  [30:42] Thanks to technology we get a deeper and clearer perspective of who we are.  [33:19] Technology has huge impacts. There is bias towards technology.  [34:34] Agnis’ hypothesis: technology is perceived by an average human being the same way an average human being perceives another human being. [36:28] Everything we experience with technology is giving us an opportunity to look at ourselves - the more technology the closer and deeper we see ourselves.   [38:24] The STIBE Method has ten tools split among three major stages. [39:55] Most of the time the problem with failed solutions is that there is not enough awareness of the problem.  [41:33] The final and crucial phase is to make assurance for long-term success. [45:33] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [45:45] The impact of social proof can change when it is made more visible and there is a record. [50:04] Thank you again to everyone who has subscribed, rated, and left those five-star reviews of the podcast. I appreciate you and please keep them coming. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger How to Change, by Katy Milkman What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Influence, by Robert Cialdini Connect with Agnis:  Agnis on YouTube Agnis on LinkedIn Agnis on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: The Littery - Interview with CEO Michael Manniche (episode 75) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dunning-Kruger Effect (episode 198) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Social Proof (episode 87) Worxogo: The AI-Powered Nudge Coach with Anant Sood (episode 208) AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics with Manuj Aggarwal (episode 192) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 151) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (episode 67) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 192) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Give Feedback: The "G" in NUDGES (episode 40) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Agnis’ Website Agnis’ Research Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Anant Sood, one of the co-founders of the nudge coach Worxogo. What the heck is a nudge coach you ask? It is, by my own definition, an awesome amalgamation of behavioral science and AI to help people be better managers, improve employee performance, and so much more.  Anant is going to share a lot more about it in the conversation, but just know that when I heard about this I absolutely had to profile it in my new book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, which is currently on presale to come out October 11, 2022, and to follow that up with this episode. You are going to love this, trust me! Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Anant Sood, one of the co-founders of the nudge coach Worxogo. [03:54] Anant shares about himself and the really fascinating work he does. For the last 22 years he has largely worked in the area of transformation and organization. [06:05] Before starting Worxogo, one common thing they heard from their customers was that the first 3-6 months after a change things were excellent, but after 6-9 months the change started to taper off. After a chance meeting with Baba Shiv they realized it was not a technology or process problem, but a behavioral problem.  [07:37] Customers wanted to change, but the change didn’t stick and it would just go back to the way it was.   [08:28] Melina’s new book, What Your Employees Need and Can't Tell You, is currently on presale to come out October 11, 2022. (Hooray!)  [10:37] Worxogo uses AI to customize to each individual in a unique way.  [11:35] There are reasons why we don’t follow through on things even when we have the intent and ability to improve.  [14:04] Some people are motivated by competing against themselves and others are motivated by not letting the team down and others are more motivated by beating someone else on the team. Those are all proper ways to motivate people and if you don’t know how someone is going to react you can try one but it might not hit them right. What could be very difficult for a manager is quickly discovered by Worxogo. [15:12] Who we perceive ourselves to be is not always what we exhibit as a behavior.  [17:38] The engine assumes that nobody is motivated by the same thing every day.  [20:13] The system allows each person to be themselves and figure out the right way to help you get, reach, achieve, and exceed your goals even if you work differently from others on your team.  [22:17] As a manager, it gives you the situational advantage for every individual on your team.  [25:53] If managers look at the lead indicators and the activities that their team is doing and you build the habit to talk to your team about those, it builds you as a manager as well.  [27:40] Often organizations have a system, but it just isn’t being used and the nudge coach is very helpful to make sure the tools start getting used.  [29:38] By nature, if you ask more you will get more.  [30:53] Any team where you have a set process, you have some basic CRM in place, and you are looking to increase productivity a nudge coach will deliver the outcome for you.  [31:34] Case studies and their newsletter can be found on their website.  [32:09] Behavioral science can make an impact and this is the future of work. The ways of working are completely changing and the current tools are not enough.  [34:23] Melina shares her closing thoughts. Do you want to hire Melina to do work with your company? Email melina@thebrainybusiness.com [34:40] A study Melina found in her research said that over 80 percent of people currently in management roles don't have the talent to be a great manager. It also said that 1 in 10 is a natural-born manager, two more can be taught, and the other seven out of 10 are not suited for the job, and using past methods can never be. [37:27] Everyone deserves a great manager. Worxogo can help make that a reality. [39:09] Thank you again to everyone who has subscribed, rated, and left those five-star reviews of the podcast. I appreciate you and please keep them coming. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer How to Change, by Katy Milkman The Behavior Business, by Richard Chataway You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns Connect with Anant:  Worxogo Website Anant on LinkedIn Anant on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Introduction to Nudges and Choice Architecture  (episode 35) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anchoring (episode 11) Habits (episode 21) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (episode 187) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics with Manuj Aggarwal (episode 192) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction (and the Lessons for any Business), Interview with Richard Chataway (episode 134) Combining Artificial Intelligence and Behavioral Economics, with Sam Albert of Behaviorally (episode 166) You Have More Influence Than You Think with Vanessa Bohns (episode 197) When Machine Learning Meets Neuroscience, with Ingrid Nieuwenhuis of Alpha.One (episode 170) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Greta Harper, a Maker’s Mark diplomat. Everyone that has already heard last week’s episode with Sarah Wilson, knows that this week’s episode is resharing a podcast that was recorded while I was a speaker on the live podcast stage at Greenbook’s IIEX North America conference in Austin a couple of weeks ago. It was such a great event!  While at IIEX North America I had the honor of interviewing Greta about the amazing shifts that Maker’s Mark made during the pandemic to support restaurants and their workers when they were under no obligation to do so. Their focus on support and advocacy turned into some amazing programs that made a really big impact (including some work with myself and the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab). What can your business learn from their approach? Listen in to find out… Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Greta Harper, a Maker’s Mark diplomat.  [01:52] While at IIEX North America I had the honor of interviewing Greta Harper at Maker’s Mark about the amazing shifts that their company made during the pandemic to support restaurants and their workers when they were under no obligation to do so. [04:50] Greta shares about herself, her background, and what she does at Maker’s Mark.  [06:07] In 2014, she went to Kentucky for the first time, she got to meet distillers, and absolutely fell in love with the business.  [07:19] Learning wasn’t always easy in the supplier world and she vowed that if she ever got to a place of “power” she would make learning easier for everyone that came behind her.  [08:06] Bars and restaurants are that traditional third space in society. This space isn’t work or home. It is that other space where you get away from those things to connect with something different than yourself.  [10:36] The first time she went to Texas A&M was in January of 2020 and she was very excited to start doing lots of research.  [11:54] Humans make on average 35,000 decisions every day and most of those are done on a subconscious level.  [13:20] Greta works in the advocacy sector of Beam Suntory, which is the parent company of Maker’s Mark.  [15:50] When our habits are shifted we only have so much cognitive bandwidth that we are able to give up every single day.  [17:49] Greta and her team were able to focus on other people because they didn’t have to focus on survival. One way their company showed support was to buy food from a struggling restaurant and feed their employees.  [20:22] Consumers were changing their buying habits because they couldn’t go to bars and restaurants. The Maker’s Mark team started partnering with bars and restaurants by doing virtual cocktail classes.  [22:13] They knew that on-premise was always a focus and they wanted to be there for them when they needed support (not just when it was convenient for their company).  [23:37] Maker’s Mark was leaning in at a time when they were truly not getting anything out of it.  [26:07] Helping, advocating for the trade, and educating the trade have always been at the heart of everything that Greta wants to do. This is one reason why it was so exciting to bring in Melina and Jeff from the Human Behavior Lab to do a series of trainings for the restaurant teams – and it has been amazing to see their results in the months that followed. [29:01] The pandemic opened up so many different avenues for them to think differently. They learned so many things.  [31:15] As humans we feel compelled to give back when people give to us.  [33:30] Greta shares what is on the horizon. They are all about sustainability at Maker’s Mark.  [35:51] There is a huge difference between age and maturation. It all affects the end product. Taste and flavor are at the heart of everything they do.  [37:13] Thinking about how you can be doing the right thing in a way that leverages reciprocity.  [38:09] Melina shares her closing thoughts. Do you want to hire Melina to do work with your company? Email melina@thebrainybusiness.com [40:01] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer What Your Employees Need and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Connect with Greta:  Greta on LinkedIn Maker’s Mark on Instagram Maker’s Mark on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Nudging for Good at Walmart with Sarah Wilson (episode 206) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Anthropology, Market Research & Behavioral Economics with Priscilla McKinney (episode 196) Marketing to Mindstates: A Discussion With Author, Will Leach (episode 88) Checking in with Dr. Marco Palma (episode 202) Announcing! Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Laboratory (episode 115) Brainy Health Benefits of Nature, with Dr. Jay Maddock (episode 203) What is Behavioral Baking? (episode 155) Habits (episode 21) Good Habits, Bad Habits: An Interview with Wendy Wood (episode 127) Reciprocity (episode 23) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (episode 185) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Maker’s Mark Website Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Sarah Wilson, Director of Human Experience Research at Walmart. This is a fun episode because we are sharing a live podcast that was recorded while I was a speaker on the live podcast stage at Greenbook’s IIEX North America Conference in Austin, TX a couple of weeks ago.  At IIEX North America I had the honor of interviewing Walmart’s Sarah Wilson about some of the work they are doing in behavioral science including a project we have been working on together around sustainability. Listen in to learn about Walmart’s important sustainability goals, how asking the wrong question can make things worse, and how they are nudging for good.  Show Notes: [00:44] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Sarah Wilson, Director of Human Experience Research at Walmart.  [02:02] At IIEX North America I had the honor of interviewing Sarah Wilson from Walmart about some of the work they are doing in behavioral science. [04:46] Sarah shares about herself and the work that she does at Walmart.  [05:44] Walmart has made a commitment to becoming a regenerative company. They believe in making a healthy planet that has prosperity for everyone.  [06:21] Small changes can make a really big impact when you have a large footprint like Walmart.  [07:10] It takes a thousand years for a plastic bag to degrade. 14 plastic shopping bags is equivalent to a gallon of gas.  [08:35] Research has shown that 95% of the decisions that people make are done on a subconscious level and that includes buying decisions.  [10:05] Being able to send the right message at the right time to get someone to change their behavior can actually be a difficult thing if you are working on the wrong problem.  [12:42] Sometimes the easy answer is not always the right answer.  [15:21] They started with the problem of reducing plastic but also didn’t want to impact the customer experience.  [17:34] We like to think that we are logical and rational people making logical choices in everything we do, but humans aren’t really that way.  [18:18] Often we know that we should do something but we don’t always change the habit.  [20:09] With bag usage we have to find those nugdable spots to help shift the behavior.  [21:27] They started by making sure everyone was on the same page with the problem to solve.  [23:30] It is really easy to find the right answer to the wrong question.  [25:40] Walmart brought in Melina for a workshop to help with their plastic reduction project. They started with the idea of just letting people explore. They focused on the experience journey of the customer and associate separately because their experience journeys with the bags are very different.  [28:29] Sarah shares her favorite insights that came up from the workshop.  [31:18] Really small problems can add up, so they looked at how they could solve the small problems to turn those into big gains.  [32:58] It is really hard to test and experiment in certain environments.  [35:46] When you are trying to do too much, it ends up being too much and you don’t get good results.  [36:41] Look at doing small ongoing experiments instead of too much at one time.  [38:20] Having thoughtfulness about the problem upfront is important. One benefit is being able to be shape the project around what you can test.  [40:37] Customer experience matters. We can add in small nudges that still maintain a good customer experience.  [42:40] Melina shares her closing thoughts. Do you want to hire Melina to do work with your company like at Walmart? Email melina@thebrainybusiness.com [43:35] Finding new opportunities to incorporate behavioral science nudges into the habits of the associates and customers while maintaining great customer service in the process of reducing plastic is a long-term endeavor. [44:52] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Voltage Effect, by John List Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Engaged, by Amy Bucher Designing for Behavior Change, by Steve Wendell A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Connect with Sarah: Sarah on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (episode 16) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) Checking in with Dr. Marco Palma (episode 202) Brainy Health Benefits of Nature, with Dr. Jay Maddock (episode 203) Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) Using Biosensors to Unpack Human Behavior, with iMotions’ Jessica Wilson (episode 182) Habits (episode 21) Sludge (episode 179) The Voltage Effect with John List (episode 190) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Social Proof (episode 87) IKEA Effect (episode 112) The Littery - Interview with CEO Michael Manniche (episode 75) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Texas A&M Certificate Program Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Emily Cadiz, founder, and CEO of Finnegan the Dragon. What is Finnegan the Dragon, you ask? Of course, Emily will tell you all about that during our conversation, but here is the short, teaser version. Finnegan the Dragon is a new company I've had the honor of being an advisor for. This is an organization that is all about improving brain development and language learning for kids using inclusive music.  When I was given the opportunity to be part of the advisory team for this company, I knew it was something I had to do. There are so many amazing things on the horizon for Finnegan the Dragon and I am so excited to finally be able to share what Emily and her team are up to so you can learn all about it! Emily will be sharing about all the great work they are doing, exciting milestones coming up (including your opportunity to be a beta tester for the upcoming game launch), and how to get their free Ebook that came out this week. Listen in!  Show Notes: [00:44] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Emily Cadiz, founder, and CEO of Finnegan the Dragon. [03:40] Emily shares about herself and how she got connected to Melina.  [05:12] She has always been a service provider, teacher, musician, and public servant before starting her own business.  [06:48] She suffered a traumatic brain injury in the classroom, which turned her world upside down.  [07:37] During her recovery she found herself going back to music. She started studying how her own brain was recovering through sound and music.  [09:01] In her research she stumbled upon inclusive music which is how we use music to strengthen the brain multiple times throughout our lives to either cope, acquire, or realign ourselves with language.  [10:29] Going to traditional therapy never helped Emily because it was a reminder to her that she was disabled. Medical interventions can sometimes serve as a consistent reminder that you’re different and that your access point to the world is not the same as everyone else. This was a spark for creating something new with Finnegan the Dragon.  [11:51] If we make this work part of the entire curriculum from a very young age everyone can benefit so you don’t have to make anyone feel different.  [12:31] Developmentally speaking, stages happen at different rates for different children. Finnegan the Dragon wants to make things accessible for everyone.  [14:23] The process of making her brain tired and then letting it repair was the process that music had — it helped her to “sweat” her brain.  [16:35] Melina shares her experience taking college music classes during high school.  [19:43] There are 1.5 billion people that speak tonal-based languages.  [20:56] We can see in a lot of countries where tonal-based languages are dominant or even with people that are studying tonal-based languages, their brains are cognitively able to do things that other brains aren’t.  [21:36] The standards for developmental milestones have gone down. We have 33-34% of kindergarteners needing special education interventions coming into the 2022-2023 school year.  [23:53] If your child is spending more than 30 minutes a day in front of a screen per day with passive engagement their chances of having ADHD or a mood disorder are increased by 50%.  [25:37] Passive screen time is the root cause of a lot of this.  [26:54] Passive screen time is silent participation with the screen. Using your finger doesn’t fully activate your brain for learning either.  [28:02] There needs to be sound, noise, singing, motion, and movement going on for little ones to really understand how their world works.  [30:23] We know it is unreasonable to expect zero screen time (or even less than 30 minutes) so Finnegan the Dragon is an optimized game and accompanying classroom curriculum.  [33:10] Little kids have trouble with r’s at that age, we shouldn’t correct them. We can often encourage inappropriate sounds that are very hard to correct down the road.  [35:55] Tone is equally important at this age to all of your academic subjects. Tone and language develop at the same rate. If we ignore tone we are not strengthening the brain as much as we should or need to be.  [38:20] Music (at home and in schools) are so important for development in all areas of life.    [39:41] Meet Finnegan and learn his story in their free ebook, Finnegan the Singing Dragon. He uses music to help him overcome some things he is facing. Get your free ebook.  [41:38] It is so important to help our generation of little learners be able to have a fighting chance and help all the children be on a level playing field. Will you support them and Finnegan? [42:35] The Finnegan beta game will be coming out in the fall. Sign up for the newsletter to be first to know when it’s available. [44:24] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [47:00] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Finnegan the Singing Dragon, by Emily Cadiz Unleash Your Primal Brain, by Tim Ash Beautiful Questions in the Classroom, by Warren Berger Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Emily:  Finnegan the Dragon Website Finnegan the Dragon on Instagram Emily on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Did You Hear That? - On The Sense of Hearing (episode 27) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Unleash Your Primal Brain, An Interview with Tim Ash (episode 124) Priming (episode 18) A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Evolutionary Ideas with Sam Tatam, Ogilvy’s Global Head of Behavioural Science (episode 204) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (episode 145) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 144) Temptation Bundling (episode 136) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode (episode 123) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Finnegan the Dragon Newsletter Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Sam Tatam to talk about his fantastic new book Evolutionary Ideas. I got my first peek at this book so many months ago and I have been eagerly awaiting the moment when I can finally share it with everyone. I’m delighted that that day is finally here!  Sam Tatam is the Global Head of Behavioural Science at Ogilvy. He has a passion for understanding human behavior, and his experience comes from a mix of organizational/industrial psychology and advertising strategy. Sam has led behavior change projects across virtually every category and continent. Today, he leads a global team of talented psychologists and behavioral economists to develop interventions and shape the communications of some of the world's most influential brands and organizations. You’re in for a treat! I truly loved Evolutionary Ideas and think you will too! Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am so excited to introduce you to Sam Tatam to talk about his fantastic new book Evolutionary Ideas. [03:27] Sam shares his background and how he got into behavioral science. He is an organizational psychologist by training.  [05:47] Virtual doesn’t have to be worse. Nudgestock looked at what they had available and reframed the idea of what this event could be (without being anchored to what they had done before).  [06:38] He shares their internal conversations about how they approached Nudgestock differently to make that transition (and have amazing results!) in 2020. [07:45] They decided if they were going to do it digitally they wanted to do it big (transitioning from the “Woodstock” of behavioral science to the “Live Aid”).  [09:27] They “followed the sun” and presented through LinkedIn live (with over 128,000 attendees!).  [11:32] Look at challenges that come your way like opportunities.  [12:21] Sam’s new book is called Evolutionary Ideas.  [13:21] The beginnings of his book actually started in 2014 when he did a keynote in Sidney.    [15:03] Six years later a video about biomimicry continued to spark his interest.  [17:13] We are not distinct.  [19:10] It helps us to be more open and see psychological solutions in a slightly different way.  [20:49] Language is so immensely powerful. It helps us to see things in the world and categorically differentiates between concepts.   [21:53] Once you have a language for something, you see it more frequently and easily, and you can apply it more systematically.   [23:27] Context and individual differences still play a role.  [26:10] We don’t always need to be revolutionary. It is not true that big problems need big solutions. (Innovation Myth #1 in the book!) [26:58] Small ideas can have big impacts. We have a series of shared problems that we face. We have also adapted to have shared solutions.  [29:31] Innovation is the revolution of the contradiction.  [31:05] If you understand what connects us (across species and other developments) then you can borrow from each other and learn together.  [33:36] There is a rich and vast resource of inspiration in the world around us.  [35:12] The brain makes decisions the same way regardless.  [36:58] If you can reframe in more human terms, solutions are all around us to help us solve our problems. You are probably not as unique in facing your challenges as you think you are.  [38:38] Questions can be really helpful for us to have a bit more of a checklist approach to creativity.  [41:50] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [42:37] Take comfort in knowing that any problem you have has already been solved before. [45:09] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Ripple, by Jez Groom & April Vellacott Connect with Sam:  Evolutionary Ideas Sam on Twitter Sam on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Unleash Your Primal Brain, with Tim Ash (episode 124) Already Heard That One? Try These:  A More Beautiful Question with Warren Berger (episode 200) Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, with Jon Levy (episode 150) Framing (episode 16) Anchoring (episode 11) Priming (episode 18) Bikeshedding (episode 99) The BIG Effects of Small Behavior Changes in Business, with Jez Groom and April Vellacott (episode 131) Behavioural Science Club, with Co-Founder Louise Ward (episode 118) The Power of Fast-Choice & Implicit Testing with CloudArmy’s Keith Ewart (episode 183) Herding (episode 19) Reciprocity (episode 23) The Speed and Economics of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Change Management (episode 7) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Scarcity (episode 14) Relativity (episode 12) Time Discounting – I’ll Start Monday Effect (episode 51)  Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Nudgestock Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

While I was recently in College Station visiting the Human Behavior Lab, I had the joy of meeting Dr. Maddock when he came by to chat with us for a bit. I hadn’t met him before, but in learning about his work and research it was clear that we had to do an interview. Thankfully, I had my equipment with me and he had some spare time to talk about some of the incredibly cool stuff he and his team are doing.  Dr. Maddock is a professor in the department of environmental and occupational health at the school of public health at Texas A&M University and is also the co-director of the Center for Health and Nature. He serves on the Brazos County Board of Health. Not to mention he is editor in chief of the Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living. He has authored more than 130 scientific articles which have been cited more than 5000 times, plus his research has been featured on/in The Today Show, BBC, CNN, Eating Well, Prevention and Good Housekeeping and he has given lectures around the world. This isn’t even all of his bio, but I wanted to let you know a little bit about this awesomeness before you hear about the cool stuff he is doing. Listen in to hear all about the connection between nature and our health. It is really amazing! Show Notes: [01:16] Dr. Maddock is a professor in the department of environmental and occupational health at the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University and is also the co-director of the Center for Health and Nature. [03:47] Jay shares about his background and what he does. [05:16] They are really looking at how natural environments change health. Spending time in nature really changes your health. [05:59] They are now trying to understand what is the perfect dose of nature and how they can use some of the models to get more people into nature. [07:46] Virtual reality lets us break the senses up. They can do a study experimenting with only one sense.  [08:40] They are trying to figure out the essential pieces of nature that we need for healthy benefits. [09:47] People like different types of nature.  [10:49] The more that we feel we are in the environment, the more effect it has on our physiology.  [11:29] There are so many questions we can answer in virtual reality that would be difficult to do in person.   [12:48] Making environments immersive and interesting is important for people. Being in real nature is always best for us, but since that isn’t always possible, it will be great to have other options.  [14:49] How we can integrate nature into our surrounding and environment is important.  [15:55] They have been looking at the effect of travel and nature. So many times when we go on vacation we want to go to some beautiful natural spot, but we also have an effect on the environment.  [17:34] The ability to virtually tour places that are untouched would be really cool.  [18:11] The biggest thing with health and nature is it doesn’t work without conservation.  [18:45] One of the other things they have been working on is looking at some of the behavioral theories that we use and how we adopt these to increase people’s time in nature.  [21:27] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [23:53] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Behaviour Business, by Richard Chataway Never Go With Your Gut, by Gleb Tsipursky What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam How to Change, by Katy Milkman Connect with Jay:  Texas A&M University School of Public Health Jay on Twitter Jay on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Checking in with Dr. Marco Palma (episode 202) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) Announcing! Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Laboratory (episode 115) Using Biosensors to Unpack Human Behavior, with iMotions’ Jessica Wilson (episode 182) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain - On The Sense of Sight (episode 24) Why Burnt Popcorn Has Derailed So Many Meetings - On The Sense Of Smell (episode 25) Why You Actually Taste With Your Nose - On The Sense Of Taste (episode 26) Did You Hear That? - On The Sense of Hearing (episode 27) Why Picking Something Up Makes People More Likely To Buy - On The Sense Of Touch (episode 28) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) Priming (episode 18) You Have More Influence Than You Think with Vanessa Bohns (episode 197) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction (and the Lessons for any Business), Interview with Richard Chataway (episode 134) How to Avoid Disasters When Returning to the Office, with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky (episode 175) Adjusting Your Mindset: Tips To Overcome Imposter Syndrome And More (episode 13) AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, & Behavioral Economics with Manuj Aggarwal (episode 192) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Texas A&M Certificate Program Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today’s episode is an update on all the exciting stuff going on at the Human Behavior Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Last week I was able to spend two full days in the Human Behavior Lab (one of my favorite places in the world if I’m honest) and today’s episode is featuring the director of the lab, Dr. Marco Palma.  This is actually his third time being on The Brainy Business podcast. (He might be the first one to do that…?) Since the first time he was on the show (way back in episode 33 when I visited the lab for the first time) we have done so much together, including creating the certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics. I am honored to teach so many amazing courses for that program which has led to relationships and conversations with wonderful people around the world. (Sneak peek! Some of those projects are going to be featured in the coming weeks, and I am very excited to showcase more of my own work in the podcast.) The lab has done tons of experiments since I was there in January 2019 for that first interview, and about 40 of them have been published in the last few years. Don’t worry, we won’t try to cover all of them today. Instead, Dr. Palma and I selected a choice few that really resonate and can be applicable for listeners like you. Show Notes: [00:52] I spent two full days last week in the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M University.  [01:33] Dr. Palma has been on the show before (this is actually his third time – I think he might be the first to do that).  [05:29] There have been many changes since the last time I featured the lab on the show: in terms of the infrastructure, they are hiring new people, and students have graduated and started their own labs.  [06:43] ] One of the fascinating parts about studying human behavior is that we are all, to a certain degree, experts.  [08:26] Marco’s tips for choosing between a PhD, masters or a certificate program like the one we have at Texas A&M.  [10:04] It is an exciting time to be at Texas A&M because of all of the different dimensions of human behavior that are being studied from different angles.  [12:05] The lab has done tons of experiments since I (Melina) was there in January of 2019 and about 40 of them have been published. [13:05] Dr. Palma shares about their charitable donations experiment.   [14:20] In the paper they concentrate on matching 1-to-1 versus giving seed money with charitable donations. The matching scheme is supposed to motivate people to give because then their money can go further.  [17:04] The general idea is that matching funds are always a good idea because they encourage others to donate, but as Dr. Palma shows, there could be a negative behavioral message being shared underneath the surface that actually decreases donations in this type of approach.  [19:10] Being able to communicate that a percentage of your money goes directly to the charity goes a long way and is a way to differentiate yourself. You want to be able to stand out and be a high-quality charity.  [20:10] Next Dr. Palma shares about their calorie labeling experiment. In this paper, they are looking at the policies requiring large restaurant chains to display the calorie content of food on food menus. The intention of the policy was for people to realize the number of calories in food and act accordingly in trying to reduce calorie consumption. [22:57] Some studies have shown this works, some show that people don’t change their consumption, and others show that they eat more calories when the numbers are shown on the menu. How can all three things be true at one time? Dr. Palma shares about their research and why relativity matters. [24:32] You’re not going to change how you eat in response to the calories if you expect something to have a lot of calories because you didn’t really learn anything new.   [25:43] It’s dependent on the menu you see, your expectations, and realization of reality. In this context you can have scenarios where you increase calorie consumption, you make no changes in calorie consumption, and in which you actually have a reduction which is the intention of the law. [28:32] In another paper they were looking at decision-making under time pressure.  [29:49] Once you have a set (number of choices) we are very good at optimizing the thing that we like the most.  [31:04] However, generating a choice set is very difficult for us to do (businesses should focus on this!). If someone else constructs the choice set for us and gives us a choice among 3-5 options, we are actually pretty good at choosing something that we would probably like. We tend to choose things we value a lot.  [32:15] The less cost we have to invest in making a decision will lead to an increase in satisfaction. Not only is the business going to gain, but the customer is also going to be happier.  [33:00] Making decisions when you are hungry or emotional tends to change the way that we act.  [34:58] In another paper looks at how hunger might change our cognitive capacity.  [36:22] They found there was no difference in the cognitive performance of normal-weight individuals whether they had the option to order food or not. Obese individuals had a lower performance relative to the normal weight individuals so they were more affected by being hungry – unless they were able to pre-order their snack. Why?  [37:51] The obese individuals anticipated the food and the anticipation was enough to increase their cognitive capacity. (It essentially eliminated the negative impacts of feeling hungry.) [39:37] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [41:44] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Voltage Effect, by John List The Elements of Choice, by Eric Johnson Connect with Human Behavior Lab:  Human Behavior Lab Website HBL on Twitter HBL on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Announcing! Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Laboratory (episode 115) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) Using Biosensors to Unpack Human Behavior, with iMotions’ Jessica Wilson (episode 182) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (episode 189) You Have More Influence Than You Think with Vanessa Bohns (episode 197) Anchoring (episode 11) Relativity (episode 12) Herding (episode 19) Framing (episode 16) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) Time Pressure (episode 74) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Texas A&M Certificate Program Human Behavior Lab Research Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Katelyn Bourgoin. As you will hear during our conversation, I met Katelyn via Twitter where she has been kind enough to tag me many times when people ask for recommendations for people who are using psychology in marketing or for business as well as for podcast recommendations, books, or just for someone to follow. Katelyn also has a phenomenal newsletter that is so engaging — I just love how well she understands her audience. We will be talking about that a lot more during the conversation today.   Katelyn uses reciprocity so well by shining the light on others and it comes back in a really great way. Before any non-marketers tune out and say this episode is not for you, know that creating engaging content that people want to respond to matters for everyone whatever your industry, whoever you are communicating with, and whatever you want to achieve. People like to work with those they like. Framing your messages with the recipient in mind is never a bad idea. Katelyn is a marketer and market researcher so that is the lens of her statements throughout the episode, but I challenge you to consider all the ways this can be useful to you in your life and business. For anyone with a newsletter or striving to have one, and who has ever been mystified by Twitter and especially Twitter threads, get ready for some awesome tips and free resources.  Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Katelyn Bourgoin.  [02:13] Katelyn is a marketer and market researcher so that is the lens of her statements throughout the episode, but the tips are for everyone! [04:24] Katelyn shares about herself and how she found herself in the behavioral sciences.  [05:50] She ended up working with a bunch of companies and seeing the same problem over and over: they just didn’t know who their best customers were or why they bought. That led her to launch the company she has today called Customer Camp. [08:18] When she decided that she wanted to help people overcome that problem she discovered an innovation framework known as Jobs to Be Done.  [09:56] Jobs to Be Done is really important for understanding the context of the customer situation and what would cause them to seek out and choose a new solution.  [11:44] Their company exists to help people build a better understanding of their buyers through educating them on why people buy, training, and products. [12:39] It was thinking beyond the research and what they do to what would be engaging for potential customers.  [14:54] Having a functionally better product is important but there are all these other factors that you also need to consider when you think about the job holistically.  [16:00] You have to not just look at the functionality of a product but you have to consider the social and emotional aspects too.  [18:45] In having these conversations about the buyers' journey, pulling out the details, and mapping them, that is what leads to being able to design better marketing.  [20:14] Talk to buyers who have bought to try and understand their buying journey — that’s a step a lot of marketers are missing.  [23:00] The trigger technique is a good solution for pulling out the bits that you can make most actionable and share with your team to back up your strategy. (Freebie in the links below!) [25:47] When they designed the newsletter, they thought about what was the job of the newsletter. They wanted to create a newsletter to make people feel like it was food for their brains. [26:58] It has to be something really quick to consume and it has to be something where you walk away feeling like you have ideas for applying them to your own work. [29:55] People need to feel like they are getting something back to open and read a newsletter.  It can be inspiration, validation, or something to forward.  [32:02] They realized it was better to have consistency with their newsletter even in the subject line.  [34:44] Testing and seeing what works is very helpful.   [37:54] Choose the social media platform where you think you can be consistent.  [39:21] Make a big effort to follow the right people. She follows people who inspire her and she can learn from.  [40:57] Leverage the opportunity to highlight work that other people are doing. [42:54] Melina shares about one of Katelyn’s Twitter threads. [44:32] When it comes to writing a thread, the first tweet is the most important one.  [47:34] Understanding your customers when it comes to figuring out demand is everything. Clarity of what works doesn’t come from sitting around in a boardroom and thinking about it. It comes from actually engaging with customers. [49:05] If you want to market better, really be obsessed about understanding customers.  [50:28] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [52:31] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Innovator's Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen Atomic Habits, by James Clear The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss The Jobs to Be Down Playbook, by Jim Kalbach Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Connect with Katelyn:  Katelyn’s Website Katelyn on Twitter Katelyn on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Truth About Pricing  (episode 5) Functional Fixedness (episode 194) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) Habits (episode 21) Scarcity (episode 14) Framing (episode 16) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (episode 185) The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” Customer Camp Newsletter Trigger Technique: Turn Buyer Stories into Smart Marketing Ideas Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Warren Berger. If you know me at all, you probably know what a big deal this is for me. Warren wrote my very favorite book, A More Beautiful Question. I reference it all the time on the show when I am being interviewed, when I am teaching… I even referenced it in my own book. I love questions and a huge part of that infatuation came from Warren’s book.  When the milestone of the 200th episode of The Brainy Business was on the horizon I decided to go out on a limb and asked Warren if he would be my guest for this special episode. He kindly agreed and here we are! Warren has a history as a journalist for the New York Times before writing or co-authoring ten books including A More Beautiful Question, The Book of Beautiful Questions, Beautiful Questions in the Classroom, and more. Today we are talking about questions (of course!) as well as design thinking and so much other goodness. You definitely don’t want to miss this one! Thank you so much for 200 amazing episodes together! What do you want to hear more of in the next 200?  Show Notes: [00:45] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Warren Berger.  [01:44] Warren has a history as a journalist for The New York Times before writing or co-authoring ten books including A More Beautiful Question, The Book of Beautiful Questions, Beautiful Questions in the Classroom, and more. [03:35] Warren shares who he is and his background. He is a long-time journalist. [05:54] This idea of asking questions, trying to get to the right questions, and figuring out how to ask a good question is a really important concept that has been underappreciated and not talked about enough.  [07:20] Questioning is basic and comes naturally to us…but at the same time, it is very complex. There are so many ways you can get better at questioning and understand it better.  [09:16] Warren looks for whatever has been published and he also talks to people and interviews them about how they use questions. He has interviewed a hostage negotiator, FB agent, therapists, coaches, and more.  [11:31] It is very common to see books have a chapter on questioning, but it doesn’t go that deep into it. There needs to be more. Warren advocates for Questionology departments in schools (sounds good to Melina!) [12:46] The more you learn about something, the more you realize there is to learn and that is certainly true with questioning. (Intrigued by this idea? Listen to episode 198 on the Dunning-Kruger effect to learn more about this!) [14:28] Warren has three books on questioning, A More Beautiful Question, The Book of Beautiful Questions, and Beautiful Questions in the Classroom. [15:27] There is this underappreciated tool called questioning. You know how to do it in a way, but there is so much more to it that you can learn. Questioning leads to innovations, changes, and breakthroughs.  [16:25] Everybody comes at questioning from a different angle.  [19:02] His third book on questioning was adapted for education and teachers.  [20:58] You have to model the behavior of being a curious questioner that doesn’t have all the answers. Be a person that is wondering, growing, and learning. [23:27] You have to have a balance of confidence and humility to be a questioner. [24:39] The model for great leaders is to have that ability to learn consistently and be learning in front of the people you are leading.  [25:36] The smartest people are aware of how much they don’t know. Being aware of your ignorance is an indication of how smart you are. (Dunning-Kruger effect again!) [27:28] We have to realize there is a lot we don’t know and keep learning with our teams.  [29:48] Questioning involves getting comfortable with uncertainty.  [31:17] If you use why, what if, and how questions together they tend to go in a cycle that pushes you forward.  [33:27] Questioning has to be actionable and it has to be moving forward.  [35:07] The problem is that people want to rush to practical “How” questions. It is in our nature, but it is not enough. [36:53] You could give yourself a deadline when working through the questions or just trust your gut that you will know when you have spent enough time on that stage of questioning. Melina’s tip – ask way more questions than you think you need to. [37:39] Sometimes the purpose of a question is to help you get to the next question. [38:48] The questioning muscle is a different muscle than your idea-generating muscle. When you use the questioning muscle you start to see things differently.  [41:11] Warren says design thinking is how a designer would go about approaching a problem, what can we learn from the way designers approach problems, and how we can apply that. [43:27] We can all use this mindset and process that designers use as we try to take on problems.  [44:18] If you want to create your own beautiful question and take ownership of it, consider framing it as: “How might I…?” Warren shares his beautiful question(!) [46:21] Forget the mission statement. What is your company’s mission question? [48:33] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [50:28] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) Thank you for 200 episodes! What do you want to hear in the next 200? Share it with me on social media (links below). 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger The Book of Beautiful Questions, by Warren Berger Beautiful Questions in the Classroom, by Warren Berger Advertising Today, by Warren Berger Glimmer: How Design Thinking Can Transform Your World, by Warren Berger Connect with Warren:  Warren’s Website Warren on Twitter Warren on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Dunning-Kruger Effect (episode 198) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Framing (episode 16) Questions or Answers (episode 4) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Priming (episode 18) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (episode 189) How Businesses Can Design for Behavior Change, with Dr. Amy Bucher (episode 164) 150. Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited (episode 150) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Warren Berger TED Talk: Nurturing the Ability to Question Right Question Institute The Questionologist, Psychology Today Warren Berger Articles, Harvard Business Review Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am so happy to have my friend (and a great friend of The Brainy Business) Brian Ahearn back on the show. Brian is a wealth of information and is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence People. It has been almost 100 weeks since Brian was on the show – which is kind of crazy to think about. He was here in episode 104 talking about how to ethically influence people and his first book, Influence PEOPLE. Now he is here talking about his third book, called The Influencer, which came out a couple of months ago. Today, Brian gives tips about Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Persuasion, including some things to do as well as common pitfalls to avoid. He also talks about how he approached writing a business parable for this third book, and how that was different from a traditional business book. Lots of great insights await in this brainy episode! Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am so happy to have my friend Brian Ahearn back on the show.  [01:36] He is a Ted X presenter who has more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. [03:39] Brian shares his background and what he does in this world of behavioral sciences.  [05:33] Changing how people think or feel about something isn’t usually enough–you need to get them to change their behavior.  [06:46] It is not about what we think and how we feel. It is about how they think and feel.   [09:16] Don’t tell, ask. Also, say “Because…” and give a valid reason. That simple restructure is going to get you what you need far more often.  [11:46] The Principle of Liking was something he learned the importance of through Cialdini.  [12:37] It is not about us getting someone to like us, it is about us utilizing those same approaches to come to know and like them. [14:13] A lot of times, we don’t know how thirsty we are until we take that first sip. (Giving compliments to people who don’t get them often is like giving a thirsty person water, it makes a huge impact.) [16:32] Life is a lot happier when we are looking for the good in people and they are responding positively to us.  [17:41] Brian shares about his three books and how they differ from each other.  [19:09] His most recent book is called The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness. [21:11] He shares that his approach for his most recent book is much like his approach to parenting.  [23:14] He shares how his first two books were different from his most recent book. [25:49] Authority is really important for speaking and training and a book helps create that authority.  [27:53] Brian summarizes Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Persuasion: liking, reciprocity, unity, authority, social proof, consistency, and scarcity. [30:14] Liking Tip: Don’t go into a situation trying to get people to like you.  Have the mindset that you want to come to like the people you are with. [32:32] Scarcity Tip: Instead of talking about all the positive reasons for doing business with you, talk about what people give up for not doing business with you.  [35:17] The value of ending with a question can have a huge impact. (reframing!) [37:06] All of life and sales is a long game. It is good to put the goodness out into the world and in some way it will come back to you.  [39:23] Brian shares the things he is excited about and what he is working on.  [42:17] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [43:45] Melina’s top takeaways: Don’t ask how you can get people to like you, instead find ways that you can like other people. When you genuinely like people and find things in common with them everything gets better.  [44:46] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence PEOPLE, by Brian Ahearn Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, by Brian Ahearn The Influencer, by Brian Ahearn Influence, by Robert Cialdini Presuasion, by Robert Cialdini Connect with Brian:  Brian’s Website Brian on LinkedIn Brian on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: How To Ethically Influence People: Interview with Author Brian Ahearn (episode 104) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian (episode 107) Using Anchoring in Negotiations, an Interview with Kwame Christian (episode 146) Avoiding Everyday Work Disasters, an Interview with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky (episode 111) How to Avoid Disasters When Returning to the Office, with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky (episode 175) How Simple Nudges Can Save Hundreds of Millions, interview with Dectech’s Dr. Benny Cheung (episode 140) Scarcity (episode 14) Reciprocity (episode 23) Social Proof (episode 87) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Precommitment (episode 120) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Framing (episode 16) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  The Power of the Word "Because" to Get People to Do Stuff Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

In today’s episode, we are talking about one of my all-time favorite concepts, the Dunning-Kruger effect.  In its simplest form, the Dunning-Kruger effect essentially says that people who are unskilled will tend to overestimate their abilities and those who are very skilled experts will underestimate theirs. Someone who undersells their skills could be more qualified than that person who seems very confident. In this episode I explain what the Dunning-Kruger effect is, how understanding it can help you be more effective, how to leverage it in business, and some top tips for navigating this natural tendency of the brain. Show Notes: [00:41] In today’s episode, we are talking about one of my all-time favorite concepts: the Dunning-Kruger effect. [03:48] To put the Dunning-Kruger effect into its simplest form, it would say essentially that people who are unskilled will tend to overestimate their abilities and those who are very skilled experts will underestimate theirs. [04:34] Think about a kid who graduates from high school and believes they know everything. [05:23] 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.” [07:21] 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. [08:14] 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. [09:43] 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. [11:29] How the effort heuristic relates.  [12:43] 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. [13:56] Have some awareness and don’t assume you know better than everyone else. [14:54] 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. [16:11] 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. [17:11] 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. [18:37] 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. [20:10] 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. [21:23] 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. [22:02] 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. [22:46] 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. [23:33] Don’t take your spot on the Dunning-Kruger scale as a fixed point. The context is always changing, there are new discoveries and technologies and experts every day. [26:07] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Outsmart Your Instincts, by Adam Hansen A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Top Recommended Next Episode: Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Priming (episode 18) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Planning Fallacy (episode 114) Expect Error (episode 39) Give Feedback (episode 40) Counterfactual Thinking (episode 68) Framing (episode 16) IKEA Effect (episode 112) Reframing Annoying Disruptions to Support Innovation, with Adam Hansen, coauthor of Outsmart Your Instincts (episode 176) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Dunning-Kruger Original Research Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Vanessa Bohns, author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters. She got her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Columbia University and her AB in Psychology from Brown University. Her research looks at social influence and the psychology of compliance and consent.  She has been published in Psychological Science, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Organization Science, the Yale Law Journal, and more. She and her work have also been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, and NPR. She is an associate editor at the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, was previously editor of the social influence section of Social and Personality Psychology Compass, and sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Social Cognition. In this episode, we talk about influence, building relationships, Vanessa’s book, and so much more. If you have been loving all the conversations about influence this episode is a must-listen.  Show Notes: [00:43] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Vanessa Bohns, author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters.   [03:32] Vanessa shares about herself and her background. She is an experimental social psychologist.  [05:04] She started on this journey of exploring influence in a different way than many other people have. They look at what their intuitions are to influence and how they match or don’t match reality.  [06:39] In general, we get focused on one negative thing and we are so focused on that one thing that we don’t pay attention to all of the other things that other people are paying attention to.  [07:07] Vanessa shares about the “weird shirt” study. [09:51] Good news! People are not paying attention to the things you hope they are not paying attention to and the things that you are really insecure about.  [10:17] The invisibility cloak illusion is the idea that we often feel like we walk through the world wrapped up in an invisibility cloak; you feel invisible to the world, but are not. People are noticing you and more than you tend to think. [11:44] People are actually paying attention to us as a whole, but they are not noticing the tiny embarrassing flaws that are the things we worry that people are noticing. In the end, we are having more influence than we think in a more positive way often than we think. [13:54] Influence works both ways. It is not just the person standing in front of the room, it is also the people they are speaking to that can have influence.  [15:26] The audience sitting there without saying a word can really shape the beliefs of that person at the front of the room.  [17:15] One thing that was difficult for a lot of people is doing presentations over a virtual format where you lose audience feedback.  [20:09] There is so much feedback you get from nonverbals that you take for granted. Vanessa wove in polls and chat questions to maintain engagement virtually. [21:51] She found that going around the room in Zoom and having everyone share what they think about a particular topic has really helped in her virtual presentations.  [23:18] Breakout rooms in online platforms are a great way to re-energize participants.  [26:16] We have lost so much of the interpersonal aspects of influence by moving to a virtual environment.  [28:39] People really just get the gist of what we say.  [30:07] In general, people only speak up about things that they really care about.  [31:57] The online chat feature is an outlet for people who feel less comfortable actually speaking aloud.  [33:28] So often when we do something we are so focused on how people are going to judge us for that thing instead of thinking about how that thing we said or did impact other people.  [35:05] Any time we are holding back and not asking for something, we may be missing opportunities.  [37:16] You want to be aware that every conversation and interaction is leaving an aftertaste, aftermath, or afterglow.  [38:58] We are too hard on ourselves when it comes to people judging us.  [39:43] It is so important for us to be mindful of the impacts our words and actions are having on other people.  [42:02] Shouting is born of underconfidence. We shout when we think nobody is listening.  [44:08] We don’t see the ways we are impacting people all the time.  [45:58] If you can find ways to get out of your own head and reflect on the things that you’re doing, you can be more accurate and aware of your influence.  [47:02] People like you more than you think they do.  [49:43] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [53:03] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: You Have More Influence Than You Think, by Vanessa Bohns The Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer Reinforcements, by Heidi Grant Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott The All or Nothing Marriage, by Eli Finkle Connect with Vanessa:  Vanessa’s Website Vanessa on Twitter Vanessa on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Influence Is Your Superpower with Yale’s Dr. Zoe Chance (episode 189) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 92) Hate Being on Camera? Understand Your Brain’s Biases To Change Your Mind (episode 95) How To Sell From The Stage (episode 6) Sense of Sight (episode 24) Partitioning (episode 58) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Framing (episode 16) Herding (episode 19) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Dove Real Beauty Campaign Devil Wears Prada Clip Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Priscilla McKinney, CEO of Little Bird Marketing and host of the Ponderings from the Perch podcast. As you will hear in our conversation today, I love how thoughtful Priscilla and her team are about those brain associations and little play on word moments, like calling the podcast "Ponderings From the Perch" when the company is "Little Bird" Marketing, which is, of course, an extension of the benefits of word of mouth and the saying that "a little birdie" told you something. (Did you see how I extended that in the art for this episode…?) This builds upon Dan Gingiss' insights on creating remarkable experiences that people can't wait to share and his WISER framework. It is witty and engaging to have little easter eggs like this. It helps people feel like they know you and want to connect more. Priscilla and I talk about this, her background in anthropology, how that helps her bring the “human factor” back into brands, and so much more during our conversation today. You don’t want to miss it! Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Priscilla McKinney, CEO of Little Bird Marketing and host of Ponderings from the Perch podcast.  [03:35] Priscilla shares about herself and her background. She studied cultural anthropology and is now a CEO of a digital marketing agency. [04:27] Every company should have a clear and effective marketing plan. Forget what everyone else is doing and think about what you need to do to drive revenue.  [06:51] Priscilla found herself in marketing after naturally doing it on the side.  [09:50] Quit marketing to everybody and think of who the most ideal person is. [10:51] Observe people in their natural habitat and understand what is convenient, natural, and helpful for them. What delights and engages them?  Once you understand this, start building a plan to attract those people.   [13:43] When your best and brightest clients start talking, listen and figure out what is frustrating to them.  [15:58] Too many people are not social on social media.  [18:46] That amplification of your thought leadership is where you can’t help but see things a little differently.  [19:40] 92% of people who are engaged online want to deal with the person who is acknowledged or perceived as the thought leader in their industry.  [22:58] You have to be willing to be a little bit different than everybody else.  [25:43] Priscilla shares the background behind her business name and brand: Little Bird Marketing.  [26:52] Fidelity to your brand is something that really takes effort.  [28:27] Melina shares her favorite ad campaign of all time.  [30:25] Priscilla shares her favorite ad campaign of all time. [31:55] Fun is such an important part of engaging with other people.  [32:47] Priscilla shares examples of how she used personas in the past.  [35:26] Speaking to the real heart of the problem is the one thing in persona work that can overcome any other obstacle. (And what most brands get wrong.) [37:51] Pricing is not about the price. Oftentimes we haven’t done a good enough job making them feel like they need this and you.  [39:40] Creating personas isn’t enough–you need to use them. Keep them central to everything you do. [41:52] People are going to get to your 404 page but you don’t want it to be a bad experience. (Check ours out for inspiration.) [43:45] Priscilla is going to be MCing Greenbook’s IIEX North America in Austin this year.  [45:28] Melina is going to be speaking at IIEX North America in Austin and IIEX Europe in Amsterdam. Come join us! [48:31] Priscilla has lots of great resources to polish your marketing.  [49:45] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [52:00] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens The Life Saving Skill of Story, by Michelle Auerbach The Hype Handbook, by Michael F. Schein Marketing Mess to Brand Success, by Scott Miller Connect with Priscilla:  Little Bird Marketing Website Priscilla on LinkedIn Priscilla on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (episode 185) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  (episode 126) Surprise & Delight (episode 60) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (episode 145) Reciprocity (episode 23) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) The Power of Metaphors for Brands with Olson Zaltman’s Malcolm and Hannibal Brooks (episode 181) How to Successfully Pitch Your Business Using Behavioral Economics (episode 177) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, interview with Jennifer Clinehens, author of Choice Hacking (episode 141) Scarcity (episode 14) When Machine Learning Meets Neuroscience, with Ingrid Nieuwenhuis of Alpha.One (episode 170) Herding (episode 19) A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand (episode 43) Sludge (episode 179) Priming  (episode 18) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Resources from Little Bird Marketing Greenbook’s IIEX North America A Non-Boring Behavioral Economic Lesson with Melina Palmer (Melina’s Episode on Ponderings from the Perch Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Karina Montes and Mario Drago to discuss their work with BE OEFA in Peru. These are the first guests on the show from South  America, and I am so excited to start having a more international presence in the guests coming up this year. Thank you to Carlos Hoyos, a listener of the show and LinkedIn connection for the suggestion and introduction. If you or someone you know is doing some cool work in behavioral economics in a country that isn't yet well represented in the space, reach out to me on LinkedIn or through email. I would love to see if it is a fit to feature on the show just like Karina and Mario's work with BE OEFA.  OEFA is the environmental regulatory agency in Peru, sort of like the EPA here in the United States, and BE OEFA is a (now award-winning!) team Karina started a few years ago to help incorporate behavioral economics into their work with some amazing results, as you will hear about in today's show. Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Karina Montes and Mario Drago working with BE OEFA in Peru. These are the first guests on the show from South America.  [01:42] OEFA is the environmental regulatory agency in Peru. BE OEFA is a team Karina started a few years ago to help include behavioral economics into their work with some amazing results. [04:23] Karina shares about herself and her background. She is an economist at OEFA.  [04:51] Mario shares about himself and his background. He is an external consultant and lawyer.  [06:03] Karina shares the story of reforms that started in 2016.  [08:26] When people weren’t doing what they “should” even though it was the law, they realized they needed to know more about the irrational part of the brain. [10:16] Mario’s relationship with behavioral economics was kind of an accident.  [11:21] Mario’s team was trying to investigate why the public policies were not working. They discovered all the rational measures and economic incentives were not working.  [14:08] Mario was the coach for Karina’s team. Each group worked with one problem, analyzed the behavior of interest groups, set objectives, and assigned the nudges.  [16:27] Sometimes you have to think in another way to promote compliance.  [17:42] They identified five projects they thought could be solved with behavioral science.  [20:18] The five projects seemed very irrational because they thought that the way to solve the problem was easy.  [21:02] BE OEFA was created to be an experimental nudge unit. [23:42] They formed a group with people that were very motivated and already knew about the topic. Hundreds of people completed the test and 30 people were selected for the first group.  [25:01] Mario shares the process he went through to design the projects.  [26:09] The first step was to determine who they wanted to nudge. Then, after identifying the true problems they began the experiments, which lasted 3-12 months.  [29:05] They found something similar in every case. It is always best to understand the problem before investigating the best nudges to use. [30:54] The best nudges are incredibly simple (in hindsight) and obviously work, but they often take a long time to figure out in practice.  [32:17] So much time has to be spent on developing and thinking about who you are talking to, what they are doing, and what mindset they are in. [34:09] In the experiment about liability acknowledgment, the problem was that there was a very low rate of companies that acknowledged liability responsibility after the analysis process began.  [36:55] In the academic research you can find, a 3-4% increase is often a beautiful outcome. Their applied research had a much more significant impact – from 1.4% compliance to over 30%!  [37:49] You don’t only have to provide the information. You have to make sure they understand it, internalize it and get part of their mental process in the right moment with the right incentive.  [39:28] Karina’s tip: having lots of good data is key.  [42:12] It is important to be sure of the problem that needs to be solved.  [43:54] If you are interested in behavioral sciences, there is a lot of space to work in the public sector. If you want to have a career in behavioral economics you can also have public agencies as a client.  [45:28] You have to have information and data. [44:48] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [46:30] There is a whole community of people who love behavioral economics from around the world waiting to network and connect with you. It is great to have like-minded people to connect with. [47:41] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Never Go with Your Gut, by Gleb Tsipursky Finding Confidence in Conflict, by Kwame Christian Connect with BE OEFA:  BE OEFA on Twitter Karina on LinkedIn Mario on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Incentives - The "N" In NUDGES (episode 36) Motivation and Incentives at Work with Kurt Nelson (episode 187) Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview (episode 109) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  (episode 126) How Businesses Can Design for Behavior Change, with Dr. Amy Bucher (episode 164) NUDGES & Choice Architecture (episode 35) IKEA Effect (episode 112) Time Discounting (episode 51) Framing (episode 16) Loss Aversion (episode 9) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Sludge (episode 179) The Littery - Interview with CEO Michael Manniche  (episode 75) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (episode 101) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  BE OEFA website in English BE OEFA website in Spanish Behavioral Economics Applied to Environmental Enforcement (English) La Economía Del Comportamiento Aplicada a la Fiscalización Ambiental (Spanish) Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

In today’s episode, we are digging in on the concept of functional fixedness, or the “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” problem. I rather enjoyed taking this analogy a bit to the extreme while sharing how this works; I hope you like it too. When there is an issue with functional fixedness, both sides are holding tightly to their own respective hammers. Like all the biases, heuristics, and concepts I share here on The Brainy Business, it is often easier to see these things in others than in ourselves, but I challenge you to look for your own hammer in each encounter. As you will learn in this episode, getting out of your own functionally fixed way – even about something simple – can have such a huge impact on your company overall. Listen in to find out how you can make small changes for a big impact.  Show Notes: [00:41] In today’s episode, we are digging in on the concept of functional fixedness, or the “when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” problem. [02:27] When you first show up to tackle a new skill or concept, you are so excited for this new opportunity, you likely bring every mental tool you might need to help you learn. You’re a sponge, ready for whatever life throws at you. [03:17] As you develop expertise, you start to declutter that mental toolbox. [04:30] When someone cuts you off on the freeway, they’re instantly labeled a “jerk.” What about when you cut someone off? It feels completely different because of fundamental attribution error (and we do this all the time in business).  [06:09] It is important to know that you see “others” as different from you and will tend to judge them and their ideas more harshly, not giving them the benefit of the doubt that you might give to yourself and members of your team. [07:49] Isn’t it possible that the one thing someone else is arguing is one of those 275,000 things your brain filtered out? Or that you are looking at just one of many possible correct alternatives that could work? [08:15] Functional fixedness or being set in your ways is another version of confirmation bias and the focusing illusion. [09:06] Everyone else doesn’t have to be wrong in order for you to be right. [09:58] One of my favorite stories that I think is such a great example of overcoming functional fixedness, comes from Apollo 13. [12:31] Even when the stakes are high little things like this can be missed when you’re too focused on your little area that you are working on. That can cause a big problem.  [14:23] It is easy to find the right answer to the wrong question. [15:18] Reframing the conversation so the team can look at things from different angles is so important [16:51] When you are too deep into a problem or have become an expert, you have this curse of knowledge that can keep you from seeing all the other opportunities that are just outside the norm. [17:26] Having a background knowledge of associations and how things work is important, but it is also important to understand that functional fixedness is a problem and it can keep you stuck sometimes in a way that will keep you from innovations or from solving the right problems. [19:35] When you are fixated on the myopic perspective of what you do or how you do things, everything looks like a nail when all you have is that hammer. You can be missing the bigger picture, which isn’t necessarily a problem until sometimes, it is too late. [19:51] As you think about starting to apply this to your work, I don’t recommend starting with something big like your company’s mission. Have some warm-ups on less consequential projects first. [21:11] Properly wording the question is so critical for where you end up. [23:47] In general, when there is an issue with functional fixedness, both sides are holding onto their own respective hammers. Like all the biases, heuristics, and concepts I share here on The Brainy Business, it is easier to see these things in others than in ourselves, but I challenge you to look for your own hammer in each encounter. What are you fixated on that is keeping you closed off to the other person’s perspective? [24:51] “I don’t care what it was designed to do, I want to know what it can do”  - Gene Kranz, flight director for Apollo 13 [24:58] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Outsmart Your Instincts, by Adam Hansen A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Personal Biases (episode 45) Biases Toward Others – Including Groups (episode 46) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Fundamental Attribution Error (episode 92) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Priming (episode 18) Framing (episode 16) 3 Steps to Better Decision Making, An Interview with Matthew Confer (episode 158) Reframing Annoying Disruptions to Support Innovation, with Adam Hansen, coauthor of Outsmart Your Instincts (episode 176) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Marketing Myopia Apollo 13 Movie Clip Metric mishap caused loss of NASA orbiter 3 Steps To Better Decision Making Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Chris Rawlinson, founder of 42 Courses, a company he started because he believes learning should be a fun interactive journey of discovery. It’s not about being right or wrong because, in fact, sometimes the best way to learn is to be wrong. Learning is about interest and engagement and enjoyment. And much like a great holiday, it’s often more about the journey itself. Chris took insights from a varied background to create online courses that people actually enjoy and complete. In an industry with standard completion rates of less than 10 percent, how does 42 Courses hover around 80 percent? They have incorporated behavioral science and psychology to help ensure a great experience that keeps people learning and coming back again and again? Listen in for tips to incorporate into your own courses. Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Chris Rawlinson, founder of 42 Courses, a company he started because he believes, "learning should be a fun interactive journey of discovery.” (Agreed!) [03:31] Chris shares about himself, his background, and how he found himself in this space.  [05:00] Why 42?  [07:01] Many of the courses are behavioral science-specific or have behavioral science in them. People need to upscale their creativity, problem-solving, and wellness.  [09:21] Having a limited number of courses at any time makes it so it is easier for people to make a choice and learn something.  [11:03] Chris shares about the framing experiment they did with their pricing.  [13:04] Disney Plus had a price increase and said that it is $1.99 per day instead of the overall price. Chris and Melina discuss the ups and downs of this approach. [15:43] With education you will value the course more if you pay more money. [18:35] For a lot of companies, the best thing they can do is increase their pricing.  [20:20] He started 42 Courses to make great learning that is really enjoyable for people.  [22:47] They have a team on the back end that is moderating all the responses instead of making that automated. (Wow!) [25:08] Their courses offer real-world feedback from real people. They tried to integrate as many things as they could that they learned from behavioral science into all of their courses.  [26:18] They have a much higher completion rate than most of their competitors.  The average completion rate for an e-learning course for around 7-9%.  [27:07] Right now their completion rate is 82%, but it fluctuates between 70-100%.  [29:19] They are rolling out an update so when you join it will show you where you are in your country. It is much more motivating than showing all the users. [31:10] Everyone learns differently.  [33:32] Whatever you are doing online, in particular, if you are doing continuous education, it needs to be short, stackable, and bit-sized.  [34:35] The only way we remember things is through stories.  [37:29] Splitting things up into little lessons which have a mixture of easy and hard stuff really works.  [40:32] Should you get progressively harder only or mix in some easy stuff? [41:52] In most education settings online you are missing the interactions with peers after the lecture, so they created and added opinion-based questions. [44:18] We do need community, but the community side of things needs to be at a certain breakpoint.  [46:56] There are ways to have those “water cooler” moments that can help get the value of what was happening and bring it into a virtual space.  [49:21] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [52:31] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland The Behavior Business, by Richard Chataway The Voltage Effect, by John List The Choice Factory, by Richard Shotton Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein Connect with Chris:  42 Courses Website 42 Courses on Twitter Chris on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Framing (episode 16) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Surprise & Delight (episode 60) Paradox of Choice (episode 171) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 144) Partitioning (episode 58) Scarcity (episode 14) Incentives - The "N" In NUDGES (episode 36) Social Proof (episode 87) Relativity (episode 12) The Network Effect (episode 106) The Truth About Pricing (episode 5) Behavioural Science Club: Interview with Co-Founder Louise Ward (episode 118) Using Behavioral Science to Tackle Addiction (and the Lessons for any Business), Interview with Richard Chataway (episode 134) The Voltage Effect with John List (episode 190) The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (episode 145) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter  Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

As a lover of questions, I get asked a lot of things on all sorts of topics. One that comes up often is this idea about machine learning, AI, big data, data analytics, and how it combines with the behavioral sciences. Is there an overlap or are they competing? How can they work together?  Around the same time as I was prepping to be part of a debate at the Insights Association’s CONVERGE conference on a similar topic, I had my conversation and interview with Manuj Aggarwal. He went from making $2/day to the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies as a business mentor. He now has four patents, two published books, and more than 180K students across the globe. He has worked with multiple businesses including Microsoft, Pearson, IBM, and many others. He even developed an AI-based system to help students avoid dropping out of degree programs that were praised and mentioned by Barack Obama and Bill Gates. He is the host of the Bootstrapping Your Dreams podcast, where I was honored to be a guest recently and I am delighted to have him with me here on the show to talk about the value of AI and how it can overlap with behavioral science. Listen in as we discuss all about combining AI with behavioral science. You don’t want to miss the many great insights!  Show Notes: [00:08] I'm delighted to introduce you to Manuj Aggarwal to discuss the opportunity of combining AI with behavioral science. [01:07] In December 2021 I (Melina) had the honor of being part of a debate put on at the Insights Association's CONVERGE conference where my team was arguing that "When it comes to capturing consumer insights, AI is never going to work." [03:59] Manuj shares about himself and the work that he does. [06:42] We are all experts in something and we are always trying to improve ourselves.  [07:17] Technology moves at a very rapid pace.  [10:18] Blockchain can decentralize and negotiate that trust between us as a technology; we don’t need the bank or any third party. Instead, we can put our promise on a blockchain, and when that promise is fulfilled the technology is going to complete that transaction.  [11:35] Manuj shares two of his favorite projects. The first project was a mining project they did with UPS. [13:27] In the second project they applied behavioral science and AI with universities to keep students from dropping out of their degree programs after the first year. The system they created was talked about and supported by Barack Obama and Bill Gates. (Awesome!) [15:47] It is about understanding what people are thinking and what the reference point is that they have in their mind to get that concept.  [16:20] We need to find out the objective and work backward.  [18:38] Monitoring the data and enhancing the models in real-time lets things get even more accurate.  [20:10] Instead of focusing on the problem you think exists, they start by asking, “What are the results you are looking for?’ [21:15] Figure out what the result is that you are looking for and then work backward on the root cause.  [23:50] There are so many common problems that people are having. Scaling happens gradually.  [25:46] There has never been a greater time than this to create a globally scalable company or solution.     [26:34] At the fundamental level when we break open AI it is actually a network of networks.  [28:33] You have to clean the data and you have to continuously do many experiments to fine-tune your data.  [30:09] You don’t have to become an AI expert to apply it.  [32:12] As a business owner or individual, you need to look for repeated patterns in real life and that is where AI can be really helpful to optimize a business.  [33:03] Not sure where to start? Look at some repeated patterns where something happens consecutively three times.  [35:41] 95% of our decisions are made by our subconscious mind.  [36:44] Mediation allows you to connect with other human beings at a much more meaningful level.  [38:08] Mediation is really about unplugging and doing something that you would do any day of the week for the sake of having fun.  [41:34] The script needs to be flipped around. First, we need to feel fulfilled and happy and clear off all these negative emotions which then leads to amazing opportunities. (Melina calls this “calming the elephant” often) [43:46] It is all about having conversations, building connections, and relationships.  [45:08] Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.  [46:17] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [49:05] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Voltage Effect, by John List The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey Subtract, by Leidy Klotz Nudge, by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein A More Beautiful Question, by Warren Berger     Connect with Manuj:  Manuj’s Website Manuj on Twitter Manuj on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Voltage Effect with John List (episode 190) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Network Effect (episode 106) Herding (episode 19) Familiarity Bias (episode 149) The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Priming (episode 18) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  (episode 126) Availability Bias (episode 15) Combining Artificial Intelligence and Behavioral Economics, with Sam Albert of Behaviorally (episode 166) When Machine Learning Meets Neuroscience, with Ingrid Nieuwenhuis of Alpha.One (episode 170) The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude (episode 76) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  Bootstrapping Your Dreams Show Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Were you a fan of The DaVinci Code? I loved that book, and quickly read everything by Dan Brown, which led to a fascination with the world of signs and symbols. I never really thought about how that aligns with my love of brain associations and behavioral economics, but they are very much rooted in the same fascinating topic.  When I was introduced to Rachel Lawes, by recent guest Elina Halonen, and I got to check out her first book Using Semiotics in Marketing and then an early read of this new book Using Semiotics in Retail, I was hooked and knew I had to share it with you all here on the show. Rachel is here to talk about the ins and outs of semiotics, and some fun stories about how they impact us all the time even when we might not realize it. I really love everything to do with semiotics and I think you will too.  One of my favorite insights from our conversation is, “Where there is choice, there is meaning.” Take a moment to ruminate on that, and let’s start the show. Show Notes: [00:47] Sometimes things come up that get me beyond fascinated and this is one of those episodes. It is because of the entire field of semiotics. Signs, symbols, and brain associations and how they impact businesses and buying decisions, it is truly fascinating.  [03:15] Rachel shares about herself and her background, and how she got into the field of semiotics. As a social psychologist, she is all about relationships and how people communicate with each other. [04:24] Semiotics starts out from the view that people in conversation with each other actively and cooperatively build and construct versions of reality.   [06:24] Semiotics is the study of how people interpret and make sense of signs.  [08:15] Rachel shares about the Game Stop stock market saga.   [10:47] Millions of people bought shares in Game Stop with the result that by January of 2021 it was one of the most high-ranking businesses in the world in terms of its shares.  [13:07] Game Stop is a great story about business and how people create meaning amongst themselves.  [16:01] People were very quick to use the tools of language to create a sense of group identity.  [19:01] It simply changed the rules of the game because the stock market was not designed that way.  [21:05] Rachel shares the story from her book about a jam business gone terribly wrong.  [23:41] She went to the jam business and took photos to find out what was keeping people away. [24:03] An essential question in semiotics is “Where have I seen this before?”  [25:13] She shares her findings when she visited the jam business. (Listen for a laugh!) [28:07] When you hear it all explained, it sounds classy, but when you get the comparison you can see the flaws.   [28:57] Trust your instincts. If there is something making you uncomfortable, you need to take that seriously until you find out what that is.  [30:12] “Where have I seen this before?” is one of Rachel’s favorite questions because it is one that her clients can start to use right away. It is also user-friendly for people just beginning semiotics.  [30:45] Where there is choice, there is meaning.  [31:19] She shares an example of Donald Trump’s hair.  [33:50] Rachel shares the hilarious videos of Jeff Bezos and Leonardo DiCaprio. [36:56] No matter how much money you have, money will never trump good looks. [40:32] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [41:42] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Using Semiotics in Retail, by Rachel Lawes Using Semiotics in Marketing, by Rachel Lawes The Power of Us, by Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel Elements of Choice, by Eric Johnson The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Connect with Rachel:  Lawes Consulting Rachel on Twitter Rachel on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Power of Metaphors for Brands with Olson Zaltman’s Malcolm and Hannibal Brooks (episode 181) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (episode 18) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Behavioral Blueprint, including COM-B and MOVE models with Elina Halonen (episode 188) A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand (episode 43) The Sense of Sight (episode 24) The Sense of Smell  (episode 25) The Sense of Hearing (episode 27) The Sense of Taste (episode 26) The Sense of Touch (episode 28) Herding (episode 19) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Surprise and Delight (episode 60) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss (episode 185) Availability Bias (episode 15) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. John List, former chief economist at Uber, current chief economist at Lyft, professor at the University of Chicago, co-author of the wildly popular book, The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life, who is here talking about his newest book, which just came out a couple of days ago, titled The Voltage Effect: How to Make Good Ideas Great and Great Ideas Scale. In this episode, we talk about ideas that can scale, possible hurdles you may face when scaling, and how to overcome those obstacles. John shares about his brand new book and the five vital signs to vett your own ideas as you are growing to determine if they will scale, and what to do for those that might not be ready to scale yet. Listen in to learn all about making those good ideas great and your great ideas scale! Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. John List. Former Chief Economist at Uber, current Chief Economist at Lyft, and professor at the University of Chicago.  [02:38] John shares about himself and his background in behavioral economics.  [03:18] He quit on his dream to be a professional golfer to pursue his new dream in economics.  [05:29] After learning he would take the lessons in many cases from the classroom and use them in the real world.   [07:19] He hasn’t been to all the baseball stadiums yet, but nearly all of them.  [08:42] John shares the moment he started becoming more interested in scaling when he started a preschool and created his own curriculum. [10:59] Turning a mountain into a molehill.  [12:23] We very rarely say, “Are we doing something that is scalable?” and “What do we need to do differently in our original research if we find the program works to make it scale?”  [14:12] A constant thread in all of his walks of life is that you can only make big changes at scale.  [16:58] There are five important vital signs that any idea has to have a chance to scale.  [17:49] Just because your idea doesn’t check all five boxes doesn't mean you shouldn’t still go for it.   [20:01] Vital Sign 1: Make sure your idea actually has voltage before you try to scale it.  [21:14] Vital Sign 2: know your audience.  [24:41] His group developed a new product called Uber Apologies. Apologies really only work for new users.  [27:09] Vital Sign 3: Understand your situation. [29:05] Look at all of the constraints and flaws at scale and bring that back to the original research. With those constraints in place, do we have an idea that can still work? [30:18] Vital Sign 4: the spillover effect.  [32:06] His team rolled out tipping at Uber in the summer of 2017.  [34:35] Vital Sign 5: understand whether your idea has economies of scale or diseconomies of scale. Anything that has made it big has great economies of scale.  [37:28] The context or the properties of the situation are super important.  [38:02] Poke and prod and figure out where the weaknesses are. What are the nonnegotiables and if those aren’t available at scale then you have to change your idea and refine.  [40:53] We have a finite number of days we get to live on this earth and we only have so many ways to change it and make it better. Why not give yourself your best shot? [42:38] The second half of the book is using storytelling and standard ways to think economically to make better decisions in your life.  [45:09] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [47:16] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Voltage Effect, by John List The Why Axis, by John List & Uri Gneezy The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M. R. Covey Start at the End, by Matt Wallaert Subtract, by Leidy Klotz Connect with John:  John on Twitter John’s University of Chicago Faculty Page John on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: The Network Effect (episode 106) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Framing (episode 16) Anchoring (episode 11) 3 Steps to Better Decision Making, An Interview with Matthew Confer (episode 158) The Hawthorne Effect (episode 117) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Using Ethnography to Understand Your Customers and Staff, an interview with Felicity Heathcote-Marcz (episode 137) Amazon: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode (episode 159) A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco (episode 47) Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 144) Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 86) Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 73) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Zoe Chance. She got her Ph.D. in marketing at Harvard and has taught at Yale's School of Management for over 10 years. She has done a TEDx on how to make behavior addictive, and has been featured on NBC News, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, Washington Post, Fast Company and so many more amazing places. She is here today to discuss her fantastically awesome new book, Influence Is Your Superpower, which officially comes out on February 1, 2022. I had the honor of reading this book early and let me tell you, you want this book. Hit pause, go place your order and come on back to listen to the conversation. Listen in as we talk about how you can actually have fun in your work and break the rules a little. We also talk about Zoe’s “No” challenge and her magic question. So much goodness… you don’t want to miss it!  Show Notes: [00:43] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Zoe Chance. She got her Ph.D. in marketing at Harvard and has taught at Yale's School of Management for over 10 years. [03:02] Zoe shares about herself and how she got into the world of behavioral science. She teaches at Yale’s School of Management and the book that she wrote is based on the course she teaches (the most popular in the business school!).  [05:57] Rejection doesn’t kill you. If you are not getting rejected it means you are playing small.  [07:27] “No” is so hard for people to say and it is so hard for people to hear.  [08:24] When we are comfortable saying no we are helping other people be more comfortable saying no.  [09:36] “‘No.’ is a complete sentence. ‘No, thank you.’ is a polite complete sentence.” [11:32] Why it is empowering to just say, “No, thank you.” [12:10] She has her students do a 24-hour “No” challenge where for 24 hours they say no to everything and everyone. The results are always surprising. [14:18] Nobody is going to dislike you for asking for something or rejecting a request if you do it in a warm way.  [16:49] If you have shorter chapters between your longer ones rather than a smaller number of long chapters, the book feels easier to read so you get more momentum going through.  [17:37] We're setting people’s expectations and influencing their experiences by the names and frames that we give.  [19:55] In her book, Zoe wanted her readers to know that they don’t have to do things the way everyone else is doing them and you can question all the norms and rules and do the thing that feels good and is fun to you.  [20:26] Zoe shares about her visit to the Harry Potter Studios outside of London and the impact it had on her. Melina chimes in with her experience as well! [23:06] If you ever have a chance to do the London Harry Potter Studio tour Zoe and Melina both highly recommend it.  [24:17] Zoe shares about the psychological illusionist Derren Brown.  [26:28] In The Invisible Gorilla, you are focusing on one thing which is asking your brain to ignore everything else.  [27:27] Magicians are masters at directing attention and framing what we pay attention to.  [29:54] The Apocalypse, is Derren (and Zoe’s) favorite show of his. He persuades the friends and family of a selfish loser to have him believe the end of the world is happening and there is a zombie apocalypse. He steps up as a hero.  [31:31] People want to say yes to you.  [33:45] The magic question is “What would it take?” [34:36] When the other person tells you what it would take, they’re implicitly committing to supporting that outcome if you follow the road map.  [36:32] Zoe’s book, Influence Is Your Superpower is a personal journey of transformation to becoming someone that people want to say yes to.  [38:22] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [39:03] When you are having fun people can sense it and it makes them more likely to be attracted to what you’re doing. [40:04] I challenge you to take Zoe’s “No” Challenge – say no to everything for the next 24 hours (after you buy her book of course-ha!).  [42:06] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence Is Your Superpower, by Zoe Chance Influence (New & Expanded), by Robert Cialdini How to Change, by Katy Milkman The Invisible Gorilla, by Christopher Chabris & Daniel Simons The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Connect with Zoe:  Zoe’s Website Zoe on LinkedIn Zoe on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (episode 18) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 151) IKEA Effect (episode 112) How to Create Remarkable Experiences with Dan Gingiss Framing (episode 16) Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain - On The Sense of Sight (episode 24) Peak-End Rule (episode 97) Surprise and Delight (episode 60) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  Zoe’s Yale Faculty Page How to Make a Behavior Addictive: Zoë Chance at TEDxMillRiver Derren Brown, The Apocalypse Derren Brown, Perfect Present Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Elina Halonen, a behavioral insights strategist who has worked in the space for 15 years and co-founded a London-based insights consultancy working with global brands on branding, communications, and product/service development projects. She has expertise in behavioural analysis & design, consumer insights & market research, Cultural understanding, desk research & trends, branding & marketing strategy, and more.  Today on the show we talk a little about the COM-B and MOVE models, as well as Elina pre-committing to us all that she is going to write a book, called the Behavioural Blueprint! COM-B is for: Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior. MOVE is for: Meanings, Observations, Viewpoints, and Experiences. We dive into what these models mean, a couple of examples, and so many other great topics. Show Notes: [00:40] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Elina Halonen, a behavioral insights strategist who has worked in the space for 15 years and co-founded a London-based insights consultancy working with global companies on branding, communications, and product/service development projects. [03:13] Elina and Melina have been connected on LinkedIn for years and officially meeting for the first time for this interview!  [03:53] Elina shares about herself and her background.  [05:15] For the last couple of years she has worked as an independent consultant and has worked with various research agencies.  [08:02] Tips for starting a business in an emerging market? Find a niche where you can raise awareness for what you do. Some areas are easier than others. Find a way to educate the market. [09:52] You will need a lot of creativity to promote yourself and what you do.  [12:07] If you pick what you are going to do, you have to be all-in on that thing for at least a year to give it a chance to be successful.  [14:55] Elina’s first degrees were in marketing and it was always about consumer behavior.  [16:42] All of business is a long game.  [17:22] Give information generously. Make sure you add value to people. [20:31] She works with market research agencies and brings her behavioral science expertise.  [22:19] There are different ways of talking about behavioral science depending on what it is you are doing. It is not one size fits all.   [23:01] When they do a project, they think about the target behavior, what is the business objective, and what behaviors do they want to influence or change.  [25:04] Elina shares her commitment to writing her book, Behavioral Blueprint. Hold her accountable on Twitter. (handles below) [27:51] Melina shares her tips for writing a book, including to break it down and just get started.  [28:39] Break it down into chapters and look at what content you already have that fits that information and start segmenting it in.  [31:34] Bringing cultural psychology into behavioral change is becoming increasingly important.  [33:45] She has an intuitive process of looking at things in a certain way that is her Behavioral Blueprint.  [35:02] Start by looking at the situation and accessing what you are up against. [35:44] She is a big fan of the COM-B model: Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior. [36:46] There is a huge amount of context that applied behavioral science often ignores.  [39:11] When she is analyzing or trying to organize things she likes to make it logical.  [41:54] Solving the wrong problem is very common and very human. Not spending enough time identifying the problem is the biggest mistake Melina sees companies make.  [43:37] Elina shares her blog post that she wrote about Netflix solving the wrong problem.  [45:10] Everything you do has an opportunity cost. We need to be sure we are solving the right problem first. It is the foundation of everything we do.  [48:03] We need to understand someone’s logic empathically, putting ourselves in their shoes before we try to change their behavior.  [50:53] There are just some ways of spending money that is socially acceptable and some that aren’t.  [51:15] Never assume you understand why someone does something because you don’t.  [53:45] It’s not about you, it’s about the audience. Could it help someone else? [54:35] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [56:19] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Engaged, by Amy Bucher Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Semiotics in Marketing, by Rachel Lawes Get it Done, by Ayelet Fishbach What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer Connect with Elina:  Square Peg Insights Elina on LinkedIn Elina on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Reciprocity (episode 23) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (episode 101) Framing (episode 16) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book (episode 147) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) Precommitment (episode 120) Time Pressure  (episode 74) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) https://thebrainybusiness.com/podcast/164-how-businesses-can-design-for-behavior-change-with-dr-amy-bucher/ How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Interview with Rachel Lawes (episode 191) coming Feb. 11! Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  De-Mystifying COM-B And How It Can Be Used In Research The MOVE Framework: Meanings, Observations, Viewpoints, and Experiences in processes of Social Change Squared Away Newsletter Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Kurt Nelson, one of the cohosts of Behavioral Grooves as well as the president and founder of The Lantern Group.  In our conversation today we dig into motivation and incentivizing people at work and how to align that with your company strategy. We discuss how simple, seemingly “obvious” things can cause miscommunications so easily, like the word “grooves” in Behavioral Grooves. Tim and Kurt had many conversations about the name and agreed to it and were doing their first interview when they realized they had totally different ideas of that context - ha! Listen in to hear the full story. Kurt also shares his top podcasting tips and advice for anyone thinking about starting their own show. He shares so many great insights in our conversation, you definitely want to make sure to listen in.  Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Kurt Nelson, one of the cohosts of Behavioral Grooves as well as the president and founder of The Lantern Group. [02:17] Recently, Tim and Kurt did a session in the BE Thoughtful Revolution - watch the replay. [03:26] Kurt shares about himself and his background. He is a behavioral scientist and he has been working in the field for 20+ years.  [05:04] Discussion on the music piece of Behavioral Grooves (and an interesting miscommunication that can teach you about business).  [07:43] There are over 260 episodes of the Behavioral Grooves podcast.    [09:34] Melina believes that Abbey Road by The Beatles is the greatest album ever.  [12:25] Sometimes we get constrained by our own knowledge. The idea of not knowing allows you to be more expansive in your thoughts about what could be. [13:40] People get limited not only by their expertise, but also by their history. [15:33] The interesting piece about business and the world is that it is constantly evolving, shifting, and changing. What worked last year might not work this year. The context changes by company and year.   [17:31] Co-hosts work on a podcast if you have a clear understanding and respect for each other. You also need to have an understanding of who is doing different roles.  [18:59] Consistency is key!  [20:18] As a host you have to bring a unique perspective to the story they are telling and ask them the right questions.  [22:04] A lot of the work Kurt does focuses on applying a behavioral science lens inside of organizations and trying to help the company understand the drivers of an employee’s behavior and the motivation behind that behavior. They usually start with a behavioral audit.  [24:06] A big gap is almost always communication. You can have the best incentive plan, total rewards, and structure in place, but if people don’t understand it or buy into it, you are missing a big opportunity. [26:27] Kurt shares two of his corporate projects. They looked at the current programs they had in place and what behaviors they were driving.  [28:26] Companies want the behaviors the incentive plans and rewards programs are driving to align with the company strategy.  [29:03] The pandemic has been a real game-changer for many organizations.  [30:14] You need to treat your employees as humans. Understand what you can do as a manager to allow that human-centeredness of your employees to really be there and that you are bringing in the elements of listening, care, empathy, and concern.  [32:19] Understanding incentives becomes even more important when people are working remotely.  [32:39] The incentives need to match the audience you are currently trying to appeal to.   [34:43] That alignment with your incentives and your audience might mean you might have to exclude a certain group of people. [35:47] Get the philosophy aligned with where you want to go before you even start to think about the specifics of how your rewards, incentives, and communication all go into play.  [36:50] In business we often think we are on the same page, but there are so many different perspectives that didn’t even come into your brain.  [39:03] There is a real value of bringing someone in that isn’t a part of the organization to do some of this work.  [41:47] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [42:22] Join my free community, the BE Thoughtful Revolution. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Friction, by Roger Dooley Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely Finding Confidence in Conflict, by Kwame Christian Never Go With Your Gut, by Gleb Tsipursky Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Connect with Kurt:  Behavioral Grooves Website Lantern Group Website Kurt on Twitter Top Recommended Next Episode: Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview (episode 109) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh (episode 153) How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian  (episode 107) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (episode 101) Anchoring (episode 11) Incentives - The "N" In NUDGES (episode 36) How to Avoid Disasters When Returning to the Office, with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky (episode 175) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (episode 72) Framing (episode 16) Priming (episode 18) Loss Aversion (episode 9) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) Herding (episode 19) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  Texas A&M Certificate Program Melina on Behavioral Grooves episode 109 Melina on Behavioral Grooves episode 242 Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Ayelet Fishbach. She is the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and the past president of the Society for the Study of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network (ISCON). She is an expert on motivation and decision making and the author of the brand new book, which just released this week called Get it Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation.   Of course, Ayelet’s insights are valuable all year round, but it is very much intentional to have this as the first episode of the year. This really is the time of year where people are thinking about goals and motivation. Your New Year’s resolutions are still hopefully intact, and you can increase your chances of meeting and exceeding them with these insights from Ayelet. Regardless of when you listen, it’s always a good opportunity to set and achieve a new goal. After all, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. 😉 She shares so many top tips for getting it done this year…you don’t want to miss it!  Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Ayelet Fishbach,  the Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and the past president of the Society for the Study of Motivation and the International Social Cognition Network (ISCON). [01:17] Ayelet’s groundbreaking research on human motivation has won her several international awards, including the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Best Dissertation Award and Career Trajectory Award, and the Fulbright Educational Foundation Award. [04:18] Ayelet shares her background and how she got into the space of motivation science.  [07:02] Our circumstances often influence what we achieve in life and sometimes we are lucky to have situations where our personal interests fit what people are starting to be interested in around you.  [07:57] She started her research with an interest in self-control and the question on her mind was how people respond when they learn that there is an upcoming problem. For example, will you eat more or less when you know in advance that the food at the party will be delicious and tempting? 🤔  [09:22] Her Ph.D. dissertation research was testing if the anticipation of knowing temptation was coming made people better able to combat these temptations. [11:05] Thinking through problems and knowing what obstacles are going to happen to allow you to create a plan to keep yourself motivated and on track.  [13:52] Ayelet’s new book is called Get It Done. She shares how the book cover came about.  [17:33] Ayelet’s book takes a very different approach by starting with a cautionary tale about Everest.  [19:19] Choosing the right goal is critical. Have a healthy relationship with your goals.  [21:56] We need to move from setting unhealthy extreme goals for our lives.  [22:37] Setting goals can also have downsides.  [24:58] More than half of the New Year’s resolutions that people set are working out and eating healthy.  [26:04] The predictor of success for our New Year’s resolution is how much pleasure we find in the path of pursuing the goal. So plan accordingly.  [26:40] It has to be somewhat rewarding as you do it and you have to find a path that is fun and rewarding along the way.  [28:47] We don’t have a lot of empathy for our future selves. We think that our future self will do what is important to her.  [29:42] The number one mistake in setting resolutions is setting it to some ideal version of yourself that is not who you are.  [31:45] Do the mental simulation of how it will feel to do your resolution all year. Then think about how you can make it more fun.  [34:05] Ayelet shares why something like Pokémon GO! can be valuable for goal achievement of being healthier or walking more. It allows you to get the steps, connect with other people, and connect to your childhood.  [35:16] Make your activities rewarding in the moment so you are excited to do them. [36:41] The problem with avoidance goals is that they are not exciting and they bring to mind the thing you are trying to avoid.  [37:28] You need to consider, “What should I do so I don’t do the thing I don’t want to do? What should I think about that is helpful to me?” Framing things as what you should do is almost always better.  [40:04] When people think about healthy food in a tasty way, they are better able to actually eat the healthy food.  [41:25] She shares a wine example that comes from thinking about how people resolve tradeoffs.  [43:42] Ayelet shares the four buckets all goals need to have so you have a better chance of achieving them. [45:01] The last element is social support. Who in your life is going to help you with your goal? It is so critical that people around us are supportive.  [47:34] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [49:53] Check out and subscribe to Brainy Bites — now on LinkedIn! [52:16] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Get It Done, by Ayelet Fishbach How To Change, by Katy Milkman Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely The Power of Us, by Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer Good Habits, Bad Habits, by Wendy Wood Connect with Ayelet:  Ayelet’s Website Ayelet on Twitter Ayelet on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Temptation Bundling (episode 136) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Priming (episode 18) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (episode 151) Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale (episode 101) The Power of Us with Dr. Dominic Packer (episode 178) Framing (episode 16) How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals (episode 70) Good Habits, Bad Habits: An Interview with Wendy Wood (episode 127) Expect Error: The "E" in NUDGES (episode 39) Give Feedback: The "G" in NUDGES (episode 40) Resolutions and Keeping Commitments (episode 29) Time Discounting (episode 51) The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making (episode 32) How to Get (and Stay) Motivated (episode 67) Other Important Links:  Brainy Bites - Melina’s new LinkedIn Newsletter  Texas A&M Self-Control Research Could Help You Stick With Your New Year’s Resolutions University of Chicago, Chicago Booth School of Business Faculty Directory: Ayelet Fishbach Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am beyond delighted to introduce you to my friend Dan Gingiss to talk about how to create remarkable experiences that your customers can’t wait to share. Dan is an international keynote speaker and coach who believes that a remarkable customer experience is your best sales and marketing strategy.  His 20-year professional career included leadership positions at McDonald’s, Discover, and Humana. He is the author of two books, including The Experience Maker which we will discuss today, and is the host of two shows, the Experience This! podcast and The Experience Maker LinkedIn live show.  While Dan’s insights are valuable at any time, it is very much intentional to have this as the last episode of the year. This is a time many reflect on the year that has just ended and think about what they will be doing next. If your plan doesn’t already include an improved customer experience and having a business that people can’t wait to share about, it should. Listen to today’s episode as you consider your customer experience and look to improve it in the new year.  Show Notes: [00:39] Today I am beyond delighted to introduce you to my friend Dan Gingiss to talk about how to create remarkable experiences that your customers can’t wait to share. [03:36] Dan shares his experience speaking at Social Media Marketing World for the first time.   [04:30] Dan shares his background of 20 plus years in corporate America.  [05:04] We all know that word of mouth is the holy grail of marketing. It is much better when someone is saying nice things about us than if we are saying nice things about ourselves.  [05:29] A remarkable customer experience is your best marketing strategy.  [08:34] We have so much data on our customers that we don’t use and we forget to come back to.  [11:03] Experience can happen anywhere. It is about knowing when to provide the right experience when your customers need it most or don’t expect it.  [13:47] There are so many little things that we can do. Some people may advocate to only focus on one side, but Dan (and Melina!) suggest you both get rid of pain points and create positive moments.  [14:26] If we keep focusing on the little things, they absolutely add up to something amazing.  [15:48] We have got to empower all of our employees to truly believe they are in the customer experience business.  [16:56] Become a customer of your own business.  [18:49] Remove pain points and create peaks in your customer journey.  [20:08] If your customer is frustrated with your company, they are going to be more open to a TV commercial or social media ad for your competitor.  [22:16] The WISER Methodology teaches you how to create the kinds of experiences that people want to talk about. You have to be intentional about the experience to make it so someone wants to share it.  [22:55] W stands for witty, I is immersive, S is sharable, E is extraordinary and R is responsive.  [25:18] Millennials and Gen Z in particular want a relationship with the brands they spend their hard-earned money with. In order to have a relationship, you have to have human interaction.  [26:48] We don’t have to delight in the same way every time.   [28:57] There is a part of every business where either you do it the same way as everybody else or the same way it has always been done and you can turn it into something that can be an experience when people least expect it.  [30:43] Whenever you can play to peoples’ kids or pets, you are going to hit them in the heart.  [32:36] There are lots of opportunities, but we just have to seize them and look for chances when people don’t expect it.  [35:07] With gift-giving, make sure you are giving a gift you would like to receive (i.e. don’t slap a giant logo on your “gift”).  [37:00] Shareable is the end goal and it has to be strategic and intentional.  [39:27] There are so many opportunities where we can kick it up a little notch and do something unique—it is a great way to stand out. You don’t have to spend more, just spend differently.  [40:39] Look for ways to make work more fun and enjoyable.  [42:37] Every communication is an opportunity.  [45:36] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [48:28] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss Start At The End, by Matt Wallaert Giftology, by John Ruhlin Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens Friction, by Roger Dooley Connect with Dan:  Dan’s Website Dan on Twitter Dan on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Surprise and Delight (episode 60) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Friction - What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley (episode 72) Peak-End Rule  (episode 97) Sludge (episode 179) How to Build Products That Create Change, An Interview with Matt Wallaert (episode 128) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Herding (episode 19) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, interview with Jennifer Clinehens, author of Choice Hacking (episode 141) A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand (episode 43) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Unboxing videos (episode 180) The Power of Fast-Choice & Implicit Testing with CloudArmy’s Keith Ewart (episode 183) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Other Important Links:  Dan’s Error Page Experience This Show Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

So much happened in 2021 at The Brainy Business and in the Palmer household, it has been fun to reflect on it for this episode. Here are a few highlights:  In January, I started teaching a new class at Texas A&M University through the certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics via the Human Behavior Lab.   In March, we rolled out the new website and on May 1st, I launched my free global community of behavioral economics enthusiasts with (currently) over 500 members.  My first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You come out on May 11, 2021, and I got to be part of some amazing events this past year sharing about it and other parts of my work.  And, while I didn’t talk about it much publicly, I had a baby in 2021! The Brainy Baby, Mr. Hudson Grey Palmer, was born on August 9th and is a fantastic addition to our family.  Join me as we take a look back at all the excitement and top content of 2021. I hope you will enjoy this walkthrough of last year as much as I did.  Show Notes: [00:06] Today’s episode is showcasing the best content from The Brainy Business in 2021. [02:12] My very first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You came out on May 11, 2021! [03:49] Melina had a baby in 2021! The Brainy Baby, Mr. Hudson Grey Palmer was born on August 9th. Look how cute he is. :) [07:51] Top Countries Downloading The Brainy Business: The US is first, followed by UK, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands and Spain.  [09:02] Top Ten States: Coming in at number 10 Pennsylvania then New Jersey at number 9, Virginia at number 8, Illinois at number 7, Ohio at 6, Florida as number 5, New York at number 4, Washington at 3, Texas at 2, and California still with the top most downloads of 2021. [10:32] Of the 470,000 total downloads of the show so far, 250,001 have come from the US. That means nearly half of our downloads are international, which is so cool. [12:53] Of those more than 175,000 downloads of the show in 2021, and now with 184 episodes of content to choose from, we get our top 10 episodes of the year, starting with episode 136 on Temptation Bundling. [14:20] Next we have episode 165, when Matej Sucha of Mindworx and insideBE came onto the show discussing research they have done and the case studies of insideBE, which launched in 2021 as well. [15:32] At the number 8 spot we have episode 158 with Matthew Confer letting you know the three things everyone needs to do before you decide. [16:12] Next, at number 7 we have episode 160, an interview with Matt Johnson, coauthor of Blindsight. [17:20] At number 6, we have the only foundations episode to make the top 10 this year, and it was a relatively new one which is pretty cool. This is episode 171 on The Paradox of Choice. [18:33] Our top 5 kicks off with episode 164, an interview with Amy Bucher about her fantastic book Engaged, and so much more about her work in applying behavioral economics. [19:32] At number 4, is episode 140, an interview with Benny Cheung where we talked about some research he did at Dectech that was also featured in chapter 28 of my book, which showcases the importance of testing. [20:55] At number 3 we have episode 159, a behavioral economics analysis of Amazon and coming in at number 2 is episode 144, a behavioral economics analysis of Disney. [22:22] Our top most downloaded episode of 2021, which was episode 157, my interview with Robert Cialdini on his new and expanded edition of Influence, which includes a whole new 7th principle of persuasion. [23:27] One of my main tips is to play the long game and form great relationships so pitching is easier. [26:33] There has never been a month of the podcast where every episode didn’t get at least 1 download. [27:24] Let’s dig into that top 10 of all time list starting with number 10, which was episode 111, Avoiding everyday work disasters, with Gleb Tsipursky. [28:24] Next is episode 62 on Game Theory and the 8th most downloaded episode of all time, is number 102 on Confirmation Bias. [31:00] The 7th most downloaded is episode 83, How to organize your brain with behavioral economics followed by episode 61 on Color Theory.  [33:37] The episodes with the fifth and third most downloads are both analyses of companies again, like I already talked about for the top downloads of 2021. However, these are different profiles, including number 86 with a behavioral economics analysis of Peloton, and episode 73 with a behavioral economics analysis of Starbucks.  [34:57] In that number 4 spot we have episode 5, The Truth About Pricing. [35:37] Number two is episode 2, The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make. [36:37] The most downloaded episode of all time is the very first one, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain. [39:55] The final top 10 list are the most read articles from my Inc Magazine column in 2021. For the full list, check out the blog post linked here with the summary of all three top content areas! [42:50] The 7th most read article is called, “Dread going to work every day? The culprit may be hanging in your office.” [43:16] The 6th most read article on Inc is the first one I wrote for them. It is called, “1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever.” [44:57] The fourth most read article is on one of my very favorite things. It’s called, “Forget brainstorming. Try questionstorming.” [45:38] The third most read article is, “Feeling unproductive? This brain bias could be to blame.” [46:07] In our still Zoom-filled virtual world, it isn’t surprising that the second most read article this year was, “Why you hate seeing your face in video meetings.” [47:02] “Don’t ask ‘What are you thankful for?’ Try this instead” is my most read article of 2021. [48:22] What’s ahead for The Brainy Business in 2022? [51:22] Thank you again for making 2021 such an amazing year and for listening, subscribing, sharing, rating, and reviewing The Brainy Business podcast. I appreciate you all, and can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store. 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.com 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! Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:   The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz Never Go With Your Gut, by Gleb Tsipursky Influence (New and Expanded), by Robert Cialdini Engaged, by Amy Bucher Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Top recommended next episode: The Best of The Brainy Business in 2020 (ep 133) Already heard that one? Try these:  The Best Content from the Brainy Business in 2019 (ep 82) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157) Behavioral economics of Disney (ep 144) Behavioral economics of Amazon (ep 159) Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain (ep 1) The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make (ep 2) Starbucks (ep 73) Other Important Links:  Best of 2021 Blog Post  Best of 2020 Blog Post Best of 2019 Blog Post Don’t Ask “What Are You Thankful For?” Try This Instead (Inc.com) Why You Hate Seeing Your Face In Video Meetings (Inc.com) Feeling Unproductive? This Brain Bias Could Be To Blame (Inc.com) Texas A&M Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics The Brainy Business Shop Check out Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today rounds out this miniseries of companies providing testing opportunities for businesses with a conversation about fast-choice and implicit testing with CloudArmy’s Dr. Keith Ewart.  During our conversation today, Keith starts by telling us all about testing and project work he did during his 24 years at Proctor and Gamble – the positives and the pitfalls – and the work he now does as VP of Insights at CloudArmy.  He will share about some of the issues in testing at large organizations, including being stuck executing projects that you know won’t work well because the testing took too long to come back and being too far down the track to implement something new. (So frustrating!) That’s why the super quick and incredibly effective fast-choice and implicit testing that CloudArmy does is such a great solution, which he will also give insight on. Listen now to learn all about it (and best next steps for starting your own project). Show Notes: [00:42] I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Keith Ewart, partner and VP of insights at CloudArmy. [03:35] Keith shares about where he lives and his background.  [05:04] He actually started off in microbiology. After working in microbiology for about a year and a half he saw the wonderful world of insights and requested a move.  [06:38] A key part of his life at Proctor and Gamble was in packaging and developing better packaging solutions.  [07:47] The importance of understanding the packaging impact in the zero moment of truth all the way to the purchase in store.  [09:18] They were encouraged to think about multi-sensory signals.  [10:36] The third moment of truth is asking if that whole experience was so good that you want to tell your friends about it. It is important to have testimonials and brand advocates.  [12:46] The third moment of truth is not talked about in many companies.  [13:57] We want to drive the habits and at the same time we uncover what those barriers are. If we can uncover those barriers, we can put solutions in place.  [14:51] One of the biggest barriers to innovation is speed.  [16:05] Keith is a massive fan of fast cycle learning, rapid prototyping, bringing ideas to life very early on, and getting the voice of the consumer in the room as quickly as possible.  [18:15] What you really want is an individual's true response and ideally more than one or two focus groups.  [20:01] You can start to think about concepts, positioning, and using imagery to convey those brand positioning or benefits you want to get across.   [22:40] CloudArmy is a software company and programmers who have a background in the whole field.  [24:19] The beauty of a true implicit methodology is that consumers don’t even realize that they are being evaluated.  It is based solely on reaction times.  [26:28] They are using implicit tests for packaging, messaging, advertising, and across the board.  They are getting a true unconscious response to a set of stimulus.  [28:31] If you want to design your own test, it is not a problem.  The key thing is what is the objective of the client and what is the best tool to understand and utilize.  [31:03] Context is key. Defining what you are really trying to get at and what success looks like. Make sure your problem statement is defined and can be measured. Take the data and translate it to actionable insights.  [33:15] Keep things simple. People’s brains are tired and they can’t cope with so much information.  [34:00] How many people can truly say they know what their brand stands for? What does the consumer really think is the most important component of their brand? [36:27] Everyone should spend more time understanding the problem.    [38:20] The more constraints you put in place the longer time it will take. It is often beneficial to keep the sample broad.  [41:14] When you get everyone in the room together all trying to create and you get the toolkits around to help evaluate these things, you can make decisions quickly [44:21] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [47:24] Shop at The Brainy Business shop for that perfect brainy gear. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Neuro design: Neuromarketing insights to boost engagement and profitability, by Darren Bridger Decoding the Irrational Consumer: How to Commission, Run and Generate Insights from Neuromarketing Research, by Darren Bridger Soul of the New Consumer: Authenticity-What We Buy and Why in the New Economy, by Darren Bridger How Brands Grow, by Byron Sharp Choice Hacking, by Jennifer Clinehens Connect with CloudArmy:  CloudArmy Website CloudArmy on Twitter CloudArmy on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: What Problem Are You Solving? (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Sense of Smell (episode 25) Sense of Sound (episode 27) Sense of Touch (episode 28) Priming (episode 18) Habits (episode 21) Herding (episode 19) Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) iMotions (episode 182) The Power of Metaphors with Olson Zaltman’s Malcolm & Hannibal Brooks (episode 181) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Where CX and Behavioral Science Meet, interview with Jennifer Clinehens, author of Choice Hacking (episode 141) Other Important Links:  CloudArmy Podcast CloudArmy Use Cases Nudgestock Project Implicit: Take a Test Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

How often does your business run tests?  Testing is so important. You don’t need to do fancy stuff every time and there are so many types of testing. If you don’t take the time to test, you can’t know what is working and there is a good chance you are wasting time on stuff that isn’t going to help you reach your goals.  Today, I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Jessica Wilson, technical director at iMotions who got her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Northwestern University. As you will hear in the episode, she and I have been working together on a project for quite some time now and I am very excited to have results to share with you now. This episode will talk about that study we did together for The Brainy Business as well as some of the other awesome work iMotions is doing. Show Notes: [00:40] Today, I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Jessica Wilson, technical director at iMotions who got her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Northwestern University. [03:31] Jessica shares more about who she is and what she does. Her background is in research and neuroscience.  [03:58] iMotions is a software company that provides a platform that can integrate and synchronize different neuroscience tools.  [05:28] There are so many different applications; iMotions does product testing, ads testing, sensory work, and more.  [08:23] The most basic setup includes eye-tracking, facial expression analysis, and skin conductance. Those three work really well together and they are also very easy to get started with.  [10:23] These tools are really helpful in certain ways, but at the end of the day the research question is king and it will help dictate what tools you use.  [12:10] Jessica shares details about video testing and applying test results.  [14:54] The data to help you make the best design decisions at the time when it counts.  [15:16] Jessica shares a study using video testing from the University of South Florida.  [16:52] The common theme in all these methods is that the most effective projects have a distinct research question and distinct variables.  [19:01] For the first phase of The Brainy Business website project, we looked at where people naturally gravitated to on the website. For the second phase of the study we adopted more of a task-based approach.  [20:47] Melina was doing a redesign of the website so she did a study with iMotions that she talked about in her book. They did two tests.  [23:21] The first thing they had people do was just a free one-minute navigation. They wanted to see if there were things they attended to more than others, if things got ignored, or if they were scattered all over the place with their attention. Just looking at the one-minute navigation both sites did pretty well.  [24:23] The differences started to happen when the task components were introduced.  [26:23] There were two tasks for the study, each with its own scenario.  [28:39] One of the best things about running a test like this is that you are really forced to narrow it down to one thing.  [31:03] The best research looks at one or two things.  [33:21] With the old website there was a 12% success rate of actually clicking on the pricing course and the success rate went up to 70% with the new website design. [35:38] For the corporate page, it was found that it was giving too much information, reducing the effectiveness. [36:48] Melina was able to use insights from the two tests to help with the full redesign and integrate it into other areas of the site as well.  [38:51] You don’t have to use the whole testimonial. It can be much more impactful if you call out the little highlights that can get buried in a paragraph.  [39:48] In the second test, the difference between the two prototypes was how they framed the testimonials.  [41:30] People will start at the very top of web pages and you will see a lot of aggregation from the left to the right on the top and on the left side going down and slowly fading over time as people start skipping past things.  [43:23] Across most of the different measures of eye-tracking it looked like less was more in this case. Just taking the highlights from the testimonials goes a long way in being able to direct attention to the area and people will spend more time looking there. [45:40] Melina will be including pictures and other information about the test on the Apply It page.  [46:38] Once the pandemic hit, people weren’t collecting data anymore because you can’t bring people into a physical lab space. They started looking at online data collection and remote options. [48:03] You get research unrestricted by the bounds of geography. There are now more possibilities than ever for how we can collect this data.  [50:07] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [52:37] Shop at The Brainy Business shop for that perfect brainy gear. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Ripple, by Jez Groom and April Vellacott Engaged, by Amy Bucher Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Designing for Behavior Change, by Stephen Wendell What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer     Connect with iMotions:  iMotions Website iMotions on Twitter iMotions on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: What Problem Are You Solving? (episode 126) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) Social Proof (episode 87) The Power of Metaphors with Olson Zaltman’s Malcolm & Hannibal Brooks (episode 181) Cloud Army (episode 183) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments (episode 63) Priming (episode 18) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book (episode 147) What is Behavioral Baking? (episode 155) How Businesses Can Design for Behavior Change, with Dr. Amy Bucher (episode 164) Designing for Behavior Change, Interview with Dr. Steve Wendel (episode 116) Planning Fallacy (episode 114) Time Discounting (episode 51) Framing (episode 16) Other Important Links:  Human Behavior Lab Certificate Program Innovative neuroeconomics research at Texas A&M Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

You are familiar with metaphors...you likely learned about them in elementary school. But do you know how important they are in your business?  Well, it turns out that metaphors are way more important in understanding the mind of your consumer than you could have possibly imagined. There are two associates from the firm Olson Zaltman here today to share the power of metaphors and how they use them in their Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) process. The ZMET was created by Dr. Gerald Zaltman at the Harvard Business School in the 1990s and is still incredibly relevant for brands today.  During the conversation, Malcolm and Hannibal Brooks will share how they have used the ZMET for brands like Harvard, Tropicana, a funeral company, and more. Plus, insights into the 16 deep metaphors they work with at Olson Zaltman and why they matter for all companies who want to appeal to their customers (i.e. everyone!).  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode we are digging deep into the power of metaphors with two associates of Olson Zaltman. [02:53] Malcolm and Hannibal share about themselves, their background, and how as twins they ended up in the same field and working together.  [03:44] They both graduated with degrees in food science and went to a master’s program focused on marketing, management, and consumer psychology.  [05:57] At Olson Zaltman, they do research that is focused on understanding the unconscious through metaphor. Their process is focused on using imagery and verbal metaphors to understand emotions.  [06:40] We think in images, not in words; metaphors are our way of describing the world.  [09:28] Metaphors really affect the way we perceive the world around us.  [11:04] Part of what makes these metaphors universal is that a lot of them originate in the experiences we have in life that exist before we can even verbalize.  [12:25] There are 16 deep metaphors that define our experience.  [14:48] Different groups of consumers might have different metaphors or understandings of a product or service.  [15:24] For women, clothing is a form of self-expression and freedom.  For men, clothing is often about a form of control.  [18:12] They share examples of the types of business problems they are solving. [19:42] With ZMET they want to understand with your particular consumers, are they getting something out of your product and your brand? [22:44] Prior to the ZMET process the business only needs to know the problem that they are having.  [25:08] The ZMET process can help answer a lot of questions for businesses.  [25:57] They share their findings from a case study with Harvard. [28:17] Helping to trigger the unity piece can be very valuable (as was the case for Harvard). They have found that there are core principles that they stumble upon time and time again.  [31:12] Deep 1-on-1 guided conversations help them unpack what is the best way for the business to move forward.  [33:20] You want to understand your brand’s core assets and what fits with the mindset people have around it.  [36:19] One of their most fun cases to talk about is the research they did for the Funeral Service Foundation. They found that people would look at their funeral almost as a performance. People don’t want to be remembered in a way that is sad. They want to be remembered for who they were, with a celebration.  [38:57] Their recommendations included creating this online experience that is more fun, including the most fun things about the person and how they want to be remembered. It gets people thinking and talking about their death while they are still alive by making it less scary.  [41:33] Their real work is understanding stories and connecting with people.   [42:23] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [44:28] Shop at The Brainy Business shop for that perfect brainy gift. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, by Gerald Zaltman Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini The Life-Saving Skill of Story: The Life-Saving Skill of Story (Resilience), by Michelle Auerbach Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Marketing to Mindstates, by Will Leach Connect with Olson Zaltman:  Olson Zaltman Website Olson Zaltman on Twitter Olson Zaltman on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand (episode 43) Already Heard That One? Try These:  The Power of Story, with Dr. Michelle Auerbach (episode 145) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Announcing! Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Laborator (episode 115) The Era of Applied Behavioral Economics, with Matej Such (episode 165) Priming (episode 18) Framing (episode 16) The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem (episode 126) Neuroscience and Psychology in the Business World, with Matt Johnson coauthor of Blindsight (episode 160) Why We Like The Things We Like, with Prince Ghuman coauthor of Blindsight (episode 172) Marketing to Mindstates, with Will Leach (episode 88) Other Important Links:  Deep Metaphors from Olson Zaltman Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

If you’re a human person with any access to the internet, you are likely familiar with unboxing videos. Maybe you like and watch them yourself, maybe your kids love to watch other people open up boxes of toys, or maybe you avoid them at all costs. Whatever camp you are in, at one point or another, you probably thought something like, “Why do so many people watch these?” or “Why do these work?” Today’s episode is dedicated to talking through the brain science of what is going on behind the scenes of an unboxing video. In this episode I talk about why they work, what to keep in mind if you ever decide to make your own, and some insights on the various types of “unboxings” out there (anything with a reveal pretty much counts). We will dig in on mirror neurons, anticipation/dopamine, priming, the senses, and more!  Listen now to get the scoop on unboxing videos.  Show Notes: [00:06] Ever wondered why unboxing videos are a thing? That’s what we’re focusing on in today’s episode. [03:19] There are countless ways to do these unboxing or reveal videos. [04:01] In this episode, I am going to talk about four main things that are happening with unboxing videos, or that you should keep in mind when you create these yourself. We are going to talk about mirror neurons, dopamine created by anticipation, priming, the senses, and more. [04:35] Mirror neurons are the key to empathy and our ability to learn from observing others instead of only by doing things ourselves. [06:20] Mirror neurons greatly impact our lives every day. They have done some amazing things for all of humanity, the first of which is our ability to learn by observation and the second is our ability to empathize. [07:31] In an unboxing video, when someone else is opening the box, it is like we are doing it ourselves. We are able to live vicariously through that experience. Because of the dopamine release, it is very exciting for our brains even if we can’t have and will never have the item that is being opened or revealed. [08:50] Dopamine is tied to anticipation, and so when there is a moment where you aren’t sure what is going to happen -- where you are waiting for that reveal and don’t know what is coming out of the box -- you are getting a kick of dopamine. [10:24] Once you know what is in the box (or how the movie ends), the joy for your brain is over. It is about savoring the anticipation that the brain loves. [10:50] Our brains love that uncertainty and expectation. [11:38] If you want someone to be excited about the unboxing process, you should prime them for that excitement. [13:07] Your excitement breeds more excitement in the viewer. [13:43] If you have too much of a lull, people might get bored and leave. You can play the B-side for a while, but you need to mix in some hits here and there to keep it interesting. [14:15] When you create an unboxing video, it is important to try and incorporate all five of the senses whenever you can to help get those mirror neurons firing. [16:31] Descriptive priming words that evoke the senses are critical when doing any video, and in an unboxing, they can get people excited. [17:54] The internet is full of unboxing videos for a reason, find some and take notes. Be sure to watch good ones, sure, but also find and watch some bad ones. What did they do wrong? When did your attention wane? How can you apply that to your future videos? [18:43] If you have never done an unboxing or reveal video before, what could you do one of? Plan in advance how you might incorporate all our main aspects from this episode: mirror neurons, anticipation, priming, and all five senses...and hit record! [20:33] As it is the holidays, it is a perfect time to pick up some Brainy Gear for you or a friend at The Brainy Business shop.  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.com 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! Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer The Experience Maker, by Dan Gingiss The Hype Handbook, by Michael Schein The Life-Saving Skill of Story, by Michelle Auerbach Marketing Mess to Brand Success, by Scott Miller Top recommended next episode: Mirror Neurons (episode 31) Already heard that one? Try these:  Priming (episode 18) Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals (episode 123) Sense of Smell (episode 25) Sense of Taste (episode 26) Sense of Touch (episode 28) Sense of Hearing (episode 27) Sense of Sight (episode 24) Familiarity Bias (episode 149) Surprise and Delight (episode 60) Scarcity (episode 14) Novelty and Stories (episode 54) Herding (episode 19) Other Important Links:  The Neurons That Shaped Civilization The Mind’s Mirror Shopping, Dopamine, and Anticipation Check out Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

The internationally acclaimed book, Nudge, has shaped a lot of the field of behavioral economics. It has also spurred a whole other area which one of its co-authors, Cass Sunstein, has written a new book about, called Sludge: What Stops Us From Getting Things Done and What To Do About It, which released in fall 2021.  Sludge is everywhere in our lives. So what is it and how do we reduce it? This episode of The Brainy Business podcast is dedicated to all things sludge to help you identify and reduce it in your business. In this episode you will learn about: what sludge is and isn’t; a customer facing example of sludge; a back-office example of sludge; how to quantify sludge; and how to get others on your team on board with finding and removing sludge. No matter your size or industry, I guarantee sludge is a problem in your business. Find it, remove it, and enjoy the benefits. Listen to learn more about sludge... Show Notes: [00:06] Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is all about sludge. [02:23] Context and the way choices are presented make a huge difference in what we find to be most appealing. When the choices are presented in a different order we might choose something else entirely. [03:32] When you use a tactic to influence choice, we call that a nudge. [05:45] “Sludge is built into the human condition, and we need to start to remove it, piece by piece.” [07:02] “Sludge hurts all of us, but if you are sick, old, disabled, or poor, or if you don't have a lot of education, sludge is a curse.” [08:07] Sludge is everywhere in our lives. Melina shares examples of sludge.  [10:34] “If sludge is understood to consist of frictions that separate people from what they want to get, the concept is not entirely mysterious.” [11:16] Much sludge involves confusing administrative burdens requiring people to obtain information, to figure out whom to call, to find out exactly what they're supposed to do. [13:01] Sometimes it is good for people to be confronted with a little sludge to prove they qualify for a benefit or that they care enough to earn whatever is presented, or that they are a good fit for a position. [13:30] In this episode I’m going to give you a back-office example, a customer-facing example, and some ways to think about quantifying the problem of sludge so you can know its real impact [13:50] When it comes to customer-facing examples, I like to start with the “buy now” button from Amazon. [15:12] In the buying process, questions like “Are you sure?” or extra fields or steps can act as partitions. Each new partition is a point where someone will evaluate if this is worth it or if they should bail completely or plan to “come back later.” Unfortunately, later often never comes. [17:09] Removing the sludge so you only ask what is absolutely necessary can help a lot more people get over that first hurdle. Focus on each micro moment as it exists and what is absolutely necessary.  [18:23] You can turn the sludge up or down as needed, but again I want to stress that most companies have way too much sludge in the way of people doing business with you. [19:41] My main piece of advice: find the least amount of items you need to get someone to move forward in this singular situation. [20:21] Melina shares back office examples including expense reports, checking tools in and out, and signing off on a change. [21:55] Melina shares her experience when she first started at the credit union and changes required a physical form to be completed by hand. (So sludgy!) [24:15] In the back office, when you trust your employees, you can reduce the sludge and things get done faster, for a lot less money than if you don’t have trust. Work on trust and get rid of that sludge. [24:47] Because people get stuck in the status quo, they often don’t feel like they can give up sludge. [25:11] Sunstein gives an example of quantifying sludge with TSA Precheck and shares how quickly the value can add up. [26:40] When you take a minute to quantify the lost sales or the minutes wasted by key staff members, the initiatives that couldn’t be completed because of wasted time, or anything else. It can add up incredibly quickly. [27:21] Sludge is a huge problem in your business, I promise, no matter your size or industry. Find it, remove it, and enjoy the benefits. 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.com 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! Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Sludge, by Cass Sunstein Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein Friction, by Roger Dooley The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M.R. Covey The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz Top recommended next episode: Friction, an interview with Roger Dooley (episode 72) Already heard that one? Try these:  Introduction to NUDGES and Choice Architecture (episode 35) iNcentives: the “N” in NUDGES (episode 36) Understanding Mapping: the “U” in NUDGES (episode 37) Defaults: the “D” in NUDGES (episode 38) Give Feedback: the “G” in NUDGES (episode 40) Expect Error: the “E” in NUDGES (episode 39) Structure Complex Choices: the “S” in NUDGES (episode 41) Amazon: a Behavioral Economics Analysis (episode 159) The Speed of Trust, with Stephen M.R. Covey (episode 148) Partitioning (episode 58) Paradox of Choice (episode 171) Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Change Management (episode 7) Framing (episode 16) Interview with Dr. Robert Cialdini (episode 157) Check out Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

It’s November – a month where many begin to reflect on the year and (at least here in the states) consider the things we are thankful for. It kicks off the holiday season and we may begin to think about those around us whom we may see in person or virtually this holiday. Because of that, it seemed like the perfect time to discuss The Power of Us, a new book from coauthors Dr. Jay Van Bavel and Dr. Dominic Packer.  Today, Dr. Dominic Packer is here to talk about this fantastic book and their years of research together. The insights in the book come together to help people harness their shared identities to improve performance, increase cooperation and promote social harmony. I’m guessing you can see why I chose to have this episode come out now, even though it is a couple of months after we recorded and when the book was officially released. It just seemed like the perfect time to share and help everyone to reflect upon the power of “us.” Listen to the episode now to see how this can be leveraged in your life and business... Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Dominic Packer, coauthor of The Power of Us. [03:10] Dominic shares about himself and his background. He is a social psychologist and professor.  [06:01] The book is about group identities. The groups we belong to can become part of who we are.  [06:56] When we take on a group identity, we are very likely to be influenced by the norms of that group.  [07:59] There is a second kind of influence which is informational influence. We look to other people to see what is a sensible thing to do. The norms through those groups become a way we express those identities.  [09:36] Dominic shares about the 20 statements task.  [11:22] For many of us, some really key aspects of ourselves come from these groups. They drive a lot of the way we think of the world, the emotions we feel, and the decisions we end up making.  [13:02] During the course of a single day different aspects of a single person’s identity will come in and out of focus. Our behaviors are not exactly the same at different parts of the day when we operate through these different identities. [14:52] One of the fascinating things about identity is that it is flexible, malleable, and adaptive to current circumstances.  [17:08] Group-based divisions might arise by politics, fights over resources, or major political differences.  [18:26] Groups are a tremendously useful tool for human beings. They are fundamental to our survival. Humans have succeeded by getting together.  [21:35] In many corporate situations you have different divisions and units and people confirm identities at that subgroup level. People can get a lot of sense of connection and be very motivated to do well on behalf of their subgroup.  [22:25] Identities are often multi-leveled. If you shift their focus from their lower-level identity to their higher level and especially if you create conditions where they need to work together it can bring them together.  [23:50] You need to create the conditions by which people can see themselves as part of something larger than their immediate sub-group. People need to see that there is an organizational identity.  [25:11] We need to incentivize collective identity instead of individual identities. Setting universal goals can also help.  [28:07] “Dissent is quite hard and people only do it because they care deeply about a group.”  [29:59] Both the people who are the most likely to conform to group norms most of the time are also the most likely to dissent when they see something as problematic or needing change in their group. This is because they care a lot.  [30:50] To speak out is to take a risk and to take that risk is that you need to have some level of identification and care about the group. [32:24] You do want a culture where the people that are strongly identified with the group do feel like they can speak up when they see something as problematic or see something that has the possibility of change or improvement.  [32:53] A psychologically safe environment is one where people feel comfortable speaking up and speaking out, being critical, and being divergent. They feel comfortable because they know it will be okay.  [34:03] You want an organization where your people are identified and they really value the collective goals but they are engaging with them creatively.  [35:24] If you are trying to cultivate a group where people can share their ideas and can have better ideas than you, it is really important that you don’t squash them even when they are not good ideas.  [36:49] As a boss, take time to reflect on what you are good at. Validating yourself and the contributions you make to free you up to be less threatened with other people bring good things to the table as well.  [38:27] A fundamental task of a leader is to manage the social identities of the people they are leading. [39:37] As a boss you have to be careful to not engage in behaviors that differentiate you too much from the group because then you no longer seem like one of us and you are not going to be followed as energetically or enthusiastically.  [41:24] Consider how to manage this group’s identity so people understand what we are collectively trying to achieve and create a level of solidarity.  [42:39] As you rise up in leadership positions it does oftentimes require a total shift in orientation.  [45:23] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [46:02] Dissenters care so much that they are unwilling to let the little things slide that they think are reflecting badly on the whole group. They care so much that they will stand up against the herd and encourage change. [47:50] Check out Melina’s Setting Brainy Goals course and shop at The Brainy Business shop for that perfect brainy gift. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony by Jay Van Bavel & Dominic Packer Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger Connect with Dominic:  Power of Us Website Dominic on Twitter Power of Us Book on Twitter Top recommended next episode: Biases Toward Others – Including Group (episode 46) Already heard that one? Try one of these:  Overview of Personal Biases (episode 45) Herding (episode 19) Social Proof (episode 87) The Science of Opinions, with Dr. Andy Luttrell (episode 173) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES (episode 36) Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh (episode 153) Priming (episode 18) Other important links:  The Power of Us Newsletter Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

A company's success nowadays is so reliant upon pitching and getting media coverage. Having a credible source say positive things about you and your company can be pivotal when it comes to whether your brand is going to be seen or not. That is exactly why this episode of The Brainy Business is dedicated to giving you some concise tips on how to use behavioral economics to pitch your brand. I know pitching yourself can feel awkward, but when you understand the brain science it doesn't have to be, especially if you follow my tips! I discuss different brain biases such as social proof, authority bias, familiarity bias, and really focus on availability bias. Availability bias is critical to pitching success. You can take advantage of it by predicting and paying attention to trends and finding a way to offer people a fresh perspective on them. We close with three key points to keep in mind when pitching: (1) keep it short (2) be happy with your language and (3) follow directions. This and so much more in this episode, which will help you use behavioral economics to successfully pitch yourself and your business, so listen now... Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode, I talk about using brain science to successfully pitch to media. [02:22] Pitching yourself can be awkward and uncomfortable, and there are brain biases that can explain why that is. Understanding them can help you turn them around and use them to your advantage. [05:05] There is good news – pitching doesn't have to be so hard if you use my tips! [07:20] I explain why media coverage and pitching are so important, beginning with social proof. [08:43] Authority bias leads us to believing that anything that the news or media reports is true or else it wouldn't be featured. [09:32] Familiarity bias makes us lean toward things that we already know or know of. [10:26] The final (and I would argue, most important) brain bias that is to your benefit when pitching is availability bias. [12:48] One of my favorite examples of availability bias is how travel to Norway drastically increased following the release of Disney's movie Frozen! [14:20] In order to take advantage of availability bias, you need to predict trends and offer something unique in relation to them. [16:30] Pitching to reporters can be stressful, but remember that reporters are people doing a job. You can be a resource to them they are thankful for if you connect with them properly. [19:06] A simple and easy habit you can create to make you a master at pitching by taking advantage of availability bias. [21:55] Recognize where you fit and where you can fill in gaps. [24:23] Remember to take advantage of familiarity bias! Get people to know who you are and like you before you ask for anything [25:41] I recommend signing up for HARO (Help a Reporter Out). [27:10] It's important to remember that not all of your pitches will land, but that only makes it that much more rewarding when they do. [27:43] I give you some key tips to keep in mind: (1) keep your pitch short and sweet, (2) be sure that you're satisfied with how your pitch is worded, and (3) follow directions that reporters put into their requests and do what they ask. [29:30] A quick and simple summary of all the tips in the episode. [31:03] Registration is now open for my Setting Brainy Goals course! 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.com 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! Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B Cialdini PhD Presuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD You’re Invited, by Jon Levy The Hype Handbook, by Michael F. Schein The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey Top recommended next episode: Availability Bias (episode 15) Already heard that one? Try these: Familiarity Bias (episode 149) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Framing (episode 16) Priming (episode 18) Optimism Bias (episode 34) Social Proof (episode 87) Reciprocity (episode 23) Herding (episode 19) Focusing Illusion (episode 89) Prefactual Thinking (episode 71) Bikeshedding (episode 99) Survivorship Bias (episode 110) Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (episode 157) Other Important Links: HARO - Help A Reporter Out Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics at Texas A&M Check out Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Also, be sure to register for her upcoming Setting Brainy Goals course!

Have you ever had a disruption in your routine – moving to a new house, taking a new route to work – and found yourself exhausted every day?  This is common when our habits are upended (the subconscious can’t use its rules anymore so your conscious is having to do a lot more work!). And while it may feel annoying, this is also a great opportunity to innovate and change your life for the better.  Today, I’m joined by Adam Hansen, VP of behavioral innovation at Ideas To Go and coauthor of Outsmart Your Instincts who happened to be in the midst of a move, so we talk about how to reframe an annoying disruption in habits to make it work for you. We also discuss the curse of knowledge and how it impacts businesses, risks of omission versus risks of commission, and other fun behavioral goodness sprinkled throughout (including my new favorite term of being an “omnivore of information”). Listen now... Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Adam Hansen, VP of behavioral innovation at Ideas To Go and coauthor of Outsmart Your Instincts. [03:18] Adam shares about himself and his background. He always knew that innovation would be part of his career.  [05:18] When working on the book, they started looking at all the cognitive biases to figure out which ones were causing most of the mayhem in innovation.  [06:16] If you adopt the behavioral innovation approach, you can see three to four times improvement in performance and quality of ideas very early on in innovation. You can get to better ideas faster.  [09:01] All of the thousands of small decisions we make every day that have been automated are lost when you move. Each little thing is so minor that we don’t realize what the cumulative effect of all those small decisions is.  [10:02] It is important for us to automate everything we can.  [12:19] It is impossible for us to place ourselves fully back in the shoes of our first-time clients. Our version of dumbing things down to meet them where they are is still going to be more advanced than where we need to get to. We can work on this by following up with first-time clients and asking what you could have done better.  [13:46] There is so much more jargon in your business than you think there is. [16:10] Our need for tangibility is much greater than we assume. Most people need help to break down abstraction. The more tangible you can be the better.  [18:13] The curse of knowledge is the idea that once you become knowledgeable in a given area, you can't unknow what you know and you can’t fully place yourself back in the shoes of the subject.  [23:27] Negativity Bias is the idea from our ancestors of thinking of all novelty as threat and not opportunity.  [25:12] Especially in innovation, we need to be as opportunity minded as possible. We need to be aware of threats and take smart action to minimize and mitigate those threats.  [27:43] When we are in moments of threat, to still be able to take swift decisive action is fantastic (and sometimes life-saving!)  [28:29] The research shows that negativity can appear super profound. Too often we are shooting down ideas and not coming up with alternatives. That is not progress.  [30:31] We are predisposed to go toward the negative any time a new idea comes up.  [31:38] The more you can value ideas early on for their provocative value rather than for their immediate merits the better. Then you are in a better frame of mind to take on the negatives.  [33:54] When you approach challenges to problems in this way, there is real value. The language is brilliant, priming to get people to deal with problems and concerns in a much better way.  [35:10] If you are an optimistic person it doesn’t mean that you don’t have a negativity bias and pessimistic people still have optimism bias.  [36:44] Go in understanding that there will be some differences and then the task becomes “How do we get the most out of the differences?” The more you can approach differences with curiosity than defensiveness...the better.  [37:48] Curiosity is very smart and super adaptive. Be curious even when it is hard to be curious.  [39:07] Curiosity kills the cat, satisfaction brought it back. (Did you know there was more to that saying?!) [41:49] It is hard to gather data on what you don’t do.  [43:42] Every year to 18 months every person should “fire themselves.” If you fire yourself and come into your job as if you had new eyes...what would you do differently? When you start a new job you are looking for all these opportunities of growth and then you become stagnant.  [45:07] We need to be more intentional and realize we can choose better because we have all these nonconscious instincts so we can choose otherwise.  [46:49] Meaning is created dialogically not monologically.  [47:35] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [47:42] One of Melina’s favorite things is this idea of being an “omnivore of information.” It’s such a great way to think about learning and essentially devouring all kinds of topics from various origins. [50:07] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Outsmart Your Instincts: How The Behavioral Innovation Approach Drives Your Company Forward, by Adam Hansen Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick, by Wendy Wood How To Change, by Katy Milkman Connect with Adam:  Ideas To Go Adam on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  Top recommended next episode: Good Habits, Bad Habits: an Interview with Wendy Wood (episode 127) Already heard that one? Try these:  Availability Bias (episode 15) Familiarity Bias (episode 149)   Status Quo Bias (episode 142) Confirmation Bias (episode 102) Framing (episode 16) Stressed and Overcommitted? Tips to Tackle Planning Fallacy (episode 114) 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On? (episode 21) Priming (episode 18) How To Change, an Interview with Katy Milkman (episode 151) Curse of Knowledge - coming soon! Negativity Bias - coming soon! Risk of Omission vs. Risk of Commission - coming soon! Check out Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Back on episode 111, I was joined by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts discussing his book “Never Go With Your Gut.” When Gleb reached out to let me know that he has a new book on helping companies think through and prepare for returning to the office, including the cognitive biases that can impact this decision-making process for people in business, I knew I had to have him back for another conversation. This specific topic is incredibly relevant right now, but there is also an incredible amount of insight Gleb provides about leadership’s collective cognitive biases that absolutely relate to other big strategic decisions as well. As you’ll hear in the conversation today, beyond his background knowledge of behavioral science and those concepts, Gleb interviewed and has done work with more than a dozen companies and helped them with their plans to return to the office. His insights can help you to learn from their mistakes and best practices as you work on your own plan. Whether you are looking to keep a fully remote workforce, have everyone back in the office, a hybrid approach, or if you aren’t sure yet, this episode is for you.  Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode I’m delighted to have Dr. Gleb Tsipursky back with us to share about how to avoid disasters when returning to the office. [01:45] His insights can help you to learn from their mistakes and best practices as you work on your own plan. [03:40] Gleb shares about himself and his background. His background is in decision-making and risk management.  [06:02] Most recently he has been helping companies return to the office most effectively and prepare for the future of work.  [08:37] People are your main source of competitive advantage. What do your current people want? What do your potential hires want? [10:34] If your people are your main source of competitive advantage, wouldn’t you think you would want to know what kind of things they want to do in returning to the office? It is their future after all.  [11:12] The surveys tell us that the future is very much hybrid: 85% of people in various surveys want a hybrid or full-time remote option.  [14:13] People report higher productivity as well as much higher happiness and well-being when they are working from home.  [16:08] There are a lot of advantages to having substantial remote work and disadvantages to forcing people back into the office.  [17:28] Your primary consideration should be your people. Then you can look at how many usages you are having of your location.  [20:14] Once you decide on occupancy, you can get rid of some of your unused space.  [21:25] You need to transform much of your existing space into a collaborative space.  [22:52] Status quo bias is one of the biggest problems here. The status quo bias refers to the fact that we prefer things to remain stable, as they were, and the right way.  [24:20] Never go with your gut (learn more about this in Gleb’s book of the same name, link below).  [26:21] Another related bias to this problem is anchoring. We tend to be anchored to the initial information that we have.  [28:08] Confirmation bias is one of the biggest problems that we have in terms of the information we gather.   [30:50] You want to make sure to plan for the possibilities of other variants down the road.  [32:26] You want to strategically adapt to the virtual format.  [35:38] Two dynamics for creating serendipitous conversions in virtual settings are innovation and collaboration.  [37:40] Companies need to have a channel for serendipitous idea generation for each team. Then other people see the comment and then they comment back and then that transforms into a really great conversation that you can take into brainstorming.  [39:48] Traditional brainstorming has a number of advantages and some problems.  [41:31] It helps to have virtual brainstorming instead. Virtual brainstorming involves people separately typing into a digital spreadsheet anonymously.  [43:30] This has been shown to greatly improve the number and quality of ideas generated.  [44:51] How can we make this something amazing versus something we are stuck with?  [46:42] When you are able to look at the opportunity, you are able to beat out your competitors.  [47:58] We can actually successfully work remotely. It is a fundamental transition in how we think and approach the world.  [49:18] You need to adopt best practices for hybrid and remote settings.  [50:52] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [53:50] The important thing to keep in mind, much like Gleb’s advice for recreating serendipitous moments online or doing virtual brainstorming, is that you can’t allow yourself to be stuck by the constraints of how the benefit was generated before. [55:41] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters (Avoid Terrible Advice, Cognitive Biases, and Poor Decisions) By Gleb Tsipursky You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence By Jon Levy A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas By Warren Berger Connect with Gleb:  Disaster Avoidance Experts Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 111: Avoiding Everyday Work Disasters, an Interview with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 107: How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode)Confirmation Bias Episode 114: Stressed and Overcommitted? Tips to Tackle Planning Fallacy, a behavioral economics foundations episode Episode 150: Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited Episode 169: The Science of Cool, with Dr. Troy Campbell Functional Fixedness - coming soon! False Consensus Effect - coming soon! Illusion of Control - coming soon! Not Invented Here Syndrome - coming soon! Ostrich Effect - coming soon! Normalcy Bias - coming soon! Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

A few months ago, in episode 162 you got to hear from Leidy Klotz about his fantastic new book Subtract, which is based on this question of why we humans look to add first when often subtracting can be a better option. It is a little bit of minimalism/essentialism and a really great episode to help people overcome loss aversion and see that, as he says, “less is not a loss,” such a cool insight. Anyway, while he and I were doing our pre and post-interview chat, he mentioned that his friend and colleague Eric Johnson had a book coming out soon called The Elements of Choice and that I should talk with him about it, so here we are. Dr. Johnson is not a newbie to the space by any means, as you will hear in the interview. He has had the opportunity to work and train with some of the most notable names in the field, including Herbert Simon, Amos Tversky, as well as his friends Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. He is the Norman Eig Professor of Business and the Director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School. He has been the president of both the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and the Society for Neuroeconomics. He has decades of experience and definitely knows his stuff, which is one of the many reasons I was so honored to chat with him and share the conversation with you.  Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode I’m introducing you to Dr. Eric J. Johnson, author of the brand new book, The Elements of Choice. [03:57] Eric shares his background and how he got into the field. His research has always been about helping people make choices and how the way we present information to them affects their choices.  [05:40] He was fascinated with the choices he observed people making.  [07:06] Eric shares research from a former student of his. She implemented the health records systems at a major New York hospital.  [09:18] Memory played an important role in the doctor’s behavior in her research. [11:31] When you put in the time to plan the architecture upfront, the actual intention itself can be very small. Designers often have more influence than they realize. [12:42] He shares his research about taking different doors at the Copenhagen airport. [14:06] Little bits of effort at the beginning of the decision have an influence throughout the course of the decision. Choice architecture usually works by favoring one path over another.  [16:10] If I know exactly what you want I would give you just one option, but the person making the choice knows a lot about themselves so they often know more about what they want.   [18:10] There is a trade-off between how much you are asking of people (in terms of deciding) and how much variety you need to give them so they can find the option that is best for them.  [20:45] Choice is not determined by myself and my preferences alone.  [21:38] We are all designers all the time.  [23:14] Order will have an influence depending on your medium. There are many other things as a designer to think about also.  [24:50] Defaults are powerful. Eric and Dan Goldstein researched defaults in organ donations.  [27:07] Not all situations are the same, so you really need to look across all the studies and understand your own situation and context.  [28:44] Our preferences aren’t written in stone. We have many preferences. Depending on what comes to mind, I might make different choices.  [29:36] Eric shares one of his favorite studies where they ask people about climate change and would they pay a carbon tax (or carbon offset) to fight climate change.  [32:26] One study is not enough to actually build a science. We need to do cross studies. [35:16] Eric shares how choice architecture can affect COVID vaccinations.  [38:00] Defaults work because they endow you with the option. You think less about the disadvantages. [39:26] The decisions of our privacy and cookies are decisions we make multiple times a day.  [40:32] Choice architecture and designers have amazing influence. Hopefully, people will design in ways they want to be designed to.  [41:46] Melina shares a study about trying to influence people to take the stairs instead of riding the elevator.  [43:31] Defaults are everywhere. They save us effort by not having to make a decision every time.   [46:16] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [47:44] The more you know about someone, the fewer choices you can provide to them. When you have no idea who your customer is – what they like, what the context is of them finding you, why they are there, what needs they are looking to fill or problems they need to solve, you then have to present a whole bunch of choices, which can make it harder for them to make a decision. [50:33] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:   The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters By Eric J. Johnson Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less By Leidy Klotz How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be By Katy Milkman Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness By Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less By Barry Schwartz Connect with Eric:  Eric’s Website Eric on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  Episode 162: Do You Subtract Enough? An interview with Dr. Leidy Klotz Episode 151: How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 171: Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 38: Defaults: The “D” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 20: Defaults: Why The Pre-Selected Choice Wins More Often Than Not: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 61: Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 36: Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 139: Endowment Effect: Why We Like Our Stuff More, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Functional Fixedness - coming soon! False Consensus Effect - coming soon! Illusion of Control - coming soon! Not Invented Here Syndrome - coming soon! Ostrich Effect - coming soon! Normalcy Bias - coming soon! Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today, I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Andy Luttrell, a social psychologist who has (at least so far) devoted his career to understanding people’s opinions. You know I love a good question, and he is mostly curious about those opinions people hold onto really tightly and can’t seem to let go of. As he asks on his website, “Why do we hold some views that define us and others that we’re happy to change?”  Such an interesting topic, and I am excited to let you hear some of his findings on the science of opinions and how that ties in with persuasion in our conversation today.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Andy Luttrell, professor and host of the Opinion Science Podcast. [03:15] Andy, a social psychologist, shares about himself and his background.  [05:45] In some cultures, our view of ourselves is ever changing. Others are more fixed. [08:17] Your audience is going to have its own way that it prefers to navigate certain questions. The way you present yourself and your brand image, or the messages you communicate with ought to take that audience’s preference into account.  [09:56] Oftentimes, we have to pick what works for our brand and just go with it.  [10:41] If someone sees their stance as rooted in morality, they are often not going to budge.  [11:18] If the message matches the kind of opinion the audience already has, it is going to go further.  [12:49] When we are trying to talk about these moral issues, sometimes we feel like we want to retreat from talking about morals, but that is exactly the dimension that the audience cares about (and has proven to be more persuasive).  [14:54] Are logical arguments the most persuasive or are emotional arguments the most persuasive? It depends on who you are talking to.  [15:56] Most people are not only logical or emotional people. It also depends on the context of what you are talking about.  [17:20] There are all sorts of ways personality variables can come into play with the persuasion process.  [18:34] Anyone has the potential to change their mind. Some personality variables can have to do with one's willingness to engage with certain ideas.  [20:20] Some research shows that we can sell our products or ideas framed in terms of the personality traits that define you best and that is going to have more leverage.  [21:34] The personality of the person you are trying to influence is going to determine which message is going to be most impactful.  [23:29] If we are framing something in terms of a very political audience and the wrong person comes across it, that might actually tarnish the image or backfire. If you are working in a sensitive space, be aware.  [25:45] We have this foundational understanding of persuasion that goes back to the 40’s.  [26:07] Persuasion is at the heart of what we do every day. It doesn’t feel like we are trying to constantly influence the people around us, but we are talking about our opinions almost all the time.  [27:06] There are always going to be some growing pains in the application process.  [29:09] We can have good guesses but we don’t have specificity.  [31:10] If you run the same simulation a dozen times it is not going to go exactly the same in each one. There is a bunch of stuff you can never really account for.  [32:26] You run the risk of chasing things that are not relevant if you have too much to account for.  [33:40] Persuasion is about changing your evaluation of something.  [35:14] A strong opinion is one that people say they will not change and it will be the thing that guides the decisions they make.  [37:22] One place confidence comes from is consensus. If we think most people hold the same opinion, we become confident in it (for better or worse).  [39:46] Strength is an important part of the equation in getting people from one side to another.  [40:19] One interesting way people have looked at persuasion is through self affirmation.  [41:29] You are perfect with room for improvement.  [43:27] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [45:13] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:   Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion By Robert Cialdini Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life By Kwame Christian Influence PEOPLE: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical By Brian Ahearn Marketing to Mindstates: The Practical Guide to Applying Behavior Design to Research and Marketing By Will Leach How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be By Katy Milkman Connect with Andy:  Andy’s Website Opinion Science Podcast Opinion Science Podcast on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  A megastudy of text-based nudges encouraging patients to get vaccinated at an upcoming doctor’s appointment Episode 146: Using Anchoring in Negotiations, an Interview with Kwame Christian Episode 107: How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian Episode 104: How To Ethically Influence People: Interview with Author Brian Ahearn Episode 157: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion Episode 88: Marketing to Mindstates: A Discussion With Author, Will Leach Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Episode 151: How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman Cognitive Dissonance - coming soon! Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Back on episode 160, I was joined by Dr. Matt Johnson to discuss his book Blindsight and the work he and his counterpart were doing at Pop Neuro. Today, that counterpart, Prince Ghuman, is here to expand on that conversation and discuss some more amazing work.  One of the things I loved in the book, and that Prince and I really expanded on today, is why we like the things we like. Some of what we discuss today tie back to my recent interview with Dr. Troy Campbell in episode 169 on the Science of Cool. It was a much-loved episode and I expect similar high praise from today’s conversation! Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Prince Ghuman, coauthor of Blindsight. [02:57] Prince Ghuman shares about himself, his background, and how he got into the world of behavioral science and marketing. He is an author and professor.  [05:11] Prince and Matt are founders of Pop Neuro where they teach marketers how to ethically apply neuroscience to marketing.  [06:07] One of the things lacking in the marketing curriculum is a heavier emphasis on neuroscience and psych.  [07:05] If we are marketers, we are fundamentally students of human behavior and human psychology.  [09:37] The principle piece is as important if not more important than the traditional neuroscience imaging techniques.  [11:38] He would love for there to be one person on each marketing team that specializes in neuromarketing principles because, at the end of the day, marketers want to create good marketing and good brand experiences. Consumers also want to be charmed by brands, products, and experiences.  [13:31] Cross-functional teams are the answer. Having one neuromarketer on every marketing team is the bare minimum. Every marketing position should understand behavioral science.  [16:03] The next operating system of marketing is more deeply scientific.  [17:06] The more we philosophically touch and experience something, the more we are likely to prefer it.  [17:50] We like things that are different because we like novelty, and we like things that are similar because we like the safety of similar things. If something is too new it hurts adoption. If something is too safe it hurts adoption. It needs to be somewhere between new and safe. [18:48] Sandwiching something new in between two familiar things helps bump up the likability.  [19:48] Early adopters have a higher acceptance of an imbalance of new and safe when it is tilted towards new. Late adopters are tilted towards safety.  [22:43] When Oreo brings out new cookies, it gets them back on your radar even if you don’t try the new types.  [23:27] Listener Question! Attention is based on the brain's statistical learning tendency. Our brains are also taking into account and picking up on patterns.  [26:04] Unpredictability gives you a bigger hit of dopamine. Unpredictability hits the reward center a lot harder. The brain’s pattern-seeking behavior primarily happens behind the scenes. It just drives a lot of what we do.  [28:27] It is called the “pursuit of happiness” because it is the pursuit that gives us the most amount of happiness, not the achievement of happiness.  [30:10] Unpredictability works to increase engagement.  [32:59] Today’s new thing that you hate is replacing something that was new once (and that you hated then).  [35:25] As much as we want to point a finger at companies that are using digital products to model behavior, we also have to look at ourselves. Until we decide to kick our addiction to “free” it is going to be really hard to kick our addiction to Instagram.  [37:48] For marketers, the challenge is to understand neuroscience and psychology throughout the entire marketing process so we can create better products, brands, and experiences.  [39:01] The answer to bad marketing isn’t no marketing. It is better marketing. Neuroscience is the way to do it.  [41:46] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [43:54] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:   Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains By Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman Neurobranding: Strategies for shaping consumer behavior By Peter Steidl   Thinking, Fast and Slow By Daniel Kahneman A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas By Warren Berger The Life-Saving Skill of Story: The Life-Saving Skill of Story By Michelle Auerbach The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference By Malcolm Gladwell Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers By Geoffrey Moore Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products By Nir Eyal Connect with Prince:  Pop Neuro Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  We Asked: Why Does Oreo Keep Releasing New Flavors? Episode 144: Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 160: Neuroscience and Psychology in the Business World, An Interview with Matt Johnson Episode 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 149: Familiarity Bias: Why the Devil You Know Feels Safer Than the Devil You Don’t, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 145: The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach Episode 12: Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 21: Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 78: How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal Mere Exposure Effect - coming soon! Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

I know you have a lot of options for what to listen to, and I’m glad you chose The Brainy Business. Especially because (as you’ll hear about on today’s episode), due to the paradox of choice, having too many options and decisions can leave people paralyzed instead of empowered. That paralysis can make it so people don’t make any decision at all, so you stick with the status quo of scrolling Instagram or playing a game on your phone. With over 2 million podcasts out there to compete with (plus all the YouTube channels, Netflix, and other streaming services, music options like Spotify and Pandora), plus games and email, and...well you get the idea...There are a lot of options out there that could have made tuning in a very complicated choice. In today’s episode, I will tell you all about the paradox of choice: what it is, and why it matters for you in life and in business (including some tips for creating and presenting options to your current and potential customers). Show Notes: [00:06] Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is about the paradox of choice. [03:02] As I mentioned in the introduction, the paradox of choice is a term and concept popularized by Barry Schwartz, whose book and popular TED talk have been shared around the world. [04:42] When presented with too many choices (like we have in most societies today) people become paralyzed, stressed, and feel stuck. It can cause mental anguish and regret. Some choices are good, but too much and we are definitely worse off. [05:24] The really important thing to know is that adding some choice is important. Because we humans can’t value one-off items, having at least some choice and comparison helps us to make a decision and feel good about it, but too many and we get overwhelmed. [07:15] When there are too many choices, our brains get overloaded. [09:41] It is easier to stick with what we have always done than to look for something that may or may not be better.  [11:42] Your subconscious is dealing with this sort of letdown constantly. It can get very taxing over time and it’s no wonder our brains rebel at the idea of evaluating too many options. [13:14] In a world where there is always another option, always a list of potential matches and the feeling that (much like the pair of jeans) perfection is “just one search away”...it can be hard to settle even when the choice is something you would be incredibly happy with. That constant thought of “what if” can be too much for many to bear. [13:53] Anticipated regret can have a huge impact on behavior. We want to choose wisely and, frustratingly, this pursuit of perfection (or even just a little bit better) can cause us to make worse decisions. [15:02] The important thing to know is that while it seems like lots of choice and infinite options would make us happier (increasing our freedom and wellbeing to use the terms from earlier) that just isn’t how it works. [17:12] A maximizer is always looking for the best of the best. They want to make sure that they choose whatever is objectively the best there is every single time. That anyone else could look at and know that it is conclusively “the best choice”. [17:28] Satisficers are people who find something that is “good enough” and feel satisfied with that choice. Once satisficers find something they are happy with, they are good to go and don’t necessarily dwell on “what might have been” too much. Even if there was a better option out there you could have made, you are subjectively happy and therefore at peace with the decision. [20:04] For maximizers (like my husband), these details are vital pieces of information needed to make a decision, and for satisficers (like me), it is just too much to think about. [22:45] The first tip is to choose when to choose. If you only save the big evaluation for the really important stuff, it will help you have that mental capacity when you need it and not be so stressed and overwhelmed with the small stuff. [24:07] Don’t waste a bunch of mental energy on decisions that don’t matter. Be happy with good enough whenever you can, so you can have more mental energy when you need it. [24:22] The next tip, which is to become a chooser, not a picker. [25:27] The next tip is to satisfice more and maximize less. As you just heard, satisficers are happier, less stressed, less regretful, and so much more. Good enough is often good enough. [25:58] Think about the costs of missed opportunities. In short, you should look for the balance of thinking of missed opportunities. [26:20] Next is to make your decisions nonreversible. If you aren’t able to “what if” you are more likely to be happier with a choice you made because you won’t dwell on it. [26:31] Practice an attitude of gratitude. There are lots of studies that find we are happier and better off when we appreciate what we have. Be grateful for everything you have in your life [27:05] Regret less. If you don’t think about choices you have made after the fact and don’t allow regret to control you, it will allow you to be happier overall. [27:19] Anticipate adaptation. We naturally adapt to any situation – plan accordingly to avoid constantly chasing the next high. [27:53] Control expectations. When there are too many choices, the expectations for something to be perfect are far too high, and because nothing can really live up to that standard, you end up with a recipe for always being disappointed with items not meeting unrealistic expectations [28:21] Curtail social comparison. What is your happiness worth and how do things change if you add that into your evaluation? Eliminating social comparisons can help with that. [29:11] His last tip is to learn to embrace constraints. Limiting options and reducing possible choices can help you to fulfill these other tips on the list. Embrace the idea of constraints and set up some firm rules for yourself to follow around choice. You will be surprised about how they help your mental state. [30:30] NOW, my tips for business applications (which are different than on an individual level. First, is to know that people are generally overwhelmed with all the decisions they are having to make every day. [31:00] You also want to really consider what choice they are making and what the defaults are. [33:15] When someone asks for your recommendation – give it, and don’t provide more than two options. Be enthusiastic about it, explaining a little of why you like it to prime them for excitement. [34:56] To summarize, you are going to limit the options you present and show that you are the expert (and did the heavy lifting for them) by making recommendations and helping work with those herding instincts by including some social proof. [35:25] If you implement your social proof and relativity and structure the decision well, it can make a decision easier without people getting so overwhelmed that they walk out. They can feel like there are a lot of options, but you can still nudge and guide them along the way to reduce the number of decisions and make them easier. I’m calling this the “illusion of choice.” [37:42] Consider the customer experience – who is searching? What problem are they solving? What is the best solution? How can you make it obvious that it is the best choice for most people to help them decide? [39:17] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Revised Edition By Barry Schwartz You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence By Jon Levy Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Paradox of Choice: Ted Talk with Barry Schwartz The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz The Paradox of Choice When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing? More Isn’t Always Better Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 32: The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 76: The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude Episode 68: Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 71: Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 150: Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited Episode 12: Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 60: Surprise and Delight Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Regret Aversion (coming soon, episode TBD) Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of being a speaker at Greenbook’s IIEX Behavior Conference, an amazing event that brings people together from around the world to talk about behavior and insights and so much more. My piece of this event was doing a live podcast interview with Dr. Ingrid Nieuwenhuis for the session called When Machine Learning Meets Neuroscience.  A couple of weeks ago, Sam Albert joined me to discuss AI and its role in behavioral science, and this conversation with Ingrid was so fantastic and really building on that. I was delighted when the team at Greenbook said I could share this conversation here with you on The Brainy Business. This is the exact audio from that conference, and if you want to see it in video form, it will be shared via my free global community, the BE Thoughtful Revolution when the episode airs.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m thrilled to introduce you to Dr. Ingrid Nieuwenhuis, head of science at Alpha.One. [00:56] My piece at Greenbook’s IIEX Behavior Conference was a live podcast interview with Dr. Ingrid Nieuwenhuis for the session called When Machine Learning Meets Neuroscience.  [03:21] Ingrid shares about herself, her background in neuroscience, and what she does as head of science at Alpha.One. She is trained as a neuroscientist. [05:03] After a whole academic career, she joined a start-up company where she used similar techniques to measure consumers’ responses. Then she moved to New York and worked with the marketing department at Facebook. After ten years, she moved back to the Netherlands and joined Alpha.One. [07:49] Ingrid has done amazing work over her career.  [09:12] Expoze.io is a technique based on deep learning.  [09:54] Deep neural networks are networks that are based on the brain layers and instead of having to tell the network what the rules are. If you have a lot of data the network can figure out the rules itself. To train this network you need a lot of labeled data.  [11:16] When you have this big data set where you have all this labeled data, you can actually get the network to create a heat map that is very similar to reality.  [14:14] Branding is very important. In the long term, to build value you have to build your brand.  [15:14] Building a brand and being able to communicate your brand in your packaging and ads is so essential for successful marketing and branding in general.  [17:43] We are so wired for social interaction that our eyes are unconsciously drawn to faces and are attracted to them.  [18:43] With small changes, you can really change how something is drawing attention.  [19:48] They are currently building a product that is measuring brand value. They are focusing on getting measurements on brands.  [21:34] Contrast is going to draw our attention.  [23:02] There is always a balance between the story you want to tell, the emotion you want to create, and how you want to draw people in.  [24:00] If your story has to build up and there is no brand in the first few seconds it is almost a wasted impression.  [26:20] Really good creative agencies are able to integrate a brand into a story in a way that isn’t intrusive and the brand can really be the hero in the story.  [28:25] You have to really work to create multi-disciplinary teams.  [29:41] Statistics is an area that is so important and not always present in companies. So much of what we are currently doing is big data.  [30:37] Be open to multi-disciplinary teams and realize that it helps. When you take the time, really good things automatically emerge and it becomes very fulfilling and rewarding for everyone.  [32:38] There is so much we can learn from each other if we are just open to it.  [32:55] Having a diverse team is really important in making sure you can think about as much as possible before you launch.  [33:25] Often you need the input from all the areas to actually get it right.  [34:18] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [35:35] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Connect with Ingrid: (MAKE THIS COLUMN 1) Alpha.One Ingrid on LinkedIn Greenbook IIEX Behavior Conference Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Annual Market Research Podcast Award - VOTE for The Brainy Business now! Episode 166: Sam Albert Episode 169: Troy Campbell Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today is a very fun episode about something that you might not think has a science to it, but definitely does which is so amazing! My guest is Troy Campbell, who got his Ph.D. at Duke University and has worked at/for Disney, Netflix, Nike (and much more) as well as taught at the University of Oregon. He has done so many cool things so far in his career, and he is here to talk about how you can do the same by incorporating the science of cool. Coolness may feel intangible. Like it is this enigma some brands or people just have or don’t and if you aren’t cool you just have to accept it. But as Troy will show us today, that doesn’t have to be the case. There is a science to it and there are lots of important lessons for your brand (and even making something as mundane as meetings more fun, effective, and cool). Listen to learn this and more in today’s episode... Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Troy Campbell, Chief Scientist at On Your Feet. [01:21] There is a science to cool and there are lots of important lessons for your brand. [03:51] Troy shares about himself, his background, and how he got into behavioral science. [05:23] Behavioral science has the closest thing to a magic spellbook that exists.  [07:14] He shares an origin story about a lecture he created based on the song “Everything is Awesome” from The Lego Movie.  [10:12] On Your Feet is a group that brings more joy, less fear, and better results to everything in business.  [10:55] Suffering from meeting burnout? The first thing to do is include the right warm-up for the meeting. Different meetings need different warm-ups.  [11:47] Tell the story of the meeting. [13:57] It is a personal warm-up because the thing you need to do is warm up people talking, chatty, and being with each other. In non virtual spaces, it is usually accomplished when you walk in and start talking to the person sitting next to you.  [15:40] Melina shares about using story cubes.  [16:39] Another great warm-up activity is a scavenger hunt.  [17:27] The mind is not a Tesla Roadster that can go from 0 to 60 in 1.9 seconds. It’s more like an old Ford. It is reliable if you give it time to warm up.  [18:17] In general, everyone wants to be cool to some degree. We all want to feel cool, we all want to give people cool experiences, and we as a brand have to need to be cool to our audience.  [19:02] Cool is autonomously breaking the norm in a somewhat positive way. [20:44] There is no objective cool. Cool is all about norms, individuals, and the way to engage with the norms.  [23:09] Cool is breaking free from the norm. Cool is finding a norm that people don’t think is that great and resisting that norm to an audience that likes it.  [24:08] We all want to feel as if we have this ability to autonomously break free from a negative norm in a positive way. As a brand, we want to create these cool things so we are seen as cool and we want other people to feel cool when they are using our brands.  [26:37] Troy shares one of his favorite moments ever from a workshop. [28:57] When companies break the norm in a positive way, it is the psychological feeling of cool.  [30:09] Metamodernism is this type of culture that we are in right now which is people really mixing things together in positive ways.  [32:26] Putting the old and new together has been a useful tool.  [34:07] What is too safe for one person is not too safe for another person. It is very difficult to be cool to everyone. (Know your niche!!) [35:29] Break a norm that is in line with something they need or ideology. In order to truly be cool, you need to go through really good design workshops.  [37:14] Let people be different. We need to see the whole spectrum of talents in behavioral science and allow that to happen.  [40:35] The brain is so complex. That melting pot of a field is so important for moving it forward.  [41:33] There are some things about behavioral science that are not fascinating--but they are still incredibly important and take skill to master. What is really great about behavioral science is the nuances and sophistication we bring around that.  [43:43] With behavioral science we can be incredibly valuable with quick responses and turnarounds for getting people unstuck.  [45:23] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [47:29] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. 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.com 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! [spacer height="15px"]More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Connect with Troy:  On Your Feet Tingen Industries Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Annual Market Research Podcast Award - VOTE for The Brainy Business now! How This Year's Nobel Prize Winning Research in Economics Can Help Your Business Episode 144: Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 20: Defaults: Why The Pre-Selected Choice Wins More Often Than Not: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 21: Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 101: Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 158: 3 Steps to Better Decision Making, An Interview with Matthew Confer Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 145: The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach Episode 128: How to Build Products That Create Change, An Interview with Matt Wallaert Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 149: Familiarity Bias: Why the Devil You Know Feels Safer Than the Devil You Don’t, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 54: Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am excited to introduce you to Dr. Michelle Niedziela, VP of Research and Innovation at HCD Research. She is also an editorial board member of the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association (or NMSBA) and part of the brains behind the upcoming NeuroU Conference which is taking place virtually this year, September 13-15, 2021 (and I am sure will happen in future years as well in case you are listening to this later). Michelle will talk about it in the conversation as well, but I am very excited to say that I am going to be a speaker at the conference this year, so it is definitely the time to register and come join us! In today’s episode, Michelle shares her expertise in the senses – particularly smell and taste – and how important they are for brands. Ever thought about what moisture smells like? Or what scent will make people prefer one towel over the other? Listen to learn this and more in today’s episode... Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Michelle Niedziela, VP of research and innovation at HCD Research. [03:13] Michelle shares about herself, her background, and how she got into behavioral science. [05:08] The majority of her education background is more around taste and smell. Most people don’t think about taste and smell too much or realize how important it is in their lives.  [06:37] She has worked in academia with rodents looking at genetics. She built her career for over ten years studying rat and mouse models of feeding behavior and genetic influences until she developed an allergy to rats and mice.  [08:16] Then she ended up taking a job as a Senior Scientist at Johnson & Johnson leading their behavioral science and innovation program for taste and smell.  [08:54] People don’t really realize how important the senses are in product design and development.  [10:29] Product and brand is so much more than advertising and logos. It really is the product experience as well. You can lead people with sensory clues.  [13:18] In order to ensure consumer satisfaction and success of the product experience you really have to make sure all the senses align. Does it fit the brand? [15:24] Michelle shares how fragrances can have an effect on the product experience.  [16:24] Sensory branding is a very interesting world.  [17:40] Brand harmony can bring it all together to make sure it is creating an overall perception.  [20:03] They have a lot of different questions that come to them. They are the problem solvers that come in to help their clients.  [22:02] It is about finding the right combination of tools to uncover and meet the consumer needs.  [24:18] Michelle and her team also look at packaging and people’s perception of packaging. The words, color, and texture all drive perceptions and build a picture.  [26:24] In marketing and brand strategy we feel like we need to do more and be everywhere, but then you’re nothing to nobody.  [28:27] You don’t want to alienate your consumer.  [29:34] Michelle shares about creating your sensory footprint.  [30:18] The larger the sensory footprint the stronger you are to grab that nostalgia. Sensory is a form of communication.  [32:44] There is a lot of interesting research out there with sensory and food science. The size, color, and weight of the plate can influence your enjoyment of it, how you rate it, and how much you eat overall.  [34:48] As long as your brand is strong enough in their understanding of what your ultimate goal is, you can increase the goal and perception, but it does require a lot of research.  [36:17] NeuroU is a FREE online event this year where they bring in experts to talk and educate about current topics. Come join us! [38:19] Melina is going to be a speaker at NeuroU this year - hooray!  [40:51] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [43:18] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:   You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence by Jon Levy Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains by Matt Johnson Connect with Michelle: NeuroU HCD on Twitter HCD Blog HCD on YouTube Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Annual Market Research Podcast Award - VOTE for The Brainy Business now! Episode 24: Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain – On The Sense of Sight: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 25: Why Burnt Popcorn Has Derailed So Many Meetings – On The Sense Of Smell: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 26: Why You Actually Taste With Your Nose – On The Sense Of Taste: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 27: Did You Hear That? – On The Sense of Hearing: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 28: Why Picking Something Up Makes People More Likely To Buy – On The Sense Of Touch: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 91: Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics Episode 149: Familiarity Bias: Why the Devil You Know Feels Safer Than the Devil You Don’t, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 79: Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions (And How To Incorporate Them Into Your Business Strategy) Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 61: Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 150: Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited Episode 160: Neuroscience and Psychology in the Business World, An Interview with Matt Johnson Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today’s episode is all about hindsight bias. You have probably heard the phrase “Hindsight is 20/20” and maybe even said it yourself on occasion. Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but this simply isn’t true.  We humans have a hindsight bias that makes us believe we knew something “all along” when reflecting back on an incident, and this can cause all sorts of problems when making future decisions. I will cover this throughout today’s episode as well as tips for how to combat hindsight bias so it has less of an impact on you. Show Notes: [00:07] Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is about hindsight bias. [02:21] When we think about our brains and all the amazing things they do, much of what we are accessing are memories. [02:47] Our memories are basically inaccurate renditions our brains tell us and every time we access them, we change them a little. So, the more you think about something, the less and less it is like the original version. [03:28] Memories get further and further from the truth as time goes on, especially for those memories which are recalled again and again. [04:20] Even reading about an event in history, which feels as though it must be fully accurate, is missing details and important pieces that people didn’t even think to include or pay attention to. [06:01] In reflecting back on an event the brain will assume it has all the information on: what happened, why, and assume that it knows what to infer from that for the next time you encounter a situation like this. The problem, of course, is that you don’t have all the information. [08:32] Once the results are in it is easy to say you knew it, and it makes your overconfident, optimistic brain feel good about itself. [09:20] Our brains don’t like to have a misalignment in what we believe to be true. Your brain believes that you are smarter, better, faster, stronger than everyone else (including you 5 minutes ago). So, when something happens differently than you predicted, it looks for ways to resolve that discomfort (that dissonance) by reasoning that you “knew it all along” even when you didn’t – or often couldn’t have known. [10:12] One simple way I combat hindsight bias when doing presentations is by making people commit to an answer or instinct before sharing what the real answer is.  [11:36] If I didn’t make people say their answers out loud, commit to something in the moment in a semi-public way, even if they sort of thought of something in their head when I asked, they don’t feel committed and when the reveal came, they would not be as surprised. They would think something like, “Yeah, that makes sense. I was tossing around some numbers close to that” or whatever. [12:03] Saying their own numbers aloud and watching how far off the entire group is as everyone commits in the moment when I reveal just a few seconds later – is very powerful in getting this concept to stick in the brain. [13:33] Tip #1: Be comfortable admitting you don’t know or are surprised. [14:17] When you admit that you were surprised by something or that you didn’t know the answer, it allows you to ask why. [14:40] Tip #2: Writing things down ahead of the result. [15:15] If you have a decision diary or evaluation notebook or whatever you feel like calling it (whether it is handwritten or virtual) you can keep track of those thoughts in advance and reflect upon them to keep your hindsight bias in check when the results are in. And remember of course that your insights are only as good as the notes you take. [17:03] It doesn’t really matter what you choose, just get into the habit of writing those suspicions or ideas down upfront and how you came to the conclusion – so you can evaluate it properly in a post mortem and learn about your own decisions and flaws in your decision-making process that you can learn from in the future. [17:27] Tip #3: Review what happened, thinking through other outcomes that could have happened, and what would have made that be the case. Ask questions like, “How easily could things have been different?” or “What information might I be missing or overlooking?” [18:44] Bonus Tip #4: Don’t put too much weight on finding the exact answer and using it as a general rule of thumb for all similar decisions moving forward. Context matters.  [21:11] The Brainy Business was nominated for the best market research podcast of 2021. Vote for The Brainy Business here by August 31! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Annual Market Research Podcast Award Hindsight Bias How Hindsight Bias Affects How We View the Past Why do we see unpredictable events as predictable after they occur? ‘I Knew It All Along…Didn’t I?’ – Understanding Hindsight Bias Hindsight Bias Episode 110: Survivorship Bias: Stop Missing What’s Missing (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 48: An Overview of Memory Biases Episode 34: Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 164: How Businesses Can Design for Behavior Change, with Dr. Amy Bucher Episode 68: Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 71: Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 163: How to Approach Negative Reviews Using Behavioral Economics Episode 158: 3 Steps to Better Decision Making, An Interview with Matthew Confer Cognitive Dissonance (coming soon, episode TBD) Overconfidence (coming soon, episode TBD) Check out International Book Awards Finalist, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to talk about something I know is a common question for many these days. It is something that I get asked a lot and what I know many see as the future of behavioral economics and the overall behavioral sciences: AI.  How can AI and machine learning work with behavioral economics to help with predictive models? Do they work together at all or are they at odds? Could the industry combine these things to be more effective? Sam Albert, Chief Digital Officer at Behaviorally is here to talk about these exact questions via their very cool tool called flash.ai.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Sam Albert, Chief Digital Officer at Behaviorally. [02:50] Sam shares about himself, his background, and how he got into behavioral economics.  [04:48] PRS changed its name to Behaviorally back in January 2021. They are really trying to understand consumer behavior and help their clients make good decisions based on that behavior.  [06:45] Understanding how consumers are acting or reacting to certain stimuli in store and then what they tell you they actually would do or how they feel could be different. It is about lining those pieces up and telling one cohesive story that is going to essentially help clients to make good business decisions to move their businesses forward.  [08:44] Behavioral science can pretty much be applied to every aspect of our lives and it is happening unbeknownst to us in every decision every day.  [10:04] The industry is moving on this trajectory towards machine learning, more broadly leveraging AI. [10:44] They came up with a system called flash.ai. They are able to take their learnings and apply them so that the machine can learn how to mimic those behaviors.  [11:30] Their system applies image recognition. The machine reacts to the visuals in a similar way to what a human would do.  [12:39] This allows them to have a cohesive platform that takes into account all of the key pieces that really (from a behavioral standpoint) drive what consumers actually do in the market.  [13:09] The change to AI was already happening and COVID accelerated that change.  [15:00] The world is becoming increasingly more digital.  [16:53] They use a dynamic system where the existing work they are doing is feeding the future models that are being built. The models are continuously being updated to reflect the real world.  [18:32] They both validate the work to ensure it is accurate and the dynamic aspect of making sure the machine is keeping up with the pace of change in the world.  [19:08] Sam shares some of the case studies for flash.ai.  [20:14] If you don’t take the context around it into account, you put yourself in a position where you can either get false positives or false negatives and essentially give the wrong direction to clients. He is most proud of the system's ability to take context into account.  [21:36] Context and nuance makes a significant difference when you are talking about behavior in general.  [23:27] They see flash.ai tool as an earlier stage tool. Flash.ai allows them to test without spending the time, money, or energy to get real consumer feedback.  [25:46] Being different is important, but you don’t want to differentiate in ways that don’t help you stand out.  [27:01] Flash.ai is the first step and hopefully it siphons down the different options that would go into a full test. Then you can fully validate those and do any fine tuning you need.  [29:29] AI is not going away. It is just a matter of what it looks like in the future. The path to purchase is going to play a critical role in what we see in the future. [31:06] You can’t run away from technology. You just have to build it into what you are doing and leverage it. AI is going to play a pretty big role in that.  [33:15] There is a lot that is lost when you switch to a digital environment. However, looking at it as an opportunity, how could we make this an amazing experience for everybody in a really powerful way? [35:58] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [37:39] The Brainy Business was nominated for the best market research podcast of 2021. Vote for The Brainy Business here by August 31, 2021! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Connect with Sam: Behaviorally Website Behaviorally on Twitter Flash.AI Case Studies Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Annual Market Research Podcast Award - VOTE for The Brainy Business now! How This Year's Nobel Prize Winning Research in Economics Can Help Your Business Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 12: Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 61: Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Matej Sucha with me on the show to talk about the importance of applied behavioral economics and the work he has done to help shape the field. As you will hear in our conversation today, there are two fairly distinct camps in the behavioral sciences: the academic research and the applied. While many of us work together, there are different goals for each and there can be disagreement from time to time.  In general, I think most of us see the need for both sides and how they are necessary to help move the entire field forward. Matej is like me, an advocate for behavioral economics being used and shared in business as much as possible, which is why he recently founded and became the Editor in Chief of insideBE.com, which you will hear about on the show, in addition to his work as a managing partner at MINDWORX.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Matej Sucha, managing partner of MINDWORX and founder of insideBE. [02:56] Matej shares about himself, his work, and how he got into behavioral economics.  [04:01] This year they launched insideBE which is an app dedicated to behavioral economics in business.  [05:53] Behavioral economics doesn’t have the place it deserves in business. It is still in the phase of early adoption. It is not at the center of attention for businesses. [07:03] We have to put more emphasis on business applications.  [08:43] People want to see more practical business applications.  [10:27] Matej’s consultancy mainly focuses on the applications of consumer behavior.  [11:16] They developed their own approach for a behavioral audit in order to know when we should create an intervention and move people in the direction we want them to move.  [11:57] Matej shares one project he was fascinated by.  [14:44] When they included social proof the probability that the person would send their CV went up by 130%.  [15:14] Findings from research can inspire business solutions that are proven to work.  [15:47] Matej shares about an insurance project he worked on that was offering their customers travel insurance one year for free.  [16:56] One of the biggest mistakes that marketers make is that they only focus on how they can motivate their customers.  [19:01] They increase the conversions by understanding and removing the psychological behaviors that stood in the way.  [21:02] The problem is twofold. Companies, salespeople, marketers, and product designers don’t even think about understanding the problem and jump to creating the solutions. The second part is that they don’t know how to understand the customer and the problem.   [22:29] One tiny insight can help you create amazing solutions.  [24:34] It is about asking the right questions. Why aren’t customers doing what you want them to do? [26:08] Often the solution can be really simple.  [29:08] Timing is more important than the message itself. Timing doesn’t require a deep knowledge of behavioral science.  [30:27] When you’re a business person there is no better place to start than to learn from the amazing work of the greatest minds in the field.  [32:01] There are a lot of great resources available.  [34:16] The purpose of the content they are creating at insideBE is to first and foremost teach people how they can try themselves. The best way to get potential clients excited is to teach them as much as possible.  [37:10] “The next big thing in marketing is not technology. It is psychology.” -Rory Sutherland [37:50] If companies want to gain a competitive edge, it is psychology they should focus on.  [39:59] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [41:40] The Brainy Business was nominated for the best market research podcast of 2021. Vote for The Brainy Business here by August 31! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely Ripple: The big effects of small behaviour changes in business by Jez Groom Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life by Rory Sutherland Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman FRICTION―The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage by Roger Dooley Connect with Matej:  Matej on LinkedIn Matej on Twitter insideBE.com on LinkedIn insideBe.com on Twitter MINDWORX Website MINDWORX on LinkedIn MINDWORX on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links: The Annual Market Research Podcast Award Case Study: How Redesigning a Job Ad Using Behavioral Insights Attracted Three Times More Candidates Case Study: How a Job Search Portal Increased Conversions by 154% Without Changing a Single Word in Job Ads Case Study: How an Insurance Company Increased Conversions of Direct Emails by 300% A Conversation with Cass Sunstein on Behavioral Science and Using Nudges: Recommendations for Overcoming Covid-19 Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving Episode 101: Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale Episode 131: The BIG Effects of Small Behavior Changes in Business, an Interview with Jez Groom and April Vellacott, coauthors of Ripple Episode 140: How Simple Nudges Can Save Hundreds of Millions, interview with Dectech’s Dr. Benny Cheung Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Episode 23: Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 72: Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley Episode 78: How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal Episode 153: Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh Episode 109: Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview Dunning Kruger Effect (coming soon!) Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Dr. Amy Bucher on the show to talk about how you can design for behavior change using insights from her fantastic career and wonderful book, Engaged. Amy graduated magna cum laude from Harvard when getting her A.B. in Psychology, after which she went on to get her Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan. She has been a consultant in addition to working at Johnson & Johnson, CVS, and was vice president of behavior change design at Mad*Pow before recently moving to her current role as vice president of behavioral design at Lirio. Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Amy Bucher, author of Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change. [03:02] Amy shares about herself, her work, and how she got into behavioral design. She moved from a consulting role back to an in-house role.  [04:43] She loves behavioral design and she really thinks it is a wonderful application of the skills you learn in academic training.  [06:51] Amy considered actually becoming a physician. Her first job out of grad school was in healthcare.  [09:11] Amy defines behavioral design as applying the scientific method to the process of design. It is extremely compatible with human-centered design.  [10:08] Measurement is a constant in the behavioral design process. They want to be gathering data at every step; that lets them know if they are on the right track or not to adjust and optimize results.  [11:17] Amy shares one of her favorite projects looking at cities in India with an increase in diabetes.  [13:12] Amy explains why this project was so rewarding.  [15:27] As a behavioral designer it is really critical to have respect for the people you are designing something for.  [17:23] Amy shares about a project she did recently looking at behavioral health and healthcare. One of the primary barriers for people using that type of healthcare is the cost of it.  [19:05] Even if we know we are not going to make the change with speaking up in that one moment, speaking up can be like a grain of sand that will ultimately add up to something more meaningful.  [20:34] Finding that right problem is so critically important even when it seems so obvious what the issue is.  [23:25] Amy first recommends reading books to better understand behavioral economics.  [23:52] As a general process she recommends going through discovery, design, and testing.  [24:37] Here are three steps that someone who is new to behavioral design can use to get started: doing a literature review, creating an outcomes logic map for yourself, and doing a lens brainstorm.  [26:46] She also uses the self-determination theory of motivation a lot.  One of the basic ideas is if you want to get someone really intrinsically interested in something and interested to the point where they are likely to pursue it, you should support their feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. [28:12] Amy shares an example of putting these into action.  [29:39] Be comfortable with the gray area.  You will go through a lot of the process not really knowing yet, but the process works.  [31:00] Primary research is a really big part. Behavioral design work is very heavy upfront with all the research.  [32:52] As a behavioral designer after the research her role becomes someone who is making sure that all of the intervention ingredients are being brought to life with fidelity.  [34:13] There are certain types of behaviors that are compatible with certain types of intervention.  [35:31] Sometimes what we think is the problem, doesn’t turn out to be the problem when we do the research.  [38:53] Every project is different.  [39:38] Amy shares an example from her book of an Outcome Logics Map.  [42:06] The visual reminder of what our brain is doing is very helpful.  [42:58] Such small things can produce such big changes in the way we perform. [44:53] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [46:21] Being a curious questioner is so important to solving the big problems. [48:49] The Brainy Business was nominated for the best market research podcast of 2021. Vote for The Brainy Business here by August 31! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Engaged: Designing for Behavior Change by Amy Bucher Connect with Amy:  Amy on Twitter Amy’s Website Lirio Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  The Annual Market Research Podcast Award How This Year's Nobel Prize Winning Research in Economics Can Help Your Business Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem  Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 135: Using Behavioral Science in Healthcare, Interview with Aline Holzwarth Episode 98: Behavior Change at WW and Beyond, an Interview with Dr. Julie O’Brien Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 51: Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 167: Hindsight Bias (coming soon!) Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today we are going to be talking about something that is sort of a fact of life whether we like it or not. If you want to live in the world amongst other people and put your personal or professional brand out there, you need to be prepared for negative reviews. This episode was inspired by a long-time listener who has become a friend and colleague – Jeff Pool from the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M University. Thankfully, it wasn’t inspired by him giving a negative review to The Brainy Business or anything like that. Instead, it was something he suggested a while back could be an interesting episode. It felt like the right time with my book just coming out a couple of months ago now, and the recent behavioral economics analysis of Amazon episode where I talked about the power of social proof and how they popularized reviews.  I also asked the BE Thoughtful Revolution for some insights on what they might like to know or what comes to mind when thinking about negative reviews while creating the content for today’s episode. The consensus was based on how to respond to them: Should it be done right away or delayed? Publicly or privately? What tone to use? And more.  Show Notes: [00:07] Today’s episode is dedicated to negative reviews. [00:45] If you want to live in the world amongst other people and put your personal or professional brand out there, you need to be prepared for negative reviews. [03:42] Melina shares an email from her friend Kurt Nelson of the Behavioral Grooves podcast hoping I’d get 4.7 stars on my book. [05:11] It is important to accept that negative reviews are coming and just wrap your head around that. [07:54] Why do we feel these so much more and why do they stick with us differently? Why is their weight heavier than positive reviews? [08:23] The reason we even look at or have influence from reviews and testimonials and star ratings (also known as social proof) is because of our natural tendency to herd. [10:21] Negative reviews are triggering our herding instincts and make the subconscious get scared of what could happen if we get too many more of those in the future. [11:43] Reading or otherwise looking at negative reviews makes us focus on them more than the positive ones because of those herding instincts. [13:34] We have a perception about ourselves and the type of person we are: honest, ethical, good at what we do. When we are confronted with information that threatens that perspective our brains really don’t like it, we want to resolve that cognitive dissonance. [15:12] Even though you don’t like it, there is probably some kernel of truth in the negative thing someone had to say about you or your brand. What if you looked for the learning opportunity in a negative review? [17:00] Don’t ostrich – It may be tempting to avoid reading the reviews because they can be painful, but not knowing what people are saying doesn’t make it so they don’t feel that way (and aren’t sharing with others). [18:48] In general, yes, you should respond to all the comments you get, both good and bad. And, tempting as it may be, don’t delete negative comments. (If they are profane or blatant lies it could be an exception, but in general, this is not a good practice.) [20:12] People aren’t often expecting any response, let alone a kind and open-minded one. You will be surprised at how many people you can bring back around to your side. [23:12] It is best to respond to the person wherever they posted to begin with. [24:30] You want and need that public acknowledgment for all the future people who see the comment. [27:39] Treating this person as a human who deserves kindness triggered some reciprocity and encouraged them to act in kind and, as far as I know, keep listening and following me. [28:29] Not everyone is your customer and that is ok! There are so many people out there who you can or will resonate with; focus on them. [30:54] It is really important to know what you are about, who you are for, and why you do the things you do before you are confronted with a negative review that addresses one of those things. [33:39] The lesson is to know your customer and identify what matters to your brand when you are in a cold state, so you can know what to take to heart and change, and what can be heard and let go of without having to constantly address your strategy. [34:08] There are some times where it makes sense to say you are sorry, of course, but in general, you don’t need to (and actually shouldn’t). [35:29] You can absolutely acknowledge their feelings, but you don’t have to say “sorry” to do that. [37:30] When you identify what matters to you and your company in that cold state, it is also important to know about your brand voice. [38:56] For most brands, it is best to be respectful and kind in your correspondence with customers and others in public and in private. [40:05] Do what you can to reframe your perception to see the opportunity in a negative review. [40:18] Hating negative reviews is natural because of our herding instincts, focusing illusion, fundamental attribution error, and cognitive dissonance, but thankfully understanding that can help you feel better about addressing them, overcoming your instincts that might not be the best initial response, and letting you give the reviewer the benefit of the doubt when crafting responses. [41:08] Don’t jump to apologizing. More often than not it will not work well. [41:21] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [41:23] The Brainy Business was nominated for the best market research podcast of 2021. Vote for The Brainy Business here by August 31! 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Past Episodes & Other Important Links: The Annual Market Research Podcast Award The Power of Unity: Robert Cialdini Expands His Best Selling Book Influence Melina Palmer: Using Behavioral Economics to Help Businesses Episode 89: Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 92: Fundamental Attribution Error: Why the Pot Insists on Calling the Kettle Black (a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Episode 43: A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Episode 159: Amazon: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode Episode 147: What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book Episode 152: A Surprise Guest… Episode 157: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion Episode 33: Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior LabHuman Behavior Lab Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 109: Secrets of Motivation and Incentives, Tim Houlihan Interview Episode 144: Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 97: Peak-End Rule: Why Averages Don’t Always Matter (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 60: Surprise and Delight Episode 167: Hindsight Bias (coming soon!) Episode 172: Interview with Prince Ghuman (coming soon!) Cognitive Dissonance (coming soon, episode TBD) Check out International Book Awards Finalist, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Dr. Leidy Klotz on the show to talk about how we humans have an instinct for adding things. We want more and often don’t even think about taking things away. But why is that? Why do we have adding instincts? Why are we so averse to less, and how could we see the value in it?  That is a little of what we talk about today in this conversation which centers around Leidy’s new book, Subtract. It’s really fascinating and more than mere minimalism. As Leidy says in the conversation, he isn’t advocating that less is always better, that you never should want more. Instead, this is more focused on thinking about it; considering the benefit of less before making a choice. Plus, you get to learn about his possibly surprising first career before getting into academia!  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Leidy Klotz, author of the new book, Subtract. [03:30] Leidy shares about himself, his background, and how he has gotten to behavioral science.  [05:44] There is a way that people should go and then what they will actually do.   [06:34] Engineering is the creative application of science. There is a huge overlap between engineering, architecture, and behavioral science.  [08:05] People have been doing choice architecture for a long time, it has just been called marketing.  [08:44] Leidy was a professional soccer player and he wrote a book about sustainability through soccer. Soccer is a very systems-oriented sport.  [10:39] He learned a lot of things by playing soccer.   [13:32] He shares what inspired him to write his book, Subtract.  [15:04] When we encounter systems that we can improve in multiple ways, why is our first instinct to add? [16:52] When people try to improve something their first thought is to think about what can we add to this situation to make it better.  [19:01] More often than not, we don’t even think about getting rid of something.  [20:52] Instead of a longer list of to-dos, we need a list of “stop doings.”  [23:07] As humans, we want to display our competence.  [25:28] We can also show competence by subtracting, we just have to do more of it for it to be noticeable.  [28:30] You can be a minimalist by not acquiring stuff, but that is not subtracting.  [29:39] Left to our own devices, we are not going to think of taking away.  [30:40] A good lesson is to subtract first. If you subtract first you are more likely to think about it in later situations.   [32:53] Less is not a loss. Less is an improvement. [34:33] We tend to think of add and subtract as opposites. They are not opposites, they are complementary ways to make a change.  [37:06] When you are arguing for subtraction or trying to get people to think of subtraction, help them think about the thing they added elsewhere.  [37:52] When we add something, we are left with the original situation plus whatever we have added. When we take something away, we are left with an improved original situation plus that thing we took away which we can use somewhere else.  [40:22] When you have written something, taking it out is a really hard thing. Leidy and Melina share some about their book writing processes.  [42:22] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [45:15] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas by Warren Berger Connect with Leidy:  Leidy on LinkedIn Leidy on Twitter University of Virginia Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 139: Endowment Effect: Why We Like Our Stuff More, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 112: The IKEA Effect and Effort Heuristic, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 70: How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals Episode 99: Bikeshedding: Why The Simplest Tasks Can Keep You Stuck (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 68: Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 71: Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 89: Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 171: Paradox of Choice (coming soon!) Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have a fellow behavioral science podcaster, Dr. Nick Hobson on the show. His podcast is called, It’s All Just a Bunch of BS. He also writes for The Behaviorist and is the chief scientist at Emotive Technologies. So, why did I say at the top of the show that this would likely show you a different side of Nick than you may have seen or heard before? It is because we really focus on philosophy, which is different than anything I’ve had on the show before and was a lot of fun to chat about. I must admit, in my undergrad I really hated philosophy. I’m not sure if I had a bad teacher or if I just wasn’t ready for it yet, but it was one of my least favorite classes. As time has passed, I’ve come to realize that the types of questions I love to ask and my personal approach to applying behavioral economics are built on a foundation of philosophy. So even if you’ve not been a fan of the field in the past, I recommend you stick around. I think you’re going to like the conversation.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Nick Hobson for a fascinating conversation that even if you know Nick, I’m guessing you haven’t heard him talk about on a show before. [01:13] In this episode, we really focus on philosophy, which I found to be so interesting and I hope you will too. [03:51] Nick shares a funny story about being a doctor and using it for a dinner reservation with his wife. [05:49] Nick has a doctorate degree in social psychology and social neuroscience. His dissertation was about the psychology of neuroscience and rituals.  [08:03] He was very interested in rituals and that determined the next five years of his life.  [09:45] Now he is an applied behavioral scientist.  [12:31] There is a great deal of value that comes with philosophy, the arts, and philosophical thinking.  [13:57] Good scientists are always trying to push the boundaries, explore the outer edges, and breakthrough with scientific intervention.  [16:52] We answer questions with tools of measurement. Tools of measurement are the foundation of any science.  [18:20] Nick shares about the “trolley problem.” [20:20] Nick shares how he transitioned from the space of rituals and about the work he does today.  [21:43] Behavioral scientists and all business owners are interested in the point of action that a person engages (and re-engages) in over and over. What is that decision process? [23:45] There are a lot of rituals on the external, customer-facing side, and the internal employee side as well.   [25:12] We are ritual creatures.  [26:16] Nick talks about the types of consumer projects they are working on.  [27:36] He shares a specific client scenario he worked through.  [29:16] The problem is never the price. It is about all the stuff that happens before. If you can showcase the value you are providing people will buy.  [30:25] Two areas of opportunity for improvement for his client were joy and respect. Once the areas of opportunity are discovered you can create strategic interventions.  [34:02] For all the behavior that we are looking at and observing, let’s not forget about what is actually happening inside the mind, which are the precursors to those behaviors.  [35:06] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [36:54] Melina’s award-winning first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending by Elizabeth Dunn & Dr. Michael Norton Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life by Francesca Gino How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman & Angela Duckworth Connect with Nick:  Nick on LinkedIn Nick on Twitter Emotive Technologies It’s All Just a Bunch of BS Podcast The Behaviorist Apex Scoring Systems Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  What a 5-Step Checklist at Johns Hopkins Can Teach You About Life and Business Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 119: Creating a Habit of Curiosity: Interview with Bec Weeks, Cofounder of Pique Episode 60: Surprise and Delight Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 151: How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Dr. Matt Johnson on the show to talk about the application of neuroscience and psychology to the business world. A professor, researcher, and writer, Matt received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience from Princeton University in 2013. His focus now is ultimately about bridging the gap between science and business, and to this end, 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 writer for Psychology Today, Matt 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 in his native San Francisco and has served as an expert-in-residence to Nike’s Innovation Team in Portland, Oregon. Among other things today, we are going to talk about the book he co-wrote, called Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes our Brains. It’s fascinating stuff you definitely want to listen to today! Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Matt Johnson, co-author of Blindsight. [01:38] Among other things today, we are going to talk about the book he co-wrote, called Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes our Brains. [03:30] Matt shares more about who he is and how he got into behavioral science. He has always been driven by a curiosity about why we do what we do.  [05:33] For the past five years he has been working to explore the deep connection between neuroscience and marketing.  [08:16] They started working together as neuroscientists and marketers because of the shared realization of the similarities just separated by vocabulary.  [09:06] The mind and brain are fundamentally the same entity. They really just differ in terms of the language which is used to describe it.  [10:35] It is clear that the mind and the brain have a relationship. It is not immediately obvious what this relationship is.  [11:46] It is understood at this point that the brain produces the mind.  [14:06] “If you are led to deeply believe that your chosen shoe brand makes you a better basketball player, who’s to say that it doesn’t?” -Matt Johnson [14:35] He is very interested in the ways the consumer world shapes our belief systems and our associations that we have given brands and products.  These shifts can actually change our experiences and our perceptions of reality.  [16:04] Each new advertisement you see of Coca-Cola has changed the brain in such a way where it changes your fundamental concept of what you are consuming and this fundamentally shifts your experience.  There is this gap between objectivity and physical reality.  [17:27] Brands and consumer experiences are such a fascinating thing to study.  [19:43] Even if you have maximum exposure to the brand, they still invest in additional advertisements because of the exposure effect. The exposure effect moves the need more to preferences.  [21:29] Red Bull has continued to expand their target market to the point that now they are speaking to each of us. They started with a narrow association strategy and expanded strategically as they went.   [23:45] It is crucial to maintain brand perception by having a consistent execution with all your brand identifiers.  [24:33] Adding in a little newness can actually increase preferences even more instead of just repeat exposure.  [25:50] Matt shares about the Cadbury Gorilla and the value of doing something unexpected.  [27:11] When your consumers come to expect a certain type of brand personality or service, giving them something totally and completely different is a fantastic way to drive attention.  [27:59] The key to grabbing attention is going against the grain.  [29:57] You have to understand what the current goals of the brand are to choose the correct strategy.  [31:28] Brands have much less control over their brand image than they ever have before so brands really need to rethink how they’re constructing brand perception to begin with.  [33:23] Brands really need to adapt to this new media landscape through co-creation of the brand personality and also leaning into user-generated content.  [35:13] Matt shares his favorite tidbit from the book: psychology essentialism.  [37:13] A little story can actually go a long way. The story enhances the value of the product.  [39:31] Just like brands compete in terms of their positioning and products, they also compete in terms of their story. One of the goals of storytelling is empathy.  [40:46] We can’t empathize with groups, but we empathize with individuals very easily. Ideally oriented your story to an individual will enhance the empathic response.  [42:48] Melina shares her closing thoughts. [43:55] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Blindsight: The (Mostly) Hidden Ways Marketing Reshapes Our Brains by Matt Johnson How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Power of Story The Life-Saving Skill of Story: The Life-Saving Skill of Story (Resilience) by Michelle Auerbach Connect with Matt:  Matt on LinkedIn Pop Neuro Pop Neuro on Twitter Matt on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  Cadbury Gorilla Episode 59: Pain of Paying: Why The First Item In A Purchase Is The Hardest: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 12: Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 8: What is Value? Episode 4: Questions or Answers Episode 151: How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman Episode 101: Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 145: The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

I know these behavioral economics analysis episodes are very popular. The ones on Starbucks and Peloton have quickly risen through the ranks to become the third and fourth most downloaded episodes ever on the show (and as we are on the precipice of our 3 year anniversary that is a pretty big feat!). There are also analysis episodes on Apple Card, Costco, and Disney and as you know today we will be talking about Amazon.  I am so honored to announce that What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is now an award-winning book! The International Book Awards were just announced and my book was a finalist in two categories. According to their website and press release, books published from January 2019 to May 2021 were eligible and there were over 2000 entries amongst the various categories.  Show Notes: [00:08] Today’s episode is a behavioral economics analysis of Amazon. [01:50] I am so honored to announce that What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is now an award-winning book! [03:27] In case this is your first behavioral economics analysis episode with The Brainy Business, what you can expect is a fairly rapid-fire list of things I see from Amazon where they are using tactics that tie back to concepts from behavioral economics. [06:05] And this gets to the first and possibly most important piece of behavioral science built into the entire company of Amazon, which comes back to the biggest mistake I have said time and again most businesses make when trying to implement behavioral science into their work or just working on most projects: understanding the REAL problem you are trying to solve. [06:43] Taking the time upfront to understand the behavior that needs to be changed and what might be motivating it (and on the flip side, how to make it easy for people to change) is so important to the success of Amazon. [08:28] Truly understanding the problem before jumping into a solution is incredibly important for every business. [09:01] This brings me to another cool way that Amazon thinks differently by reframing its approach to projects. Matthew Confer and I talked about this on his recent episode on The Brainy Business, and it is called the “press release method” or the “working backward” method. [10:10] This simple mental shift, framing the project differently, can help people get out of their myopic approach to what is in front of them and ask some great questions. [11:11] Reframing with the press release method can help you to ask the right questions early enough and avoid potential cataclysmic failures. [11:29] Amazon really took herding and social proof to a new level. [12:17] Star ratings, reviews, and recommendations for what other people “like us” have done before are hugely influential in getting someone to buy. [14:02] With books, they also let you overcome that additional uncertainty by reading a few pages and taking a peek inside. [14:45] The more people who use Amazon, the better it gets. There are more options to buy from, sellers are heavily influenced to keep honest and sell good stuff or they will get bad ratings. [16:04] To help overcome the loss aversion and fear of regret, Amazon makes most returns incredibly easy. [17:17] Another way Amazon makes it easy to buy is with their 1 click purchase set up. [18:54] Simplicity and reduced friction while working with the brain makes a huge difference. [19:23] It is so important to talk about the Prime membership at Amazon. Paid on an annual basis, there are lots of perks and benefits from being a Prime member, the biggest arguably being free 2-day shipping on a huge number of items. [22:27] If you create a huge amount of value that drives loyalty and other purchases and engagement and revenue, the subscription is more of a mechanism to build the habit. And, as we are seeing from Amazon, can be far more valuable than the cost of the membership. [23:26] Look for the value you can create to make it an amazing deal that people will love and want to talk about and you’re likely on the right track. [24:44] If you are selling items, it may feel like you are being pushy to have the default be a subscription and let someone self-select to change to a single-time purchase, but that is all in your logical conscious brain. As long as you are creating value and helping someone get something they want and need, there is likely a great value to them in offering a subscription or membership or whatever the somewhat scary suggestion might be. [26:28] The main concepts with Prime Day are loss aversion and scarcity. Time pressure from short-term offers with limited quantities makes people overcome their risk aversion and become very loss averse. Scarcity with herding makes us feel something is a great value and want to jump on offers. [28:07] With how easily our brains get overwhelmed, it is amazing that the 200 million Prime subscribers are able to find what they need and buy it so quickly (across Amazon, half of purchases are made in 15 minutes or less). [31:17] They make an unbelievable amount of information seem almost effortless, which is an amazing feat when you think about it. [31:54] Melina’s Top 3 Tips for Incorporating These Lessons: 1) You need to spend more time thinking about the problem you are trying to solve. [32:35] 2) Use social proof and herding whenever you can. [33:11] 3) Make suggestions! People don’t always know what they want, so help them find their path. [34:19] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [34:24] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini Past Episodes & Other Important Links: A Conversation with Cass Sunstein on Behavioral Science and Using Nudges: Recommendations for Overcoming Covid-19 Working Backwards (the Amazon Method) Amazon Prime Reaches 200 Million Members Worldwide Total E-Commerce Sales During Amazon Prime Day Surpass $11 Billion Amazon Statistics You Should Know: Opportunities to Make the Most of America’s Top Online Marketplace Episode 73: Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 47: A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Episode 42: Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 86: Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 144: Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 157: Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion Episode 110: Survivorship Bias: Stop Missing What’s Missing (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 158: 3 Steps to Better Decision Making, An Interview with Matthew Confer Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Episode 21: Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 106: Network Effect: How to Leverage the Power of a Group (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 72: Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 14: Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 32: The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 41: Structuring Complex Choices: The “S” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 20: Defaults: Why The Pre-Selected Choice Wins More Often Than Not: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 31: Mirror Neurons: A Fascinating Discovery From A Monkey, A Hot Day, And An Ice Cream Cone: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 12: Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Check out International Book Awards Finalist, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am delighted to have Matthew Confer on the show to be share insights from (and beyond) his popular Ted Talk: Before you Decide: 3 Steps to Better Decision Making.  This talk came out before the pandemic, and Matthew also shares with us about how he and the team at Abilitie helped clients to shift through these changing times to make better decisions when there were so many unexpected shifts and choices to be made (and with a lot on the line).  As the VP of Strategy and Business Development, he definitely knows a lot on these topics and he has fascinating insights I can’t wait to share with you.  Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Matthew Confer to share the three things you need to do before you decide. [02:49] Matthew shares more about who he is and what he does. He works for a company called Abilitie and does leadership training simulations.  [04:06] They focus on three core competencies of effective leaders: people management skills, financial acumen, and strategic thinking and decision making.  [05:53] Melina shares how she did a similar simulation in college.  [08:00] Adaptability is one of the things that we want rising leaders and executives to have.  [09:16] There is a very big difference between doing and thinking about doing. [12:22] The biggest part of the simulation is that each of the participants have three time tokens of where they want to invest their time. It looks at how you piece together all the things we struggle with as leaders and make the best decision of how to use your limited time.  [15:11] From his experiences, Matthew found that there are specific traits that top teams do.   [16:18] After years of observation, he created a decision-making framework with the 3 steps for better decision-making (as showcased in his Ted Talk). Step 1) Challenge the Constraints.  [17:41] When you are looking to apply behavioral science, the spot where most people go wrong is understanding the problem that you are trying to solve.  [18:42] Time pressure is a form of stress and it changes the way we make a decision.  [20:24] Just because you challenge the constraints doesn’t mean you have to go and make a crazy decision. It just helps to see what is holding you back from making this huge breakthrough.  [21:01] Step 2) Embrace a Premortem. A premortem is so powerful because you are conditioned to not think you are going to fail.   [23:44] Planning fallacy is closely tied to optimism bias where we think we are going to be faster, quicker, and better.  [25:59] 80% of us think that we are above-average drivers. He noticed this in the simulation with leaders also.  [27:10] Step 3) Check the Basics. When decisions get more complex, small details tend to get missed.  [29:39] Taking the time to make sure you have really identified your basics is super important.  [30:01] Matthew shares an example of step one: challenging the constraints. The clients he saw that were most successful during the pandemic were the ones that threw the rule book out the window.  [32:03] It is important to reframe a problem when it comes to you. If your status quo has been shifted you should not feel like you have to do what you said you are going to do before.  [32:57] Next he shares an example for step two.  [34:12] If you're not having a conversation about what could go wrong, you are really missing an opportunity to plan effectively.  You need to put plans B and C in place to get in front of some of the problems.  [35:27] You need to be assured when you are making a drastic change or big decision, make sure those small details aren’t missed along the way.  [38:23] One of Matthew’s favorite decision-making techniques is the “press release method”.  [40:31] Writing what someone might say about you in the worst-case scenario is an interesting practice to help keep you on track so you don’t mess up because you know how bad it can be at the end.    [42:45] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [44:37] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Connect with Matthew:  Matthew on LinkedIn Matthew on Twitter Matthew’s Ted Talk Learn to Lead Podcast Past Episodes & Other Important Links:  Amazon “Press Release” Method To Reach Your Goals, Imagine You Already Tried and Failed What a 5-Step Checklist at Johns Hopkins Can Teach You About Life and Business Episode 51: Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 74: Time Pressure: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 14: Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 4: Questions or Answers Episode 34: Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 114: Stressed and Overcommitted? Tips to Tackle Planning Fallacy, a behavioral economics foundations episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 129: Melina’s Go-To Brainy Books: Behavioral Economics Books You Need To Read Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia  

Today I am beyond excited to have Bob Cialdini here to talk about the newly expanded version of his book Influence. There are 220 additional pages and a 7th principle of persuasion that has been added, which he explains in the conversation.  If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while or have a background in behavioral economics, behavioral science, or psychology, you have likely heard the name “Cialdini.” His work paved the way for so many careers and I’m pleased to report that he is just an incredibly nice person who is a delight to talk to.  During our conversation, you will notice that I ask questions from listeners just like you – how exciting is that? These questions were posed from within my free global community of behavioral economics and behavioral science enthusiasts, the BE Thoughtful Revolution, which you can join today, and maybe you’ll hear a future guest answer one of your questions during the show!  Show Notes: [00:08] In today’s episode I am so excited to be speaking with Dr. Robert Cialdini about the newly expanded version of his globally acclaimed book, Influence. [01:17] Cialdini’s work paved the way for so many careers [03:07] Bob shares more about who he is and what he does. He is a behavioral scientist with an emphasis on persuasion and social influence.  [05:52] He found a small footprint of principles that seemed to be employed in all the professions he studies and he decided to write a book on the topic.  [08:18] Bob shares the first six principles that he talks about in the book. The first is reciprocity—that people will give back to people that have given to them first.  [09:27] The second principle is liking—we like to say yes to those we know and like. We can identify genuine similarities that exist between us and then raise them to consciousness. We can also give genuine compliments.  [10:22] The third principle is social proof. When people are uncertain they don’t look inside themselves for answers so they look outside. One key place they look is to their peers.  [12:55] The fourth principle is authority.  Besides looking at peers the other principal source they look to for information is the voices of experts or authorities of the topic.  [13:41] The fifth principle is commitment and consistency. We all have a preference to be consistent with what we have already said and done especially in public.  [15:00] The sixth principle is scarcity. We want more of those things we have less of. We find those things that are scarce, rare, and dwindling in availability more attractive.  [15:47] After writing the first six principles, he started to recognize that there was one principle he had missed. The seventh principle is unity.  [18:55] Bob shares his story and lesson about the Cuban Missile Crisis.  [20:37] It turned out that Kennedy had an act of reciprocation in place and had not drawn a hard line as many thought.   [21:54] It was a reciprocal concession that helped end the Cuban Missile Crisis.  [23:48] It turns out if you look at loyalty and advocacy of your product and service it is not a problem-free experience they are looking for. Instead, it is a problem freed experience. Bob shares a problem that was resolved in favor of the customer.   [25:04] There are going to be mistakes and bobbles. If those people can then resolve the problems quickly that is what is perceived as a special kind of gift to the customer who then feels obligated to give something special in return.  [26:08] When there are mistakes, there should be budgets available to allow you to fix that mistake.  [28:07] If there is a problem, it is an opportunity to have this reciprocity benefit.  [29:13] Melina asks a listener question from Adnan: “How do your strategies of influence adapt to a digital world, for example, social media?” [31:05] The platforms and delivery systems on which those principles are presented can change but the principles don’t change. [32:18] One principle has gained greater traction than all the others with the advent of the internet and that is social proof. People now have access to the views of others all around them. 98% of people check product reviews before making a purchase.  [34:01] Another listener question from Brant: “As people are becoming more familiar with the principles of persuasion and know they are there, are they less effective now?” We should not resist those principles being employed on us if they are being employed honestly.  [36:44] Where it is true, we want people to use these principles on us. They inform us.  We have to guard against the manipulation and counterfeit of these principles.  [38:18] We have to be in a position to reward those who use these principles to inform us properly, but we have to sting those people who undercut their validity.   [40:11] When he wrote the first edition of the book there were no prior readers so he sent out an invitation for the readers to send him an account of when they witnessed the principles working on or for them successfully. He included Readers’ Reports throughout the most recent edition.  [42:21] He is thinking about writing his next book as all readers’ reports with a comment from him on each.  [43:01] Bob shares a story of the unity principle working for him after he recognized its power.  [46:00] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [48:33] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini  Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini Friction ―The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage by Roger Dooley Connect with Bob: Influence at Work Principles of Persuasion Workshops Bob on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links: Episode 23: Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Episode 149: Familiarity Bias: Why the Devil You Know Feels Safer Than the Devil You Don’t, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 76: The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude Episode 120: Precommitment: Boosting Cooperation for Yourself and Others, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 14: Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 72: Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley Episode 39: Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 40: Give Feedback: The “G” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 60: Surprise and Delight Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am so excited to have Scott Miller back on the podcast to talk about marketing and branding, some of my favorite things! I really love the way Scott puts his books together, broken into 30 chapters with great, brain-friendly tips that you can begin implementing one day at a time. Essentially, the thought is that you can take a month and learn one lesson each day to uplevel in that particular area.  As you’ll hear more in the conversation, this is the second book in a planned series of 10; the first of which Scott discussed Management Mess to Leadership Success last time he was on the show. Today is about going from Marketing Mess to Brand Success, plus a funny story about a popular product that was originally called the “I-Suck” – can you guess what it is? Hear the answer and learn more about Scott and his work in the show.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode, I’m delighted to bring back Scott Miller of Franklin Covey. [01:17] Today is about going from a marketing mess to brand success.  [04:15] Scott shares more about who he is and what he does. He is a 25 year associate of the Franklin Covey Company.  [05:00] Today, we focus on Marketing Mess to Brand Success – the second of a ten-book series.  [05:56] If you have something to say, write a book. Your book has not been written until you have written your book.  [07:44] Scott’s books are very practical and they all follow the same format with 30 challenges. The chapters are very intentionally breezy and short.  [09:14] There is enormous power in teaching through your messes.  [10:38] Scott shares his favorite marketing messes from the book.  [12:51] A lesson he learned is that you can’t control all the outcomes of a marketing campaign. He shares some of the lessons he has learned in his book.  [14:49] Melina shares her own funny story from a marketing campaign she was part of.  [17:25] It’s The Customer, Stupid is the first challenge in his book. As a marketer, you have to be the voice of the customer.  [18:55] The best salesperson isn’t the person who has committed their third-quarter goal to memory, they’ve committed their client’s third-quarter goal to memory.  [20:07] We tend to market the way we like to be marketed to. Don’t always do what you like and know best. It may not always be the right vehicle.  [22:34] Marketers need to be close to the cash.  [23:27] A marketer’s number one job is to generate revenue-paying clients.  [26:38] There is a massive difference between facts and your feelings, emotions, and opinions.  [27:48] As marketers have you done your research? Do you know what circumstance your client is in or are you guessing? [29:38] What you say are the facts might just be your own biases creeping in because you are so passionate about your idea.  [30:22] 93% of organizations achieve success with an emergent strategy, not their deliberate strategy. They often have to pivot and search for new opportunities.  [32:02] It is important to speak your customers’ language.  [33:15] The biggest messaging mistake people make is that they tell their story. They don’t tell a story that their client can find themselves in.  [36:01] Never forget you have two buyers. You have an internal and external buyer.  [37:58] Marketing is very reactive. Branding is this touchstone and is proactive.  [39:35] You have to build a brand and earn a brand with some of the outcomes of your marketing efforts. You need to have a strong marketing strategy that helps you build revenue and a brand.  [40:07] Your brand is a result of this: did you make and keep a promise? Brands are hard to build.  [41:19] Scott shares his story about a brand being a memory with Ralph Lauren. [44:51] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [45:47] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Marketing Mess to Brand Success: 30 Challenges to Transform Your Organization's Brand (and Your Own) by Scott Miller Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow by Scott Miller Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M. R. Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence by Jon Levy The Life-Saving Skill of Story: The Life-Saving Skill of Story by Michelle Auerbach Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step StoryBrand Guide for Any Business by Donald Miller Neurobranding: Strategies for shaping consumer behavior by Dr. Peter Steidl Connect with Scott:  Scott’s Website On Leadership with Scott Miller Podcast Franklin Covey Website Scott on Twitter Past Episodes & Other Important Links: Episode 148: The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey Episode 69: Management Mess To Leadership Success, an Interview with Scott Miller, EVP of Thought Leadership at FranklinCovey Episode 150: Using Behavioral Science to Build Connections, an interview with Jon Levy, author of You’re Invited Episode 145: The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach Episode 147: What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 44: Rebrand, Refresh or Reinforce? Episode 43: A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am excited to share a favorite analogy I came up with while writing my book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You. It has also been awesome to see how well this is resonating with readers, at speaking engagements, and in the interviews I’ve done so far. It is one of those great comparisons that people just get. Which I love!  I know a lot of people have been asking questions like “How do I start applying behavioral economics in my business?” or “What is the best approach?” or “Where do I start?”  This idea of behavioral baking is my answer. Because it has resonated so well, I felt it needed its own dedicated episode, so here we are.  Show Notes: [00:06] Today’s episode is all about behavioral baking. [02:21] Once you have an understanding of some key concepts in behavioral economics, it is time to start combining them for application. [03:18] Understanding the ingredients is important as you get started. A very basic knowledge can get you ready for some easy recipes. You will probably start out with something simple like a boxed mix as you establish a comfort zone. [04:56] Each new step presents another opportunity to learn, but you will grow as you rise to each challenge.  [05:19] Lesson: even when you are trying to copy something, it is harder than it looks and will take a little practice to master that new technique. [05:52] The ingredients you learn about individually at first are the concepts. They are your butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. [07:28] You don’t need every single ingredient every single time, and you don’t need to be too heavy-handed with any ingredient. What you DO need to know before you jump in is…what are you making!? [08:04] This is the part where most businesses go wrong, not spending enough time really understanding the problem before jumping into solution mode. [10:23] An example where I used this in my corporate work. [11:53] Choices are relative and heavily context-dependent. [12:25] Working with the brain will make it easier to understand and solve problems in your business. But if you don’t take the time up front to understand what you are trying to accomplish, you will still be throwing noodles at the wall. [13:49] With the consequences so distant, it is easy to ignore and not change behavior. And still, your logical brain’s approach would likely be to go with logical arguments for why this matters. [15:50] Your brain is programmed to wonder what could be (optimism bias) and fear for what might happen if you choose to leave it there and it was a winner (loss aversion). [17:12] Change doesn’t have to be hard. Changing the natural rules of the subconscious brain that have been developing for generations is hard. Understanding them and working with those habits can make seemingly insurmountable changes become easy. [18:38] The result is often more important than the path to get there. [19:56] Understanding the result you want to help your customer, member, or client experience is so important. [20:29] Remember that your brain will want to educate and feel like throwing in some extra logic “couldn’t hurt,” but it absolutely can.  [22:02] Trying to force education can actually backfire and cause people to make worse decisions in multiple areas of life. Once their brain is calmer they may have the bandwidth to learn more and build on the foundation.  [24:03] Behavioral baking is a way of thinking that can help you use behavioral economics to get to that outcome. [26:25] I’ve been a big baker my whole life. Listeners have suggested it might be fun to have me share recipes from The Brainy Business and what I’m baking (to keep the behavioral baking concept going)...what do you think? Good idea or weird? Let me know using the links below. [27:21] The result is often more important than the path to get there. [30:19] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Past Episodes & Other Important Links: Episode 75: The Littery – Interview with CEO Michael Manniche Episode 101: Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 112: The IKEA Effect and Effort Heuristic, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 34: Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 154: Failure is an Opportunity not Ending, with Madeline Quinlan Get What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am honored to be joined by Madeline (Maddie) Quinlan, co-founder of Salient. Just like last week’s guest, Nuala Walsh, you’ve heard Maddie’s voice when she was part of the contingent who came on to discuss the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, or GAABS, when it first launched in the fall of 2020.  In addition to being head of membership and a co-founder of GAABS, in her role as a director of Salient, Maddie works as a behavioral scientist and has expertise spanning private, public, and not-for-profit organizations. She focuses primarily on the areas of finance, energy, and risk management. I also love that her bio states that she believes in “relentless betterment and radical authenticity” – great word choice! Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode, I’m very delighted to introduce you to Maddie Quinlan, co-founder of Salient. [01:01] In addition to being head of membership and a co-founder of GAABS, in her role as a director of Salient, Maddie works as a behavioral scientist and has expertise spanning private, public, and not-for-profit organizations. [03:11] Maddie shares more about who she is and what she does. She has been working exclusively as a behavioral scientist for the last three years and prior to that, she worked a lot in finance.  [04:26] She shares more about her leap from finance to behavioral science.  [06:07] She ended up leaving her job in finance to go from Canada to England to obtain her master’s degree in behavioral science from the London School of Economics.  [06:46] Melina shares her (very similar!) story about the moment she knew her destiny was in behavioral economics.  [08:52] Maddie met her business partner through the program in London and they started Salient in the middle of doing their dissertations.  [11:38] If you are really pursuing something that rings true to you or something that you are incredibly passionate about...something that really embodies who you are...it becomes so much more. When you live and work that way, you end up attracting others with the same perspective and interests. Then, you can all work together to elevate that common passion over time. You find your tribe.  [12:24] Any individual behavioral scientist can still move things, but if we all band together then that is where really fundamental and impactful change can happen.  [13:59] Salient was created to bridge the gap from the academic side and practical application side and be able to take them to different sectors.  [15:32] In the world of behavioral science and behavior change, we know that some things work and we know that a lot of things don’t. [16:59] She shares one of her favorite projects in the pension space.  [17:33] If you want somebody to do something you must make it easy.  [18:57] What people think and say they want is very different from how they actually behave and show up.  [21:12] Context definitely matters when deciding if you start with questions or just jump into testing. In an ideal world you can do some qualitative testing to inform your more large and widespread quantitative work.  [22:12] They suggest piloting a lot. It is beneficial for clients, project owners, and behavioral scientists.  [25:10] Just because something didn’t happen the way you wanted it to, doesn’t mean that it is bad. It can be a good opportunity to dig in a little bit further.  [25:27] The biggest mistake businesses make when they go to apply behavioral science or behavioral economics is they start working on the wrong problem and jump straight into “solving” mode.  [27:10] The insights on what doesn’t work are just as valuable as what does.  [28:39] In her dissertation study, they found that the meditation group had a measurably higher rate of temporal (time) discounting than the control and the jazz condition. People were actually more likely to consume in the present and choose that smaller “sooner” reward over a larger “later” reward.  [29:50] We as a field need to embrace the results instead of feeling like there is a failure in a null or negative result.  [32:01] We would never have more questions if we didn’t run into roadblocks with intended results.  [33:42] You really want to shape your experiments for everything you want to find out and how you can minimize your confounding variables as much as possible.  [35:28] If we were to publish all of the behavioral insights that companies are actually using, we would all be able to do a lot better. There is a way for us to come together and share working techniques to help everyone.  [37:31] When we are changing human behavior, the risk of doing it properly is really high in some cases. Attention to the quality and rigor with which we are conducting ourselves in this field is going to be even more important.  [39:22] Maddie shares what else she is looking forward to in the next five years.  [41:06] She thinks the next phase of behavioral science will have a bigger focus on personalization. The next frontier will be tailoring individualization in behavioral science.  [43:01] Remember, there is a person behind every decision.  [45:02] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [46:41] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: Save More Tomorrow: Practical Behavioral Finance Solutions to Improve 401(k) Plans by Shlomo Benartzi Connect with Maddie:  Salient Website Salient on Twitter Maddie on Twitter Maddie on LinkedIn The Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists (GAABS) Past Episodes & Other Important Links: Episode 121: Meet GAABS! Interview with founding members of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists Episode 153: Only 1% of People Blow the Whistle at Work—How to Fix That, with Nuala Walsh Episode 126: The Most Important Step in Applying Behavioral Economics: Understanding the Problem Episode 20: Defaults: Why The Pre-Selected Choice Wins More Often Than Not: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 51: Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very honored to have Nuala Walsh join me on the show. You have heard her voice before as she was part of the contingent that came on to discuss The Global  Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists or GAABS when it first launched in the fall of 2020. In addition to her work to get that started, she is the founder of a consultancy called MindEquity, which specializes in reputation communications, conduct, culture and behaviour change. She is the former chief marketing officer at Standard Life Aberdeen and also previously worked at Blackrock, Merrill Lynch, and PA Consulting. In addition to her consulting work and research (some of which we discuss today), she is also the vice-chair for UN Women (UK), a member of the Inclusion Advisory Board at The Football Association, on the Gender Taskforce at World Athletics, and more.   Nuala is a smart person doing amazing things to be sure and also just a wonderful human. She was kind enough to be a guest lecturer in my Internal Communications and Change Management course at Texas A&M talking about how to apply behavioral economics into mergers and acquisitions. It was truly a fascinating discussion the students loved. Today we are talking about some research Nuala conducted that ended up as an article in the Harvard Business Review. This research is about blowing the whistle at work and she has made some really important — somewhat surprising — discoveries and recommendations.       Show Notes: [00:07] I’m very excited to introduce you to Nuala Walsh, to share about the behavioral science of standing up and blowing the whistle at work. [01:02] In addition to Nuala’s work to get GAABS started, she is a founder of a consultancy called MindEquity which specialized in reputation communications, conduct, culture, and behavior change.  [03:45] Nuala is a repeat guest on The Brainy Business podcast. She made her first appearance on the GAABS episode.  [04:22] Nuala shares about her background and who she is. [05:46] She does a huge amount of work for sports in the discrimination space. The purpose is to level the playing field for athletics.  [08:01] Nuala shares how she got into the diversity, equity and inclusion space. [09:47] Nuala shares her experiences working with the UN women’s Association, World Athletics, and Football Association.  [12:38] Melina reflects on a point from Jon Levy’s interview: in business, most hire for competence first, then honesty, and benevolence at some point. Benevolence is actually most important.   [14:13] Diversity starts with actually hiring diversity (not just have them included in the slate of candidates).  [15:09] One thing that companies can do is to listen to the recruitment agencies. The change really starts at the top.     [16:54] Companies should take the outside view and listen to the other groups that have independent objectivity more than themselves.   [19:02] Nuala shares her research about speaking up at work when seeing wrongdoings. Too many people witness the wrongdoing and stay silent.  [19:56] Her work really focused on how to get bystanders to act.  [21:17] 82% of whistleblowers suffer harassment. 60% of those lost their jobs and 17% lost their homes. 10% of those people attempted suicide. That is a high price to pay for speaking up.    [23:47] In her study, only 10% of people even took the first step of figuring out how to report the problem.   [26:14] It is only estimated that 1.4% of employees blow the whistle and actually do something.  [28:24] With a zero-tolerance policy people are not going to be very keen to speak up.  [31:34] The thing that struck Nuala most in her studies was the number of people that found whistleblowing as an act of courage.   [33:41] If somebody prevents some kind of disaster you can make a hero out of that story and celebrate them. It recognizes their work without putting anyone else at risk.  [34:51] When the environment changes, like working from home, people are more likely to report something (or at least say they will) [35:21] Using the courage stories as evidence-based tracking is key.  [38:38] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [40:11] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia.  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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence by Jon Levy   Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life by Kwame Christian     Connect with Nuala: (MAKE THIS COLUMN 1) Mindequity Website Nuala on LinkedIn Nuala on Twitter The Global  Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists (GAABS) How to Encourage Employees to Speak Up When They See Wrongdoing Past Episodes & Other Important Links: (MAKE THIS COLUMN 2) Texas A&M University Certificate Program Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 121: Meet GAABS! Interview with founding members of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists Episode 81: How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Episode 7: Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Episode 107: How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian Episode 149: Familiarity Bias: Why the Devil You Know Feels Safer Than the Devil You Don’t, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 46: Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 150: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 71: Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics FoundationsPrefactual Thinking Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Check out What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today there is a very special interview taking place on the show, in that the person being interviewed is…me! And, no, it isn’t me asking myself questions. I guess that is kind of like every solo episode I’ve done or much weirder where I would speak about myself in the third person.  The interviewer today is Michael Bartlett. He is the Director of Experience Innovation at JMARK and also trains people to pass the Certified Customer Experience Exam (CCXP). We got connected because he is hooked on books. As an avid book junkie, he reviews many of them on his YouTube channel, called the "CCXP Exam Simulator." As he was prepping to do a review of my new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, for his YouTube channel, he asked if I had considered having someone turn the tables a bit to interview me here on The Brainy Business. I said why not! As I’ve always found it much easier to answer questions about myself and an experience, than to just talk about it. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did! 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. Show Notes: [00:38] Today there is a very special interview taking place on the show, in that the person being interviewed is…me! [01:03] The interviewer is Michael Bartlett. He is the Director of Experience Innovation at JMARK and also trains people to pass the Certified Customer Experience Exam (CCXP). [04:24] If you want to understand customers you have to understand how their minds work.  [04:52] Melina shares her journey and interest in behavioral economics.  [07:28] Fun fact: She is a classically trained opera singer and enjoys singing – this led to a big realization about a tendency toward perfectionism in life and business.  [09:58] It can really be one piece that is throwing everything else off just a little bit.  [11:47] Our brains will limit us and feel like you pushed too far. Your body can keep going but your mind feels like you should stop.  [12:34] How our brain can hold us back psychologically in sports also translates into business.  [12:46] Michael shares about his journey.  [14:13] Melina shares how and why The Brainy Business came about. She was writing blogs for entrepreneurs and editing books as a side hustle.  [16:32] When they moved, she had a unique opportunity to really just focus on school for her master’s degree and building a new type of business around behavioral economics.  [19:04] On May 19, 2018, after encouragement from a mastermind, Melina started to rebrand her company and launched the podcast with its first three episodes on July 6, 2018.  [20:13] Melina always knew she would have a book.  [21:53] She ended up finalizing her publisher in late May 2020 and the full manuscript was due at the end of August – a summer of writing!  [23:30] When reading the book, you can focus on the areas that really interest you or learn more about a particular subject. She also includes corresponding podcast episodes.  [25:03] She had an idea of some topics that needed to be in the book. She created it similar to a “choose your own adventure” book in the way that you can follow the parts that interest you most. Interconnectivity is so critical to how the brain works and that was important to reflect in the book’s format.  [26:06] She gives her readers the opportunity to make connections to jump around in a controlled environment. She is creating a course that will be available to purchase and go along with the book and go even deeper.  [28:24] At the end of the book, Melina gives a really good example of how you can chain these techniques altogether.  [30:01] Melina really wants her readers to use, apply, and do what they set out to do with the book.  [30:50] The most important thing for when you are going to get started is spending more time thinking about the problem. Taking the time to know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and why it matters is paramount.  [31:42] You can go and use behavioral economics and have a good impact within your business if you take the time to understand the concepts and how they can work together. Everything is a learning opportunity to grow. [32:21] There are times when you should reach out and find a partner, especially if it is a really big and critical project.  [33:32] Test small and test often.  [35:18] Melina shares the books that have inspired and impacted her.  [38:02] Melina shares her two recommendations of books to really dig into behavioral economics.  [39:23] First nugget Michael really liked from Melina’s new book was when she reminded everybody about the importance of first impressions and the mode people are in when they first encounter your business.  [39:46] Michael shares two quotes that were huge takeaways from Melina’s book.  [41:35] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [42:49] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is now available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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! PLUS, get the free Companion Workbook for What Your Customer Wants within the community! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Connect with Michael: Michael on YouTube Order your copy of What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Dr. Katy Milkman joining me on the show. She has done so much amazing work over the years, some of which you have heard me share in episodes already, including the fresh start effect and temptation bundling, which as mentioned in last week’s episode with Jon Levy, is the most downloaded episode of the year to date.  I love her research and the insights she has been able to share with the world so far. As you’ll hear in today’s episode, Katy is an amazingly smart person who has a knack for finding links others may not have seen yet. She leads amazing teams of students at Wharton and works with Angela Duckworth on the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, she is also the host of the Choiceology podcast, and her brand new book, How To Change, just came out this week.  Show Notes: [00:07] In today’s episode I’m very excited to introduce you to Dr. Katy Milkman, author of the new book How To Change. [01:18] She leads amazing teams of students at Wharton and works with Angela Duckworth on the Behavior Change for Good Initiative. She is also the host of the Choiceology podcast, and her brand new book, How To Change, just came out this week. [03:34] Katy shares about her background and who she is. [05:35] Melina and Katy discuss the foreword of Katy’s new book written by Angela Duckworth (you won’t believe what she said!).  [07:53] Katy shares about her fresh start research and how it all started.  [09:11] There are moments throughout our lives that feel like new beginnings. New Years’ feels like a new beginning, but you can also have other new beginnings.  [10:34] Their research on fresh starts and the power of those moments to change our motivation and therefore our ability to make an impact for the better on our lives is the biggest ah-ha for Katy from her research.  [12:44] The fresh start research took about two years from the first conversation to the publication. It was quick because the findings weren’t subtle. (Katy and Melina discuss the differing timelines in academia and business.) [14:33] They had some results and it was clear what they had learned within a few months, but the insights and documenting of the results usually takes the longest.  [15:45] Katy shares another favorite research project she was part of about making people grittier.  [17:38] Instead of giving poorly performing students advice, they flipped the script and put them in the position to be the advice-givers to underclassmen.  [19:01] When people are asked for advice, it improves their motivation to achieve in that domain.  [20:56] There is this huge power in recognizing that when you coach others you are helping yourself.  [23:21] Too often we don’t take the time to figure out what is the actual barrier to change. [24:10] It is important to make sure you are not solving the wrong problem before you deploy your solution. [25:53] 9% of premature deaths in the world are due to inadequate physical activity. If we can figure these behavior change problems, we can really save lives. [26:48] 40% of premature deaths due to decisions that could be changed. This is a really big opportunity for impact, but it all starts with recognizing one of the challenges any individual is having.  [28:41] If I have this problem. I know a lot of people struggle with this as well. I am going to figure out the why for all of us and how we might change it and make it better. It can help you change everything by looking at it in a positive way.  [30:26] Katy shares one of the most frustrating findings of her career. A ton of things did work, but it didn’t create lifelong change. [33:23] It is important to have a reasonable goal with behavior change.  [34:52] If you want to create durable change, it has to be a durable commitment and durable solutions instead of something temporary.  [36:42] It can be really disruptive to have a fresh start if things are going really well. It is really hard to hold on and keep making progress.  [38:46] If we want to change we have to remain vigilant.  [39:27] Katy and Melina share their love for Harry Potter. [42:30] Check out the Harry Potter audiobooks. They are SO amazing!  [44:09] Mindset has a huge impact on what we can achieve.  [47:05] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [48:31] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. (NEXT WEEK!!!) 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by our guest, Katy Milkman Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth Connect with Katy:  Katy’s Website Behavior Change for Good Initiative Katy on Twitter Katy on LinkedIn Past Episodes: Harry Potter Goodness Episode 136: Temptation Bundling: A Simple Trick to Reach Your Goals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 81: How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Episode 39: Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 40: Give Feedback: The “G” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 4: Questions or Answers Episode 63: How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Episode 110: Survivorship Bias: Stop Missing What’s Missing (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 34: Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 150: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Check out (and preorder!) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Jon Levy and I am also very excited for our big milestone. This is the 150th episode of The Brainy Business podcast. Can you believe it? We now have well over 350,000 downloads in more than 170 countries (thank you, everyone, for tuning in and sharing with your friends!). You are going to learn so much interesting stuff from this conversation, I absolutely loved chatting with Jon. It’s no wonder with all the practice he has had amazing interactions with some of the most accomplished and diverse people on the planet: Grammy award winners, Nobel laureates, editors in chief, Olympic gold medalists, actors. You name it and they have probably accepted an invitation to dinner at Jon’s place. You can learn all about how he has done this and the true genius behind these fantastic interactions and getting to really know and trust people in our conversation today. Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m very excited to introduce you to Jon Levy, author of the new book You’re Invited. [02:07] The most downloaded episode of the year so far was episode number 136 on temptation bundling (fitting, since Dr. Katy Milkman will be here next week to discuss her new book! Link below). [04:39] Jon and Melina’s books are coming out on the same day, May 11th. Funny bundling ideas. :) [06:40] Jon shares about his background and some of his favorite studies.  [08:41] He spends most of his life on the application of research. There is so much we have learned about human behavior, but we very rarely use it.  [09:46] Jon shares his experiences with inviting accomplished strangers to his house for dinner.  [12:01] His objective was to bring people together and bond them in hopes that it will improve their lives and hopefully they could have a larger impact on society.  [14:16] The more novel something is, the more we are enticed to explore and understand it.  [15:33] Because of the IKEA effect, they knew if they could get people to assemble, build, or work together on something, they will bond more with each other and care about the company.  [17:23] Applied behavioral science and academic behavioral science both have their places and they are both really important.  [20:07] You don’t want to be a sponsor. You want to be a partner.  [21:20] Be a partner on two things that people will really remember instead of 10 random sponsorships. It is going to be so much more valuable and impactful over time.  [24:07] In the beginning Jon started by inviting the people he knew that were very impressive and then he kept asking for recommendations. After some time, he did hire a research team to find people to invite.  [25:37] The key is understanding what are the behaviors or interests of the general group you want to invite.  [28:26] If you can curate an environment with other high-profile people they will go far out of their way to attend.  [29:18] It is this opportunity to meet interesting people, a novel experience, and something that is generous so they don’t have to be worried that you are after anything.  [31:34] As a general rule, they have one person per industry, a maximum of two.  [32:37] At the dinners, they can’t talk about their work so they end up having the kind of conversations that you have with your best friends. These conversations are a bit more vulnerable or intimate in your life.  [34:14] Researchers in general view trust as being made up of three things: competence, honesty, and benevolence. Though they are not equally weighted. We value benevolence more than honesty, and honesty more than competence. (Unfortunately, businesses hire people the exact opposite way - shift this practice to stand out and have a better team.)  [36:27] By leveraging the IKEA effect these vulnerability loops happen quickly. We need to be on the lookout for people sending out vulnerability loop signals. [37:07] Trust does not precede vulnerability. We have to be willing to put ourselves out there if we want to have profound trust.  [38:45] Because of loss aversion we feel twice as much pain for when something doesn’t work out as the pleasure of when it does. [41:09] Networking evokes feelings of being dirty because it is not a natural way for people to connect. Instead, we want to look at how we make friends.  [41:57] Usually, shared interests or connections cause people to be friends. Participate in joint activities you actually enjoy.  [44:27] Melina share’s about quarantine activities with her family. Fun quips about Mjolnir. (Bonus points if you know what that means without looking it up! Hint: Marvel.) [45:38] Relationships will really define the quality of your life. Be willing to be a little bit vulnerable.  [47:33] When you have an activity as the social catalyst, it feels significantly less awkward.  [50:44] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [52:16] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021.  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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: You're Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence by our guest, Jon Levy Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Stephen M. R. Covey The Life-Saving Skill of Story: The Life-Saving Skill of Story (Resilience) by Michelle Auerbach Influence PEOPLE: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical by Brian Ahearn The Behaviour Business: How to apply behavioural science for business success by Richard Chataway How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy Milkman Connect with Jon:  Jon’s Website Jon on Instagram Jon on Twitter Past Episodes: (MAKE THIS COLUMN 2) Episode 148: The Speed and Economics of Trust, an Interview with Stephen M.R. Covey Episode 23: Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot Episode 54: Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Episode 145: The Power of Story, an Interview with Dr. Michelle Auerbach Episode 112: The IKEA Effect and Effort Heuristic, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 97: Peak-End Rule: Why Averages Don’t Always Matter (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 60: Surprise and Delight Episode 8: What is Value? Episode 144: Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 9: Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 133: The Best of The Brainy Business in 2020 Episode 135: Using Behavioral Science in Healthcare, Interview with Aline Holzwarth Episode 132: Decision Fatigue, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 136: Temptation Bundling: A Simple Trick to Reach Your Goals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Check out (and preorder!) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today we will be talking all about familiarity bias. Sometimes on the show, I share concepts with you that are a bit foreign. Like one of my all-time favorites in hyperbolic time discounting or even something like “choice architecture” which can sound a little intimidating. Others are like the topic of today’s show. Familiarity bias is less scary because...it’s familiar! It’s a term that is a bit like a warm hug, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things for you to learn. This is a bias that can serve you well in life and business but it also often steers people wrong. So it is important to know how it works, and what to be on the lookout for on both the positive and negative sides. Show Notes: [00:07] Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is about familiarity bias. [02:30] The subconscious brain makes decisions using rules of thumb based on predictability. It likes to know what is coming next so it can keep the reins which means it has a strong bias toward things it is familiar with. [04:03] What matters is knowing that the more people become familiar with things, the more likely they are to prefer them; to have a bias toward them. [04:22] Studies have shown that our bias toward the familiar can make it so we make worse bets, that we invest in the wrong things, that we will be more likely to hold out in jobs that we have outgrown or keep pouring money into projects we should have let go of.  [05:49] That new job opportunity or relationship or project or apartment or whatever else is presenting itself will probably be scary at first, but that doesn’t mean it is bad or wrong. Embrace the feeling and jump in knowing that soon it will be like that song you hated the first time you heard it. [07:54] Eventually, and much faster than you think, this will become familiar—the new normal. You will adjust. Look at how so many people adjusted to working from home or wearing masks during the pandemic. [09:07] Is there a “way you’ve always done things” that feels like you can’t change it but might just be familiarity bias?  [09:48] Awareness of familiarity bias can help you ask that question when you feel hesitant to take a step in a new direction. [11:59] Don’t be afraid to reuse an ad a few times, people might like it more as they continue to see it. [13:47] You don’t have to constantly feel the pressure to reinvent the wheel.  If something worked, keep doing it! Maybe you want to do a slight tweak to see if you can improve on a good thing, but if it ain’t broke, don’t throw it out and start on something new.  [15:43] It’s ok to prioritize an important project now and let something else that is doing fine sit on the shelf a little longer. It may be becoming familiar and making your customers like it (and you) even more with time. [16:58] Some things are not going to benefit you if you change them up. They could actually be a detriment.   [17:40] When you are feeling like you’ve done something a few times so people must be getting bored with it and they’ll leave if you don’t do something new and fresh, remind your conscious brain that people like familiarity!   [18:09] If you have anyone, customers or team members (or family members!) who hate the idea of a change and fight or resist at first, give it a little time to let familiarity bias set in. [19:21] What do you have in your business that is best to keep familiar for your customers? [19:48] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. 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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business:   🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Apply now to join the book launch team (and read it before anyone else!)    Past Episodes and Other Resources: Episode 51: Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 35: NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 142: Status Quo Bias: Why Change Feels Terrifying, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying Episode 144: Disney: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 147: What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: All About Melina’s First Book Preference and Belief: Ambiguity and Competence in Choice under Uncertainty Ambiguity aversion and familiarity bias: Evidence from behavioral and gene association studies Familiarity Bias PART I: What is it? What Is the Average Rate of Return on a Direct Mail Campaign? Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to have Stephen M. R. Covey with us on the show today.  In case his name sounds familiar, it’s because his father Dr. Stephen Covey wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—one of the best known and most highly acclaimed business books of all time. And his son (our guest) has done some very amazing things in his career as well, living on that family legacy of greatness. As president and CEO of Covey Leadership Center, Stephen nearly doubled revenues while increasing profits by 12 times. During that period, the company expanded throughout the world into over 40 countries, greatly increasing the value of the brand and enterprise. The company was valued at $2.4 million when Stephen was named CEO, and, within three years, he had grown shareholder value to $160 million in a merger he orchestrated with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey. His book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, has sold more than 2 million copies and is a fantastic read. While it isn’t specifically naming concepts of behavioral economics, as you’ll hear in the episode it is very well rooted in that space. Today Stephen will share his “economics of trust” equation plus a bonus qualitative measure of trust that didn’t make it into the book. (Stick around until the end to hear that.) He also touches on some of the 13 behaviors that lead to great trust, so it is all about the behavior and economics of trust.  Show Notes: [00:08] In today’s episode I’m very excited to introduce you to Stephen M.R. Covey to discuss his book, The Speed of Trust. [02:35] Stephen will share with you his “economics of trust” equation plus a bonus qualitative measure of trust that didn’t make it into the book [04:47] Stephen shares about himself and his father.   [06:25] He has a feeling of stewardship and responsibility to try to carry on his father’s legacy and the great work he has done. He is very proud of his heritage.  [08:41] In his case there was somewhat a transference of trust from his father to him, but not completely. He had to earn it as well.   [10:20] Stephen shares his experience with a large group of naysayers in the merger and how trust made it work.  [11:49] There is a risk to get real and be transparent, but there is a greater risk of not doing it.  [12:31] The power of going first—of being transparent and vulnerable—invites reciprocity back. The vast majority reciprocate and that is powerful.   [15:40] The key to influence is to first be influenced. In the words of his father, “Seek first to understand and then to be understood.” [16:27] Understanding is not necessarily agreement. If people feel understood they feel much more open to your influence.   [17:29] Trust affects everything. Trust is also learnable as a skill.  [18:50] Trust always affects two measurable outcomes: speed and cost. When the trust goes down in any relationship in an environment you will always find that the speed goes down with it and the cost goes up. That is a low-trust tax.  [19:56] When the trust goes up in a relationship, the speed goes up and the cost comes down. That is a high-trust dividend.   [22:34] Stephen shares a few illustrations of the speed of trust from his book.   [23:24] Client referrals offer a transference of trust.   [26:31] Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust. Nothing is as profitable as the economics of trust.   [28:21] The cost of distrust is very real. The speed goes down and the cost comes up.  [31:19] Smart trust is having your propensity to trust and balancing that with your analysis. Start with the heart and you will see possibilities you would never see otherwise. Then balance that with your head.  [33:46] The vast majority of people respond well to being trusted and they rise to the occasion. They perform better, develop capabilities, and reciprocate by giving the trust back to you.  [36:02] Most leaders can be far more trusting than they are being. Our big challenge is that we are not trusting enough.  [37:47] There is actually more control in a high trust culture than there is in a rules-based culture.  [39:02] Two great practices are to declare your intent and assume positive intent as a starting point. Be trusting as well as trustworthy.  [41:19] It can help you build trust enormously well and fast to have a process for accountability upfront.   [43:01] Energy and joy are the two keys on the qualitative side. When the trust goes up in a relationship, the energy and joy in all forms go up with it.  [45:01] In high trust cultures people are more energized, more engaged, less stressed, and less burned out.  [47:13] Inspiration is the new engagement.  Inspired employees are far more productive than engaged employees.  [47:49] To be trusted is the most inspiring form of human motivation. It brings us the very best in all of us.   [49:44] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [51:01] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. 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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business:   🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Apply now to join the book launch team (and read it before anyone else!)  Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything By Stephen M.R. Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen R. Covey Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life By Nir Eyal FRICTION―The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage By Roger Dooley Connect with Stephen:  Speed of Trust Website Stephen on Twitter Stephen on LinkedIn Past Episodes:  Episode 78: How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal Episode 72: Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley Episode 87: Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Episode 21: Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On? Episode 23: Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot Episode 102: Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences Episode 46: Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 92: Fundamental Attribution Error: Why the Pot Insists on Calling the Kettle Black Episode 32: The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 62: Game Theory: Life And Business Are A Game…Do You Know The Rules? Episode 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood Episode 19: Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying Episode 112: The IKEA Effect and Effort Heuristic, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

I can hardly believe the topic of this episode! It has been such a long time in the making and I’m so honored and overjoyed to be able to share this with you. My first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, is coming out and will be available in the world starting May 11, 2021 in the US and shortly thereafter around the world. This book has been a labor of love and I am so unbelievably ready for it to be out in your hands!  In this episode, I will let you know what to expect when you get your copy of the book, why I wrote it, and some behind-the-scenes details from the process.  Show Notes: [00:08] Today’s episode is a sneak peek at my brand new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You. [02:29] I’ve known for a long time that I want to write a book (many books if I’m honest...so expect more in the future!). I would say that I have been pretty actively pursuing the process of getting an agent and a publisher since late 2018 when the podcast was really gaining some good traction. [04:04] A behind the scenes look of how I found my publisher. [04:47] The next step was to finalize the best approach to my first book, and it was determined that going with a format that is very much in line with what you have come to know and love here on the podcast: what behavioral economics is, why it matters, and how to start applying it in business. [06:29] Smart brands work with the subconscious mind of the customer, and can uncover things people didn’t even know how to articulate for themselves. These are our favorite brands, the ones that change the world because they are so perfect people can’t help but fall in love with them. [07:30] Now with the power of behavioral economics we can understand the science of why people buy. There are business case studies and academic research among many fields and two Nobel prizes paving the way for businesses to use a recipe of sorts to begin applying this themselves. [09:08] Existing books from the field were either too mainstream or too focused for people in business to use for application. I saw this space in the middle (and knew it existed from the thousands of you around the world who love The Brainy Business podcast). [10:04] There was a gap, and so I have filled it with this book. That’s why I wrote What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You. To give a practical how-to guide that you can actually use to start applying behavioral economics in business and uplevel your career. It is backed by tons of research, interviews, and my own experience over the years as an applied behavioral economist. [11:31] It is conversational and fun to read so you will retain what you learn and keep going through the material while giving you the insights you need to start using the information.  [11:50] This book is not meant to sit on a shelf collecting dust. It isn’t a one and done. It is created to make it really easy for you to use again and again, project after project.  [12:03] There is a free PDF workbook that goes along with the book you can download off my website (which will come out when the book does in May) with all sorts of tactics and ways to use the insights beyond what could fit in the book. [13:05] It matters to me that everyone around the world has access to the awesomeness that is behavioral economics AND that they can start using it in a way that will get them results. [13:54] This book was carefully curated into four parts, which are intentionally presented in a specific order.  [14:01] Part one helps you see your brain differently, to know how it really works, and be open to learning.  [14:33] Part two is dedicated to the concepts that are most applicable in business. [15:34] At the end of each of these chapters you will find some tips and a prompt to start applying the information yourself. There is also information on the corresponding episodes of the podcast so you can go learn more about each concept, AND there is a section letting you know where you will see that particular concept come up again in part three of the book. [16:14] The concepts you will find in part two of the book are framing, priming, anchoring & adjustment, relativity, loss aversion, scarcity, herding, social proof, nudges and choice architecture, the paradox of choice, partitioning, the pain of paying, surprise and delight, the peak-end rule, habits, and reciprocity. [17:38] Part three builds upon the foundations (concepts) from the previous section and shows how they can be combined in various ways to get incredible results for businesses. [19:00] Similar to the experience in part two, each chapter ends with a list of the concepts that were included within the stories or information in that chapter, so you can easily reference back to them as you begin the application process using the prompts provided. [20:30] Part four is what helps this book be more than an interesting read. It shares some of your brain’s biases and tricks that are there to keep you feeling safe but keep you stuck when you actually want to change. [21:22] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. [23:02] Thank you so much to everyone who has already preordered. It has been awesome to see traction already. The book has hit #1 new release status in multiple categories on Amazon including market research business books and business encyclopedias, many weeks before it is even available which is so cool. At one point so far it was in the top 25,000 books selling on Amazon of the nearly 50 million they have there, which is amazing. [23:39] Thank you to the early readers and supporters.  [24:11] What an amazing ride it’s been getting this book ready. I can’t wait for you to receive yours and to hear what you think! 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. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 More details about the book (and to get that PDF workbook when it’s available) Get your free chapter of What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You Why Behavioral Economics? Past Episodes: Episode 69: Management Mess To Leadership Success, an Interview with Scott Miller, EVP of Thought Leadership at FranklinCovey Episode 72: Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley Episode 78: How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal Check out (and preorder!) What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am so excited to have Kwame Christian back on the show. Kwame was first on the show back in July of 2020 in episode 107. There aren’t a lot of repeat guests on the show because there are so many people out there I want to talk to and share with you; I am constantly trying to find new voices to bring on.  That being said, I had to have Kwame back for a few reasons.  For one thing, we have become friends over this past year and I know how much fun he is to talk to and such a wealth of information. When he came on the show we talked about having difficult conversations around race and inequality, which was influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement, the death of George Floyd, and other horrible events that started coming to a greater light in spring 2020. While Kwame quickly became a prominent voice in that space, it isn’t his main focus or real area of genius. While prepping to have Kwame guest lecture for a class I recently taught on internal communication and change management at Texas A&M, I saw that he had a guide about using anchoring as a tool in negotiation and it was a clear opportunity to have him back to talk about his truest expertise – negotiation techniques.  Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m so excited to have Kwame Christian back on the show, a rare repeat guest, to talk about using anchoring in negotiations. [03:02] Kwame is the director of the American Negotiation Institute and host of the #1 negotiation podcast in the world, Negotiate Anything, which has over 2 million downloads in more than 180 countries. [05:27] At the American Negotiation Institute they do negotiation trainings and business consulting.  [08:30] Kwame has a background in psychology.  [08:47] Kwame’s philosophy for life is that the best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations. His goal is to make these difficult conversations easier so you can live the best version of your life.  [09:04] Negotiation is a life philosophy that we filter every life conversation through. He thinks of every conversation in terms of a negotiation.  [11:39] There is a bias where we think that negotiation has to be adversarial. It doesn’t need to be that way.  [12:00] Negotiation is any time you are in a conversation and somebody in the conversation wants something. The people that you negotiate with the most are the people closest to you.  [14:24] In every situation somebody wants something even if it is just to be heard or understood.  [15:14] If you think of a conversation as a negotiation then you are going to be more explicit with your desires and invite the other person to share what it is they want out of the interaction.  [17:31] Any interaction (even when money doesn’t exchange hands), you are still trying to sell someone an idea that you need them to buy in on.  [18:06] Anchoring is the most powerful negotiation technique. You should always try to use it in some capacity.  [18:31] Anchoring with the most aggressive request that you can reasonably justify.  [21:02] If you have as much information or more information then you make the first offer because then you are in a position to create a competent anchor. If you have less information then you let them make the first offer and then you counter them.  [22:56] There are some glaring mistakes you can make if you anchor without having enough information.  [25:08] We need to be able to distinguish between rejection and resistance.  [27:58] The things you say have an impact. You want to calibrate that impact for maximum impact.  [29:57] Negotiation Genius talks about how to play defense when someone else anchors you.  [31:20] Anchoring plays a huge role in our psychology and if we don’t recognize it we are going to do things that have a subtle impact on the subconscious of the person on the other side.  [33:37] Negotiating the agenda is one of the most important negotiations that does not occur.  [36:23] You have to be more mindful about what you are trying to accomplish.  [37:42] It is helpful to know what the person you are negotiating with cares about most.  [40:01] We have to ask questions and learn as much as we can so that we can try to solve the right problems.  [40:44] Assertiveness is taken differently depending on who you are. The way you frame something may be different depending on your gender.  [42:37] We have to play in the world we live in, but we can be doing things on the side to try and change them in the future.  [43:19] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [45:05] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. 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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Apply now to join the book launch team (and read it before anyone else!)    Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: Finding Confidence in Conflict: How to Negotiate Anything and Live Your Best Life by Kwame Christian Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Negotiation Genius: How to Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Brilliant Results at the Bargaining Table and Beyond by Deepak Malhotra Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg Connect with Kwame:  American Negotiation Institute Negotiate Anything Podcast How to Combat Confirmation Bias with Melina Palmer Ask with Confidence Podcast Ultimate Negotiation Guide Past Episodes:  Episode 11: Anchoring  Episode 107: Interview with Kwame Christian Episode 16: Framing Episode 12: Relativity Episode 9: Loss Aversion Episode 18: Priming Episode 32: Overwhelmed Brain Episode 23: Reciprocity Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Michelle Auerbach. She and I met a few weeks back by an introduction from another podcast where we had both recently been guests, and it was clear we had a lot in common. When we had our “getting to know you” conversation I learned that Michelle’s work was all about the power of story (while I happened to be working on the curriculum for my upcoming class on Creating BEtter Presentations using behavioral economics and story for Texas A&M University. (Register here) During the conversation, we touch on several concepts that have their own past episodes, including those on the novelty and stories, nudges, framing, status quo bias, DOSE brain chemicals, and many more. Show Notes: [00:06] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Michelle Auerbach, author of Resilience: The Life-Saving Skill of Story. [01:59] Emotion is needed to make decisions, and stories evoke emotions. [03:48] Two days ago Dr. Auerbach defended her dissertation. (Congratulations!) [05:08] Story has always been an enormous part of Michelle’s life.    [07:14] She wanted to do change management in an organization because it is a place where all of the wisdom we’ve handed down shows up and helps people in their real everyday lives.   [09:09] Story does four really important change tasks.  [10:07] Story moves stuff from your short-term memory across to your long-term memory and allows you to hold on to information. It also allows you to see possibilities that you wouldn’t see otherwise.   [11:40] Story is a biologically based mechanism for getting things done well.  [13:35] If you really focus on one great story, it has so much power behind it.   [15:16] Dopamine and Oxytocin create prosocial behavior.   [17:11] Hero's Journey is so complicated and has so many steps. If you do it right, you end up with the good stuff (but if you don’t have the time or devotion it could be a jumbled mess).   [18:36] Michelle shares her three-part story structure: set the stage for what is going on, describe the trouble, what you did about it, and the benefits.  [20:54] Tell us what is going on, take us on a little journey where we explore the things that we need to know, and then tell us what you came to.  [22:53] Story matters no matter where you are and you can tell stories in different ways.  [24:19] Allowing diversity in the ways stories are told is fabulous.    [26:03] If you are on a team with people from more than one culture have everyone tell one of their favorite stories from childhood.   [27:44] Helping the audience participate in shaping the experience will make it so they are more invested and more likely to want to move forward (IKEA Effect).   [28:38] If you have a very strong why and you can bring that into the room in a very tactile way people will spend the rest of the day leading from that place.  [29:17] Melina shares about story cubes (get your own with the link below!)   [31:02] It is the details that evoke feelings that make the story work. Anything you can do to add visuals to storytelling is a really good idea because it helps to evoke feelings in another way.   [33:47] To be able to use a biological-based system for talking about it allows people to have better conversations, be more open, and feel more grounded while they are doing it.  [35:11] Story listening is important too. You can evoke good stories from people in a way that is healing to the people telling the stories.   [36:54] Decision making is impossible without feeling and stories evoke feeling.  If you need people to make a decision in the room, you need to be telling stories along with the data you are giving.  [38:07] Storytelling definitely gets people over the hump of overvaluing their current state and undervaluing the change.  [39:03] Start by listening to other people’s stories and hear what you like and what doesn’t work for you. What is really possible for you? [40:18] Ask the three story questions: What was going on? What did you do about it? What happened? [42:23] If you say this is what was going on, this is what I did about it, and this is what happened to me, people wonder what would have happened for them and start to take it in more deeply instead of saying you're supposed to feel this way about this thing.  [44:53] Simple and positive nudges can have a huge impact on behavior.   [47:05] Everybody can be a great storyteller.   [50:01] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [51:32] Melina’s first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia. Buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. 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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business:   🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Apply now to join the book launch team (and read it before anyone else!)    Get the Books & Tools Mentioned on this Episode: Resilience: The Life-Saving Skill of Story by professor Michelle Auerback The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni Story Cubes Past Episodes and Other Important Links: You Better Behave! - Melina is the MC for this free virtual masterclass - join us March 31! Michelle’s Website Michelle on LinkedIn Modaka Communications Michelle on Instagram Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Certificate Program Creating BEtter Presentations Change Management Framing Novelty & Stories Priming Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals Mirror Neurons IKEA Effect Interview with Kwame Christian Availability Overview of Personal Biases Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Status Quo Bias Interview with Michael Schein Expect Error Give Feedback Disney Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

It has been over a year since there was a company analysis episode on the show and they are coming back by popular demand! In addition to this episode about the happiest place (and perhaps the most magical company) on earth, there are behavioral economics analysis episodes on Apple Card, Costco, Peloton, and Starbucks (which quickly rose through the ranks to become the third most downloaded episode of all time) here on The Brainy Business. Links to all those (and so much more) below. Disney is such a massive company this episode could have gone in a lot of different ways (and I would guess it won’t be the last time you hear me talk about Disney on the show). Today is mostly focused on traditional Disney: amusement parks, movies, and a bit about Disney+. I’ll go through a whole bunch of concepts from behavioral economics that I see them using/leveraging in their work, and explain what you can learn from Disney in your business. Show Notes: [02:10] It is important to acknowledge that Disney is a massive organization with many, many facets and paths I could have taken this episode down. I would be willing to bet that there could be an entire podcast that is exclusively dedicated to the behavioral science of Disney and it would not run out of content.  [03:12] Knowing coronavirus has impacted their numbers, before the pandemic, they were reported as having 210,000 employees and revenue of about $60 billion. [03:23] That is before launching Disney+, which has been the most successful launch of a streaming service to date. In a little over a year, Disney+ is over halfway to being the largest streaming company in the world. [05:38] Their focus on innovation and always working to be better makes them stand out.  Among the 210,000 employees I mentioned earlier, there are over 20 behavioral scientists, along with hundreds of imagineers creating the amazing features and attractions around the parks and experiences throughout the world. [06:14] They have an incredible talent for balancing expectations with surprise and delight in this beautiful dance that works with the brain’s bias for the status quo. [07:11] If any of the things you expected of Disney were to change it would be a letdown and a negative experience. You would have negative dopamine because your expectations weren’t met and it can tarnish the brand. [07:57] These constant little tweaks and adaptations keep it fresh at Disney without being so different you lose the nostalgia factor and trigger ambiguity or uncertainty aversion. Enough remains the same to find that perfect balance of new and nostalgic. Because we have a bias for the familiar and love to share particularly great experiences with others, especially the next generation, it is important to keep some things static even over decades. [08:51] This embracing of nostalgia goes beyond the parks. Their movies and merchandise build on this concept as well. [11:12] Our brains love a little novelty and Disney incorporates theirs along with the IKEA effect. [11:36] Disney has little surprises throughout their parks. For example, the hidden Mickeys around Disneyland and Disney World–reportedly about 1000 per park. [12:19] Disney also does a great job of putting little “easter eggs” in their movies, particularly in its subsidiary brands. [13:36] Those little wins that help you feel smart also help you shape your experience with the brand. You look for little hidden gems and get to be part of the magic. [14:45] Being part of the fun and shaping the experience makes people like it more, and in Disney’s case, it is also a great way to sell lots of other merchandise. [15:57] Scarcity creates buzz and excitement, we herding humans love to follow the crowd and if we see some social proof that an item is popular AND in short supply we can’t help but get excited. [16:40] Having others spread the word about you and create their own fan version of your creations is another great reflection of how much people love Disney. [18:27] Really thinking through those experiences, caring that much, is a gift (reciprocity), and one that people repay Disney with by being loyal fans of the entire organization.  [20:08] When there is something to DO it is easier to forget about how long you are waiting (combating idleness aversion). [21:19] Turning that line into a dopamine generating anticipation-building experience is a great way to make it so we end up loving the thing we probably would have thought we would hate! That anticipation is made possible by making the experience fun and getting people excited about what is to come.  [22:35] Our brains love that little tease and waiting to see if something is going to live up to our expectations, we will hype it up in our brains while waiting to see what happens. [23:25] Some of the guiding principles at Disney include Mickey’s 10 Commandments. Think of these as a handbook or a set of value statements. [24:58] When you expect error (a key concept of nudging) and think about all the ways to make it easy for people to not get stuck, it can make for a much better overall experience. [26:08] Consider the simple frame of being “the happiest place on earth” or “where dreams come true.” This frame works as a prime for the experience people have with the brand. It’s a very simple tactic, but hugely important. Not only does it shape the customer experience, but it can shape the employee experience as well. [27:21] Going through a process of making the impossible possible means a lot of variety from one project to the next, so they leave lots of room to let each project have a flexible approach. However, because there is some framework needed, they have a set of questions to help guide every project. [29:29] Asking great questions adds to that thoughtfulness and makes your entire brand experience different. [30:35] Disney starts with a great story and then says, “What can we build around that story?” It might be content or an experience or merchandise, but it is secondary to that tale we love. [31:57] Know what you are about, why you exist, and how you are creating value in the world, then look for ways to incorporate that brain friendliness to make the best possible experience. [32:25] Asking great questions adds to that thoughtfulness and makes your entire brand experience different. [33:19] My first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble order yours today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. 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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble 🎉🎉🎉 Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: Ripple: The big effects of small behaviour changes in business, by Jez Groom & April Vellacott Choice Hacking: How to use psychology and behavioral science to create an experience that sings, by Jennifer Clinehens Past Episodes and Other Important Links: You Better Behave! - Melina is the MC for this free 6-hour virtual masterclass - join us March 31! The Psychology Behind Disney’s “10 Commandments” for Experience Design The Science Hiding in Mickey's Pixie Dust Disney Proves That Profitable Marketing Is About Brand Stories Be Like Disney: Why You Should Embrace Imagineering Principles in Branding 10 Examples of Great Disney Marketing Campaigns Disney-Themed Celebrity Portraits By Annie Leibovitz How Disney Built An Empire By Designing Brand Experience 5 Reasons Why Disney+ Is Breaking Records While Making History Disney Plus to Increase Prices in Early 2021, Eyes Up to 260M Subscribers by End of 2024 9 Reasons People Keep Going Back to Walt Disney World Why are so many adults obsessed with Disney theme parks? Throwback Thursday: What a Disney Princess Used To Be Magic Moments: What can the retail industry learn from Disney? What Companies Does Disney Own? Disney says it now has 94.9 million Disney+ subscribers Experience By Design Is there a secret city under Walt Disney World? Here's an upside-down Mickey at the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Frontierland Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Interview with Jennifer Clinehens Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions Herding Social Proof Framing Priming Peak-End Rule Loss Aversion Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals Habits Surprise and Delight Status Quo Bias IKEA Effect Questions or Answers Scarcity Reciprocity NUDGES & Choice Architecture The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Do you think that hyping up yourself or your business is a good thing, or does it feel a little shady to you? Join me in this episode of The Brainy Business as I interview Michael F. Schein, author of the book The Hype Handbook: 12 Indispensable Success Secrets from the World's Greatest Propagandists, Self-Promoters, Cult Leaders, Mischief Makers, and Boundary Breakers, who, among many other topics, discusses his take on that and how he personally believes hype to be a good thing. After Michael featured The Brainy Business in Psychology Today as the #1 psychology podcast that every businessperson should listen to, he was also kind enough to send me an advanced copy of The Hype Handbook, which is full of great stories across history and different disciplines. I read the book and loved it and couldn't wait to talk with him on this podcast about the 12 ways businesses can use hype to find their audiences and create a dedicated following. In today’s episode, Michael offers invaluable tips and advice such as positioning yourself against ideas with which you disagree, packaging and branding yourself effectively, being confident in your own unique way, embracing theater and drama, using facts and figures in a way that is not boring, and so much more. We also touch upon topics that have been discussed in past episodes of The Brainy Business, such as herding, biases, framing, and many others. 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. Time Stamps [0:00] – Introduction to this episode's guest, Michael F. Schein. [3:15] – Michael shares his background, explaining how he got into the business he's involved in now and why he wrote The Hype Handbook. [5:51] – Melina praises The Hype Handbook, pointing out that she loves the connections that it makes throughout history. [8:29] – Melina and Michael comment on the problem with trying to copy what others have done in that it's not going to be innovative when you do it. [10:48] – Michael explains why he used the word hype in his book title and what the word means to him, giving hip hop music as an example of something that has had to use hype to succeed. [13:18] – Melina mentions her favorite TED talk and talks about the importance of appreciating your first follower. [14:02] – Michael offers abstract art as an example of something that was generally hated when it first came out but is now so popular it’s almost mundane. [15:48] – Michael discusses the first strategy from the book – make war, not love – emphasizing that it's the foundation on which the other 11 strategies are built. [19:04] – Michael suggests positioning yourself against an idea that a lot of people seem to share in your industry, which you fundamentally disagree with (there are followers waiting for whomever is first to speak up). [20:10] – Michael shares Basecamp as an example of how positioning yourself against ideas works and is powerful. [22:56] – Melina points out that even though Basecamp is user friendly, some people do still prefer more complex systems. [24:15] – Michael expounds upon another one of his strategies – packaging and branding. [26:18] – We learn that we should focus on our weaknesses rather than our strengths and see if there is a way to turn the weaknesses into strengths. [28:47] – Melina and Michael agree that confidence in things such as pricing is crucial. [30:55] – Michael mentions his Psychology Today article in which he named The Brainy Business as the #1 psychology podcast businesspeople should listen to. [33:44] – Michael provides his insight on survivorship bias and the importance of hyping yourself up. [36:24] – Michael offers Tony Robbins as an example of someone who fits his strategy of embracing theater and drama. [38:14] – Michael explains his strategy of making things scientific and using facts and figures in an interesting way. [40:16] – Michael provides an example of branding yourself as an expert by using scientific lingo. [42:58] – Michael comments on behavioral economics and how Melina has made use of it using his first strategy: make war, not love. [45:01] – We learn about how Simon Sinek has used a simple slogan to sell his ideas. [47:27] – Michael further discusses Sinek and his video about millennials. [50:00] – We discover how we can connect with Michael online by joining HypeReads (and many more links in the list below) [51:28] – Melina encourages everyone to reflect on whether or not Michael's take on hype has changed how you think of it. [55:16] – Melina shares an interesting story about Michael’s serendipitous timing in reaching out as she completed her new book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You). Now on presale – will you help spread the word? Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: The Hype Handbook Rework The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph Start with Why Connect with Michael: HypeReads Microfame Media Michael on Twitter Michael on LinkedIn Past Episodes and Other Important Links: “21 Psychology Podcasts Every Businessperson Should Listen To” Derek Sivers - “How to Start a Movement” (TED Talk) Simon Sinek - “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” (TED Talk) Simon Sinek - “Millennials in the Workplace” Episode 19 - “Herding: Come on and Listen... Everyone Else Is Doing It” Episode 16 - “Framing: How You Say Things Matter More than What You're Saying” Episode 32 - “The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making” Episode 45 - “Overview of Personal Biases” Episode 110 - “Survivorship Bias: Stop Missing What's Missing” Episode 123 - “Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals” Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today is all about status quo bias. This is perhaps one of the most foundational foundations there is. It truly is at the center of so many biases and heuristics the brain uses to make decisions, which is why you have heard me talk about it a lot on the show.  Most recently, I talked about this on episode 139 on the endowment effect, and that is because these two are commonly combined with loss aversion to come up with a “trifecta” that keeps us stuck. In today’s episode, I’ll go beyond explaining what status quo bias and why it is such a foundational foundation...and give you tips for how to be more effective personally, with colleagues, and the two ways to use it with customers (if you get it wrong it can mean a huge loss in conversions!) Show Notes: [00:41] Today we will be talking all about status quo bias which is perhaps one of the most foundational foundations there is. [02:34] First: a reminder of how the brain works. All our brains have a conscious and subconscious processing working concurrently all the time. [03:07] The subconscious is in charge 99% of the time. [03:52] The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. [04:52] The subconscious decides what is considered “normal” by using biases and heuristics (or rules of thumb). Things that have worked in the past that it believes apply to that specific situation by a millisecond choice. [05:29] Your brain wants to have as much as possible processed by your subconscious because it is more efficient. It uses less energy. It is faster and it thinks it knows best. Because the subconscious is a creature of habit and predictability, it isn’t surprising that it has a very strong bias for the status quo. [06:27] The status quo can change based on whatever we’ve become accustomed to and that can change greatly over time. [07:56] Now that the change is upon you, the stuff you know and are used to looks pretty darn good. [08:25] This feeling that the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t is inherent in choices we make every day to maintain that status quo. [08:55] Melina shares an interesting article in Psychology Today which talks about a thought experiment from two different angles. [11:49] What would you choose in each case? [13:13] Wanting to keep things the same or feeling immense stress or fear about the idea of starting something new doesn’t mean the old thing is better or that the new thing is worse or a bad decision. It just means that it is new, and you know that already! That is probably what drew you to the opportunity in the first place. [13:59] If you were looking to do something new and have done the due diligence, embrace that feeling as a good sign and move forward with confidence. It will become a habit before you know it and be a new status quo you can’t imagine living without. [15:36] The pandemic was a massive, forced shift in circumstance caused (essentially) everyone on earth to have their status quo bias shaken up in a way that we had to try new stuff to find a new normal. Solutions that were once unfathomable are now easy. [17:05] There are ways to work with the biases of the brain so they will be less impactful when presenting change. If you do that well, people will generally adjust to the new norm and establish a new bias toward that status quo. [19:12] It is very important to consider the context of your relationship with the customer when determining how to present information for them and which way to use status quo bias.  [20:26] The way you frame your message is really critical and a subtle shift in the way you talk about the status quo can be a huge swing in retention rates. [21:42] Don’t include too many choices or too much extra stuff, because, as I already said, when people get overwhelmed they are more likely to go with the status quo. [22:34] Recap: The first most important thing to remember is that status quo bias is a foundation for a reason. It is firmly rooted in the way our brains work and it will always be present. [22:58] When you are looking or planning for a change, know that the feeling of fear as you get close to pulling the trigger on it doesn’t mean you are on the wrong track. [24:27] I’m the closing keynote for the Y conference from the Insights Association taking place virtually on March 9 and 10. The tickets are very affordable and free to their members and corporate researchers, so go check it out with the link in the show notes. [24:45] It was also just announced that I will be the MC for the You Better Behave! Virtual masterclass taking place from 12:00-6:00 Eastern on March 31. This is also virtual and has keynotes from Nir Eyal and Tim and Kurt from Behavioral Grooves, as well as confirmed speakers from Bayer, Reebok, Nestle, and more. [25:37] My first book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) is officially on presale and available on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble so you can buy today and be one of the first to receive a copy when it officially launches May 11, 2021. 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.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Preorder Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble 🎉🎉🎉 Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: Good Habits, Bad Habits by professor Wendy Wood Past Episodes and Other Important Links: The Y Conference - Melina is the closing keynote on March 10! Sign up today! You Better Behave! - Melina is the MC for this free virtual masterclass - join us March 31! Anomalies: The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Status Quo Bias in Decision Making What is Status Quo Bias in Sales and Marketing? How Powerful Is Status Quo Bias? Endowment Effect Loss Aversion Change Management Framing Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual The Power of Habit Interview with Wendy Wood Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Jennifer Clinehens. She is currently CX Strategy Director at Havas CX Helia, London, where she uses behavioral science and psychology to improve the customer experience for brands like Lloyds Banking Group and Compare the Market. Jennifer has helped mold experiences with behavioral science for brands like McDonald's, AT&T, O2, and Adidas across the globe.  She is also the author of four books including the one we will be discussing today, Choice Hacking: How to use psychology and behavioral science to create an experience that sings, AND she has two different podcasts, Choice Hacking and Everybody Hates Your Brand. Wow, talk about a busy and productive person, amirite? 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. Show Notes: [00:40] Today I am so excited to introduce you to Jennifer Clinehens. She is currently CX Strategy Director at Havas CX Helia, London. [03:05] Jennifer shares her background and how she got involved in behavioral science. She has been lucky to work for many companies across many countries.  [04:35] A lot of the work she has been doing lately has been about the intersection between behavioral science and psychology. She takes those principles and applies them to experience design.  [06:48] One of the big things Jennifer does is framing touchpoints.  [09:39] Crossing over from one medium to another is a difficult point where we often lose some potential customers. There are a lot of steps that happen in the customer journey process.  [10:28] Generally, when you design a customer journey you use a customer journey map: a visual representation of what the customer journey is.  [10:45] On a map the customer journey is linear, but in real life it is messy. Yes, we have a beautiful picture of what the customer journey should be, but in the back of your mind, you have to be pragmatic.  [11:49] The closer we can get to design touchpoints and customer communications with a scientific approach or foundation to apply it to the real world the better it is.  [13:08] The number one thing brands seem to get wrong (or miss completely) is peak-end and applying it across the customer journey. The emotional journey is the secret sauce.  [14:17] A lot of brands get their ending wrong. They don’t know where the real ending is.  [15:41] Brands, in general, don’t realize that the last mile (the true ending) is so critical in so many ways.  [16:17] Jennifer shares an example of Disney realizing the customer journey didn’t end when you left their park.  [17:19] Making the very end of your experience even better and more exciting means your memory of the time you spent in Disneyland is even better. It is how you are constructing the memory, it is not about every single moment you had. It is that emotional peak and true ending that matter.  [17:57] “A brand is a memory.” Peter Steidl (from one of Melina’s “go-to” brainy books, Neurobranding, linked below) [20:33] There are a few different ways you can look for that true end in your business.  [21:44] Part of the issue of finding that true ending also has to do with silos.  [23:56] The brands that measure on a journey-level versus a touchpoint level have much more value at the end of the day.  [25:32] Melina shares how an online mattress company handles its customer journey.  [27:16] It is important to think through all the moments in the experience: where there could be problems and frustrations and turning it into a really great shareable moment/story. Then you have different associations with that brand.  [28:30] Going that little bit extra and saying “Is that really the end of the customer experience?” is so important.  [29:14] Jennifer shares some of her favorite concepts. Peak-end is her favorite, but the most overlooked is visual salience.  [31:27] Melina shares her experience when she toured the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M.  [33:46] Jennifer encourages brands to have someone who is responsible for making sure effectiveness and emotion are being delivered on in the journey level.  [36:20] When you know what you are looking for then you can see if you are on track and put in those nudges. If you don’t know the end game, it is not as effective as it could be. The quality of the work is in the quality of the brief.  [38:06] Making choices easy is so much of what they do. Getting brands to understand where to get people ready to buy is the first step.  [39:15] The first thing they do is think: “Where are the points we need to be nudging to action?” and “Where are the points we need to be inspiring people?” They are usually not the same place.  [39:23] The book Choice Hacking is a good first start for people to think about a framework to apply this at the journey level.  [40:11] Melina’s closing reflections. [41:46] Grab Melina’s brand new book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You), which is now on presale! 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: Choice Hacking Free Chapter of Choice Hacking Neurobranding Connect with Jennifer: Jennifer on Twitter More About Jennifer Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Texas A&M Certificate Program Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab iMotions (The main software the Human Behavior Lab runs on.) NUDGES & Choice Architecture Framing Priming Interview with Will Leach Peak-End Rule Surprise and Delight The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Interview with Roger Dooley Time Discounting Reciprocity Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I get the honor of introducing you to Dr. Benny Cheung, a director of DecTech. You may remember that company’s name as Dr. Henry Stott, a cofounder, joined me on the show in episode 130 to discuss some of their other work.  This conversation digs deeper on a specific project that Benny worked on to reduce opportunistic insurance fraud. You’ll get to learn all about it during the episode and I promise it is fascinating to learn how some simple nudges can help reduce a problem of, essentially, little white lies that were costing the UK insurance industry a billion pounds each year.  We also get to learn a little about Benny and the research he did studying creatures that may seem very different from humans, but whose behavior we can still learn quite a bit from. He completed a Ph.D. and a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in the field of behavioural science at the University of Cambridge before joining Dectech. During his academic career, he was involved in commercial projects in the clinical research and biotechnology industries. His areas of expertise include retail, eCommerce, financial services, utilities, telecommunication, and advertising. Show Notes: [00:40] Today I get the honor of introducing you to Dr. Benny Cheung, a director of Dectech. [03:11] Benny shares his background and how he got involved in behavioral science. He started in behavioral genomics.  [03:44] Benny joined Dectech in 2005 to apply techniques and technology in behavioral science in a commercial backdrop supporting clients to understand their consumers better. Now the mission at DecTech is to provide the tools that will allow their clients to make more accurate and cost-effective predictions about their consumer’s behavior.  [05:08] A lot of behavior we can trace back to genetics, so you inherit a lot of behavioral traits.   [05:35] Nowadays his focus is more on the commercial backdrop and consumer purchasing commercial decision making.  [06:32] Benny shares about a study he did with worms in 1999 about genetics and how intricately genetics is related to the behavioral outcome.   [07:55] In that study, feeding behavior came down to a single gene. While not all behaviors are that simple, genetics plays a very important role in behavior. Your environment also has a very important role to play.   [09:48] Benny shares about his opportunistic insurance fraud project. They focused on everyday consumers that were giving into temptations of being less than honest at a specific point during their customer life cycle.  [11:29] The project was for the Insurance Fraud Bureau in the UK.   [12:42] Opportunistic fraud is different from high-profile organized fraud because it is often undetected. That is a challenge for the industry.   [12:54] The IFB came to them and asked them to come up with a solution to fight this kind of opportunistic fraud.   [15:27] This type of fraud is typically not planned, instead it is something people choose to do at the moment.     [16:14] Nudges only work well in certain situations.  You really can only nudge someone if they are sitting on the fence.   [18:47] Coming up with the intervention messages was the first task. The second task was to come up with a testing paradigm where they could test their effectiveness.   [20:41] The five principles they picked to focus their intervention methods were: norming(herding), consistency, priming, framing, and reciprocity.   [23:10] They prompted in a covert way as customers verified they were not a robot.   [26:04] When you have to focus on the words like in the captcha it has a different impact on the brain.  [26:24] For these interventions to be usable they can’t leave a negative perception or imprint.   [27:11] They tested using a randomized controlled trial. Recreating the realism of applying for motor insurance online was a very important aspect.   [29:24] By comparing peoples’ responses collectively to those contentious questions in the different conditions they could see how effective the interventions were in swaying dishonesty.   [30:13] On average the interventions were able to sway 36% of the dishonesty. An intervention in the norming category was proven most effective and had a 55% impact of dishonesty swaying.   [31:21] Of the 18 interventions they tested only one of them didn’t really work. All of them have shown some positive impact in swaying dishonesty.   [33:47] In behavioral science it is paramount to test.  The Holy Grail of testing is doing a real-life trial, but they can be costly and risky to do, and hard to scale.  [36:01] It is beneficial to get out of your way and test things when it is a safe space so you can see what amazing things can come out of it.   [38:53] None of the interventions left a negative impact on the outcome of perceptions.  [40:58] Melina’s closing reflections. [41:39] In the case of opportunistic fraud, it was important to know that this is often a decision made in the moment instead of premeditated or otherwise planned. This is why the nudges were effective: they appeared right at the moment where someone was teetering on the edge. Where does that exist in your business and what are some nudges you could implement to help encourage behavior for your customers or employees? [42:52] Grab Melina’s brand new book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You), which is now on presale!  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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Connect with Benny: Benny on LinkedIn Benny on Twitter Dectech’s Website Dectech on Twitter Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Using behavioural science to reduce opportunistic insurance fraud Interview with Henry Stott Temptation Bundling Incentives NUDGES & Choice Architecture Priming Social Proof Framing Reciprocity Loss Aversion Interview with Dan Ariely How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Check out (and preorder!) Melina’s upcoming book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today we will be digging in on the endowment effect. This concept is similar to a few you have heard on the show before, including loss aversion, the IKEA effect and even a little bit of reciprocity mixed in there. While they are similar, they are not the same.  The endowment effect is super impactful for all kinds of businesses. Everything from physical products to services, online versus brick and mortar shops; all can use the endowment effect to improve sales. And, yes, this even comes up when discussing change with members on your team (which I won’t really get into today, see the Change Management episode link below for more on that). Listen to this episode and download your freebie worksheet to get tips for how you can use the endowment effect in your business.  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. Show Notes: [00:41] In this episode, you’ll learn what the endowment effect is, how it works, and tips on how you can use it. [02:15] EXCITING NEWS! This week, an article came out in Psychology Today called 21 Psychology Podcasts Every Businessperson Should Listen To. I’m so honored to say that The Brainy Business made the list! [03:04] In its simplest form, the endowment effect teaches us that we value things more when we own them (or have perceived ownership over them). To put it another way, we like our stuff more than other peoples’ stuff. [03:21] It is incredibly easy to trigger the endowment effect. Even a slight change in words can make a huge impact. [04:00] By saying, “You will notice when you go to check out the article…” I am triggering the endowment effect. Making it personalized by using the word “you” makes a difference, but also saying, “when you do this thing” is really powerful for triggering perceived ownership in the brain (versus “if” you do this thing). [05:07] One very simple language shift that makes a huge difference when applying the endowment effect is the swap from “if” to “when.” [06:08] The endowment effect is very closely linked to loss aversion, but as I said at the top of the episode, they are not the same thing. It makes the possibility of loss more apparent or clear in your mind. It makes it so you are more aware of losing something. [06:47] When you are given something or interact with it, your brain takes some ownership over it. It can become a part of your identity as the endowment effect takes place. You don’t need to have physically purchased it or technically own it for this to happen. [08:07] The first thing you are given will act like the anchor that you are more likely to take ownership over and we aren’t the only animals impacted by the endowment effect. Do monkeys prefer peanut butter or juice? It depends! [09:34] Being given the item first and told it was yours made it so it was worth more to you and you didn’t want to get rid of it. [09:57] If you keep giving people things, there is no potential loss of the items they have so the endowment effect doesn’t have much of an outward impact. It is only when that trade is presented and they need to give something up that we really see it in action. [10:24] Many businesses are set up so you earn things like credits. They may keep accruing and if you ever stop paying you will lose them all. That little twinge will keep you paying often for things you don’t really use. [13:36] Building the endowment effect into your programs can keep people motivated to stay. Ideally, you are also providing great value for them when they use it, but the endowment effect can help carry them through the valleys where they might be less active because they don’t want to lose out on the progress they have made so far. [14:06] Physical touch has a big impact on the endowment effect. [14:40] Great high-quality pictures and videos can trigger mirror neurons of someone else engaging with the product, which can help your business get the benefit of the endowment effect. [14:52] Another way to really trigger the endowment effect, both for product and service businesses, is to use the word “imagine” or “picture this.” I also use really strong questions to help someone see the experience and live it a little bit. [16:24] Getting someone excited about the prospect of owning something can actually help them to enjoy it more when they do own it, which is a good thing. [17:39] Help the right people to find the best products and services for them and make it an irresistible offer. Using the endowment effect can help you do just that, andl help them truly love you, your business, and that item after they’ve bought.  [18:01] Say you hear often from potential customers that your they’re concerned about the price of your offer. If you know this is a common concern, it can be valuable to trigger the endowment effect to help them to see that as an expense that is worth it to them before they even voice the concern.  [19:50] One of the main reasons a money-back guarantee works is because of the endowment effect. If I know I can try the thing out and get a refund down the line no questions asked, I’m more likely to try it (and less likely to return it because of the endowment effect). [21:15] Melina summarizes her tips about the endowment effect - download your worksheet to practice them!  [23:32] I’m excited to announce that my first book, What Your Customer Wants (And Can’t Tell You) is officially on presale and available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (links below) so you can buy today! The book officially launches on May 11, but buying now guarantees you’ll be one of the first to receive this book in print when it’s released. [24:25] And, if you are interested in being part of my launch team to help promote the book (and maybe get a sneak peek!) send an email to melina (at) thebrainybusiness (dot) com. There will be a limited number of these spots available, so act fast if you’re interested. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: 21 Psychology Podcasts Every Businessperson Should Listen To Neural Antecedents of the Endowment Effect The endowment effect. Annual Review of Economics Anomalies: The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias 10 Endowment Effect Marketing Examples for Retail Loss Aversion The IKEA Effect Reciprocity Tim Houlihan Interview Change Management Why Picking Something Up Makes People More Likely To Buy – On The Sense Of Touch A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Anchoring & Adjustment Mirror Neurons Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Patrick Fagan, author of the book Hooked: Why Cute Sells and Other Marketing Magic That We Just Can’t Resist. He is also the Chief Scientific Officer at Capuchin Behavioural Science. As you’ll hear on the show today, Patrick has done all sorts of interesting research over the years, including a study for eBay and some for social media. He has such a great knowledge of the mind and how it applies to marketing and behavior. You can definitely say we are cut from the same cloth so I truly enjoyed chatting with him and I know you’ll love this episode as well.  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. Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am so excited to introduce you to Patrick Fagan, author of the book Hooked: Why Cute Sells and Other Marketing Magic That We Just Can’t Resist. [03:16] Patrick shares how he developed his love for behavioral science and got into the field.  [04:55] Now Patrick is the Chief Scientific Officer at Capuchin Behavioural Science. They do behavioral science consulting and research.  [07:07] Patrick shares about the priming study he did for eBay. He looked at the effects of background noises on online shopping.  [07:54] He found that classical music makes people more likely to buy. He shares his findings on different types of music.  [10:32] Patrick shares about the papers he co-authored on Facebook psychology and facial expressions. His studies showed that Facebook can raise or lower your self-esteem depending on how you’re using it.  [11:56] Technology is not completely a force for good. It is harming our attention spans and our abilities to think and be conscientious.  [13:39] Patrick shares more about their study on facial expressions. On average, they found that people tend to lean back if they are bored.  [14:42] He gets excited to work on projects where he can understand people, why people behave a certain way, and how behavior can be influenced. He loves doing segmentations.  [17:42] Generally speaking when working with millions of people you have to segment them into groups.  [19:33] Heretics are important for society; they are generally quite influential.  [20:03] Melina shares some of Wendy Wood’s work with habits on running.  [22:35] Fitness seekers are influenced by commitment and consistency. Doing in the future what you have done in the past.  [24:10] Patrick shares about a study in Poland about traditionalism. He had a hunch there was a third group and this was completely validated with the data. [26:01] He shares how you can send different messages based on the group of people. This approach helps you to be able to speak your customers’ language better.  [28:20] You can be marketing exactly the same product and if you're talking to one audience you would use different imagery than if you were trying to appeal to another group.  [28:56] He wrote the book Hooked because he thought it would be good for the world. He also thought he saw a gap in the market for how to use psychology for messaging.  [29:33] His book shares how to make messages work by grabbing attention, how to engage people, and how to nudge behavior.  [29:53] There are three steps that a message needs to take. First, it needs to grab attention.  [31:46] The second part is that a message needs to engage people emotionally.  [33:17] If you present people with puzzles, riddles, or anything where they have to think about it they will be more likely to engage with it or remember.  [34:16] The third thing is how to nudge behavior. You have to motivate people.  [35:04] Passion or emotion is the steam in the engine which drives behavior. If you want people to act you have to fire them up and get that energy going to drive them to act. [38:10] Grab your copy of Patrick’s book Hooked (and all the other books mentioned on the show today) in the links below.. [40:17] Melina’s closing reflections. 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 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Get the Books Mentioned on this Episode: Hooked: Why Cute Sells and Other Marketing Magic that we Just Can’t Resist The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains Amusing Ourselves to Death Indistractable Good Habits, Bad Habits Marketing to Mindstates Connect with Patrick: Patrick on LinkedIn Capuchin Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Radio, Chatter and Football - The Sounds That Help Us Shop NUDGES & Choice Architecture Behavioural Science Club: Interview with Co-Founder Louise Ward Loss Aversion Interview with Will Leach Interview with Wendy Wood Interview with Nir Eyal Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions Social Proof Peak-End Rule Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble. If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Felicity Heathcote-Marcz. I know you’ll learn a lot from this conversation with Felicity because…I did too! As you’ll hear throughout the episode, I’m not worried about asking the “dumb” questions like “what does that mean” or “what’s that term you just used?” I’m here for you dear listener! And, I figure if I haven’t heard of something, there’s a good chance there is at least one other person out there who would benefit from a definition as well. I hope you enjoy learning with me in today’s fascinating discussion with Felicity. You will get some ideas for tests and observational research you can do in your business to get an edge into the minds of your staff and customers. I hope you enjoy learning with me in today’s discussion with Felicity. 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. Show Notes: [00:07] I’m excited to introduce you to Felicity Heathcote-Marcz an ethnographer at Atkins Global. [02:54] Felicity shares about being the point of contact in her organization for ethnographic research.  She leads many ethnographic projects all to do with the transport industry.   [03:57] She shares about some of the traditional ethnography projects she has led.  [05:44] Ethnography is a methodology that originates from anthropology. The method began by studying cultures and trying to understand them from the ground up.  [07:33] Now ethnography is at a place where the practice has matured and there are many networks for sharing knowledge and evolving.   [09:46] It is up to the organization’s ethnographer to study the spaces and to understand the concerns and realities of different organizational stakeholders and then provide a narrative back to the organization.   [12:39] The Hawthorne Effect is when people know they are being observed and consequently they change their behavior (often without realizing it).    [14:56] In long term projects the Hawthorne Effect quickly melts away because it is not possible to keep up a pretend display of performance.  You become part of the culture the longer you are there studying a group.  [15:31] One of the key challenges of ethnography in business is time.  You always want as much time as you can have in the field.   [16:59] If you don’t have a long period of time for a project, try to spend as much continuous time with the group as possible.  [18:38] She reassures the people she works with that her studies are completely anonymous and none of it will come back on them as an individual.  It is really an opportunity to tell their story.   [20:14] Ethnography is more about understanding in generalities that you can only obtain on an individual level.   [21:10] Felicity shares about the behavioral science piece of some of the work she has done. Nudges have become very popular as a policy tool.   [23:35] Historically traveling in private vehicles was the most dangerous because of accidents but since COVID it has shifted completely.     [25:27] Three-quarters of respondents want to accept the nudge to walk, but didn’t (based on the weather that day).   [26:15] Active travel nudges might be more effective in the summer when people are more likely thinking about walking anyway.  In the winter months, nudges are not enough to move people out of their private cars.   [27:58] Melina shares about Colu and Littery and their use of nudges for social good.  [29:33] It is easy to incentivize people when they have the possibility to win something.  [31:45] It is interesting how some countries might need to set up schemes to incentivize adherence to things like mask wearing in the pandemic, and in other social contexts people do it as an automatic and penalize anyone that breaks that code.   [33:58] As ethnographers we have to take our ethnography seriously.  It is not about us or what we think.  It is about being present in a space for a long enough period of time to be able to understand the people you are researching.  [35:11] It is important that research is not done in a way that is biased or coming in with our own assumptions of why people are behaving a certain way.   [37:50] All ethnographic work is completely unique.      [39:07] Melina’s closing reflections. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Atkins Global Felicity on LinkedIn Felicity on Twitter Hawthorne Effect Questions or Answers NUDGES & Choice Architecture How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Colu The Littery Incentives Interview with Kwame Christian Interview with Louise Ward Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today we are going to be talking about a really cool trick called temptation bundling. You may have noticed this is a shorter episode than we usually have on the podcast and that is because while temptation bundling can make a huge impact on your life and business, it doesn’t have to be all that complicated. (Hooray!) In this episode, you’ll learn what temptation bundling is, how it works, some ways I have done this myself in my own work, and tips on how you can jump in and start bundling yourself! 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. Show Notes: [01:03] In this episode, you’ll learn what temptation bundling is, how it works, some ways I have done this myself in my own work, and tips on how you can use it too. [02:15] One of my favorite things about this concept is how simple it is. This is actually something I’ve done naturally most of my life before it had a name. [03:17] When I required some extra motivation, I created little milestone moments and rewards to keep myself motivated. [03:57] The essence of temptation bundling is taking something you should do but may have a long term reward and not be super appealing at the moment, and bundle it with something you really want to do right now. [05:01] In the foundational research study led by professor Katy Milkman, participants agreed to have their iPods locked up at the gym so they could only access them when they went to work out. They exercised more and were happier about it. [06:10] A slight change in routine can upend newly forming habits and make them hard to start up again if you aren’t careful, so it is important to keep that all in mind as you set up your own temptation bundling techniques and timelines. [07:26] Here’s another great thing about temptation bundling: pretty much anything can be a candidate for the bundle, and what you set up doesn’t necessarily need to be what someone else would want or need. [09:04] Temptation bundling uses a “now” activity to help achieve a longer-term goal and overcome time discounting. [09:37] Most multitasking doesn’t work well. As you are likely going to be looking for ways to implement this for your work goals (at least some of the time), I don’t want you to feel limited by needing to only use this while doing two things at once. [10:19] To help to find your candidates for temptation bundling start by looking for something you love to do in your spare time.  [11:55] The two items that you want to bundle don’t have to be related. Choose any reward and tie to the action ahead of time (download your freebie worksheet here to get started).   [12:56] Temptation bundling is everywhere. You just need to find the cheese to your own personal life broccoli and you’ll be achieving goals left and right.  [13:08] Melina’s closing reflections. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling Time Discounting Framing Interview With Nir Eyal Indistractable by Nir Eyal How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

In today’s episode, I am so excited to introduce you to Aline Holzwarth. Talk about an amazing person doing fantastic and exciting things! Aline is both a principal at the Center for Advanced Hindsight, where she works directly with Dan Ariely and the whole awesome team there. She is ALSO the head of behavioral science at Pattern Health. Today you will get to learn about both of her roles, a little of what it’s like to work with Dan, and about so many great things that she is doing to apply behavioral science in business.  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. Show Notes: [00:08] I’m excited to introduce you to Aline Holzwarth, principal at the Center for Advanced Hindsight and head of behavioral science at Pattern Health. [03:05] Aline shares about all the exciting things she is doing and how she got into behavioral science. She enjoys being exposed to new and different business applications and she was drawn in by the real-world impact.  [05:32] She loves both of her roles so much that she just can’t give either of them up.   [07:21] She shares about some of her favorite projects she has worked on.   [10:23] At the Center for Advanced Hindsight many of their projects come from Dan and some are chosen by the team.   [12:48] The more you are exposed to, the more connections you are going to make.   [13:28] Pattern Health is a digital health platform that works with researchers and clinicians to help them do their research and translate that research into clinical use cases.   [15:03] Aline’s job is to bake behavioral science into the Pattern Health platform to make behaviors that are not fun at all a little easier to do.   [17:24] There is going to be attrition no matter how good your app is, but ideally they try to limit it.   [20:21] Creating a Care Circle to offer constant support has been very impactful especially in long-term situations.   [23:31] They share ways to put people together for more successful support.  [24:10] There is a lot of benefit in support groups, but getting people to find one and show up is very difficult.   [26:44] You can nudge people in the direction that will be most helpful to them but also allow them to have the freedom of choice.   [28:15] Virgil is their mascot and virtual pet at Pattern Health. Virgil is one way to track daily progress. People get very attached to Virgil.  [30:48] Melina shares about the app, Forest, that holds you accountable.  [31:41] Virgil is based on the ideas of rewards substitution. They are substituting the long term reward for a short term reward. The long term things usually don’t motivate us.   [34:09] Behavioral interventions like Virgil help you overcome tiny hurdles until it becomes habitual. We often have to combine behavior interventions to make each one more effective.   [36:01] Aline shares what the future holds for her. She is really interested in getting more into the idea of personality matching.   [37:23] One area she is really excited to start developing is personalizing to peoples’ personalities.   [40:01] They are using the Big 5 personality model.  [42:10] In behavioral economics we are looking at things that all people do on a more general scale. Using personality, we may be able to drill down and know which behavioral interventions work best based on personality type. [43:19] Aline is doing an interview series for Pattern Health looking at innovators, health, and research.  [43:54] Melina’s closing reflections. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Center for Advanced Hindsight Center for Advanced Hindsight on Twitter Aline on Twitter Aline on LinkedIn 2020 In Review: Behavioral Science Edition Aline’s Work A Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior (Coursera) Pattern Health Dan Ariely Interview Julie O’Brien Interview Bec Weeks Interview Planning Fallacy Precommitment Time Discounting NUDGES & Choice Architecture Expect Error Loss Aversion Social Proof Relativity Interview with Richard Chataway Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Richard Chataway. Richard is such an awesome and fun guy to chat with. He has worked on so many amazing projects, and let me just tell you right now you are going to love this episode. While Richard works with all sorts of businesses and organizations when applying behavioral economics as CEO of BVA Nudge Unit UK, our conversation ended up talking a lot about addiction, and how he worked on some campaigns that helped people quit smoking.  When you think about changing behavior and how you can apply the insights from behavioral science, it may feel like an addiction would be untouchable...like it is out of the realm of possibility. As you will hear today, the same concepts that are applied in businesses to help people to choose the best product for them can also be used to understand behavior and help people make healthier choices; Things they may desperately want to do and have struggled for years on their own, but with a well-structured program including the right insights from behavioral economics, it becomes possible.  You can learn more from Richard and projects he has worked on in his book and accompanying podcast, both called The Behaviour Business. 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. Show Notes: [00:41] I am so excited to introduce you to Richard Chataway. Richard is such an awesome and fun guy to chat with. [01:46] You can learn more from Richard and projects he has worked on in his book and accompanying podcast, both called The Behaviour Business. [03:50] Richard shares how he got into behavioral science about 15 years ago when he worked at the Department of Health in the UK.  [04:50] Smoking as a behavior is very interesting because it is a quintessential irrational behavior.  We are at a point now that everyone knows it is bad for them and that it has short-term and long-term consequences for their health but still people continue smoking.  [06:01] They have changed their approach from telling smokers about the risks to helping them quit and providing them with tools. It was more effective than the traditional approach.   [06:41] Our behavior is not as rational as we think it is and by recognizing some of those irrationalities we can be very successful in changing behavior.   [08:11] Now Richard works for the BVA Nudge Unit. They are a specialist behavioral practice within BVA.  [09:47] Behavioral science can be applied across a huge range of challenges and contexts. [12:02] Behavioral science is helping to show that if you talk about it differently changes can happen.   [12:56] How you say something is as important as what you’re saying. You can frame things in a way that resonates with people and is more motivating.  [15:30] In their research they found that family-based motivations were very important to the group of smokers they were targeting. Smoking was seen as their reward.   [17:11] The fundamental message that smoking is bad hasn’t changed.  Reframing that it doesn’t just impact you but it also impacts your family made the campaign much more effective.   [19:14] If you can shake up your routine and change it a little bit, it can have a huge impact. Habits are very powerful drivers of behavior.   [20:18] It is very easy to think of smoking as being a habitual behavior automatically, but there is a reward element to it.   [22:38] Emotions are very powerful drivers of our behavior.  In their campaign, they were trying to find the right emotional triggers to get that response.  [24:03] Richard shares about a tv ad campaign they created showcasing how children copy the behavior of their parents.  [26:01] It is a good campaign when you get goosebumps when you hear about it.  [27:38] The smoking campaign was really an ah-ha moment for Richard for how behavioral science can help with addressing all kinds of problems.  The focus of his book is how you can use behavioral science to deliver better outcomes for your business.   [28:05] Any business’s challenges are typically around behavior.   [29:01] We have learned more about human behavior in the last fifty years than we have in the last 50,000. Any business that isn’t using that knowledge is going to be missing out.   [29:14] Richard shares his favorite stories from his book including where the understanding and knowledge of behavioral science unlocked a new way of thinking about and addressing a problem.    [30:49] We know from behavioral science that the more friction we put into places, the less likely people are to use it.   [32:04] People like things that are easy and streamlined. [34:58] Understanding behavioral science is one thing, but when it comes to applying it you have to be comfortable with testing everything and being scientific and experimental in that way.   [37:12] It is often a combination of things that have the impact we want and that is why testing is so important.    [38:04] Richard shares a counterintuitive approach they found when working with a bank in the UK.  [41:02] They told customers on the phone with the bank, “Take your time” to put people more at ease even though they wanted the calls to be quicker.  [44:37] When people are already overwhelmed all the stress quickly snowballs when we aren’t thinking about making it easy for customers to do what they need to do.   [45:54] There is a balance to be struck between protecting people’s privacy, but if a service isn’t easy to use then there is a big downside to that too.  [48:24] Melina’s closing reflections. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: The Behaviour Business: How to apply behavioural science for business success Richard on LinkedIn Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life Interview With Author Nir Eyal How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) NUDGES & Choice Architecture Framing The Littery Social Proof Time Discounting Mirror Neurons Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals Relativity The Overwhelmed Brain Priming Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Hello and Happy New Year everyone! While 2020 was nowhere near the year any of us were expecting it to be, I’m always looking for silver linings, so it seemed worth taking the time to celebrate the top content and accomplishments here at The Brainy Business over the past year. I finished my book, which comes out in the first half of 2021 and I’m so excited to be able to talk more about it soon! I was also a guest two separate times on New Day Northwest, a Seattle area afternoon talk show on the NBC affiliate here. The Brainy Business won Best YouTube Channel in behavioral science from reader votes via Habit Weekly, which was such a huge honor, and I also started teaching applied behavioral economics through Texas A&M University for the Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics! We’ve had one cohort start already in the fall and if you’re interested there is still time to join us for January classes, which begin on January 18.  I want to thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and for reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses. Those are some of my favorite messages to get – I truly love hearing from you, so please continue to reach out (and use the links below to connect on social media). 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. Show Notes: [00:49] Today we are going to celebrate the top content and accomplishments here at The Brainy Business over the past year. [03:30] First, I want to thank you all for listening, subscribing, sharing, connecting on social media, and for reaching out to let me know your wins and the behavioral economics concepts you have applied in your own businesses. [04:37] The top countries and states with downloads in 2020. [06:11] I’m going to tell you about the top 10 downloads of the year, which will be followed by the top 10 downloads of all time. [07:31] The tenth most downloaded episode of 2020 was number 99 on bikeshedding. Bikeshedding is constantly keeping people spinning their wheels and not making progress on goals.  [09:01] The ninth most downloaded episode of 2020 was number 84: How to stack and bundle products and services so they are most appealing to potential customers. [09:57] Coming in at number 8 is episode 87 on social proof and how to use herding to boost engagement and sales.  [11:01] Number 7 was the very first of 2020, episode 81: How to Finally Change Your Behavior So it Sticks.  [12:10] Number 6 is the first interview to make an appearance with author Brian Ahearn, which was episode 104. [13:50] The 5th most downloaded episode of the year was also an interview, episode 101 with Dan Ariely, where we discussed Shapa, the numberless scale. [15:07] The 4th most downloaded episode of 2020 was episode 91 on the coronavirus and how the human brain responds to pandemics. [17:15] The third most downloaded episode was on Confirmation Bias, episode 102. [18:23] The second most downloaded of the year was number 83: How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics [19:08] And the most downloaded episode of all of 2020 was number 86, A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Peloton! [21:57] Next we are going to talk about the top ten most downloaded episodes of all time since the podcast launched in June 2018.  [22:18] The number 10 most downloaded episode of all time was episode 102 on Confirmation Bias. [22:26] The ninth most downloaded episode of all time was on Selective Attention Biases which was episode 50. [24:04] Number 8 was the episode on Game Theory which was episode 62. In this episode, I got to talk about how life and business are a game and figuring out if you know the rules.  [25:19] Coming in at Number 7 was episode 5, our first throwback to 2018, The Truth About Pricing.  [26:07] Number 6 is How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics which was number 83.  [26:17] Number 5 was episode 61 on color theory. When it comes to color, this one thing matters more than anything else.  [28:05] The fourth most downloaded episode of all time was number 86 on Peloton.   [28:10] Number 3 was another behavioral economics analysis episode. It was the analysis of Starbucks which was episode 73.  [29:04] The first two episodes of the show continue to be number 1 and number two on the list.  Number 2 was episode 2 which was The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make.  [29:13] The number one most downloaded episode of all time was episode 1, Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain. [31:33] In 2021, I am definitely planning to do some of those company analysis episodes. I am also going to continue to do interviews.  We have some VERY exciting ones coming up!  [33:08] I also write for Inc. Magazine, here are the top ten articles I’ve written there.   [33:53] Number 10: The Font Size on Your Price Tags Could Be Reducing Your Sales by 28 Percent. Here's How to Fix It [34:17] Number 9: Forget Brainstorming. Try Questionstorming. [34:45] Number 8: Why You Hate Seeing Your Face in Video Meetings [35:24] Number 7: These 5 Simple Concepts of Behavioral Economics Can Drastically Improve Your Marketing Efforts [35:50] Number 6: Still Trying to Multitask? How to Make More Time for Deep Work [36:23] Number 5: This Simple Framework Can Help You Sell More of Anything [36:56] Number 4: Why You Should Ditch Your Flimsy, Paper Business Cards Right Now [37:44] Number 3: 1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever [37:59] Number 2: Feeling unproductive? This brain bias could be to blame [38:32] Number 1: A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales [39:16] Getting people to decide to buy from you is much more difficult than getting them to buy MORE things from you once they are in the purchasing mindset. So, it is easier to get people to add on things than to get them to buy initially. [40:03] There is so much to learn and implement. I hope this episode opened your eyes to some exciting content from The Brainy Business you may have missed or want to revisit. Find them all at any time at www.thebrainybusiness.com/podcast  For a complete list with links, check out the Top Content of 2020 blog post. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Sign Up For The Texas A&M Certificate Program Planning Fallacy Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book, Unlocked, on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

This is the last episode of 2020! Like most everyone, I am very excited to be putting this year in the rear-view mirror.  So many people felt bogged down by all the extra stress and decisions of 2020. We had our habits upended and were forced to think about things we were used to letting our subconscious brains handle for us. Because of that, it was pretty easy to choose decision fatigue as the topic for this last episode of the year.  In this episode, you’ll learn what decision fatigue is, the most common study cited to show how it works, the most common tips you’ll find from others, AND of course my Brainy tips for mindset and business you won’t find anywhere else (plus, your free worksheet! Click the image to get yours.) 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. Show Notes: [00:06] Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is about decision fatigue. [02:32] We humans make an incredible number of decisions each day. Even choosing to listen to this podcast right now was likely a slew of micro-decisions. [03:41] It is easy to think “going for a walk” is a single decision, but all those little decisions during the day add up and can cause our brains to get tired.  [04:11] Some of those are big choices evaluated by your conscious brain, but many of them, well over 90%, are made by your subconscious. [05:04] As you begin to get fatigued, you are more likely to rely on your subconscious rules of thumb to make decisions and get more risk averse.  [06:32] Most Common Tips From Other Articles on Decision Fatigue: limit the number of decisions you make, make your big decisions in the morning, and don’t make big decisions late; put them off for tomorrow when you can. [07:01] If you don’t have to bog down your brain with mundane choices, you can free it up so it doesn’t get fatigued as quickly.  [07:39] Wendy Wood mentioned when creating a running habit that you want to make the thing you are trying to have become a habit as easy as possible. [08:45] Doing something today is the best way to make tomorrow easier. [09:33] Over-stretched brains are rampant at the holidays and decision fatigue is a big culprit that can lead to extra stress and tension and possibly arguments with family. [10:26] Decision fatigue is similar to overwhelm, but they are not the same thing. Your brain can get overwhelmed by more than just decisions, and not every decision in and of itself is necessarily overwhelming. [12:11] So, when something has you in a tizzy and is using up more mental energy than needed just “Elsa it” – let it go and move on. [13:20] 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. [15:16] I want you to think about all the stuff you are asking current and potential customers to do in order to do business with you. Are there lots of extra and unnecessary questions you are asking on an initial form or application? [16:10] 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. [18:10] It may feel pushy or like you are being too forceful by narrowing time options, but in reality, you are making it easier for someone to make the choice which they will be happier about. [19:58] Look for ways to reduce decisions and make it easier to work with you, and help others to do the same. [20:23] 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. [21:52] Handing off the right tasks can remove so much stress and unnecessary decision making from your plate, it’s so important. [23:10] The last tip of the episode for overcoming and fighting decision fatigue: take breaks. [25:25] Taking care of your brain is important, and using the tips from this episode to reduce decision fatigue will really help you be more productive, less stressed, and produce better work.  [26:53] Make sure to check out the link to Nudge It North, a conference being put on by our great friends Tim and Kurt of Behavioral Grooves. Get 15% off your ticket with the code: brainy  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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳   Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Good Habits Bad Habits by Wendy Wood Essentialism by Greg McKeown Friction by Roger Dooley The Selling Staircase by Nikki Rausch Nudge It North Conference - Use code BRAINY to save 15% off tickets How Many Daily Decisions Do We Make? Decision Fatigue: What it is and how it’s killing your focus, motivation, and willpower How Willpower Works: How to Avoid Bad Decisions When Thinking is Hard: Managing Decision Fatigue You're facing a lot of choices amid the pandemic. Cut yourself slack: It's called decision fatigue. What is Decision Fatigue? The Science of Decision Fatigue How to Identify When You're Experiencing Decision Fatigue The Overwhelmed Brain Defaults An Interview with Wendy Wood Bikeshedding Time Discounting Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals An Interview with Roger Dooley An Interview with Nikki Rausch Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book, Unlocked, on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I am very pleased to introduce you to Jez Groom and April Vellacott, coauthors of the book Ripple: The big effects of small behaviour changes in business. Jez and April work together at Cowry Consulting in the UK, which he founded in 2015. Cowry incorporates behavioral science into recommendations for all sorts of clients, including one fascinating study you’ll hear about today where they made workplaces safer by painting the walls pink!   During the conversation, we talk about all sorts of concepts, like nudges, anchoring, framing, loss aversion, priming, and more. 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. Show Notes: [00:41] I am very pleased to introduce you to Jez Groom and April Vellacott, coauthors of the book Ripple: The big effects of small behaviour changes in business. [03:07] April studied psychology for her undergrad. She has always been very interested in the way people around her behaved.  [04:23] April discusses her thesis on using behavioral science in cybersecurity.  [06:56] Jez has done some amazing things in his second career of behavioral science.   [08:01] Jez has always been an entrepreneur and he can’t wait to see the next wave of behavioral science.  [09:59] Jez is excited for more behavioral science applications and studies, as well as diversity in behavioral science.  [11:11] Behavioral science shouldn’t be exclusive. They are going to be campaigning in small territories to start their own programs and studies.  [14:01] April shares about the Preventing Falls with Pink Walls study.   [15:55] The team went to the construction site to help nudge them to be safer. One tactic was painting the walls pink.  [18:07] There was a huge shift in behavior after they implemented their changes including a reward system.  [18:57] If you are a hard-core behavioral scientist, it is crazy to do three interventions all at once, but they only had one shot to change the behavior so they had to take the risk.  [20:50] It is worth the risk when making affordable changes that can have a huge increase in health and safety.  [23:32] The interventions don’t always work across the board, but it is the ideas behind the interventions that matter for future projects.  [24:25] Ripple walks anyone who is working in business or interested in applying behavioral science through the steps to get started. The first step is convincing other people in your organization that behavioral science is an amazing tool that applies to them and your business.  [25:54] No matter where you are in your journey or the size of your business, Ripple is full of practical tips for getting started.  [26:15] There are some interventions that capture your attention because they are counterintuitive.  [27:21] The objective of behavioral science should be to change behavior for the better.  [28:13] Jez shares about his favorite intervention they discuss in the book from their research in South Africa.  [31:11] In South Africa they were working with a store and trying to get people to buy their first sim card from them.   [33:04] We should celebrate the simple more. Many instances can be conveyed in simple terms and that doesn’t mean they are any less genius.  [36:01] Simplicity is very important.   [38:34] “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” - Albert Einstein  [39:29] April shares the process they used for writing the book.  [41:22] Some people are really good at saying what they want to say, but others are really good at writing their thoughts down.  [43:20] We are moving on to the next era in behavioral science. We are trying to figure out a better system of codification of what behavioral science looks like.  [44:57] Complexity and too much information is a huge problem for financial services.   [48:30]Melina’s closing reflections. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Ripple book Cowry Consulting

Today I am very pleased to introduce you to Dr. Henry Stott, cofounder of Dectech, a behavioral science consultancy in the UK.  As you’ll hear on the show today, Dectech works with all sorts of companies and industries, from banks to insurance and food delivery. They use randomized controlled trials and other techniques to help companies understand behavior and properly apply it within their businesses. Dectech is not new to the space. It was founded nearly two decades ago in 2002, so they have lots of background and foundations they build upon.  During our conversation, Henry and I talk about all sorts of concepts, like nudges, anchoring, relativity, framing, habits, and more—and all those past episodes are linked for you in the show notes, as well as the book The Mind is Flat written by Henry’s cofounder of Dectech, Dr. Nick Chater. 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. Show Notes: [00:40] I am very pleased to introduce you to Dr. Henry Stott, cofounder of Dectech, a behavioral science consultancy in the UK. [02:43] Dr. Stott started Dectech about 20 years ago with his cofounder, Dr. Nick Chater. They have spent the last 20 years refining their view on how you harness those methods to more accurately predict how consumers and other people will behave in novel situations. [03:54] There are two classes of problems. The first class of problems is a precedent problem when you are trying to forecast the future.   [04:46] The second class of problems is harder (and often more valuable) where there has never been anything like it before. These are the types of problems they have set out to understand.   [06:06] Dr. Stott shares about the Deliveroo project. The question was whether they were going to launch a subscription product or not.   [09:04] Pricing is not about price.  The way you present everything before you get to the price matters more than the number.  [10:34] Designing the proposition so it fits snuggly into what people want is the first objective.  A lot of people fail to do that. They often have to drop the price because they haven’t added value.   [12:06] A lot of the designs of features and propositions are driven by an excessive fixation with competitors and an excessive self-confidence of the management.  [14:36] Looking to competitors when determining your pricing is a mistake.   [16:58] At least half of the judgment is made up of the movement of prices within a store as opposed to contrasting across stores.  [17:40] People are much more sensitive to the order of things than the size of the differences.   [19:54] When you are able to feel like you are part of the process waiting can feel less painful.  [22:51] Sometimes a time delay can be a good thing.   [23:36] Dr. Stott shares about the Lloyd’s Bank case study and the customer journey optimization process.  [24:31] They were looking to design a home insurance renewal process that worked best for the customers and the bank.   [25:37] They also tested a “name your price” condition, but it ended up not being very popular (which is good to know because it would have been very expensive to set up and would have been a waste of time and money).  [28:28] In experiments, Dectech runs as many as 20 variances. Sometimes they are all run together and other times they build on each other.   [29:33] The best approach is to immerse customers in a decision-making environment that is as close as possible to the environment they would naturally encounter.   [32:01] You can get quite close to replicating the kind of mindset people will be in using an online decision environment.  These trials have to be run entirely virtually just because of the number of participants.   [33:20] More and more commerce is taking place online, so virtual testing and formats like this will be increasingly relevant.  The pandemic has accelerated this trend. [35:05] Small changes can have profound effects on the economics of your business.  [36:29] Before you start testing, think of the best ideas and try to innovate.  [38:34] Something novel or fun is often one of the best outcomes in the experiment.   [40:43] I love all the work Dectech is doing, it’s really fascinating stuff, and you will be hearing about them again in an upcoming episode featuring Dr. Benny Cheung. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Dectech Dectech on LinkedIn Lloyd’s Case Study Deliveroo Case Study Behaviourlab Alchemy from Rory Sutherland Designing for Behavior Change by Steve Wendel Good Habits Bad Habits by Wendy Wood The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater NUDGES & Choice Architecture Anchoring and Adjustment Relativity The Truth About Pricing Framing What Is Value? Loss Aversion Priming Habits Interview with Wendy Wood Apple Card Interview with Steve Wendel Interview with Louise Ward Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book, Unlocked, on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Reading and research are some of my favorite things. (I’m guessing that doesn’t surprise you too much...especially if you’ve ever dug into the show notes for the podcast.) For this reason, I frequently get asked for my top book recommendations. While completing the citation list for my own book (which has over 210 citations by the way!) a few sources popped up often enough that it felt like a great time to do this episode.  Plus, if you want to buy a brainy book this holiday season for a friend or loved one any of these could be a great choice! There are, of course, links to all the books I will be talking about in today’s episode within the show notes. AAAAND...while it doesn’t officially come out until May 2021, there are also links for my book, Unlocked, in the show notes as well, which I’ll update as we get closer to the launch (and beyond). SO…that is exciting to check out as well. Happy reading! 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. Show Notes: [02:36] If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, it likely won’t surprise you to learn that when people ask me for my book recommendations I always ask more questions. For example, “what are you looking to do with the information?” or “how do you want to apply that?” or “what’s the goal?” [03:15] I could recommend books all day long, but this episode only includes the seven books I reference most often and most commonly recommend. I intend this to be the first in a series on the podcast where I will recommend books for various topics [03:54] First on the list, is Daniel Kahneman’s, Thinking, Fast and Slow. Kahneman is a pillar in the field, the first to win a Nobel prize, and he (along with the late, Amos Tversky) conducted so much of the research that the field is based upon, it is amazing how many concepts are rooted in Kahneman’s work. [04:44] If you are really wanting to understand behavioral economics and behavioral science including what it is built upon and get a peek inside the inner workings of the brain of one of the field’s founding members Thinking, Fast and Slow is definitely worth it. [05:58] Kahneman is the source of the dual system theory of how our brains work. What I call the subconscious and conscious here on the show, he calls System 1 and System 2. If you want more about how he sees those working and how it all comes together in peoples’ behavior, Thinking, Fast and Slow is a great book for you.  [06:42] Next, we have our other Nobel laureate, Richard Thaler, and the book he co-authored with Cass Sunstein, Nudge. [07:52] If you are looking to influence behavior through nudging, to “improve decisions about health, wealth, and happiness,” and just want a great foundation in the entire concept of nudges and choice architecture, I highly recommend Nudge. [08:14] The last of the foundational “most common books you have likely seen on any behavioral economics list,” is Predictably Irrational, by Dan Ariely. [09:04] If you have not yet read Predictably Irrational and are interested in “the hidden forces that shape our decisions” I highly, highly recommend this book. If you are looking for a first foray into behavioral economics books to start reading, I would likely start with Predictably Irrational because it is so relatable.  [10:04] The first book in our next category (of marketing/branding/communications) is called The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind by AK Pradeep. He gives great insights into the brain: how it has developed (with details on the senses), as well as the processes going on in the brain AND how it relates to today’s buying behavior. [11:46] The next book is another one you may not have heard of or seen on lists before, it is called Neurobranding, by Peter Steidl. It gives a baseline of neuroscience and how the field applies to marketing, it came out a few years after The Buying Brain in 2014. - (NOTE: That link is to the edition I have, which at the time of posting this is a bit expensive, so it may be out of print. There is an updated version here, but the content appears to be a little different. I’m sure it is still great, but can’t personally vouch content and it might differ a bit from what I said was included during the episode.) [13:22] This next book is kind of a bridge between the marketing space and productivity – it’s Friction, by Roger Dooley. Friction is such an eye-opening book. It has so many practical examples that apply to business like expense reports with unnecessary friction and forms on a website that had small changes that increased (or decreased) usage and adoption rates.  [14:43] Reducing friction is important, but you need to know the behavior you are trying to nudge people toward before focusing on changing the processes. This book helps you see how other businesses have accomplished that, and ways you can relate it in your own business. [15:06] Our last book is all about productivity and being less distracted. Or as Nir Eyal calls it, Indistractable. [15:36] Nir shares about motivation, understanding your internal and external triggers, how they apply to you, making time for the things that matter, and helping you to actually focus on them. [16:02] I really loved part three on “hacking back” external triggers. [17:49] This book will help you understand how to find your traction and also how to keep yourself from getting distracted from those most important things. [18:17] As a recap, our foundational books are: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman; Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein; and Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. [18:31] Then our marketing and brand books, The Buying Brain by AK Pradeep and Neurobranding by Peter Steidl, and we bridge the path between marketing, efficiencies, productivity, and experience with Friction by Roger Dooley, and round it all out with Indistractable by Nir Eyal. [19:14] And, my book, Unlocked is scheduled to launch on May 11, 2021. Woohoo! [19:52] Have you read any of these books? Which one are you going to pick up first? Is there a go-to book you think should be in my next review episode? Come share it all with me on social media (links below). 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.  Get Your Books! Thinking Fast and Slow Nudge Predictably Irrational The Buying Brain Neurobranding (the edition I have, which appears to be out of print as it is more expensive) Neurobranding (Updated Edition) Friction Indistractable Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions Dan Ariely Interview NUDGES & Choice Architecture Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES Understanding Mapping: The “U” in NUDGES Defaults: The “D” in NUDGES Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES Give Feedback: The “G” in NUDGES Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain – On The Sense of Sight Why Burnt Popcorn Has Derailed So Many Meetings – On The Sense Of Smell Why You Actually Taste With Your Nose – On The Sense Of Taste Did You Hear That? – On The Sense of Hearing Why Picking Something Up Makes People More Likely To Buy – On The Sense Of Touch Roger Dooley Interview Nir Eyal Interview Understanding the Problem Check out (and preorder!) my upcoming book, Unlocked, on Amazon, Bookshop, and Barnes & Noble If you are outside the US, please complete this form to be first to know when the book is available near you AND to help show there is a presence in your country to speed along international agreements and get it to you faster!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Matt Wallaert, author of Start at the End: How to Build Products that Create Change. One of my favorite quotes from Matt is one that shows how we are kindred spirits. He says, “If behavior is your outcome and science your process, you’re a behavioral scientist. No Ph.D. required.” Matt was one of the first behavioral scientists to leave academia to work in industry, which he has done for over 15 years now. He was head of behavioral science at Microsoft, the first chief behavioral officer in the healthcare industry while at Clover Health, and has done tons of awesome projects along the way (some of which you will learn about in today’s episode).  During our conversation, we discuss lots of concepts that have past episodes on the show, including those on anchoring, relativity, how to finally change your behavior, how to experiment, and many more  Show Notes: [00:43] Today I am so excited to introduce you to Matt Wallaert, author of Start at the End: How to Build Products that Create Change. [03:28] Matt shares his story and how he got interested in behavioral science.  [05:06] After taking a second psychology class in college, he became addicted to science and started doing a lot of applied work.  [07:56] He left Clover Health in March and ended up moving to California for a year of adventure.  [09:41] He has decided in his next role that he wants to spend most of his time pivoting an organization to behavioral science.  [11:01] Advances in data science and user research have prepared younger project managers to fully embrace behavioral science.  [13:12] People often don’t think of the implications of the things that they say.  [13:30] Every industry has its own beliefs about what can’t be changed (listen to episode 126 for Melina’s tips on fixing this in your organization). [14:51] Behavioral science can be used in good ways and in bad ways (ethics matter!).  [16:49] It is really hard to write a complete behavioral statement from the beginning.  [17:17] Matt shares about the GetRaised project he worked on.  [19:04] Bias creeps in when we start to do ratings of performance.  [20:28] The difference between junior behavioral scientists and more senior behavioral scientists is just experience. Anyone can learn the framework.  [22:08] A lot of communication is just quick analogy making. It is the ability to find out what someone is interested in and relate that to the thing you are teaching.  [24:37] Our brain is using the same rules and concepts whether we are deciding to litter or choosing a brand of toothpaste.  [25:37] When you try to replicate a lab study in real life sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. The key is that you tried it small before you shared it with everybody. (Get Melina’s tips for creating your own experiments in episode 63.) [26:47] Science is the testing of all assumptions. Diversity can help identify an assumption.  [28:08] Behavioral science is a lifestyle.  [28:59] Academic behavioral science is about the why of the way things are. Applied behavioral science is the changing of the way things are.  [30:20] Almost all misunderstandings across cultural and other kinds of borders are due to a misunderstanding of the pressures that affect that other persons’ life. It almost always makes sense if you understand the context.  [32:06] Melina shares Steve Wendel’s story about a fish in the sand (hear more from Steve in episode 116).  [34:33] It is easier to have a discussion with the people that we can relate to than to have a more difficult conversation.  [35:36] Matt says, “If behavior is your outcome and science your process, you’re a behavioral scientist. No Ph.D. required.” [36:27] Behavioral science thrives when lots of people are doing it and doing it a little better every day. If it does not put behavior as an outcome, it is not behavioral science.  [37:05] Behavioral science is about creating a specific outcome in advance and then using science as a process.  [39:46] Get your own copy of Matt’s book, Start at the End: How to Build Products that Create Change. [42:32] Don’t forget to take advantage of the year-end sale going on now. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Matt’s Website Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change Getraised Matt on Twitter Interview with Dan Ariely Interview with Kwame Christian Relativity How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Biases Toward Novelty and Stories How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Anchoring & Adjustment Change Management Loss Aversion Framing Bikeshedding Network Effect Interview with Steve Wendel

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Wendy Wood. Her fantastic new book Good Habits Bad Habits (which I mentioned last week was voted book of the year in the Habit Weekly Awards) is just one of the many amazing things she has contributed to the field of habits. Much of what we know about habits is thanks to Wendy’s research. The things we now know about how habits work and what they’re doing in the brain is in large part because of her. Wendy is a social psychologist whose research looks into the ways habits guide behavior and why they are so difficult to break. She is provost professor of psychology and business at the University of Southern California and has been Associate Editor of Psychological Review, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Review, and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, and a founding member of the Society for Research Synthesis.  Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health, and Rockefeller Foundation. Prior to joining USC, Professor Wood was James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Professor of Marketing at Duke University, and she is just a lovely person whom I really enjoyed talking to.  Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am so excited to introduce you to Dr. Wendy Wood. Her fantastic new book Good Habits Bad Habits is just one of the many amazing things she has contributed to the field of habits.  [02:47] Wendy is a social psychologist whose research looks into the ways habits guide behavior and why they are so difficult to break. [04:52] Habits are part of our unconscious. They are a way our brain learns by connecting what we’ve done in a given context that got us a reward.  [05:20] All mammals have a habit learning system.  [07:05] With a habit you are repeating what you have done before while your mind is off solving other problems.  [08:41] A habit frees our mind to do other things. When the habit is disrupted, we are stuck back having to make decisions. (Brain doesn’t like that!) [09:45] COVID has disrupted all of our habits and we had to start making decisions about things we don’t usually have to think about.  [10:36] Wendy recommends not expecting as much from yourself during the uncertainty of the pandemic.  [11:05] Once we are removed from our habits, sometimes we end up finding things that work better. (Be open to that possibility!) [14:25] Research found that for habitual runners the place where they typically ran activated thoughts of running. Those thoughts perpetuate their behavior.  [16:08] The context in which you typically perform the behavior can trigger thoughts of that behavior. (Reinforcing it.) [17:30] Context activates habits and we usually act on those habits in mind. Goals are what drive the more occasional behaviors that we have to make a decision to do.  [19:01] If you do an activity in the same way every time, you are more likely to form a habit. You also want to be able to repeat it regularly. Also, look for what makes it rewarding to you, as we are more likely to repeat behaviors that we find rewarding. [20:42] Research has shown that it is important to find ways to perform the habit easily. You will do something more if it is easier. We can often set up our environment in a way that would make it more likely that we will perform the habit.  [23:15] There is a lot of science behind the importance of making good habits easy for us.  [24:15] Along with making the desired behavior easier, you want to make the things that are more problematic (those you want to avoid or stop doing), more difficult.  [26:04] Wendy recommends reverse engineering what your environment is pushing you to do.  [27:38] If you can incorporate the desired behavior into your daily routine it is so much easier to get yourself to do them. Anything that adds to the hassle makes it more likely you will not do it.  [30:01] Wendy shares her favorite study (which also happens to be the one she is currently working on).  [32:01] They found that social media revenue is closely tied to habitual use. [33:26] Thoughts and tips for marketers on using habits for good.  [35:52] Product manufactures have to take habits seriously.  [36:47] The trick is keeping up with current development while also taking advantage of the cues that already keep your habitual customers coming back.  [39:01] Weight loss programs, in general, don’t benefit from you losing weight and keeping it off. Their model revolves around repeat customers.  [41:09] If you want to change your behavior, the way you typically go about it is not the most effective. We focus on our conscious decision-making self while our habits run in the background.   [43:31] If you can make it easier in your life to do the right thing and harder to do the thing that is being a problem. You will make it easier to change your behavior.  [46:23] Don’t forget to take advantage of the year-end sale going on now. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Good Habits, Bad Habits Wendy Wood at USC Marshall Wendy on Twitter Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions Priming Interview with Dan Ariely How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals NUDGES & Choice Architecture Incentives Time Discounting Interview with Roger Dooley Interview with Steve Wendel Peloton The Sense of Sight Interview With Nir Eyal Game Theory Habits Interview with Dr. Julie O’Brien Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks)

While researching for my book (which will be coming out in May 2021!) I had the joy of speaking with several dozen amazing people working in applied behavioral science and behavioral economics. People from around the world doing such cool things, wonderful research projects, and so much I’m excited to share with you. You have already been hearing from a lot of them throughout the most recent interviews on the show, and they continue into 2021. One thing that I found from interviewing so many people about their work is that even when there are different frameworks/names for the approach/unique models for applying behavioral science, most everyone agrees on one thing: where most businesses or entities go wrong is at the very beginning.  When you are trying to solve a problem (or want to apply behavioral economics to nudge behavior or help people make better decisions), many of the projects fail or don’t get off the ground because there isn’t enough time spent identifying the real problem.  This first crucial step is what we are going to be talking about today, to help you as you think about applying behavioral economics in your own business, and I’ll share some of the same tips I give to my own clients and students in this process (and, also, this is a sneak peek into some of what you’ll find in my book…which I am absolutely bursting to be able to give you all the details about…but I have to wait a little longer…soon!) Alright...let’s talk about that most important step in applying behavioral economics: Identifying the problem. Show Notes: [01:51] Today I am going to discuss the importance of understanding the problem–the first crucial step when applying behavioral economics in your own business.   [02:21] Thank you to all the listeners who voted in the first-ever Habit Weekly Awards, which were announced last week. The Brainy Business won for the best YouTube Channel in behavioral science!  [04:23] It is really easy to find the right answer to the wrong question. When you don't invest enough in finding the right question, you end up putting a lot of effort, time, money, and other resources into fixing something that isn’t going to actually get at the root of the behavior. [05:47] I’ve talked about questionstorming several times on the show before (you all know how much I love questions!) Great questions are AMAZINGLY powerful, and in general, people don’t spend enough time asking questions. [07:44] The people who change the world think longer about the problem before they start fixing them. If you want to make change happen and do amazing things, one of the best ways to do that is to spend more time thinking about problems instead of just accepting the first or second thing you think is wrong. [10:07] Revisiting how The Littery proved that their incorporation of behavioral economics and working with the brain got people to willingly throw away and properly sort their garbage. [11:59] Change doesn’t have to be hard. Changing the natural rules of the subconscious brain that have been developing for generations is hard. Understanding them and working with those habits can make it so seemingly insurmountable changes become easy. [13:04] When you use your conscious brain to try to explain to people how they should change their habitual behavior within the subconscious, logic isn’t gonna do it. You need to understand what DOES motivate people, like a lottery, and incorporate it into the behavior so it is easy for them to change. [14:34] By taking a step back and really thinking about the way the brain works and how to align with it you are able to make it so change is much easier than it seems on the surface.  [16:36] Being curious and asking good questions allows me to appeal to the subconscious brain. I can learn about the situation while helping them feel valued and involved in the process. Taking those few extra moments to understand the problem makes all the difference.  [17:21] Even when someone asks you explicitly for something, or you are sure you know the root of a problem, it can usually benefit from a little more thoughtfulness. [18:42] When you consider the problem in a vacuum or assume the problem you see is the only true problem, you will often end up finding that right answer to the wrong question. [20:13] Simple changes can make a huge difference in adoption and satisfaction when you take the time to fully evaluate and understand the problem. [22:51] Give yourself permission to spend longer thinking about problems. Reflect on them, ask questions, and poke holes in them.  [24:15] For now, just focus on finding one thing a day where you can challenge an existing belief or problem. [24:46] Don’t forget to take advantage of the year-end sale going on now. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: The Award-Winning Brainy Business YouTube Channel Habit Weekly Award Winners Interview with Samuel Salzer Interview with Dan Ariely Interview with Tim Houlihan Interview with Steve Wendel Interview with Michael Hallsworth Interview with Colu How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Questions or Answers Framing Confirmation Bias Focusing Illusion Herding Loss Aversion

In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Michael Hallsworth, managing director at Behavioral Insights Team North America and co-author of the new book, Behavioral Insights. Before that, he led their global work on health and tax for five years. Michael was previously a Senior Policy Advisor in the Cabinet Office of the UK government and has in-depth experience in both policy development and service delivery for national governments and international organizations. He has also been a leading figure in developing the field of applying behavioral science to government, having authored several influential frameworks such as EAST, Behavioral Government, and the MINDSPACE report (which has been cited more than 800 times to date). His work has been published in The Lancet, the Journal of Public Economics, Nature Human Behaviour, and more. His new book, Behavioral Insights, which was co-authored with Elspeth Kirkman and published by the MIT Press, was released in September. When you get yours, if you opt for the physical version, you’ll see it’s this adorable little pocket-sized version of a book. A little smaller than most these days and it has really great full-bleed callout pages. Michael has worked on so many amazing projects over the years, I’m honored he is sharing some of them with us today--and some great tips for approaching your own research and testing, based on their book Behavioral Insights.  Show Notes: [00:46] Today I’m excited to introduce you to Dr. Michael Hallsworth, managing director at Behavioral Insights Team North America. [03:48] About ten years ago Michael started working in an organization that was all about how you apply evidence to improve the way government works.  [05:43] The Behavioral Insights Team includes 200 people across the world including Sydney, Paris, New York, and Toronto. They take behavioral science and try to improve the way policies and services are designed and the way government works.  [07:51] Michael shares a project he is really proud of that relates to antibiotics prescribing in the UK.  [09:35] They found a 1% decline in antibiotic prescribing at the end just by sending a letter from England’s Chief Medical Officer and giving information based on social norms. [10:29] In Australia, they built on the antibiotic project. Bec Weeks shared about this in her interview on the show (episode 119). It has also been done in Italy and other countries as well.  [12:21] On Generalizability: They have seen studies with surprisingly similar results, but that isn’t always the case.  [13:36] The key is trying to have that productive tension between retaining the active ingredient that worked, but adapting it so it continues to work elsewhere. [14:36] Testing is very important. We may see something that works across the board, but we still should be questioning it and looking at what is different in other scenarios.  [16:01] Most of the frameworks they share in the book have some aspects in common around identifying the goals and behavior upfront and then going deeper to understand what is happening.  [16:59] Then they try to come up with interventions that attempt to address the factors you have seen. Then you should do the implementation and testing of those solutions or interventions.  [17:19] Rather than just stopping at the result phase, ask “How might we take this result and help it be used elsewhere?”  [18:37] The ten-stage framework in the book takes you through all these different steps from start to solution.  [20:01] Michael shares a story about a policy project where they implemented a higher-level strategy around the sugar drink tax in the UK.  [22:01] It is very important to understand the problem and ask the right questions before you start implementing things.  [23:25] They discuss the “macaroni and cheese study” by Barbara Rolls about portion size.  [25:48] Micheal shares about their rapid trials with cities for communicating urgent messages to their residents during the pandemic.  [27:47] They looked at the best way of communicating proper face masks. [29:30] The Behavioral Insights Team has worked on a lot of different projects. He recalls a carpooling project he worked on which had no effect.  [29:54] They publish an annual report and they are very open about projects that didn’t get a result because it may point towards the fact that a bigger intervention is needed. [31:04] If all we ever see is what goes really well or what was successful and don’t look at anything that wasn’t, it just creates a completely different perspective on the field and sets things up differently.  [32:23] At the end of the book they talk about bigger policy issues and their criticisms of the approaches. They try to explain these issues and give ways forward. [34:01] At the beginning of the book they talk about the 3 Pillars of Behavioral Insights.  [36:39] It was awesome to learn about the way the Behavioral Insights Team may approach problems so those looking to apply behavioral economics within their business have a framework that could work well for them as well. [37:24] Don’t forget to check out the year-end sale going on now. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Dr. Michael Hallworth on the BI Team Website Michael on Twitter Behavioral Insights 👈🏻get your copy of the book! Nudge vs. Superbugs: A Behavioural Economics Trial to Reduce the Overprescribing of Antibiotics Reductions in Portion Size and Energy Density of Foods are Additive and Lead to Sustained Decreases in Energy Intake Framing Interview with Bec Weeks Herding NUDGES & Choice Architecture Incentives Interview with Will Leach Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics Survivorship Bias How To Use Behavioral Economics to Create Thriving Cities, an interview with Colu Social Proof

Today I am so excited to introduce you to Tim Ash, his new book Unleash Your Primal Brain is currently available on presale, to officially launch in April 2021, but everyone listening now can order it direct from Tim using the links in the show notes and you’ll get an autographed copy, which is pretty darn cool!  Early praise from the book has come from Robert Cialdini, Jay Baer, Phil Barden, Will Leach, Roger Dooley, and Nir Eyal (recognize some of those names from past episodes of the show?).  Forbes has named Tim a Top-10 Online Marketing Expert, and he was also named an Online Marketing Influencer to Watch by Entrepreneur Magazine. He had his own podcast, has published over 100 articles, and spoken at more than 200 conferences around the world. His past clients include Google, Expedia, eHarmony, Facebook, American Express, Canon, Nestle, Symantec, Intuit, Costco, and many more. I think it’s safe to say, Tim knows his stuff and I’m honored to have him with me here today.  You know there are a lot of past concepts that will come up today (including last week’s intentionally planned episode on brain chemicals…totally ties in with understanding the primal brain!) and they’re all linked for you in the details below! Show Notes: [00:42] Today I am so excited to introduce you to Tim Ash, his new book Unleash Your Primal Brain is currently available on presale, to officially launch in April 2021. [03:39] Tim’s interest and fascination with the brain started very early and were a huge part of his college studies.  [05:43] Brains didn’t just pop into existence.  We are the product of evolution and in order to understand us, you have to understand the whole evolutionary art.  [06:42] Sophisticated brains are at least 500 million years old.   [07:18] Insects and animals need brains because we are in a world of movement; brains are really only to help us think fast enough to survive in the environment (which is why plants don’t need brains but still develop adaptive tendencies).  [07:58] The brain is a very energy-intensive system.  [08:29] The body is balancing between digestive, voluntary movement, and the brain. When you run out of energy you need sleep and rest.  [09:08] Whenever we are not doing computation or planning tasks, we default to modeling our environment.   [11:26] One of the key insights in Tim’s book is understanding that we made an evolutionary bet on culture spread. We can learn more from our surrounding tribe by copying than we can ever in a lifetime of direct experience. That gives us our tribal edge.  [13:38] We are born covered in fat and we use that fat to isolate the neurons in the brain so there’s no cross-talk or electrical issues.  [15:15] We get enjoyment by helping others and transmitting knowledge.  [18:09] One of the huge puzzles that needed to be unlocked from an evolutionary standpoint was “Who (and what) do I learn from?” We want to learn from successful examples.   [19:13] We are wired to learn from people that are most like us.  [21:17] Once somebody locks into a tribe it is very hard to have them accept other views. A big task is pulling towards the center and somehow having a larger circle of empathy.  [23:19] When employees embrace different teams (creating silos) they make it more difficult for the business to be successful.  [25:06] Thinking we are individuals and our happiness matters is a very western idea.  Most of the world thinks more communally.   [27:06] We are hypersocial animals with a need for connection. The worst thing you can do to somebody is isolate them.   [28:46] Isolation literally drives us insane.   [29:37] As teenagers, you are transferring your allegiance from your parents to your larger group of peers. Parents have less influence than their peers.  [32:36] We do a lot of our brain development out of the womb when it really should be prenatal.  It is really important to make the first five years solid from a nutritional, sleep, and social attachment standpoint because you can’t undo it later in life.   [33:29] Direct experience with other people and forcing them to walk a mile in other peoples’ shoes is your best bet for creating good humans.   [34:08] Primarily storytelling is to simulate experience and do things we can’t directly do.  The other unestimated reason for storytelling is to maintain cohesion and the values of our tribe so knowledge spreads faster.  [35:30] The cultural package determines how we examine and experience the same story.   [38:41] Tim’s book really helps us understand the brain and how that ties into marketing, messages, interpersonal relationships, and more.   [40:35] Tim wrote his book to explain the why behind the brain and behaviors. If you want to understand the why behind the brain, you have to see how it all evolved.   [41:23] Grab Tim’s book here and get an autographed copy (limited time offer).  [42:25] It is so important to understand genetics and history to really understand behavior. [44:22] If you haven’t connected with me yet, please do! I love to give shout outs and spread the love whenever I can. You can find me, Melina Palmer and follow the company page of The Brainy Business on LinkedIn, and I’m on all the other socials as @thebrainybiz. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Primal Brain Website Tim’s Website Unleash Your Primal Brain Book Tim on LinkedIn Dove Real Beauty Campaign Always Super Bowl Ad 2015 What eCommerce Can Learn From IKEAS’s Offline Success The Time Machine Book Raising Good Humans: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Herding Loss Aversion Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Interview With Author Nir Eyal Mirror Neurons Interview with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Interview with Will Leach Interview with Roger Dooley A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Biases Toward Others – Including Groups IKEA Effect  

Today is all about the four main feel-good chemicals in the brain and understanding how they work. We will also talk about what drives them so you can boost them for yourself and use them in your business. You may have noticed that I introduced this as a “DOSE” of brain chemicals, which is more than an off-handed phrasing. In fact “DOSE” is the acronym you can use to remember the four main “feel good” chemicals we will be talking about today: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.  These are definitely not the only chemicals in the brain, but they are potentially the most widely talked about associated with happiness, motivation, and “feeling good.” You’ve heard me mention all four on the show over the years, but I’ve definitely talked about dopamine the most. Today, I will tell you even more about dopamine while also digging in on the three others. (And, stick around to the end for the announcement of the amazing year-end sale!!) Show Notes: [01:09] Today we are talking about the four main “feel good” chemicals: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. These are definitely not the only chemicals in the brain, but they are potentially the most widely talked about and associated with happiness, motivation, and more.  [02:02] Download your free worksheet to help you remember the DOSE chemicals and how to use them. [02:54] DOSE is an acronym for the four chemicals we will talk about today. Dopamine is about anticipation, motivation, and goals. Oxytocin is for empathy and social bonding. Serotonin ties in with our mood and pride, and finally endorphins mask pain and are part of that well known “runner’s high.” [03:38] We are not meant to be perpetually happy. These chemicals in the brain are not naturally there to make us feel good, but to promote survival. [05:07] We can get dopamine from anything, including sugar and even drinking water when we are really thirsty. So, it isn’t in the drug or food itself, but it is about the drive to obtain the dopamine. The anticipation of the reward is where we get a dopamine release not when we consume the item itself. [07:34] Our lives these days are a flood of unnatural levels of dopamine: sugar and other junk food, social media feeds, Netflix and other shows to binge watch, video games, notifications on our phones, and more. [08:33] If you want to make a change and kick some of those unnatural dopamine habits, a detox may be in order. [10:10] Embrace the boredom to come through on the other side where you give your brain that break and ability to reset the dopamine expectations. [11:06] Remember, while some mistakenly say dopamine is about pleasure, that’s incorrect. It is about desire, motivation, and goal achievement. [12:35] For more natural dopamine, embrace a new goal (something you may find easier after you do a detox and get rid of some of those unnatural stimulants). [14:05] Dr. Paul Zak and his team discovered that oxytocin signals to the brain that it is safe to approach someone and that they can be trusted. The release of oxytocin triggers empathy and motivates us to be more cooperative. [16:08] We get that hit of oxytocin when we stick with the herd and strengthen the bonds we have for others because it keeps us safe and protected. [16:34] Conversely, when we have had our trust betrayed there are unhappy chemicals released that may cause us to shut down and not want to open ourselves up again. [17:04] Opening yourself up to trust is key to survival and critical for the oxytocin your brain needs.   [19:12] Serotonin is about confidence, social status, and belief in your own abilities. [20:13] Going back to the episode on the focusing illusion, whatever you pay attention to and look for is going to seem really important and stand out. [21:26] Focus on believing in your own value, and celebrate your wins alone and with others. [22:30] The most important thing to know about endorphins is that they are caused by pain. You need to experience pain to get the endorphins. [23:45] Pushing our limits a bit to reach new goals, run faster or do more push-ups (or however that translates to your business and career) can be useful but shouldn’t be the main focus. [24:05] There are some safe ways to get an endorphin kick that don’t require you to physically injure yourself and they’re really quite easy. They are laughing and stretching.   [25:29] One study from Duke University found that 30 minutes of regular exercise three times a week was enough to boost mood as well or better than prescription medications for those who were severely depressed. [26:33] Cortisol is a bad chemical that is released as a warning when we feel our survival is threatened. [27:01] If you aren’t getting enough of the happy DOSE chemicals, you are likely to feel this one even more and want to mask that bad feeling. But fight that urge! It is important to allow yourself to feel the cortisol and know what your body is trying to tell you. [28:46] The chemicals in our brains and bodies are there to help us survive, and experiencing them in a more natural way can help us to thrive as well. [29:13] What is your first step with helping these brain chemicals to work for you? Share it with me on social media.  [29:55] Now is a great time to set some new goals to end 2020 strong and to have a productive and profitable 2021. With that in mind, I want to tell you about a fantastic sale I’m launching now. [31:01] Laser-focused, 4-hour Deep Dives are here! If you’ve been looking for the perfect time to work with me 1-on-1… now is the time. Book by year end and get a YEAR FREE in the BE Thoughtful Revolution ($1200 value). Learn more and book your Deep Dive here. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Special Year-End Sale 👈🏻🥳 Past Episodes and Other Important Links: How I Tricked My Brain To Like Doing Hard Things (Dopamine Detox) Happy Brain Chemicals: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endorphin Brain Chemistry Lifehacks: Steve Ilardi at TEDxKC Five Ways to Boost Your Natural Happy Chemicals Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling Herding Habits The Power of Habit Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Apple Card Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Surprise and Delight How to Get (and Stay) Motivated How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals Interview With Author Nir Eyal Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Focusing Illusion Confirmation Bias How To Use Behavioral Economics to Create Thriving Cities, an interview with Colu Interview with Bec Weeks  

In today’s episode, I’m excited to introduce you to Nate Andorsky, CEO of Creative Science and author of Decoding the Why. Nate’s book is all about how to apply behavioral economics into consumer-facing software products and websites. It’s about experience, behavior, flow, and shares a bit about the process he and his team at Creative Science use with their clients. Decoding the Why came out in May of 2020, and as you’ll hear in our conversation today, he specializes in work with nonprofits, and also works with other organizations to help them incorporate behavioral economics to be more effective. He and his work have been featured in Forbes, Inc, The Huffington Post, Fast Company, and more. Today, we cover a bunch of ground and mention several concepts of behavioral economics that you may find yourself wanting to dig in on and learn more about (and good news...lots of links below!) Show Notes: [00:44] In today’s episode I’m excited to introduce you to Nate Andorsky, CEO of Creative Science and author of Decoding the Why. [03:10] Nate’s company, Creative Science uses behavioral science to build technology and strategies for today’s most innovative companies.   [04:42] He shares a few examples of tech projects using behavioral science.   [07:06] Nate really enjoys working in nonprofit social impact, consumer finance, health, and ed-tech spaces.   [07:42] When working with companies they first ask, “What is the behavior we are trying to drive?” and then bring that into an awesome user experience.   [09:18] If a product isn’t working exactly as a company wants, they will typically just go ask their users what they want. (Bad strategy) [10:11] There is research to suggest how we think about ourselves in the future is as a stranger—so whatever happens to that person is as inconsequential as if it were happening to a stranger.  This is a big disconnect, so Nate and team look at how to close that gap.   [11:52] The sooner you actually put your skill into practice, you have a better chance of learning it.  [12:19] If you want to change user behavior you have to change the environment and the norms.   [15:11] Nate shares about one of his favorite projects working with a medical school on their enrollment process.  [15:53] You take more ownership of things if you have a hand in building it.  [18:03] Nostalgia and in-group bias can help someone get social proof (which is likely to trigger the desired behaviors).   [19:35] Nate wanted to be a doctor when he grew up because he comes from a family of medical professionals.  During high school, he started his first business and knew he was destined to be an entrepreneur.    [21:26] Melina wanted to be a singer, and shares her experience from volunteering as a company advisor with Washington Business Week.   [23:12] If you want to understand the why behind something, the first thing you need to focus on is a very specific and clear problem.   [23:56] Do a deep literature review, start to hypothesize, and then test what may be going on.  [25:30] A really good place to test is with emails because you can measure an outcome and it is really easy to modify an email to represent a theory.  [26:07] Landing pages are another great way to test.  [27:46] Understanding the group can make a big difference in knowing what nudges to implement.  [30:42] Melina shares about an experience where the company used existing data to help show customers something that would be beneficial to them.   [32:18] If you frame things as a set, people are more likely to complete it.  [34:33] Melina and Nate talk through a real-life example a listener sent in. See it and follow along in the show notes on the website! What do you think? Email Melina your thoughts... [37:13] Giving donors some insights into where their money is going can increase conversion rates.   [40:42] For all the nonprofits listening if you have a project where you need more conversion (like getting and increasing donations), connect with Nate using the links below to see how Creative Science can help. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Creative Science Website nate (at) creativescience (dot) co Nate on LinkedIn Decoding the Why Social Proof Nudges & Choice Architecture Precommitment Defaults  Time Discounting Mental Accounting Loss Aversion Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Priming Overwhelmed Brain Social Proof Friction Incentives Anchoring

In today’s episode, I’m so honored to introduce you to four of the founding members of the newly formed GAABS, the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, which officially launched in September of 2020. I’m joined by Torben Emmerling of Affective Advisory, Nuala Walsh of Mindequity, Madeline Quinlan of Salient Behavioural Consultants, and Dario Krpan of the London School of Economics.  As a rapidly growing and currently unregulated field, GAABS comes in as the world’s first independent organization representing the interests of applied behavioral scientists, primarily those working in the private sector, and has an impressive list of founders, starting members, and advisory board members, including Robert Cialdini and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. It is going to be an increasingly valuable and important organization as the years’ pass, and I’m so excited to be here to introduce you to the group in its infancy.  Show Notes: [00:47] Today on the show I am joined by the four founding members of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists (GAABS), which officially launched September of 2020. [03:31] Torben Emmerling is the Founder and Managing Partner of Affective Advisory, a fully specialized behavioral science firm based in Switzerland.  [04:21] Nuala Walsh is the founder of Mindequity. She focuses on financial services, oil and gas, and sports.  [05:48] Madeline Quinlan is a director and co-founder of Salient Behavioural Consultants. They use academic rigor and insight to practice from a behavioral point of view.  [06:42] Dario Krpan is an assistant professor of behavioral science at the London School of Economics. He researches how to use behavioral science to solve real-world problems.  [08:08] GAABS as a concept started as a conversation and precommitment at a conference in the summer of 2019.  [10:06] GAABS stands for the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists. [10:31] This is an unregulated industry for applied practitioners and what they are hoping to do is guard against the proliferation of people that are not bona fide practitioners in the field.  [12:19] GAABS is a nonprofit, member-based entity and it is there for all qualified behavioral science practitioners out there to be a platform to bridge academia and practice.   [13:11] This is truly there to connect the field and make sure the ethical and technical standards of behavioral science are kept, raised and advocated around the world.  [15:57] We want to be a very welcoming member body where we see many different approaches. We do have to make sure certain standards are kept.  [16:38] One of the benefits of membership we see going forward is using this as a forum with the extra benefit of an academic advisory board.  [19:21] Being able to say that you met the criteria to join there is some higher entity that shows we have worth and social proof.  [20:54] There is a lot of interest from people just entering the field and from people that are already established in the field.  [21:57] GAABS is not providing certification or training, because there are many other groups doing a good job with that already.  [23:26] There are two types of membership, individual and organizational. For the individual memberships, they look for people with qualifying criteria. People who are able to show that they have completed a post-grad qualification in a relevant subject in the behavioral sciences, relevant publications, teaching in the field, or relevant contributions to the field.  [25:15] On the organizational side we look for proof that it is a proper behavioral science unit or consultancy.  [27:21] They are all dedicated to this idea that is going to be built by the members for the members.  [28:44] GAABS is member focused like companies are client-focused and they want to hear ideas from members for improvement. All ideas are welcome! [30:51] The group is a wonderful resource to share research findings before they are professionally published and learn from others. [33:43] It is a great way to share what is interesting in this space, how others are going about this, and transparency around how behavioral science tools are used. [34:39] The academics have access to tremendous resources. [36:31] We live in a global world right now and companies and public organizations are commissioning projects around the world. This will be a platform to gather knowledge. [39:05] This is a way for like-minded and interested people to convene and we need to replicate that working for any of our clients. [39:58] There is so much willingness to share and be open within the group. It is a very inviting field.  [41:06] There is so much room for everyone at the table of behavioral science and practice because there is so much demand and need for it. [44:01] It is an amazing benefit that we are able to connect with people in the field all over the world. GAABS is a great resource to help behavioral scientists to connect globally and it can propel these connections to happen faster.  [46:21] Behavioral science is a field on the rise, and having a professional body to showcase and support the “bona fide practitioners” is so important. GAABS will help safeguard and maintain the quality and standards within the field, promote important insights and applications, be a prestigious community to build alliances with peers on a global level, with access to exclusive events, conferences, and educational programs and so much more. If you’re a qualified practitioner of behavioral science, use the links below to apply to join this wonderful group! 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: GAABS Website GAABS on LinkedIn GAABS on Twitter Social Proof The London School of Economics and Political Science

Today, we are talking about precommitment and how it can be used in life and business. As far as concepts go, I’m guessing this is one of those you’ve heard of and think you know everything about, so I’m going to challenge that belief and hopefully teach you some new insights and ways to use precommitment on today’s show by sharing a personal example. Precommitment is very closely related to time discounting, as well as loss aversion, habits, and several other concepts. As a side note, can I just say that I can hardly believe we’ve made it to 120 episodes of the podcast already? And, there is another exciting milestone that is going to be hitting as this episode comes out. I’m not sure exactly when it will happen, but sometime between recording and the release of the episode we will hit a quarter of a million downloads! A quarter-million you guys! From 160 countries around the world and 120 episodes downloaded 250,000 times.  Precommitment is a big reason this has all been made possible. Because of my vow to have new episodes every single Friday no matter what – a precommitment I made to the void when launching the show, we always have new content come out. In 120 episodes I’ve never missed, and I hope I never will. It seems very fitting that today’s episode on precommitment is marking this exciting quarter-million milestone.  But precommitment can be used for a lot more than keeping to a content schedule. In today’s show, I’ll share an example of how I am using it to be more in alignment with the person I want to be, tips to overcome cognitive dissonance in a positive way (and what that means), some great apps to help with precommitment, behavioral scientists using this in practice, and more! Show Notes: [01:01] Precommitment is very closely related to time discounting, as well as loss aversion, habits, and several other concepts that will be linked for you in the show notes. [03:02] When I started The Brainy Business, I made a commitment to do a weekly show for one full year before evaluating if it was a fit for my business or a waste of time. I’m so thankful to say, it was clearly worth its weight in time gold (far before hitting that one year mark) and The Brainy Business is here to stay. [06:11] Precommitments can be external like throwing all the junk food out of the house or dumping soda down the drain. They can also be internal, like a promise to yourself that you will not break. And a combination. [07:20] Cognitive dissonance is essentially the discomfort we feel when our perception of ourselves doesn’t line up with our actions. (This concept will have its own episode soon.) [08:28] Our brains write off a story that doesn’t align with how we want to see ourselves surprisingly quickly. [10:02] We can use some precommitment tactics while in a cold state to help set us up for success when the moment comes. [11:53] The thing about precommitment is, while it does help us stick to the right stuff, we can also be way too good at ignoring our own best intentions (so it doesn’t always work). The best way to combat this? Narrow focus. [13:23] We need to own that past to have a better future. If we don’t (and instead let the distaste for cognitive dissonance explain it away) it will never change—we will never change—and no amount of precommitment trick will do it for us.  [14:17] As with all applied behavioral science, there is a bigger problem at the root, and it is important to take a step back to make sure you are addressing the whole thing when you put your precommitment devices in place. [16:00] Finding the most important thing to work on and dedicating all your willpower to that one thing is much more likely to be successful.  [16:48] Depending on the goal you choose to use precommitment tactics to help with, there are some cool apps, like Stickk. [18:26] Forest is an app that can be used if you want to be more productive and especially if you have a hard time not getting distracted by your phone. [21:13] When Nikki Rausch was on the show we talked about making it easy to do business with you and scheduling your circle back calls in the moment someone is interested. Making that precommitment is so much more effective in continuing conversations moving forward. [21:41] Get the appointment on the calendar in that moment. It is a precommitment that is a lot harder to push off than a theoretical conversation that may happen someday.  [23:08] Set the expectations upfront to help everyone be on the same page and comfortable with the commitment. [24:09] I want to close out this episode with one of my favorite precommitment tactics, the loss aversion jar. [26:42] Seeing the money in the jar and knowing it all goes away if you miss, can help you keep on track especially if you have a buddy who you know will hold you to it (the threat needs to be real!). [27:34] You can celebrate your wins and achieve those goals by using precommitment in a responsible way. [28:31] If you can’t commit to having the “extremely bad thing” as your consequence if you don’t meet the goal...ask yourself why. If you’re not willing to commit to it fully, don’t work on it right now. Is there something else that is more important to work on first? [29:32] What will your goal be? When will you achieve it? Make the commitment by sharing it with me on social media. Find me as @thebrainybiz everywhere (links below!)  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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Don’t Let Me Do That! – Models of Precommitment The Power of Precommitment Precommitment Precommitment and Procrastination: Behavioral Tools for Students Forest App Stickk App Time Discounting Loss Aversion Interview with Bec Weeks Interview with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Interview with Dan Ariely Interview with Dr. Julie O’Brien Interview with Nikki Rausch Fundamental Attribution Error How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Interview With Author Nir Eyal How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals How to Get (and Stay) Motivated Present Versus Future Biases Optimism Bias Resolutions and Keeping Commitments

Today I’m very excited to be sitting down with Bec Weeks, co-founder of the app Pique.  Her co-founders include Sendhil Mullainathan who has taught traditional and behavioral economics at MIT, Harvard, and The University of Chicago, and Michael Norton, another Harvard professor and part of the Harvard Behavioral Insights Group, he also previously taught at MIT and co-authored a book called Happy Money, The Science of Smarter Spending. Bec got her MBA in behavioral science, entrepreneurship, and social impact from Harvard University. The whole Pique crew is clearly amazing! I had such a lovely time chatting with Bec and could tell from our first conversation that we would be fast friends. She is doing such cool things (and as silly as it is, she has some stellar rose gold headphones that I totally want...long time listeners know I love rose gold!) Beyond that of course, I love the cool things she and the rest of the Pique team are doing to help people use habits in a smart way to improve their lives. How are they doing that exactly? Listen and read on my friend... Show Notes: [00:43] Today I’m very excited to be sitting down with Bec Weeks, co-founder of the app Pique.  [03:18] I love the cool things Bec and the rest of the Pique team are doing to help people use habits in a smart way to improve their lives. [04:18] Before that, a bit about her. Bec is from Australia. She started her career very briefly in law before she moved to management consulting and on to the Behavioral Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA).  [06:39] There is a really big behavioral community in Australia and it is growing every day.  [07:42] She shares about a project she was part of at BETA which focused on the problem of doctors overprescribing antibiotics. Another memorable project about reducing discrimination in hiring practices.  [09:51] The importance of testing was a key finding.  [11:05] Things are shifting all the time. A nudge applied ten years ago doesn’t necessarily work today.  [12:38] Experiments that fail to produce results still need to be public so they add to the evidence base of things that do and do not work.  [15:35] Pique is their attempt to take useful findings from psychology and present them to use and inspire an app. It lets others learn about the concept, experience the concept, and live the concept in their life in a small way.  [16:17] Pique’s main goal is to help people be more in touch with their thoughts (including self-awareness) as well as how they interact with others.  [17:05] Humans crave novelty so they wanted to make sure Pique incorporated variety and different things to do. This keeps people coming back to try something new.  [19:13] The habit is exercising the curiosity, experimentation, and exploration muscles.  [20:26] The simplest change can make it so you are innovative and creative for the rest of the day.  [22:08] The best time to Pique differs from person to person and often even moment to moment.  [24:11] They have built-in reminders in the app to complete the daily exercises and also the opportunity to schedule a comeback reminder.  [25:02] There is a lot of humor sprinkled within the app. They want it to be helpful and enjoyable.  [27:14] You will do each of these little moments and hopefully get something small out of each of them, but when you keep doing them they build on one another and you see bigger results.  [29:21] If you can provide a personalized experience for someone then they are more likely to get the benefit and come back. You want people to use it and get great value.  [31:47] Once you complete the few beginning questions you land at a page with a selection of packs sorted for you.  [33:02] Some packs currently in the app are Conversations, Time, Mind Wandering, Fan the Flame (connecting with your partner), and Rituals.  [35:44] A lot of us have things we are not quite aware of that have ritualistic power. Some of these have been lost whilst at home and some of them we have been able to keep during the pandemic--why that matters.  [37:14] Other current/upcoming packs include Decision Making, Connecting with Friends, and Boosting the Bond. They are always adding new content.  [39:10] The idea of moments is to help you do those things and see what works and resonates with you.  [41:58] Some of the things we have lost are obvious and some not as obvious. Taking time to think about what things have been lost and thinking about how we can add them back--even if it is in a different way--is very important.  [43:19] The opposite of distraction is traction (via Nir Eyal, episode link below).  [45:13] When thinking about habits, many of us think about changing them but it is also important to think about how you can use the power of habits to help people introduce change. [45:45] Pique is perfectly packaged into bite sized pieces that can help your brain to feel good and give you a mental boost. Consider this your poque to download Pique! (once you do, let us know on social media using the links below) 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 Connect with Pique: Pique Pique on Instagram Pique on Twitter Pique on Facebook Pique on LinkedIn More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. Past Episodes and Other Important Links: Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending Habits Questions or Answers Scarcity Anchoring and Adjustment Expect Error Understanding Mapping Structuring Complex Choices The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Biases Toward Novelty and Stories How To Set Up Your Own Experiments How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Focusing Illusion Interview With Author Nir Eyal Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions Behavioural Science Club

Today I am so excited to talk about a fantastic club that started a few months ago on LinkedIn. You’ll learn about the serendipitous nature of how this group was founded during my conversation with one of the catalysts of creating it, Louise Ward. The group is called the Behavioural Science Club, and (while it has had limits on how many people can be included in the past)...at the moment they are letting anyone with an interest in the online virtual book club of awesomeness join.  That Being Said...when you do sign up to join through LinkedIn, please do mention you heard about it from The Brainy Business so we can connect and Louise knows how you got there.  As you will learn, Louise has one on one conversations with every new member (there are close to 2000 now) and this is a group about interaction and engagement. If you just want a notch in your LinkedIn groups belt, this isn’t the club for you.  If you want to  connect with others from around the world who love behavioral science  learn and chat  meet some amazing people  Then this group is for you and you should definitely join! Louise will personally approve you and let you in.  Louise was so fun to chat with, and as you will learn, she is very new to behavioral science and behavioral economics. She is someone who was passionate and took the initiative to do something, which has put her on the radar of some pretty amazing people who she secured to come into the book club to discuss their books with us. (Rory Sutherland! Cass Sunstein! So many more!!!) Show Notes: [00:45] Today I am so excited to talk about a fantastic club that started a few months ago on LinkedIn. [03:11] She is very new to behavioral science and behavioral economics, but was passionate and took the initiative to do something in a way that has put her on the radar of some pretty amazing people. [03:59] Melina and Louise met during Nudgestock.  [05:06] Her interest in advertising came from her father. She grew up in an advertising house.  [07:31] She has always been interested in people.  [09:59] She and Prakash Sharma created the Behavioural Science Club on LinkedIn.  [12:43] It all started with a love of lists and a simple LinkedIn post...  [13:54] Then it evolved farther into a LinkedIn group and Louise ended up being a co-manager.  [16:33] So many authors have agreed to come into the group and do a question and answer session for the members.  [16:45] They didn’t anticipate there would be so much interest and so much kindness from everybody.  [19:07] They wanted the group to be a personal experience so membership was capped for a while.  [20:46] The group is a mix of people that have an interest in behavioral science and people that work in the space.  [22:07] The diversity of the group is very appealing. Even though they are reading books they are not exclusive to only behavioral scientists.  [24:57] The very core is that we are all just interested in how people are behaving.  [25:25] Melina and Louise both highly recommend the Nudgestock videos.  [27:31] Most of the group growth has been attributed to word of mouth.  [29:59] It is really beneficial to invest in a few things rather than doing many things. Showing up and having meaningful conversations is more valuable for the entire group.  [31:09] Louise hopes that the pandemic’s silver lining is that people had time to step back and reflect on what is important to them.  [33:10] The group has been empowering to many people and has given others the chance to make connections and interact with people they didn’t know prior.  [35:44] The group is very active and so many people have so many great things to share.  [38:41] When the group started on the first Saturday of the month they had book chat. The third Saturday was the author Q&A. Occasionally they have to alter the times to fit the author’s schedule.  [40:31] Now they have upgraded to meeting every Saturday. The other weeks include authors of newly published books in behavioral science.  [43:01] The easiest way to find the group is to go on LinkedIn and type in Behavioural Science Club. (or just click that link!) [44:39] There are many discussions in the world right now about when it is behavioral economics vs. behavioral science.  [47:27] Reflecting on my career, I (Melina) can see a lot of things I was doing years ago and understand now why they worked (from a behavioral economics lens) even though I didn’t have the perfect term at the time.  [49:04] During this time in the pandemic, I have been really focusing on showing up in the right places instead of trying to be everywhere on a cursory level. I want to be able to really engage with others and learn from them, have great conversation, and make a difference. This group is a space to do that. [50:01] No matter what your background or knowledge level you should come be part of this group if it interests you. I look forward to interacting with you 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working. More from The Brainy Business: Behavioural Science Club on LinkedIn 1001 Stories Nudgestock Bri Williams Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life Ripple: The Big Effects of Small Behaviour Changes in Business Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Hooked: Revealing the Hidden Tricks of Memorable Marketing Dan Ariely Interview Questions or Answers Loss Aversion Reciprocity Scarcity Nudges & Choice Architecture Biases Toward Novelty and Stories How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics

Today, we are digging in on the Hawthorne Effect. This effect is named after a series of tests done at Western Electric’s Hawthorne location back in the 1920s. The aim of the study was to see how changes in worker conditions would impact productivity, and it was one of the first bits of research into determining worker opinions and mindset into the company’s planning process.  Before we get to that, I am very excited to share that it has been officially announced that I will be speaking at Podcast Movement Virtual this year! I’m on a panel about creating better pitches for being a guest on podcasts so your efforts don’t get deleted. Learn more and get your ticket. The Hawthorne Effect has two main impacts: 1) people change their behavior when they know they are being watched (especially if they know what the watcher is hoping to achieve), and 2) giving people an opportunity to be involved in the process can boost morale, productivity and more.  As with every concept, there are two sides to this coin. Often, you want to avoid letting people know they are being watched as it will impact results. However, as you’ll learn in the episode, there are some specific times and advantages to having people know they are being watched. Understanding this concept more will help you apply the logic within your business for the best possible results.  Show Notes: [00:45] I am very excited to share that I will be speaking at Podcast Movement Virtual this year! [03:51] The Hawthorne effect is named after a series of tests done at Western Electric’s Hawthorne location back in the 1920s and 1930s. The aim was to see how changes in worker conditions would impact productivity, and it was one of the first bits of research into determining worker opinions and mindset into the company’s planning process. [04:50] In 1924, they were part of a study to see how the brightness of lighting would impact output...the results were very puzzling... [05:24] A few years later, Hawthorne started a new experiment with Harvard to see how relays could be created more efficiently. [06:05] The studies concluded that one big difference was being able to provide input and an ability to be treated as a human person with opinions and worth. These findings resulted in changes in working conditions far beyond the Hawthorne location and Western Electric over the decades that followed. [06:27] The other important piece of information from these studies is the finding that when people know they are being watched, and especially when they know what the researchers are looking for, it biases the results. [06:59] When modern researchers have looked back on the data from the original Hawthorne studies, they found some issues. For one thing, there were too many factors being changed at once, and that likely influenced the outcome of the research. [08:19] In its simplest form, the Hawthorne Effect is saying that when people know they are being observed, or that there is an experiment taking place, it changes their behavior. The mere act of doing an experiment impacts the results. [09:01] If you are trying to find out what people naturally do, you are running an experiment of some kind and want to see if a small change can impact behavior, you do not want those involved in the test to be biased and change their actions simply because they are being tested. [09:41] The true intent of a behavioral or psychological study like this will often be hidden within the experiment itself. [11:04] Other studies have shown that when people know what the researchers are looking for, they will on some level give a little extra effort to help prove them right. So, if it is important that you get a natural view of what is going on in the brain or behavior, you want to be as incognito as you can. [13:36] An example from my own visits to branches during my corporate life, and why staying for a longer period of time is important. [14:30] It’s better to integrate with the team as much as you can to become “one of them” so they let their guard down. Sporadic visits don’t have the same impact. [14:59] If you are looking for something specific in those visits, don’t tell the people on the team what you are trying to do when it can be avoided. [16:38] Stanford University found that for the simple tasks, monitoring helped boost productivity because the workers made a game out of accomplishing the tasks so they wouldn’t get bored. [17:03] For those with more complex tasks, productivity went down. Those workers felt the monitoring was too controlling and impacted their ability to do a good job. They felt rushed, which created stressful time pressure.  [17:22] With simple tasks that can get monotonous, monitoring that encourages gamification can be really helpful in boosting productivity and making it more fun for workers. With more complex stuff, people may feel threatened, be scared of punishment for mistakes, or make them focus too narrowly on things that might not be fully important. [19:08] Remember, being treated well and being involved in the process was determined to be a big reason why the Hawthorne studies had such a big impact on productivity. [20:20] That was another key piece of the Hawthorne studies, the boost in productivity happened in all the cases, like with the lights, when you turned them up, down, or kept them the same people had increased productivity during the study but they reverted when they got back to the normal work environment. [21:06] Be careful when you have a hypothesis or are going in with a goal to make sure you aren’t too focused on finding the outcome you are looking for. [22:06] Digging deeper is always a good idea. And now that you know how the Hawthorne effect can be helpful and how it can be a hindrance, you have the opportunity to learn about your teams and hopefully boost morale, productivity, efficiency, and so much more. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working Articles and Past Episodes: Systematic Review of the Hawthorne Effect: New concepts are Needed to Study Research Participation Effects The Hawthorne Effect and Behavioral Studies The "Hawthorne Effect" — What Did the Original Hawthorne Studies Actually Show? The Hawthorne Effect - Or Why Everything Works Hemming and Hawing over Hawthorne: Work Complexity and the Divergent Effects of Monitoring on Productivity Hawthorne Effect Hawthorne Studies Podcast Movement Virtual Could You Leverage Podcast Guesting to Grow Your Visibility? Louise Brogan: The Social Bee Ian Anderson Gray How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Time Pressure Priming Focusing Illusion Loss Aversion The IKEA Effect and Effort Heuristic Confirmation Bias Incentives

Today I am very excited to introduce you to Steve Wendel, author of Designing for Behavior Change, head of behavioral science for Morningstar, founder, chairman of the board for Action Design Network, and more.  In today’s chat, you will hear about confirmation bias, the power of novelty and story, behavior change, the IKEA effect, incentives, and more. There are links to all those past episodes, details about the new Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (where Melina is now teaching), and information about Steve in the notes below. I really loved talking with Steve, he is such a wealth of information and I know you are going to enjoy every second of his thoughts and insights.  Show Notes: [00:41] Today I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Steve Wendel, author of Designing for Behavior Change, head of behavioral science for Morningstar, founder, chairman of the board for Action Design Network, and more. [01:54] In today’s chat, you will hear about confirmation bias, the power of novelty and story, behavior change, the IKEA effect, incentives... [03:49] Designing for Behavior Change is a manual Steve wrote for his team at the time.  [05:55] In the book he shares knowledge as well as what you do to put the knowledge into practice.  [07:53] Steve has a PhD in political science, but he studied under an experimentalist and did many field experiments in political behavior.  [09:26] Steve shares the story of the fish stranded on the beach that emphasizes the ways we can drive behavior change. [10:47] The yelling, screaming, and educating are all about the wrong value proposition. When we are trying to help somebody do something the value proposition is key. [13:04] You don’t fundamentally change human behavior, you work with it.   [14:49] A lot of people think that you want to take the conscious decision making out of it. A level of awareness is important and taking that physical action matters.   [16:01] CREATE is an acronym for the steps people need to take conscious action. DECIDE is step by step determining the problem and crafting the intervention.  [17:28] Your product and your communication are competing with every other single possible thing the person could be doing (including Bigelow-watching Netflix). [19:41] It is not about getting people’s attention, but finding their attention and being there for them.  [22:14] First, we have to get clarity on what we want to accomplish.  That is defining the problem.  Second, we have to put all that aside and look at the micro behaviors our customers are going through and might get in their way.   [24:18] Steve shares one of his favorite research stories about running a competition about foreign ATM fees. [27:14] Belief, passion, and investment have little to do with the impact on your users.  You need to test in the field and see if you are actually helping people.   [29:20] There are plenty of cool things companies and brands can do to boost their reputation. All of it is based on treating your people right.   [31:03] Mission really matters.  The key to the competition was that it was communal and fun.   [32:46] Steve is particularly interested in the intersection between behavioral science and data science right now.   [33:31] Behavioral science and data science are trying to accomplish different things  Data science is often in a business setting is about prediction and is broad. Behavioral science is fundamentally narrow and focuses on behavior change.  [36:03] There is a lot of work that is being done and people are finding each other because we are currently in this differing space.   [37:43] Many people were feeling fatigued during the early days of the pandemic because they were not able to rely on their habits in their everyday lives.  [39:22] Getting our kids on routines can actually help them and us.  [40:28] Steve is the head of behavioral science at Morningstar.  He has one of the larger teams doing applied research and product development.  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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working Articles and Past Episodes: Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics Behavioral Technology Website About Action Design Steve on Morningstar Announcing! Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Laboratory Dan Ariely Interview Confirmation Bias How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Questions or Answers Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings? Roger Dooley Interview Tim Houlihan Interview How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Personal Biases Incentives Value Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Interview The IKEA Effect and Effort Heuristic The Overwhelmed Brain Will Leach Interview Samuel Salzer Interview Habits

Today I am so, so, so excited to announce something that has been in the works for many months. On Friday, August 21, 2020 it was officially announced that I am joining the team at the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab as an Instructor for the brand new Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics, which is enrolling now for the Fall. The core faculty for the certificate program, Dr. Marco Palma, Jeff Pool and Will Leach, will be joining me today to talk about the certificate program in more detail including how it differs from any program we’ve seen before.  And, don’t worry, nothing will be changing here at The Brainy Business except maybe being a bit more busy! You will still receive new shows and emails each Friday.  A lot of you have asked if this meant a move, but the entire program is intentionally virtual so I will be staying here in the Pacific Northwest--and wherever you are around the globe you can have access to a stellar program in applied behavioral economics from the largest academic human behavior lab in the world.  LEARN MORE AND ENROLL Show Notes: [00:52] I am joining the team at the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab as an Instructor for the brand new Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics. (yay!!) [02:53] The program is awesome and any fan of this show would benefit from obtaining a Certificate in Applied Behavioral Economics. This program is for people in business looking for that edge. [05:07] Introducing the core faculty: Will Leach is the author of Marketing to Mindstates and the CEO of the Mindstate Group.  [05:59] Dr. Marco Palma is the director of the Human Behavior Lab.  [07:26] Jeff Pool has a background in communications (working at the Pentagon before joining Dr. Palma’s team at the Human Behavior Lab).  [08:57] One of the critical missions of Texas A&M University and the Human Behavior Lab is to put the knowledge and research out to the people to continue it and so that they can improve the health and wellbeing of people in the United States and around the world.  [11:37] This program provides an understanding of behavioral economics from the basic core concept to the point that people can apply this knowledge and use it in their businesses on a daily basis.  [12:22] The certificate program is an online program hosted by Texas A&M University that provides interaction with instructors and fellow students. In order to earn the certificate there are six classes including 3 core classes and 3 elective classes. It is a total of 18 credit hours.  [13:51] Melina will be teaching Foundations of Behavioral Economics. Some of the classes will also include co-teaching with other members from the team (and guest lectures from amazing guests) utilizing their strengths and experiences.  [15:17] The course is designed to stimulate ideas to help you with your business. The faculty will be available during online office hours to answer questions and help you apply your learnings.  [17:05] Marco says a huge benefit to the program is having Melina and Will because of their experiences with their own businesses and their background in corporate America.  [19:27] Another huge benefit of the program is being able to access the work and research of the lab and other colleagues before it is even published.  [20:53] The team offers a rich pipeline of people they are able to reach out to get answers for students when they have them.  [22:12] They wanted to provide enough rigorous information, but also make sure it is accessible and understandable.  [24:11] The certificate program is a great option for people that are already established in careers, but really want that edge.  [26:30] Just being curious about human behavior is all you need because they are going to provide the rest. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in.  [28:22] They are building the program knowing that it is going to be responsive.  [30:46] The program will be starting with two classes in Fall 2020.  [33:01] If you happen to find a course you are excited about but not quite ready for the full certificate, you can test it out and just take a class you think sounds interesting. We wanted to make this accessible to everyone to get what they need; where, when, and how they need it. [35:03] This is intended to evolve with our learners. We plan to add more electives that are specific for certain industries and disciplines. This program is for people like you looking to get that edge in business. [35:46] The program is all online so wherever you are in the world you can have the same access as someone in College Station. [37:12] I hope to see many of you in class this fall and beyond! 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.  Important Links: Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Certificate Program - learn more and enroll! Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Will Leach Interview Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working

Today, we are going to be digging in on a particular aspect of optimism bias called the planning fallacy. Essentially, we humans are pretty much doomed with underestimating how much something will cost or how long it will take, even if we have evidence showing otherwise. This is why projects like the Big Dig come in years late and billions of dollars over budget, or why you constantly have a to-do list more ambitious than can actually be completed.  In today’s episode, Melina will spend a little bit of time telling you about how it works and what studies have found, as well as tips for overcoming this bias (and let me tell you, this is one of my personal biggest challenges so these are tips I can provide from experience!)  Show Notes: [00:53] Essentially, we humans are pretty much doomed with underestimating how much something will cost or how long it will take, even if we have evidence showing otherwise. [03:02] I’m a big victim to planning fallacy. As an ambitious and optimistic person, I am confident I can do things quickly and perfectly each time, and I am prone to underestimate how long something will take me to complete. [03:42] I’ve been able to identify this tendency in myself. Understanding planning fallacy helps me adapt and do better in practice than I would naturally. [05:10] We fall victim again and again because success is so much easier to imagine the successful scenario than the failure. [07:26] Melina shares about the Big Dig in Boston, Seattle viaduct project and Sydney Opera House.  [08:57] It is important to know that planning fallacy is more than mere procrastination. Having deadlines doesn’t necessarily help either because people are expecting things will go smoother than they will and aren’t planning to fail. [10:34] The focusing illusion shows us that as you look at or consider something, it feels like it is more important than it really is. Fundamental attribution error is about when you attribute external or internal motivation onto a situation incorrectly. [12:22] You have that optimism bias saying you have learned from your past projects and this is really similar to the project you did for XYZ company so you can capitalize on some of that work so that internal dialogue and story of your own skill is played up. [13:03] Your brain likes to think it is constantly getting better, so it feels good to predict you will be faster than before. [13:49] When you don’t plan for those external pieces and factor them into your time budget, you are falling victim to planning fallacy. [13:59] One helpful option is to have people determine their timing as if a coworker was taking on the project. If you were to consider the coworker you will have less of the intrinsic stuff and can see the external pieces a little more clearly. Especially if you choose a coworker who you think is slower than you. [14:55] Ather brain trick to watch out for is bikeshedding, where your brain will look for smaller things to work on and make you think you need to do those in this exact moment and you can’t work on the thing you really should be working on until this other thing is complete. [15:34] This may mean planning for breaks to give your brain a little bikeshedding treat to keep working. [18:17] My advice: to plan your day’s commitments using the worst-case scenario. [19:35] One of my suggestions to stay on task and keep my brain organized is using a Time Timer. [20:09] I want to stress that your brain is going to tell you that you don’t need to do this. That you don’t need as much time as other people or that you won’t get distracted. That is the optimism bias and planning fallacy talking. [20:54] Every task can be sorted by whether it is urgent or important and falls into one of four quadrants (check your freebie worksheet to try it out). [22:08] Planning for distractions will help you keep to your projected timelines and overcome planning fallacy. [24:23] Narrowing your goals and priorities to what matters and being present when you are doing those things has helped me to tackle the planning fallacy and I think it can for you too. [25:32] Sorry to tell you this, but groups are worse at predicting how long things will take or how much something will cost. [26:02] One way to get around this for groups is to have each person or department do their forecast on their own and then have someone add them all up behind the scenes instead of having a group discussion. [27:06] The plan is only as good as the tracking. [28:20] If you don’t include the external stuff in the calculation there is no tracking system or project management tool that can overcome planning fallacy. [30:21] Another tip that studies have shown can help people overcome planning fallacy is to intentionally think about setbacks. [31:45] When planning for how long something will take, we often look at the full elephant instead of all its components. When you don’t break a project into small enough subtasks, you are going to underestimate how long things will take. [33:49] Unpacking the project into those minutia tasks will allow you to more properly see the full scope and allocate enough time to get it all done. [34:36] Remember not to get down on yourself about planning fallacy. It is a natural human tendency that spans across gender, culture and personality type. Knowing how your brain may try to trick you and using the tips in this episode can help you be less likely to succumb to it in the future, which can make you happier, less stressed, and living up to your commitments more often. Don’t Forget Your FREE Planning Fallacy Worksheet! 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working Articles and Past Episodes: The Planning Fallacy: Getting Things Done Can the outside‐view approach improve planning decisions in software development projects? The Planning Fallacy: When Plans Lead to Optimistic Forecasts Exploring the Planning Fallacy: Why People Underestimate Their Task Completion Times A Nobel Prize-Winning Psychologist Explains Why We’re Always Wrong About How Long Tasks Take The Planning Fallacy: Why You Miss Your Deadlines, And What to do About it Allocating Time to Future Tasks:The Effect of Task Segmentation on Planning Fallacy Bias Intuitive Prediction: Biases and Corrective Procedures Seattle tunnel construction avoided costly mistakes of Boston's Big Dig Visualization-Mediated Alleviation of the Planning Fallacy If You Don't Want to Be Late, Enumerate: Unpacking Reduces the Planning Fallacy Planning Fallacy Optimism Bias Time Discounting Loss Aversion Focusing Illusion Fundamental Attribution Error Bikeshedding Confirmation Bias How To Start and Grow a Successful Podcast Interview With Author Nir Eyal How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics Expect Error Anchoring & Adjustment

Today I am excited to introduce you to a really cool company called Colu. The company was launched in 2014 and currently has a staff of 40 people in the US, UK, and Israel with a mission to make more vibrant, connective, and inclusive cities around the world.  Joining me on the show today is Michael Mazur, Colu’s VP of Business Development and Global Business Development Manager Elad Erdan. One of the things I really love about this company is they were doing some really smart things in previous years that are incredibly applicable during this pandemic to help boost economic recovery and keep cities thriving.  In our conversation, we talk about an amazing project they did in Tel Aviv that helped a shopping area see 700 percent growth in 45 days. We also talk about a new project that just launched in Akron, Ohio and get into some brainstorming around a topic a lot of people around the world have been talking about: masks. Michael, Elad, and I had a short conversation about this and came up with some pretty interesting potential solutions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them!  Show Notes: [01:14] Colu has done some really smart things in previous years that are incredibly applicable during this pandemic to help boost economic recovery and keep cities thriving. [03:34] Colu works with cities in the U.S. and abroad, by rewarding resident behaviors that meet the strategic goals of each city.  [04:41] They have worked with many different researchers and experts to create their processes including Dan Ariely.  [07:00] Right now cities mostly need help supporting their small businesses.  [08:45] Each city has its own unique challenges and behaviors they want to promote.  [10:05] They share about the Jerusalem Boulevard Project.  [12:11] They used their platform in Tel Aviv to support the local businesses. They used their mobile app to tell the residents the story of small businesses.  [14:18] The business owners in that area experienced a growth of more than 700% in the first 45 days of the initiative. [15:16] In the next 45 days (even though they no longer had any incentives) the residents continued to visit the area because of the story and the emotional connection that was established.  [18:04] They are working to ultimately create loyalty between the residents and the local businesses.  [19:42] Akron, Ohio is the first city to launch in the states.  [21:26] They created a coronavirus task force to research and figure out how they could best help cities and what cities are going through. [24:13] They are looking at the average price per transaction, the way people consume, and the way people shop by segment.  [26:03] In Akron, you can get rewarded for shopping at a local business whether it is online or in-person. When you are ready to redeem your local coins then you have to be in-person.  [27:46] The city can monitor and change the program as it runs.  [28:54] They are also using challenges; encouraging people to develop a new habit.  [31:35] Encouraging people to wear masks is something that is very difficult and a lot of people are struggling with.  [33:16] Cities started giving businesses carrots for enforcing mask-wearing. In Israel, they reward businesses that are keeping the rules and conditions of the purple badge.  [35:55] We need to take mask-wearing from a negative experience to a positive experience. Say, if you get caught with a mask then you can be rewarded.  [36:45] It is important to highlight the celebrations. We need to acknowledge and recognize people when they are doing something good for themselves and the community. [39:05] Consider this: If you wear a mask you might randomly win a prize.  [40:25] They want to help as many cities as possible in terms of supporting their key points. They focus on small businesses and diversity.  [42:46] It is their mission to help cities think outside the box and in ways that will create long-term change.  [45:12] They are trying to help cities unlock their true potential.  [47:19] Economic recovery will take time, but hopefully companies like Colu can help make that a smoother, faster transition for many cities around the world. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working More from Colu: Colu’s Website Colu on Twitter Akronite by Colu Colu on Facebook Articles and Past Episodes: Daniel Pink’s book Drive Coronavirus face masks: Why men are less likely to wear masks Dan Ariely Interview Tim Houlihan Interview Availability Herding Habits Incentives Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings? Roger Dooley Interview Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Michael Manniche (The Littery) Interview How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Social Proof Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics Celebrate Network Effect Kwame Christian Interview Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Interview

On today’s behavioral economics foundations episode we are going to be talking about the IKEA effect as well as the effort heuristic. I’ve loved the IKEA effect concept since the moment I heard its name. It is such a quirky title, but so clear for what this concept is all about.  In its most basic form, we value things that we put effort into more than things we don’t. I’ll talk more about the details and nuances as we go through the episode and there are many more ways to use this concept than assembling your own furniture. We take a look at ways the IKEA effect plays out in our lives as well as our businesses.  The IKEA effect doesn’t just have to be used for product businesses. The IKEA effect can play a huge role in change management.  Tune in to learn more about the IKEA effect and how it impacts our lives and businesses.    Show Notes: [00:58] In its most basic form, the IKEA Effect is that we value things that we put effort into more than things we don’t. [03:52] The core of this concept is that when people have an opportunity to build something themselves and when they put some effort in, they will value that thing higher than something they didn’t build.  [04:30] Some studies have attributed this to the pride felt when assembling something yourself, and that is part of it, but it isn’t the whole story. [05:19] The endowment effect is the phenomena in our brains where simply owning something causes us to find more worth in it than what other people see in it, or in its stated price. [06:47] It may seem like the IKEA effect is merely an extension of the endowment effect, but studies have shown they are different. Even when people built something and were told they could not keep it, they still valued the item they made higher than those made by someone else. [09:05] This phenomenon makes it clear why people think their own artwork is worth more than people will pay for it, or why they ask for a lot more money than their home is worth if they put a lot of “sweat equity” into creating it. We tend to think that our effort ties into the direct value and that something we spent a lot of time on is worth more to everyone else as well. [10:12] Humans use effort as a guide for value even when we are not the ones putting in the work. This is known as the effort heuristic, which has found that even when we don’t have direct memory of the work in question (i.e. we didn’t do it ourselves), we still connect effort and quality together. [12:25] Whichever painting or poem people were told took more time to complete was the one they tended to like more and they valued it higher.  [14:17] When the image being shown is of high resolution, you can see the quality, and so that can impact the valuation in addition to the number of hours you were told it took to create. [15:22] When the quality can’t be easily determined by our eyes, other pieces of information will guide the brain’s determination of value. [17:26] The IKEA effect says that we value things higher when we put effort into them. So, the effort heuristic is present within our own IKEA effects, but when someone else is putting in the work, it can trigger the effort heuristic without being the IKEA effect. [18:08] When you are exchanging dollars for hours, it reduces the effort to each 60-minute increment. [21:02] When you are putting a value on your time, it is really hard to get individual hours to reflect your expertise and the true effort you have put into your career. The value you provide is often in the time you are saving them. Knowing what that is worth is a better way to find what to charge than your total number of hours put in. [21:52] The other side of the IKEA effect is knowing that people actually like to put in effort for things.   [23:37] Humans aren’t the only animals who value putting in the effort--birds and rats do this too. We are motivated by feeling like we did something and we earned it (whatever “it” is). [25:28] It is important that you don’t make it too hard so that the project doesn’t get completed. [26:40] The value of the IKEA effect was completely wiped away once they took the thing apart. [27:37] People get to feel like they are smart and savvy shoppers and get the benefit of feeling like they did something in assembling their table or bunk beds for the kids or whatever.   [28:09] The research shows it is best to give a little creativity, along with a lot of guidance, to ensure people will complete the task, be more satisfied with the end result, and get the full benefits of the IKEA effect. [29:33] Using the IKEA Effect for Change Management: When you are looking to introduce a change and just throw it at someone, they have no ownership of it. They didn’t put any effort in so they don’t value it that much. When they are able to help build it, it can make all the difference in whether they are a productive member of the team or a big hindrance you need to help the team get over. [31:08] If there are people on your team who are particularly resistant to change, look for opportunities to include them as early as possible in the next project. Though be warned, if you ask them and don’t include their feedback it could actually end up worse than if you don’t ask at all.  [33:29] It can help your employees look for opportunities to help bring on change themselves, and be more open to changes when they come. Fostering a culture of change doesn’t have to be difficult, and the IKEA effect can make it a little easier. [33:58] A glowing testimonial from a recent attendee of a virtual training on change management I gave to a Fortune 10 company. Looking for a webinar, training, or consulting? Email melina@thebrainybusiness.com  [35:22] If you enjoyed this episode on the IKEA effect and learned something please let me know! Don’t Forget Your FREE IKEA Effect Worksheet! 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working Want to join the Twitter game?: Melina’s Tweet Pique Bec Weeks on Twitter Center for Customer Insights on Twitter Neil Hopkins on Twitter Samuel Salzer on Twitter Abaneeta Chakraborty on Twitter Articles and Past Episodes: The Effort Heuristic When and How Does Labor Lead to Love? The Ontogeny and Mechanisms of the IKEA Effect The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love The IKEA Effect. A Conceptual Replication Anomalies The Endowment  Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Little Red Wrench story from Nikki Rausch Change Management What is Value? Loss Aversion Kwame Christian Interview Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain Nikki Rausch Interview Social Proof Gleb Tsipursky Interview Confirmation Bias Incentives

Today I am excited to introduce you to Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, a disaster avoidance expert and author of multiple books including Never Go With Your Gut, which we will be digging into today, as well as The Truth Seekers Handbook, and a brand new book called Resilience: Adapt and Plan for the New Abnormal of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. Gleb has been consulting, coaching and speaking for over 20 years and has done work for clients like Aflac, Honda, IBM, the World Wildlife Fund, and over a hundred others. He taught at the Ohio State University and is a behavioral economist and cognitive neuroscientist studying the psychology of decision making in business. His research has appeared in Behavior and Social Issues, Journal of Social and Political Psychology and more. In our conversation today, Gleb will tell you about why you should never go with your gut, ways to think about avoiding disasters, what a disaster really is, and five important questions you should be asking to identify and avoid those potential disasters. I hope you enjoy the conversation and learn some valuable tips to apply into your life and business. Show Notes: [01:18] Gleb taught at Ohio State University and is a behavioral economist and cognitive neuroscientist studying the psychology of decision making in business. [02:46] Gleb will tell you about why you should never go with your gut, ways to think about avoiding disasters, and five important questions you should be asking in your business. [03:42] Gleb is known as the disaster avoidance expert. Disasters come from bad decisions.  [05:06] In his research he looks at how we deal with these bad decisions in our professional and personal lives.  [07:01] A disaster is anything that makes a significant negative impact on your bottom line.  [09:01] Disasters can result from one big decision or a series of small decisions. [10:19] What are the alternatives to staying where you are and what are the long-term consequences of each action.   [13:19] Our emotions determine 80-90% of our decision making when we don’t follow a structured decision making process.  [14:14] We often feel emotionally attached and invested and don’t realize it will be better in the long run to let it go.  You have to acknowledge you are wrong to address the situation.   [16:45] Previously, the media filtered out some information, but now we have direct communication with public figures on the internet.   [18:55] We believe the first thing we hear until it has been proven wrong.  [19:10] Our gut reaction and intuitions are not wired for the modern world.   [20:09] The anchoring bias is when we are anchored to the first piece of information we hear. It weighs on us more heavily.   [22:19] The main reason we should not trust our gut is because it was created for the savannah environment and we don’t live in that environment anymore.   [23:36] Herding is one way we show our tribal tendency.  [25:44] There is tribal discomfort with someone that is clearly from another tribe. [26:43] An aspect of tribalism is called accent discrimination.  [28:02] Tribalism can hurt morale and engagement and cause disasters.   [29:59] We need to broaden our circle of empathy and who we consider to be part of our group or team.   [30:09] Take an outside perspective. Step outside of yourself and look at your situation from an outside view.   [31:17] Examples of aligning incentives so teams can work toward the same goal.  [33:29] It is important to have globalized incentives that support the company overall.   [34:44] There are more incentives that can be offered then just money.  [37:36] The empathy gap has to do with us underestimating other people’s emotions—especially those who are not part of our tribe. [39:11] It is important to figure out what is going to be emotionally appealing to people and address their emotional needs in a way that aligns with the right incentives for the company.  [40:04] Change management often results in a disaster because the focus is in thinking of people as logical and rational instead of understanding their emotions which inhibit change. You should be addressing the emotions before addressing logic and reason. [41:52] Gleb recommends we use a 5 question process to make decisions we do not want to screw up.  [42:29] We tend to look for information that confirms our beliefs and we ignore information that doesn’t. We need to look twice as hard and weigh information twice as heavily that goes against our preferred choice.   [43:47] Think about what a trusted advisor would say in your situation.  [45:33] You need to have a revision point so you know what you are doing to do differently if things don’t go as you planned. NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER: Podcast Episode Best Practices Checklist (This includes the Trello Template I use for every episode and more!) 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working More from Gleb: Books by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Disaster Avoidance Experts Free 8 video-based module course, “Wise Decision Maker Course,” and free “Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace” Never Go With Your Gut Dr. Gleb Tsipursky on LinkedIn Articles and Past Episodes: Brian Ahearn Interview Kwame Christian Interview Loss Aversion Anchoring  Priming Prefactual Thinking Focusing Illusion Confirmation Bias Herding Biases Toward Others Fundamental Attribution Error Incentives Change Management Survivorship Bias  Optimism Bias

On today’s behavioral economics foundations episode we are going to be talking about survivorship bias. I decided on this episode when Kurt Nelson (cohost of Behavioral Grooves with Tim Houlihan--last week’s guest) shared a comic of the concept on LinkedIn. After some conversation with Benjamin Granlund (the artist from the Lantern Group who created the comic) I learned this is part of their new 100 Behaviors project. They’re sharing (you guessed it!) 100 different behaviors/BE concepts on the socials through these fun little cartoons. One of the early ones is on survivorship bias, and I have linked to their Instagram so you can follow along as well. So, what is survivorship bias? It may sound like it is only a life or death thing…and while that is part of how it was discovered it is more than just about surviving. And, like all the biases you hear me talk about on the show, your brain is using this one all the time, and it can absolutely impact the decisions you make in your business.  Survivorship bias impacts entrepreneurs for sure, but it is also leading people astray in all sorts of businesses. Understanding this concept and being on the lookout for it can help you make better decisions on what to invest in—money and time, make your calculations and predictions of your work more accurate, and generally increase the likelihood that your endeavors are more successful.  Let’s start with the story of how this bias was discovered, which will require us to journey back to the days of WWII...  Show Notes: [03:19] Survivorship bias impacts entrepreneurs for sure, but it is also leading people astray in all sorts of businesses.  [03:49] Melina shares the story of how this bias was discovered, which requires us to journey back to the days of WWII. In a war, the slightest edge can be the difference between success and failure. [05:52] The problem with reinforcing the spots on the planes that have received the most bullets, is that it doesn’t account for a very large and important part of the data set (the planes that didn’t make it back). This conclusion is missing what’s missing. [06:46] In fact, those blank spots are where you want to reinforce the planes. It will make them stronger in those places so they can take some fire there and not go down. [07:39] One common example of survivorship bias is when you seek advice on how to be successful. [09:11] 2 million of the students who start college each year will drop out before graduating. [10:04] If you only look at the successful people and ignore those who failed you aren’t getting the true picture. [10:53] We just see the few who win and it makes it seem like those stories are more common than they really are. [11:24] As we look back on our own lives, we see choices that we think got us to where we are, but those on their own are not the answer.  [13:15] There are lots of other factors that determine success. If you do exactly the same thing year after year you will not always have the same end result. [13:51] Survivorship bias was making them only look at what they did and assume that it is the winning formula no matter what, but it just isn’t the whole picture. [15:10] Just because two things are seen at the same time doesn’t mean that one caused the other to occur. This is the difference between correlation and causation.  [16:07] Just because two data sets appear to go together doesn’t mean one actually caused the other to happen. [16:59] Even if there is causation it doesn’t mean that it is the only thing that is causing that particular outcome to occur.  [18:12] For every 1 popular book out there, one million unsuccessful books and their authors are the other side of this survivorship bias phenomenon. [18:41] There isn’t a magic pill or silver bullet to “win.” It takes trial and error and a lot of hard work.  [19:28] Being ready to invest and do the hard work (which includes looking at your goals and problems from all angles and taking the tendency of survivorship bias into account) will put you miles ahead of your competitors and make it more likely that you will succeed too. [19:46] Some other areas where survivorship bias can cause us problems is when we say things like, “I will win because I have a better product or service than they do.” [20:30] The lesson here is to look at all the possible data points and not focus on one single aspect. [20:48] Another place where survivorship bias comes into play is on customer satisfaction surveys and other questions you are asking of your current customer base. [22:31] Across the board, if you aren’t considering the full data set of people, your results (and consequently the actions you take based on those results) will be biased. [23:00] A good rule of thumb is to stop, take a breath and ask, “What about everyone else?” or “Who have we not thought of?” “Who else is there?” [25:29] Taking the time to slow down and consider what might be missing, what the data could look like from another angle and reframing your question to see how the results and insights change, can make a huge difference. [25:44] Look at the survivors, winners and success stories, but don’t forget about everyone else. Their lessons can keep you grounded and help you to become your own winning success story. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Get Your FREE ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working Articles and Past Episodes: What Every Founder Needs to Know About Survivorship Bias Why It's So Hard To Succeed - The Survivorship Bias You are missing something! - Survivorship bias 7 Lessons on Survivorship Bias that Will Help You Make Better Decisions How the Survivor Bias Distorts Reality Survivorship Bias: The Tale of Forgotten Failures 100Behaviors on Instagram Lantern Group Missing what’s missing: How survivorship bias skews our perception The College Dropout Problem Hilarious Graphs Prove That Correlation Isn’t Causation The 10 Most Bizarre Correlations Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life Tim Houlihan Interview Availability Focusing Illusion Optimism Bias How To Start and Grow a Successful Podcast Surprise and Delight Peak-End Rule Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying

Today features an interview with Tim Houlihan, cohost of Behavioral Grooves podcast and the Weekly Grooves podcast, also the founder of Behavior Alchemy. Behavior Alchemy is a consultancy helping companies to incorporate behavioral economics into their businesses, we will talk about some of his work and past projects – including one with Dan Ariely. In life, I think it is important to find joy and humor in the small things. So when there was an opportunity for some with this episode, we took it. You see, I was a guest on the Behavioral Grooves podcast for episode 109 of their show, and even though this was recorded several weeks ago, Tim and I agreed it was worth holding onto for a bit so we could have this crossover episode of sorts be the same number. In our conversation, Tim and I focus on goals. Something you have heard covered a lot on the show, and while he has some similarly aligned tips, the stories and studies he references are mostly going to be new to the show. And in my opinion, reinforcing tips is important to help you find the right way to achieve more of your own goals. It is a good thing to revisit in as many ways as we can so everyone can find the thing that resonates with them specifically. I am sure you will find some interesting and useful tips and tidbits in this conversation with Tim. Show Notes: [01:32] Habit Weekly shared their top behavioral science content of 2020 so far. There were only 4 podcast episodes included, and my interview with Dan Ariely on the Shapa numberless scale (ep 101) was one of them! Thank you Habit Weekly!  [02:51] In life, I think it is important to find joy and humor in the small things and so when there was an opportunity for some with this episode,we took it... [04:37] 20 some years ago, Tim got involved in a business designing incentives and employee engagement programs, rules and rewards. That led him down a path of falling in love with behavioral sciences.  [05:59] They use the Behavioral Grooves podcast to expand their own learning and it has become a public service about application of behavioral science at work and life.  [06:20] On the Behavioral Grooves podcast they talk to researchers, practitioners, and “accidental behavioral scientists.”  [08:26] Think as big as possible when you are setting your goals and vision. When you are looking at actually moving forward, you want to go as small as possible, especially when executing.  [09:29] Tim uses Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). These light up our prefrontal cortex which gets our imagination engaged.  [10:18] If you don’t break those big goals down into small bricks you can’t build the cathedral.  [10:29] The articulation of the plan is most important in any goal development.  [11:27] Self-selected goals are the richest kind of goals we can have.  [13:01] Since the half marathon Melina has been training for is pivoting to a virtual half marathon she is having to revisit and reshape her vision based on what the world will allow.  [15:21] Social media is going to help people to stick to their commitments and achieve their goals.  [17:12] If people are not given due dates they often procrastinate and struggle to meet the goal.  [20:03] Many people would do the bare minimum to hit their goals at the call center.  [21:39] The environment and context was shaping their decisions.  [23:42] A More Beautiful Question talks about using questions instead of answers and some schools that have come up with alternative models to teaching.  [25:03] Tim recommends the fewer the goals the better and no more than three goals at one time. (Matching Melina’s advice! Narrow down to your three goals with the free Master Your Mindset Mini Course) [25:46] Goals need to be time specific and time manageable. Tim suggests month long goals or quarterly goals.  [26:25] The shorter the goals, the more likely you are to achieve them. We rely on achievement to propel us to take on the next goal.  [27:41] We can do so many things to contribute to our goal if we are thoughtful of our goal, our daily activities, and have a plan. Failing to plan is planning to fail. A goal also needs to be measurable.  [30:39] Start small with something that is totally achievable.  [31:34] When you set up your to-do list with 35 things and you only get 3 done you feel like you failed.  [34:36] Everything we think should work tends to backfire and often make things worse. Melina shares the example about the day care.  [34:49] Tim is a big fan of using non-monetary incentives in the corporate world.  [36:10] The best way to motivate team members is with their emotions and that is a non-monetary incentive.  [37:21] The group that was given gifts worked 30% more and delivered more effort, and created better results than the group that received cash.  [39:02] Every time you reconsume the gift it takes you right back to that great feeling of winning the item the first time.  [41:29] If you have employees and you are giving things away and you can retrigger the memory it increases motivation and draws out extra effort.  [43:16] Even if we buy something, it wouldn’t mean nearly as much if we win it in a contest.  [46:07] Tim’s band is back in songwriting and recording mode in their individual houses (now you get where the “grooves” of Behavioral Grooves podcast comes from!)  [48:19] Want to listen to what Melina is listening to while she is working? Check out her carefully curated “John Mayer Pandora Station” here: https://pandora.app.link/UrWQ28B6l3 .  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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from Tim Houlihan: Behavioral Grooves Behavior Alchemy Tim on LinkedIn Tim on Twitter More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Melina’s John Mayer Pandora Station! Listen to what she listens to while working Articles and Past Episodes: Podcast editing and show notes by Pro Podcast Solutions Melina Palmer: Using Behavioral Economics to Help Businesses Anchoring & Adjustment Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying Dan Ariely Interview Loss Aversion Questions or Answers Bikeshedding Relativity  Reciprocity Discussion With Samuel Salzer Lead Magnets Incentives Surprise and Delight Motivation A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas

2 years. 6 continents. 108 episodes. 162 countries. 207,000+ downloads.and this is just the beginning… Today’s episode honors the two year anniversary of the podcast with some celebration and my tips for starting and growing a successful podcast. The Brainy Business podcast launched with its first three episodes on Friday, July 6, 2018. We have had an episode every single week since then and never missed a Friday release or newsletter in those 2 years. Hooray! That first month had 844 downloads, which I was incredibly excited about at that time! As you’ll learn in this episode, my show actually hit the average podcast download numbers in that first month...and since then things have gone up and up. It took 483 days to hit the first 100,000 download milestone and less than half that time (only 237) to get the next hundred thousand. If pace stays the same we will be passing the quarter million mark around October, which is amazing as well! There have been listeners on every continent (minus Antarctica) and 162 countries. Shout out to the top downloaders! Not surprisingly, the US tops the list, followed by the UK, then Canada, Australia, India, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, and Spain rounds out the top 10. Coming in at 11 we have the Netherlands, followed by South Africa, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Switzerland, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and France rounding out the top 20. Shout out to my friends in Canada! The top Canadian provinces by downloads are Ontario, followed by British Columbia and Alberta. And to those in the states, we still have a lot of the same top 10 with a fairly similar order: California has the most downloads followed by Washington, Texas, New York, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina. What has made the podcast successful, and what can you learn from my first two years in podcasting?  That’s what this episode is all about. I’ll answer questions like: How long does it take to run a successful podcast? Do you really need to be weekly? How many downloads does the average podcast get? Do most podcasts make money? How should you strategically think about your cover art and podcast name? What the heck is podfade, and should you be concerned about it? All this and more covered in this week's episode…[PLUS my awesome Podcast Episode Best Practices Checklist is now available for preorder!] Show Notes: [00:46] This week is the two year anniversary of The Brainy Business podcast, which launched with its first three episodes on Friday, July 6, 2018. [01:38] There have been listeners in 162 countries. [04:04] I appreciate each and every one of you who has ever interacted or connected with The Brainy Business. [06:10] Podcasting is a growing medium, and just like any exciting new format it can feel like “everyone” has a podcast and that you “must” be there to be successful in business. [07:24] If it isn’t worth your time to be there and build it the right way, it probably isn’t worth doing. [09:39] Sure, I could spend less time preparing for each episode, but all those things are what make The Brainy Business successful. [11:41] I did the research and invested in good audio from the beginning. [13:45] Why is a podcast a good fit for your business model and how will it support the work you do? [14:28] One other reason I started the show was to help people understand what behavioral economics even is and how it can apply to business. [16:36] Knowing your goals before you jump in and create a podcast is incredibly important and should be used to determine how you set up the structure of your show.  [19:03] Clear, concise, targeted content can often take more time to create than something longer.   [20:35] Most podcasts don’t get past episode seven.   [21:27] Podcast stats aren’t as detailed as we would all like them to be. [22:35] Most podcasts do not make money, and actually cost money. [24:05] Podcast downloads are not a perfect science and the numbers look at the average after an episode has been live for 30 days. [26:54] According to Libsyn, the hosting platform I and many other podcasters use, the average podcast episode has 141 downloads after 30 days. (As you saw in the intro, The Brainy Business was above this from the first month of launching the show, even though I didn’t have a big list - the tips in this episode are a big reason why.) Preorder Your Podcast Episode Best Practices Checklist NOW [28:22] Think about how you will stand out from competitors. [28:56] Knowing which areas are searchable is important in helping people find you. [30:45] Searchability and clear alignment to the topic was most important. [32:43] The name and art should draw their eye and make them want to click to get to the next step of reading your full title and description and decide if they want to listen to an episode. [33:38] If you are going to be investing in a podcast, it should be a main driver of business for you. [36:06] In my opinion, it is almost not worth doing if you aren’t going weekly. [38:12] Start with your first three episodes and go live with them on the first day. This allows people to begin that binge listening and start forming that habit. [39:46] It is more important to pick a day that works with your schedule so you can release great content on time every time than it is to be on the “perfect’ day. [41:12] For each episode, I come up with the topic and determine if it will be a guest or a solo episode. After I determine my topic I start doing my research and write the full script.  [41:51] After all the preparation, I then record using my ATR2100 mic into a system called Audacity. Then I submit to the team for editing and creating social media graphics and worksheets for the episode (using Canva).   [42:43] I listen to every single episode and review and edit the show notes before approving. [43:26] I also create audiograms (using Headliner), set up the newsletter (Active Campaign) and write the social copy for all platforms.   [45:11] Spend an hour making a list of every topic you could possibly do an episode or post about. Break them up into smaller pieces, combine some together, list as many as you can.  [46:09] Write down ideas in bulk when you don’t need them right away. It is much easier to come up with a bunch of topics when you don’t need them. When it is for next week’s show it is a lot harder to create a topic from scratch. NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER: Podcast Episode Best Practices Checklist (This includes the Trello Template I use for every episode and more!) 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% PREORDER SPECIAL: Podcast Episode Best Practices Checklist (Includes Trello Template!) only $20 Articles and Past Episodes: Pro Podcast Solutions Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB Cardioid Dynamic Microphone Podcast Industry Statistics 40 Powerful Podcast Statistics to Tune Into 104. How To Ethically Influence People: Interview with Author Brian Ahearn 107. How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race & Inequality: Interview with Kwame Christian 82. The Best Content from the Brainy Business in 2019 100. 100 Episodes – 1 Big Insight 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 34. Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? 103. How To Revisit & Update Your Lead Magnets, Freebies & Opt-Ins 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand 61. Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode

Today’s episode features a discussion with Kwame Christian, host of the Negotiate Anything Podcast, with tips for having difficult conversations around racism, inequality, and more. Today is an especially important episode of the podcast, as it was inspired by the current landscape in the United States, which has grown to include global conversations around inequality and racism on all levels. I’m not sure if you have noticed this, but in general, I make a very conscious effort to not be political or inflammatory on the podcast. It is my goal to be impartial whenever possible, and I debated for a long time about whether or not to do an episode on this topic. I didn’t want to say more of the same stuff that was out there and wanted to make sure that the value was still tied to the intent of the podcast: applying brain and behavioral science into business. I had almost decided to not cover the topic when Brian Ahearn (whom I interviewed on episode 104 of the podcast) sent an email with a guest suggestion – a friend of his named Kwame Christian. Kwame is an attorney, negotiation expert with a background in psychology. In our conversation today, Kwame will tell you about his three-step framework for negotiating anything, from 9-figure business deals to conversations with kids. He will also share how even though his personal and business credo is “The best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations,” he was reluctant to be a voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, but once he stepped into the role with a virtual town hall, he has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, and USA Today. He is also one of the nicest guys around, and while his kind demeanor may seem counterintuitive in negotiating, I think it is his superpower (and it can be yours too with his great tips!) Show Notes: [00:52] Today is an especially important episode of the podcast, as it was inspired by the current landscape in the United States, around inequality and racism on all levels. [01:24] It is my goal to be impartial whenever possible, and I debated for a long time about whether or not to do an episode on this topic. [02:11] Kwame talks about the importance of compassionate curiosity, has a TED Talk on finding confidence in conflict, and incorporates details about how the brain works in his tips for how to have productive conversations. [04:15] In our conversation today, Kwame will tell you about his three-step framework for negotiating anything, from 9-figure business deals to conversations with kids. [06:14] His motto is, “The best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations.” [07:27] You can empathize without agreeing.   [09:29] The thing that drew him to negotiating was psychology. [11:16] Kwame hosted a virtual town hall and expected a couple dozen attendees...over 1,000 people showed up to discuss having difficult conversations about race.   [12:19] Race is a difficult conversation, but an important one that we can’t ignore anymore.   [14:39] There is a fear that often keeps people from saying anything at all. [15:56] The majority of people want to get engaged, but don’t know-how.  His advice is to do something. Anything! One small thing at a time.   [17:01] We have to control the narrative for ourselves.   [17:57] There is something you can do. Just find one little thing and do it.   [19:15]The Compassionate Curiosity Framework is simple and flexible to use in different difficult situations  [20:20] The compassionate part is important because it helps to moderate your tone.    [22:01] The IKEA Effect is when we feel much more connected and are willing to overlook the flaws on something we built or created ourselves. [24:09] Take the time and prethink difficult conversations as much as possible.    [26:53] He likes to use the gap theory of persuasion. The gap theory is using a compassionate tone but asking questions that show a gap in their understanding.  [28:54] Confirmation bias is so powerful, prevalent, and has an incredible impact. [30:02] We often don’t do the personal research because we want to avoid the emotional discomfort.   [32:06] With our subconscious brain running the show, it is able to process 11 million bits of information per second that it is constantly filtering what is making it to your conscious brain, that can only take 40 bits of information per second.   [35:03] You were placed in this system to see what you see from your perspective.  [36:05] This awakening doesn’t feel good and often people experience that discomfort and pull back, worried it is a sign they are doing something wrong. It is actually a signal of growth.   [37:36] An example of the focusing illusion and we hate to see ourselves on video. Shifting your focus can help you find the one small thing you want to do each day. [39:57] Kwame is often asked how to talk to kids about this sensitive topic.  If you are not talking to your kids then other people are.  [40:36] We can use the Compassionate Curiosity Framework to talk with our kids also.   [41:46] We don’t need to look at the outcome always in terms of tangible accomplishments.     [43:27] The entire goal of the first conversation could just be to open the door for more conversations. [45:57] Being open to what the other side has to say and knowing that they don’t need to be wrong in order for you to be right can help conversations go so much smoother. [46:53] You can make a lot more progress with compassionate curiosity than with a plan to force someone to change their mind. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from Kwame Christian: Kwame on LinkedIn Kwame on Twitter Finding Confidence in Conflict Ultimate Negotiation Guide Discussing Racism In The Workplace: Using Positive And Persistent Pressure To Enable Honest Dialogue Talking about racial inequality at work is difficult—here are tips to do it thoughtfully Nobody with Play with Me Book More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Freebie Worksheet Articles and Past Episodes: 104. How To Ethically Influence People: Interview with Author Brian Ahearn 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 102. Confirmation Bias: How Your Subconscious Beliefs Shape Your Experiences (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 95. Hate Being on Camera? Understand Your Brain’s Biases To Change Your Mind 92. Fundamental Attribution Error: Why the Pot Insists on Calling the Kettle Black (a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 89. Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 71. Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations 45. Overview of Personal Biases 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode  

On today’s behavioral economics foundations episode we are going to be talking about the network effect (or perhaps it is more accurate to say “networking effects” because as you will learn throughout the episode, there are multiple kinds and situations for how they can be useful in a business). I am also going to talk about some pitfalls to look out for and how to incorporate behavioral economics into all of that.   This episode is related to the topic from last week about subscription models and even more directly to membership groups. I will explain that specifically throughout the episode, and if you haven’t listened to that one yet you will want to check it out. It’s episode 105 and there is a link for you in the show notes. Today, I’ll tell you what the network effect is and how it works, what it is not, some pitfalls to look out for, behavioral economics concepts to keep in mind, and so much more. And before we jump right into the network effect, a quick shout out to Clayton Key, whom you can all thank for today’s episode. Clayton and I connected on LinkedIn and in our messenger conversation he recommended the topic of this episode. Do you have a topic or question you’d like to suggest for an upcoming episode? Connect with me (Melina) on the socials using the links below. Show Notes: [01:01] This episode is related to the topic from last week about subscription models and even more directly to membership groups. [03:27] Thank you to Clayton Key for this great episode suggestion.  [04:09] In its simplest form, the network effect is when the value of a business increases as the network grows. [05:51] The network effect makes it so new people joining the network increases the value for everyone. [06:51] Ebay, Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, PayPal, Uber, Lyft, AirBNB, Google, Wikipedia, Pinterest, and Apple’s App store are just a few of the many businesses these days built on the network effect. [08:18] 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. [08:59] When you get to a platform business they are a little more complex because there are multiple user groups to consider, which is when you get to a two-sided network effect.  [10:37] The key difference from a two-sided network effect and a direct network is that the type of user joining matters. [12:19] In the case of a social network, which is a two-sided network as well, they need to be monitoring their user quality to remain viable and increase value. [13:47] To attract the advertisers and make money, you need good users. [15:14] As each local network grows and increases engagement, the value of the entire network grows along with it. [16:50] People can of course be a part of many groups, and so attracting diverse users who understand all the content they can get access to on the platform is key. [18:19] Network externality is an economics term that is showing how demand increases when other people buy a product. [19:36] A business can have network effects but not be “viral”. [21:18] If you are looking to start on a network effect business, you need to understand when you will hit critical mass, what it looks like when you get there, and what you need to do to get there quickly so you can move into that value point. [23:14] So, when setting up this model remember that you need to be able to stick it out for a while up front while it may be costing you money, knowing it will pay off once you hit critical mass. [25:13] This platform model is looking for quality growth. [26:34] Network effects are not quite a house of cards, but being dependent upon users working harmoniously together does make a somewhat precarious beast that needs constant monitoring and attention.  [29:07] 5 C’s of network effects are connection, communication, collaboration, curation and community. [30:16] Help make it easy for people to feel like they are part of the global community so they can take ownership over their content and be part of quality creation within the platform itself. [32:29] Put effort in to retain the customers you’ve added. [34:56] You want a platform people actually use so the network effect can grow and thrive. [37:10] Brand extensions are a delicate balance of finding something that is related enough to make some sense for tying it to the original brand, but not so close it feels like it should have been part of the main offering to begin with. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Freebie Worksheet Articles and Past Episodes: Network Effects: How Growing Your User Base Can Increase the Value of Your Product or Service The Network Effects Manual: 13 Different Network Effects (and counting) Network Effect VIRALITY VS. NETWORK EFFECTS Reverse Network Effects: Why Today’s Social Networks Can Fail As They Grow Larger Network Effects Aren’t Enough Why Network Effects Matter Less Than They Used To How To Harness The Power Of Network Effects Network Effects Network Effect 16 Ways to Measure Network Effects Consumer Evaluations of Brand Extensions 6 Worst Brand Extensions from Famous Companies 38. Defaults: The “D” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 87. Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 12. Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 8. What is Value? 14. Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 97. Peak-End Rule: Why Averages Don’t Always Matter (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 72. Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley 105. Subscriptions and Membership Programs: A Behavioral Economics Perspective 20. Defaults: Why The Pre-Selected Choice Wins More Often Than Not: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode

Today, we are going to be talking about subscription models and membership groups. I have been thinking about an episode on this for a long time. As many of you know, if you’ve been listening and following The Brainy Business for a while, I launched a membership group at the beginning of 2020. It's called the BE Thoughtful Revolution, and I’ll use examples from my experience of setting that up (as well as others) throughout the episode.  At the center of any really strong business is finding the experience people want (the biggest benefit to them) and showcasing the value in a way that makes it easy for them to say yes.  Even if you are thinking about creating a subscription or membership now because you think it will benefit your business, solid customer experience has to come first in the design and final decision. You need to think of the people you are creating this for, what they want and what they will be excited to pay for.  In this episode I’ll talk about the behavioral science concepts behind subscriptions and memberships, how to consider if they are a fit for your business, and then I’ll do a Q&A with the actual questions listeners like you posted to me on social media. If you don’t yet follow The Brainy Business, you can find me as @thebrainybiz on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Links to all the socials below! Show Notes: [01:35] The environment is going to be changing constantly over the coming months (and possibly years) as we all adjust to the impact of coronavirus. [02:24] What we can do is take a look at our businesses and industries to determine how to reinvigorate the offerings we are putting out there, and provide them in a way people want to do business with us instead of what was convenient for us to set up in the past. [04:03] At the center of any really strong business model (subscriptions and memberships included) is finding the experience people want, the biggest benefit to them, and showcasing the value in a way that makes it easy for them to say yes.  [05:43] Being inside a business or industry, it is far too easy to get hung up on the specifics of what you do or offer. The problem is then you lose the big picture and in many ways don’t see how you are becoming obsolete. [07:23] I remember my professor saying, “People don’t want a drill, they want a hole.” Such a simple shift, but it completely changed my brain and approach to business at that moment. [09:15] Melina shares a story about Henry Ford from Harvard Business Review.  [11:47] Ford put customers first. He found a price where the masses could buy a car and then figured out how to build a business to make it happen. [14:13] Thinking about customer experience is always a great place to start. [15:31] Any business model takes work to create value and be something people want. [17:41] It is important to think through what you will be offering and how it compares to what you do now. [18:04] A subscription is something that people pay for on an ongoing basis and they get access to a product or service. [19:52] Another model for subscriptions that has become very popular is the “free version” and “paid version” models. [21:05] The difference with a membership model is that you are typically paying for the right to have access to things, but you don’t necessarily have to take advantage of everything included. [23:24] With a membership, you still have the benefits of a subscription type model, that you can plan for payments to be coming in regularly, and the people who sign up get more for less than what they would pay for single-use or to buy all the things themselves. [25:05] If you are on retainer, someone is prepaying for access to you for a certain number of hours. [26:24] Is a membership or subscription right for you? Walking through a “writing club/coach” example.  [28:36] You will need to do the upfront work to set everything up, but eventually, you could hire someone to manage most of the group stuff, so it doesn’t take up too much of your time, which frees you up for more time at your $200 an hour rate. [29:54] Taking the risk out makes it an easy yes for people.   [31:40] If you do set up a membership group or subscription, consider launching at a discounted price for a very limited time to help set up a foundation of participants. [32:32] People pay for all kinds of things and are happy to do so when they know what the value is. [34:01] The value proposition is clear because there is an established “other option” that is more expensive.  [35:07] If you don’t consider and establish the comparison point and point it out with the proper high anchor, your selling conversations will be a lot more difficult. [37:06] Framing, anchoring, relativity, and knowing your value are very important in the way you communicate any opportunity. [39:13] Instead of creating an offering that seems like the best fit and offer for your business and then finding a way to sell it to people, start with what they want and find how that can be done by your business and if it is actually a fit for you. [39:38] Trial periods are really helpful in letting people see the value of the offering, so they can be useful. [42:18] I tell clients all the time that not everyone is your customer. [43:36] Narrowing down your scope makes it easier for people to find you, know you are a fit for them and have confidence in your offer. [44:57] The first step is to know what you want to nudge people toward, what the best offer is for your business. [46:49] There are lots of different ways to frame the message and help it to showcase what is the best fit for your business. Try to think outside the box.  [47:52] You can do whichever makes sense for your business so there is no “only” way to price. You should go with two options max.  [48:37] When it is a monthly payment, you are able to get the value as those payments are made, in smaller doses, versus needing to help the conscious brain justify a large amount once a year, where you could lose people. [52:49] It is definitely easier to sell things when you have a solid email list. [54:40] Once you have done some of this prep work to find what your niche will want, just go for it. Build it, pick a model, choose your pricing, and sell it.  Speaking of membership groups, now is a great time to join the BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Brainy Pricing Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% Articles and Past Episodes: Paper Scissors Paint Art Studio Marketing Myopia 95. Hate Being on Camera? Understand Your Brain’s Biases To Change Your Mind 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 34. Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 39. Expect Error: The “E” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 31. Mirror Neurons: A Fascinating Discovery From A Monkey, A Hot Day, And An Ice Cream Cone: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 71. Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations 59. Pain of Paying: Why The First Item In A Purchase Is The Hardest: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 87. Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 12. Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 90. Habit Weekly: A Discussion With Creator Samuel Salzer 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments 97. Peak-End Rule: Why Averages Don’t Always Matter (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode)

Today, I am very excited to introduce you to Brian Ahearn, one of only 20 trainers certified by Robert Cialdini to teach on his behalf in his methods of influence. There are episodes of the podcast on reciprocity and social proof which are concepts featuring some famous studies by Cialdini, which have changed the way we communicate and persuade. In our conversation today, Brian will tell you about his book Influence PEOPLE (for which PEOPLE Is an important acronym). We also discussed a serendipitous moment from about 30 minutes into our pre-call conversation... Brian is a wealth of knowledge and a fantastic guy. There are links to connect with him in the show notes and to check out his book Influence PEOPLE, which is definitely worth the read. Listen up for the Post-It Note study - it will blow your mind! Show Notes: [02:04] In our conversation today, Brian will tell you about his book Influence PEOPLE (for which PEOPLE Is an important acronym). [03:34] Brian’s main focus over the last two decades has been working with salespeople, but he also works with business leaders, business coaches, and attorneys.  [03:47] Brian’s strength is the application of the psychology of persuasion.   [04:18] There are only 20 people (including Brian) who are certified around the world to teach the Cialdini method.  [07:34] Cialdini was so excited as they shared how they were taking his life’s work and using it to better their organization, selves, and relationships. [09:20] The book Influence PEOPLE was created to help people apply this research.  [10:16] The book offers very practical examples in short chapters to help readers put the research into action.  [11:48] Brian shares a story from the book about a friend named Jim. [12:48] In an email if you reply to the entire group you can often put enough pressure on the members to encourage them to complete a task quickly.   [14:48] When using this example you can be general without specifically naming the person you are waiting on.   [17:14] Brian really works with people to get them to a point where they feel like they can totally run on their own.   [18:08] “There is nothing high or low, but comparing makes it so.” [20:01] The PEOPLE acronym stands for Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade, that are Lasting and Ethical.  [20:23] It is powerful because it is backed up by research and it is an everyday skill.   [21:17] When Briain talks about persuasion he doesn’t mean only changing hearts and minds, he also means changing behavior.   [22:15] If it is done right, sometimes it can lead to lasting change.   [22:21] It all has to be done with an ethical framework.  [22:51] Brian shares about the Post-It Note Nudge.  [24:10] Using a sticky note will probably get a lot more people to do what you are asking them to do and has many other benefits.  [26:56] Brian shares a story about a community that added a sticky note on an info flyer about a bond issue.   [28:46] The moment when we need to use these tools most is when our brains are most likely to be overwhelmed. Our subconscious is likely to take over and we are going to revert to what has worked or we have done in the past.   [29:25] Always stop and re-read an email before you send it.  Ask yourself, “Is there anywhere I could be more persuasive?”  [31:01] Ending on a question is so important and it increases response rates.  [32:06] Brian learned that if he asked one question at the end of the email, people would often come back with longer, more thorough responses and it increased his personal brand.   [34:21] People do business with people they like and want to be associated with. [36:45] Melina always ends really important emails with a question and she has seen it boost response rates.   [39:39] Brian shares the story about the photocopy shop and how we are so conditioned by the word “because” as we grow up. [40:41] If you need someone to do something, ask them, say “because” and give them a reason.  Also, don’t ask on the drop-dead date.  [44:52] The Post-it note is able to cut through the subconscious filter and draws attention to something being different [46:05] Next week, in episode 105 we are going to be talking about subscription models, different businesses that apply them, and how to be thinking about them 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 share what you liked about the show.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Connect with Brian: Brian on LinkedIn Brian on Twitter Influence People Website Influence PEOPLE: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical Articles and Past Episodes: Influence At Work Copy That Pops Laura Petersen on Facebook Laura on Twitter Laura on LinkedIn Laura on Instagram 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 87. Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales 96. How to Make it Easy to Do Business With You With Nikki Rausch 101. Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale 88. Marketing to Mindstates: A Discussion With Author, Will Leach 72. Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal

Today’s episode discusses why every business needs to revisit their lead magnets, freebies, and opt-ins right now. I’ve mentioned on a couple of recent episodes that I have been working with a lot of clients on lead magnets, most specifically with those in the BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group where we have spent over a month working through updating everyone’s lead magnets, opt-ins, freebies, as well as setting up solid drip campaigns.  For many, this was an opportunity to create their first lead magnet. Perhaps it was on their to-do list for a very long time, but they never quite got around to it.  Now is the perfect time to work on your lead magnet for a couple of reasons. First, the environment has changed. Maybe your old opt-in is outdated and doesn’t make sense anymore or maybe it is still relevant but there is something else you could share that would be even more impactful and tie into what matters to people today, while still being true to your brand. One of the reasons I decided to do this episode right now is because this is so important for every business to be successful during COVID and beyond. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [01:32] Now is the perfect time to work on your lead magnet for a couple of reasons. [03:26] You are giving something away for “free” which is valuable enough that the recipient is willing to reciprocate by giving you their email address and knowing that they will likely be placed onto your larger list. [04:31] Episode 3 was about what a lead magnet is and if you need one (and in general, the answer to that is yes). At any time, businesses can benefit from having at least one opt-in or freebie. [06:42] Just because you started with one lead magnet doesn’t mean you need to keep it. I know there was an investment to create it, but if it isn’t aligned with what people need today it is time to swap it out. [07:30] There are a few things different today that impact the style and content of what makes a lead magnet desirable. [07:52] Your customer’s brain is overwhelmed so quick wins are more important than ever. [08:41] When the podcast started, I began creating freebie worksheets.  Most of them are one page and have a few tips and lines to take notes. Some of them are two pages, but they are all very simple to use and apply the learning from a specific concept or topic. [10:42] I created a new freebie (Master Your Mindset Mini-Course) which lets people see where all the courses are housed and get a taste of what a course from The Brainy Business is like.  [12:20] If I was looking to create a new lead magnet, I would start by thinking about what people need now. What is keeping them up at night? What expertise do you have to share in a simple, easily digested way so they can get a great quick win and build a positive association with your brand? [14:19] You will feel like whatever you are creating is not enough. That it won’t justify the need someone has or feel like it is worth the time or exchange of their email address. [15:29] Too much means no impact on a lead magnet. [15:53] One quick win means it is direct, to the point, and easy to take action on. [16:52] Being instantly accessible is critical to a lead magnet’s performance because people don’t like to wait for things these days. [18:01] Having an automated response that is less detailed but can be sent within seconds of hitting submit is WAY more important on this initial opt-in item. [19:39] A solid lead magnet will showcase you and your expertise and make them associate you with the items they can hire you to solve.  [20:56] Lead magnets are about overall brand awareness and the long game. [22:37] Remember that the lead magnet you set up now, especially if people can’t buy from you in your traditional model, is about a long game. You are laying the groundwork today for a future state that could be many months from now. [23:23] There are all sorts of drip campaigns, but whatever you create should have at least three emails and be thoughtful about how it ties in with the lead magnet, customer experience, and the future offers that will be made to them. [26:49] Remember, now is the time for everyone to look at and rethink their lead magnet because you need to make sure it still fits the market.  Is this what people need today? What would make it more valuable? [27:02] There are more people online than ever before and they are looking to solve problems that never existed. People are trying out new types of businesses and changing their habits. It is the perfect time for a company to provide value and create new loyal connections. [28:16] Less is more, especially in these times. [28:54] Want to get the full Lead Magnet Course? It’s EXCLUSIVE for members of the BE Thoughtful Revolution – use the code BRAINY when you join to save 10% 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. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course – use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution – use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Articles and Past Episodes: 3 Ways to Stay Connected While Social Distancing It’s Time to Rethink the Way You Attract Customers. Here’s How Global Advertising Standardization in Japan and the United States: a Closer Examination of High-Involvement Products. Lead Magnets to Increase Subscribers Referees and The Confirmation Bias How the Confirmation Bias Affects Sports Betting What is mercury retrograde? And is there anything to it? 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics 99. Bikeshedding: Why The Simplest Tasks Can Keep You Stuck (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 93. Normalcy Bias: Why We Love To Know What’s Coming And How It Keeps Us Stuck (a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode)

Today, we are going to be covering confirmation bias – I know this sounds like one of those concepts you probably think you “get” and that it might not be necessary to listen to...but believe it or not, that is actually your confirmation bias talking. This episode will help everyone understand just how much confirmation bias is impacting your life and business. I will give examples and tips throughout the episode.  In its most basic form, confirmation bias comes down to the brain’s desire to be correct and the subconscious filter deciding what gets through and stored...and what gets ignored. Because the subconscious is working from established, proven rules to make these choices, it is looking for stuff that fits those existing rules.  While the brain can look and find things that disagree with its perspective, that isn’t the natural tendency. The easiest thing to do - the most satisfying thing - is to look for items that confirm what you believe. That makes you feel safe. This is why two people can witness the same event and have completely different interpretations of what happened. You are seeking out different information and retaining different pieces to suit your brain’s needs. Some of these are ingrained in us genetically over thousands of years, but many of them are built over our lifetime. Confirmation bias doesn’t have to be a bad thing and it can very much work to your advantage in life and business. The flip side of the confirmation bias coin is knowing that your brain naturally does four things and so if you are selective about your goals and what you want to change in your life, you can set up your brain’s natural tendencies to align with them. Show Notes: [00:57] This episode will help everyone understand just how much confirmation bias is impacting your life and business. [03:10] The numberless scale (Shapa) we discussed in episode 101 that has the potential to change the way we think about health and wellness. It’s a super cool product and you should definitely check it out. [04:28] In its most basic form, confirmation bias comes down to our brains’ desire to be correct and the subconscious filter deciding what gets through and stored...and what gets ignored. [06:57] You could see the exact same event as someone else and have a completely different interpretation based on your existing beliefs and confirmation bias. [08:19] Confirmation bias is especially ramped up and more prevalent in circumstances that are tied with emotions. [08:39] Melina shares the four main ways you see confirmation bias.   [09:44] Kids’ behavior does not get more hyperactive when they have sugar. [12:19] You will seek out information that supports your belief, and be more likely to believe, remember and share those items that support your belief. [15:06] This reinforcing tendency is because of illusory correlation, which is when we overestimate the relationship between two items even when no relationship exists or it is very weakly associated. [16:53] We humans are pretty bad listeners by nature because our brains are processing so much information at any given time. [18:21] For many people in business, if you aren’t confident in your offers or pricing, you may end up recommending something smaller than they would actually want or need because it feels better for you in the moment. [19:49] It is important to not start the conversation with a predetermined recommendation before they have had a chance to tell you about their situation. [23:29] If you can convince your brain that it IS worth it and that the price is reasonable, they will be more likely to hear it that way. [24:39] Look at where you may be biased in a way you don’t want to be, and try to be more open minded. [25:43] If you are selective about your goals and what you want to change in your life, you can set up your brain’s natural tendencies to align with them. [26:15] If you want to set up a new belief (and only pick one at a time until it becomes a habit) then you can eventually reinforce it until you naturally confirm it all the time. [27:18] Eventually, I changed that confirming bias and pushed past that belief and started to think of myself as a runner. [28:20] People who have been injured will often see themselves as a victim, especially while dealing with the legal stuff. [30:12] Being able to run and train up for my half marathon is very important to me, and picking new beliefs that I want to confirm are central to that success. [31:27] Athletes, actors, really successful business people all use visualization techniques and affirmations to help them reach their goals. [33:18] Next week, in episode 103 I am doing an episode dedicated to rethinking your opt-ins and lead magnets during coronavirus and beyond. 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.  Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 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 More from The Brainy Business: Master Your Mindset Mini-Course Brainy Mindset Course - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (and how to apply them) ebook Articles and Past Episodes: Busting the Sugar-Hyperactivity Myth Is the Confidence Gap Between Men and Women a Myth? Confirmation bias: believing what you see, seeing what you believe How Confirmation Bias Works Referees and The Confirmation Bias How the Confirmation Bias Affects Sports Betting What is mercury retrograde? And is there anything to it? 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 12. Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 101. Dan Ariely Interview: Discussing Shapa, the Numberless Scale 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 100. 100 Episodes – 1 Big Insight 95. Hate Being on Camera? Understand Your Brain’s Biases To Change Your Mind

Today’s episode features a discussion with Dr. Dan Ariely – you know that name by now right? We talk about the numberless smart scale from the company he co-founded, Shapa, and all the research behind it.   I am very excited to introduce you to Dan Ariely, one of the best known behavioral economists in the world whom I have mentioned many times on the first 100 episodes of the show, and I know I will continue to do so after he helped me kick off these next hundred. He wrote Predictably Irrational and several other books and has done some amazing research. As I mentioned in the opening, Dan has worked on a huge amount of projects, and while this conversation could have gone in a million directions, we are specifically talking about Shapa. The company he co-founded showcases a numberless scale that was created to change the way we all think about our health and make it easier to do something that many of us find scary…stepping on the scale. The discussion ties back to a bunch of past episodes (including loss aversion, partitioning, the focusing illusion, herding) as well as on an experiment I did which was influenced by one of Dan’s studies from Kenya. We also talk about overall health (emotional, physical, financial) and how it is all related. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did, and thank you again for joining me Dan! CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [02:18] In this episode we are specifically talking about Shapa. A company Dan co-founded for a numberless scale that was created to change the way we all think about our health. [03:26] Shapa has many components. How would a social scientist approach helping people lose weight?  [05:04] The struggle for health is a daily struggle. You can’t be healthy five days a week. It doesn’t work. Your healthy life needs to start in the morning.  [07:08] They started studying the bathroom scale. They learned it is a good idea to stand on the scale every morning, not at night.  [08:01] The second thing they learned is that weight fluctuates from 2-8 pounds a day. (wow!) [09:38] They also learned that people think their weight will change very fast if they go on a diet. The reality is that it can take 8 days to two weeks to see results.  [12:31] A year where nothing bad happens is an amazing year.  [12:36] The story of obesity in the U.S. is a story of gaining a little bit throughout the year and not losing - especially in November and December.  [13:39] Shapa created this 5 point scale which includes, “congratulations nothing bad happened!” They tested it and the studies were great.   [15:34] We are obsessed with absolute levels. People usually want to know how what they are doing is improving their health and they want to be motivated.  [16:55] When people go to the doctor they get stressed and their blood pressure goes up. If you go to the doctor and you are the kind of person that gets stressed because you’re seeing a doctor, they might prescribe you blood pressure medicine because you are stressed because of the doctor not because you are really stressed usually.   [18:29] The way they start the process with Shapa is that they ask people to tell them about their environment.  [19:54] Suggestions are sorted by the probability that you will take them and then they give you tips.  [20:07] They focus on small changes and do it for two weeks and then add the next one.  [22:53] Look with fresh eyes from social science about little things in life and then use the digital revolution to really change things.  [24:51] The problem is that the scale has become so negative and the numbers are so depressing.  [25:44] How much do you want to be in a race where the best you can do is not that bad?  [27:59] We need to change our thinking about finances and health. We need to do more things that give people a sense of success and achievement. [30:34] Finances and health are both long-term and often painful struggles; we need strong motivation to achieve there.  [32:17] What are the incentives we can give people to behave in a certain way? [33:30] Shapa has five levels and they each have a different color. [34:39] Mostly we want to have no change with improvements from time to time.  [35:12] Focus on the things where you can make the biggest behavioral impact. [37:02] The feeling of success is important to keep people motivated. [39:46] It is time to fix some of the habits we got wrong during the coronavirus crisis. It is time to take care of ourselves and feel better about ourselves.  [43:10] It always comes back in this way, and you never know what is around the corner. [43:33] If you are working on a health journey as well, with a Shapa or on your own, let’s support each other and do this together - connect with me on social media (links below!). 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. Links and Resources: [spacer height="20px"]Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Master Your Mindset Mini-Course The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know AND HOW TO APPLY THEM Ebook The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Center for Advanced Hindsight Dan Ariely My Shapa 61. Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else 98. Behavior Change at WW and Beyond, an Interview with Dr. Julie O’Brien 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 65. Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings? 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 35. NUDGES & Choice Architecture: Introducing Nobel-Winning Concepts: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 89. Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 81. How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated 58. Partitioning: Why We Eat More Cheetos From A Party-Sized Bag Than A Fun Size: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 34. Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 100. 100 Episodes – 1 Big Insight 80. Celebrate! It’s more important than you think

It is amazing to realize that we have been together now for 100 episodes and that by the time this comes out there will be more than 180,000 downloads in over 150 countries. It is a significant understatement to say that the podcast has far exceeded my expectations for what it could be, and leading up to this milestone I have been reflecting a lot and trying to decide the best way to approach this important episode. I thought about doing 100 small tips and insights for 100 episodes (which would have been a very rapid-fire hour to be sure!) But, in the end, I have decided to boil that into the one really big thing that has set me and The Brainy Business apart. Looking back on these 100 episodes and the success I’ve seen in the podcast (knowing there is always a lot of opportunity to be better and do more) but relative to the “average” podcast, this one does significantly better, and there are many things I have done intentionally and because they are my natural style to help support that.  And, that is what I am going to try and articulate for you in this episode, with the hopes that it can bring some increased success for you as well – in whatever corner of the world you may be listening from.  This episode includes a lot of stories from my life and experiences that come together over time to show what I think is at the root of the success of the show and the business.  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [02:30] The US still has the most downloads by far, followed by the UK, Canada, Australia and India, which have been in the top for some time. [03:03] California is the state with the most downloads.   [05:49] I have always been pretty confident in my abilities and generally stubborn, which has culminated in me having big dreams and ambitions that I expect will work themselves out.   [08:13] As legend goes, in 4th grade I walked to my teacher’s desk and politely explained that I was sure the assignment had been turned in and asked if I could go through the files to find it. She said yes, I went to the filing cabinet, found the missing assignment, got my grade changed to a 10 out of 10, and went on my merry way. [08:55] I am a classically trained opera singer and have done a lot of national anthems over the years.   [10:05] These stories from my childhood showcase some very important characteristics about me, my style, and my nature which have carried into my work and helped to make my business successful.  [11:42] I am proud to wear my bossy pants every day and have been my whole life.   [13:32] I believe it is important when you are marketing things to understand how everything works and the business comes together, from the warehouse to the sales floor. (With a story of my worst job ever!) [14:52] At the root of all this is a common thread that has carried into The Brainy Business. I believe I will be successful, even if something doesn’t work out. Even when something goes wrong I just assume it isn’t the end and that it will all work out for me in time. (A lesson from the peak-end rule) [15:51] Networking skills and genuine interest in people have also worked to my advantage in building my career. [16:37] When it came time to start the podcast, having the confidence in myself to know I could do it when I had to go out on a limb was scary, but exciting, and I looked at the silver lining. [18:18] This business is me. I own it and am confident in its potential just like I was as a 5 year old who wouldn’t misspell my name. [18:44] Every email, Linkedin connection, Twitter conversation, in person meeting after speaking at an event or person I happen to be seated next to at a conference is an opportunity to learn and engage. [20:01] I have dedicated time each week to have conversations with people who are looking to pursue careers or study behavioral economics or behavioral science to help them feel comfortable in the choices they make. [20:36] The story about how taking the extra step when responding to an email led to a relationship that blossomed with the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M University.   [23:24] Some people suggest concepts or topics, and then I get to give them a shout out when I cover that topic and it keeps everything moving up in a virtuous cycle.   [23:54] Most podcasts don’t make money. A lot of them cost businesses money in fact, but The Brainy Business has allowed me to have some amazing connections and clients and be profitable early on.  [25:29] Genuine interest in people, and a willingness to give the gift of time to have conversations that may never be more than just a few moments of interaction, but could turn into something amazing. [26:32] Whatever your vision is for the future, whatever you see for yourself, what you think the top of the mountain is, the place where you think you will say that you “made it,” that thing out there that you think is a big deal - you aren’t thinking big enough. [28:57] THE ULTIMATE LESSON: Be open to the possibilities of tomorrow, be generous and kind with your time and confident in your abilities. And, of course, be thoughtful in all you do. You are bigger than you can possibly imagine and you will do great things, I’m here to cheer you on, and if you haven’t reached out and connected yet, please do.  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. Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Master Your Mindset Mini-Course The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know AND HOW TO APPLY THEM Ebook The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Using Behavioral Economics to Help Businesses Melina singing the National Anthem at a Seattle Mariners Game Center for Advanced Hindsight Dan Ariely My Shapa 73. Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 83. How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics 86. Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 97. Peak-End Rule: Why Averages Don’t Always Matter (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 87. Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales

Today, we are going to be talking about bikeshedding, also known as Parkinson’s Law of Triviality. There is definitely a reason I am talking about this topic right now, as it very much impacts us all at this time of extreme change during the coronavirus pandemic. This is part of a series of sorts in talking about concepts that are relevant to our changing lives and many of us being sequestered at home and doing most everything virtually (some for the very first time).  As with most concepts you will hear me talk about on this show, bikeshedding is something we do all the time and don’t really realize it is happening. The thing that makes this concept different from a lot of others is how much it is holding us all back ALL THE TIME without our conscious consent. You may call this “being a perfectionist” and many of us ambitious folks struggle with this tendency. The thing is, for the most part people are not suffering from perfectionism in every aspect and possible decision. They tend to get hung up on really tiny details that don’t matter so much in the long run.  The question is: why do those things get so much of our attention? Why do they feel so important in the moment and like you can’t move forward until they are dealt with?  More often than not, this is because your brain is bikeshedding (and essentially avoiding a more important topic that makes it scared or nervous).  Here’s what you can expect in this episode: I will give you an explanation of what bikeshedding is, with some of the most common examples. Then I am going to give you a list of questions that you can ask yourself (and explain why those particular questions matter) to help you shake things up and get out of that bikeshedding mindset so you can actually achieve goals and move forward. Be sure to get your freebie worksheet on bikeshedding to help you overcome this sneaky brain trick. Show Notes: [02:36] Bikeshedding is something we do all the time and don’t really realize it is happening.   [03:53] The term “bikeshedding” was coined by Cyril Northcoat Parkinson, who came up with the term.   [04:22] Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fit the amount of time allocated to it.  [06:05] Just like a goldfish will grow to the size of its bowl, our tasks will take up as much time as we will allow them to.    [06:57] Parkinson’s Law of Triviality finds that people will waste time focusing on trivial details while ignoring the bigger, more important problems. As a result, those important problems end up with less time than would be optimal.  [08:25] We tend to get hung up on really tiny details that don’t matter so much in the long run.   [09:57] The consequences of picking the wrong shade of blue in your logo (potentially a bikeshedding issue) are not that big, and the mistake could be fixed relatively easily down the road if need be. [10:52] Your brain hates the idea of entering an uncertain territory, so it will make other things seem more important than they are to keep you dwelling on them, and therefore stick in the status quo it loves so much.    [11:27] Overcoming bikeshedding is sometimes a battle with yourself and your brain’s natural tendencies. It takes conscious effort to say, “No, that’s not important right now” and you can only do that if you know your goals and take the time to prioritize what matters.   [11:57] When you don’t have a plan, your subconscious can run rampant and decide what it wants you to focus on, and its priorities don’t always align with your conscious goals.   [12:17] Tackling Parkinson’s Law of Triviality can help with time management, resource allocation, project management, project planning and general direction for your work, business and life. [13:37] Having a good name for your business is important, but it isn’t everything.  [15:28] You have to start swinging. Try for things, follow up with things, do some research so you don’t look ridiculous, but pick your top outlets and send a personalized pitch.   [17:31] You don’t want to perfect a course and spend hours and days of your time agonizing over it when you don’t even know if people want it.   [18:59] In business you have to write the content first. Come up with the plan and write it all out with the least amount of words possible and your designer can come up with something great. [21:06] Will I even remember this 5 years from now? Or even 5 days? [22:19] What is the consequence if I get it wrong? [24:34] Is this decision helping me reach my goals...or keeping me from them? [25:38] Having an accountability buddy that you trust can be really helpful. They can help shine light on things, but don’t ask a ton of people advice on every little problem you have.   [26:45] Many people get sucked into bikeshedding because they are too worried about what other people think and are trying to please others with their decisions instead of doing what would make them happy or help them achieve their own goals.   [27:41] What makes you happy and feeling fulfilled is central to you. Don’t make all your effort about other people’s opinions.  [29:18] Your brain preference to focus on trivial stuff instead of big stuff is not limited to your own trivial problems. It can also easily and happily consume itself with everyone else’s trivial junk (and them with yours). [30:14] The lesson here is not to ask for other peoples’ input if it is a bikeshedding problem, especially if their opinion will not coincide well with your goals and happiness.   [31:07] Bikeshedding is an ongoing problem which makes it so your brain wants to focus on little, inconsequential details so you never have time to tackle the big stuff that moves you forward toward your goals and shift the status quo.  [33:16] Bikeshedding makes you feel worse and you don’t achieve your goals.   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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Master Your Mindset Mini-Course The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 7 Examples of Bikeshedding What is Bikeshedding? Parkinson's law of triviality (bikeshedding) Definition The Bike Shed Effect Mindset Details - use code BRAINY to save 10% BE Thoughtful Revolution - use code BRAINY to save 10% Pro Podcast Solutions Melina’s Articles What Is Narcissism? 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics 93. Normalcy Bias: Why We Love To Know What’s Coming And How It Keeps Us Stuck (a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 95. Hate Being on Camera? Understand Your Brain’s Biases To Change Your Mind 53. An Overview of Lazy Brain Biases 83. How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal 61. Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand

Today, I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Julie O’Brien, a behavioral scientist applying concepts from behavioral economics in business. In today’s episode, we talk about research Julie has done herself or is particularly interested in, both as part of her time as a principal behavioral scientist at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University (which, for those of you who don’t know, is lead by Dan Ariely, one of the best known behavioral economists in the world. He wrote Predictably Irrational and several other books I reference often on the show.  Julie is currently the Director of Behavior Change at WW.  I so enjoyed talking to Julie about all the amazing work she has been doing on bringing behavioral science out of the lab and testing things within real businesses – and I love all the practical applications of behavioral economics being applied to health and fitness. As many of you know, one of my top 3 goals is centered around health and I have been training up for a half marathon (admittedly, with some gaps recently…but back on the train!) as well as using my Peloton as I mentioned in the show. Julie talks a bit today about some research using the peak-end rule in health and fitness as well as so many other concepts and fascinating applications for behavioral economics. We touch on a lot of concepts in the conversations, and there are links to nearly all of them, including the episodes on memory biases, the peak-end rule, habits, goals, counterfactual thinking, the overwhelmed brain, optimism bias, fundamental attribution error, how to set up your own experiments, and more. We behavioral economists are working to help businesses to use and implement the learnings from the field to have stronger communication, and that is a big reason this podcast exists – to help you understand the concepts on a deeper, and more applicable level so you can try them out. Show Notes: [03:24] Julie is a behavioral scientist with many experiences.   [05:17] Julie did many different projects including traditional academic lab studies and applied field interventions at Duke University’s Center for Advanced Hindsight.    [06:45] They ran an experiment to understand the emotional experiences people have when they are faced with a medical decision. [08:28] They were interested in what happens to people when they learn about the details of this kind of colon cancer surgery. [11:12] They looked at the data and found the disgust emotional reaction that participants had after learning about the colostomy bag is what actually reduced their ability to remember information.    [13:04] We probably can’t (and shouldn’t) remove emotions from medical decisions completely, so we have different strategies to help people make the right choice.   [15:16] It raises interesting questions around nudge vs. shove and do we want to be making a judgment about what is actually rational in this case.   [16:22] It is all these different pieces of behavioral science. It is never just one concept at play. In this case, we have prefactual thinking, an overwhelmed brain, and different pieces of nudging. [17:18] One of Julie’s favorite studies was Zach Zenko and Dan Ariely’s study on how to get people to love exercise.   [18:04] Zach and Dan’s question was how could we reshape the exercise environment to make it more enjoyable or to make it feel more enjoyable so that people would be interested in repeated exercise.    [18:16] Often behavioral scientists look at the world as it is now and say if we were to assume that this is not the optimal design, how might we change the design to make it more optimal.   [20:37] Just by changing the way that we structure that workout we can actually change the way that people think about the workout which then influences their interest in repeating the workout.   [23:27] Julie and her colleagues did a study where they showed you could keep the baseline physiological sensation the same but you could change the way people interpreted that sensation so that it becomes less unpleasant. [24:26] When you don’t know exactly what is going on, your brain is conditioned to stop, but that is actually where the transformation happens.  [26:07] Often times we talk ourselves into stopping a little bit too soon, and if we could get a little bit further it would work out for us better in the long run.    [27:22] Julie is the Director of Behavior Change at WW. She was very excited to come to WW for many reasons.   [29:47] Working at WW is very exciting for Julie because it is a strongly mission-driven organization, tech organization and it is one that is based in science and has a very strong commitment to doing things rigorously and with scientific validation.   [30:57] There is a huge opportunity with technology to help things like habit formation and overcome challenges in the moment to have a huge impact. [33:03] Any company that is looking to support behavior change has to look at what the science says, what is relevant to consumers, what actually works in the real world, and finding that intersection to focus.    [36:21] Making it easy for people to do business with you and be successful can make a big impact on behavior.   [36:55] At WW there is a priority around what makes somebody healthy rather than just losing weight.  [39:33] Julie has been looking at the way we behave counter to what we might want to do with eating, weight loss, and dietary splurges.  [41:18] We tend to give ourselves the benefit of the doubt when maybe we shouldn’t.   [43:05] We are pretty good at adjusting within the same day for large dietary splurges, but we are not as good at adjusting from day-to-day.   [46:01] Julie is looking at how we help people enjoy those meals and make it fit into their overall plan so it doesn’t turn into something that they feel bad about or derails them or that they don’t have a plan for overcoming.   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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Master Your Mindset Mini-Course WW Center for Advanced Hindsight Julie on Instagram Julie on LinkedIn Julie on Twitter Predictably Irrational By: Dan Ariely Can You Have Your Vigorous Exercise and Enjoy It Too? Ramping Intensity Down Increases Postexercise, Remembered, and Forecasted Pleasure 34. Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making 36. Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 38. Defaults: The “D” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 97. Peak-End Rule: Why Averages Don’t Always Matter (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments 70. How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 81. How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 86. Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 92. Fundamental Attribution Error: Why the Pot Insists on Calling the Kettle Black (a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode)

Imagine any experience, from eating out to buying something online, and consider these questions you have probably heard a lot: “How was everything?” or “How did it go?” How do you answer these questions? More often than not you probably just say “fine” but if you were really going to think through and give the most thoughtful possible answer...how much more effort would you really put into the response and does it actually encompass any more of the truth than the quick reply? This is where the peak-end rule comes into play.  The peak-end rule is one of those concepts that is super easy to understand and get your arms around but it can be difficult to overcome and implement the logic in practice.  Essentially, the peak-end rule shows us that people do not rate experiences on all of their details…instead, only two points are used to determine the overall opinion of the event: the peak (which can be either positive or negative) and the end. The peak-end rule can have a huge impact on your business.  First, start by knowing what type of experience people have with you. This can help determine what peaks you are dealing with, and where they should fall in the overall experience. The best thing to learn from this rule is that while it is important to consider everything in an experience to ensure you don’t have any big negative peaks you aren’t aware of...At the end of the day, there are only two points that really matter so you can focus on those two things and not have to worry so much about everything else. During the episode, I will talk about how the peak-end rule impacts brand engagement, personal relationships, employee reviews, medical procedures, pricing, and more. Show Notes: [00:43] Today I am talking about the peak-end rule, which ties into how people rate experiences.   [02:57] The peak-end rule shows us that people do not rate experiences on all their details instead only two points are used to determine the overall opinion of the event: the peak and the end.   [04:48] Your brain is probably exhausted thinking about all the thought that needs to be put into an adequate response about your experience.  That is why the peak-end rule, a heuristic or rule of thumb, has been so widely adopted.   [05:15] What your brain ends up doing is forgetting about everything except for the peak point and the end point.  All the other things sort of fade into the background.   [06:50] Having a little time for a negative peak to taper off and not be the final moment makes the entire experience feel better.   [08:23] When the peak is negative, you don’t want it to line up with the end because it will make the entire experience feel particularly awful. In the opposite situation, when the peak is a really good thing, ending on the peak is actually very valuable.   [10:39] So knowing what type of experience people have with you can help determine what peaks you are dealing with, and where they should fall in the overall experience.  [11:37] It is important to break this process down into its smallest pieces. The free Master Your Mindset Mini Course has a worksheet that can help a lot with this. [14:16] Whenever possible, don’t get bogged down in what you are doing now and try to tweak little by little, instead look at what the experience would be in your ideal state and consider how you would build that out.   [15:32] The best thing to learn from this rule is that while it is important to consider everything in an experience to ensure you don’t have any big negative peaks you aren’t aware of, when there are only two points that matter you can focus on those two things and not have to worry about everything else.  [17:28] I’m not suggesting that you should lower the average across all experiences, but you don’t have to worry about every single moment and data point so much.   [17:49] Unexpected moments of delight drive loyalty and ongoing happiness with your brand.  [19:17] Even if you don’t have the opportunity to create a positive peak, putting a little effort into ensuring the last moment isn’t the worst can have seriously positive benefits on the overall perception of the experience.   [20:49] REAL LIFE EXAMPLES starting with customer service experiences.   [22:28] Businesses will always benefit from thinking about the long term experience with you.   [22:43] When you treat everyone as if they might come back someday (look on the bright side, and don’t burn bridges) it can help with overall reputation and memory of working with you.   [24:42] We are going to think outside of the box now and consider employee reviews.   [25:48] As an employee, it is important to know that most managers will look at the peaks and very recent stuff when working on your review, even though it is supposed to encompass the whole year. The brain has a hard time grabbing all that information.   [27:47] When you are tasked with giving an unbiased and holistic review of a giant span of time (like a year) it is important to not be swayed by the peak-end rule, so taking notes during the year is important. See the links below for an article I wrote on this with steps for managers to follow.  [28:18] The last place I want to touch on where the peak-end rule comes into play is pricing strategy.   [29:27] The peaks are setting anchors for your brain to help you determine value and how you ultimately feel at the end even when the final number is exactly the same. (Example using home values.) [29:58] The stock market is a great example of this.  People are really good at building big dreams around the highest value on their portfolio even though those numbers are always changing and not guaranteed.  [31:43] Experiences can be lengthy or short, and no matter how many points we could consider to evaluate them, more often than not, there are only two points considered: the peak and the end.   [32:06] Look at all your experiences. Both the ones you go through each day and for your customers to find points where you can use the peak-end rule to your advantage and increase the overall experience people have with you and your brand.   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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Master Your Mindset Mini-Course This Brain Bias is Affecting Your Employee Reviews Cognitive Biases: Peak-End Effect Dynamic Pricing with Loss-Averse Consumers and Peak-End Anchoring Applying the Peak-End Rule to Reference Prices When More Pain Is Preferred To Less: Adding a Better End 96. How to Make it Easy to Do Business With You With Nikki Rausch 13. Adjusting Your Mindset: Tips To Overcome Imposter Syndrome And More: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 8. What is Value? 60. Surprise and Delight 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 30. Booms and Busts

I am very excited to bring back Nikki Rausch, from Sales Maven and one of my very favorite people on earth. You have heard Nikki’s name on the show before, and even her voice a couple of times – she is the first repeat guest ever on the show…but last time she was here she was doing the interviewing when the brainy pricing course first launched. Now, I’m asking the questions and we are having more of a comfortable conversation about ways to make it easy for people to do business with you. I’ve had the joy of knowing Nikki for over 5 years now (almost 10? I’ve lost count!). We were in the same networking group and always got along. When I started doing freelance work while still in a corporate space, Nikki was one of my early clients – she hired me to edit her second book! I’m actually mentioned in the acknowledgements for her book Buying Signals, (though my last name is different). That book is awesome by the way, as is her third book The Selling Staircase. Nikki and I don’t study exactly the same thing, but her background in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) has a lot of similarities to behavioral economics. It is understanding and speaking better to the brain’s natural tendencies…so it is no wonder we get along so well.  We have an amazing conversation about making it easy for your potential clients to do business with you. Nikki shares tips that are aligned with the principles of NLP that can really make a difference when dealing with clients and potential clients. We talk about how to make it easy for your customer to take the next step, how to make the email about them, and scheduling with the client in mind. Show Notes: [04:43] Nikki is a sales coach, trainer and speaker; her company is Sales Maven. She is also an author and a podcaster with a background in sales and NLP. [05:17] Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is the study of communication and the way we process things in our brains. The programming part is about habits and patterns. Nikki has about 1,200 hours in training (compared to the 200 most others in the field have). [08:31] Many of us inadvertently communicate in a way that makes it difficult for customers to buy.  [09:18] The easier you make it for someone to take that next step, the more likely they are to follow through. [11:02] Every time you put up a roadblock, you risk the chance of losing that potential client. [12:47] The answer to “tell me when you're available” … is “never.” [14:18] You can use the three times technique. Ask if the potential client would like to chat and then give them three ranges of times. A range could be anytime between 9:00 and 3:00 or 8:00 and 8:30. Then follow up with, “Please choose what's best for you. If you prefer something else…” [17:24] Scheduling links are common, but it needs to be framed in a way that doesn't turn off your potential client. Make it easy for them. Don't use “I” statements. Make it for the readers benefit. “Please choose the time that's best for you.” Not “These are the times that work for me.” [24:27] Make “you” statements and ask questions. “Would you be open to meeting to talk?” [25:30] In a hurry? Don't send that email. It's worth it to slow down and think about how it will be received.  [30:10] “What questions come to mind to you?” This phrase sounds better than “does that make sense?” (Melina’s personal mission is to remove this phrase from use.) “If” statements can be too much too.  [33:31] “Do you have questions?” also isn't an effective phrase. Try “What  questions come to mind so far?” instead.  [37:18] Let people know what you want instead of having a “go fish” mentality. Have a clear next step when you want someone to take action. Schedule a time to circle back.  [45:10] You can find Nikki and her podcast on the Sales Maven. You can also download Closing the Sale for free. 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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Sales Maven With Nikki Rausch Closing the Sale Free Download Nikki Rausch Sales Maven on Facebook Getting Ghosted By Potential Customers? It May Be Your Email Approach A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales Buying Signals: How to spot the green light and increase sales The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling 66. Ultimate Pricing Confidence with Special Guest Interviewer Nikki Rausch 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases 95. Hate Being on Camera? Understand Your Brain’s Biases To Change Your Mind 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 72. Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley

There used to be a time when people who were camera shy could mostly avoid being in photos or on video. For better or worse...those days are long gone. A lot of us hate seeing ourselves on camera, and today I’m going to talk about why. Our brains are actually programmed to hate seeing ourselves on camera because of specific biases. I’m going to talk about those biases, how they affect our brain, and give some tips to overcome those biases.  In a world of selfies, Instastories and YouTube…it’s hard to not be on camera these days. With the coronavirus pandemic (which I covered in episode 91), the world has been flocking to Zoom, which before the end of February had already added more active users than in all of 2019. In the coronavirus episode, I touched on why the brain is wired to react the way it does during a novel and frightening situation like this, and why we all feel inclined to hoard lots of supplies like toilet paper even when we know that is a bit irrational. Today’s episode gets into concepts like familiarity bias, confirmation bias, and comparisons that are working to make our brains hate seeing and hearing ourselves from the outside looking in. I talk about what we see and hear and what others see and hear. I explain how these biases affect us. I also share my own experiences with these biases, and share seven tips you can use to convince your brain that being on camera, audio, and video isn’t that bad after all. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:32] Not too long ago, any of us who wanted to could pretty much avoid cameras – either video or photos. [08:13] I get it. AND I want to help everyone understand some of the things going on in all our brains that make us less than excited about seeing ourselves on video (or listening to our own voices on a recording) to make it a little easier to do that next one. [08:23] There are a couple of mind tricks conspiring against seeing yourself on camera, including confirmation bias, familiarity bias, and the comparison effect (essentially relativity), and the focusing illusion. [08:55] FAMILIARITY BIAS This is one of those things that is so obvious when you hear it, but not something that people are usually connecting the dots on themselves. [09:19] We see everyone head on, and they see us head-on. The only way we see ourselves is a reflection in the mirror. We actually see the opposite of what everyone else sees. [10:23] This is why our familiarity bias kicks in when we see our image in a photo, and we think that something is off. [10:56] Studies have actually shown people two images – head on and mirror image – to see what people preferred, and it confirmed that friends and partners…everyone else, prefers the “straight on” image of us, and we all prefer our mirror images. [11:13] People could never explain why they didn’t like one and why they preferred the mirror image. The conscious can’t explain it…but the subconscious knows what it is used to looking at. [11:47] Until you train your brain to see your “real face” more, it will not be familiar and it will feel off. This means putting in the effort to be in more pictures and on video and watching yourself. [12:11] Some smart systems like Zoom actually let you choose if you want to be looking at and recording your “real” face or your “mirror image.”  (Bonus side note not in the episode - I did a run through of a training using GoToMeeting the day after recording this and saw myself in NOT mirror image for the first time in a while...my brain’s immediate reaction was that it was awful! But I was able to use the tips from the episode to get past it and not make it awkward.) [12:42] Help train your brain to get used to the good stuff of the true you. Our brains dial in WAY too closely on things when we are thinking about them. [13:22] You will be focusing on yourself in a way no one else does. So you have two options. First: train yourself to watch the general image and try not to narrow in on one specific item. [14:21] The second option is to know that the focusing illusion will still be happening because your brain is wired to focus on stuff. Focusing on the good stuff will make you happier and smile more. [15:26] Zoom also has a “touch up my appearance” option that gives you a smoothed out look and can be the edge you need to feel more comfortable. [16:50] We actually hear ourselves differently than everyone else, because our voices are reverberating around inside our heads while we speak. Your perception of yourself is biased. [18:26] CONFIRMATION BIAS Familiarity bias combines with confirmation bias to really reinforce the bad stuff deeper into your brain. [19:26] We remember the feedback that aligns with our self esteem more than we remember anything that doesn’t align with it. [20:42] Your subconscious is making 99% of the decisions and evaluating tons of information every second to screen out what fits its rules and what doesn’t. [22:24] You need to embrace the new positive just make it plausible enough that your brain will believe it. [23:39] COMPARISON EFFECT for our purposes this is essentially relativity. [23:56] The context (the environment you were just in) will impact the way your brain perceives the next item. [26:14] If video is important to your business, invest in making yourself look as good as possible. This will benefit your personal brand and make it easier to see yourself. Here are those 7 tips: [29:51] #1 Try to focus on good stuff you like about yourself instead of the stuff that makes you cringe. [30:02] #2 People are programmed to like you more when they see you the way they are used to seeing you. People like authenticity. [30:34] #3 Reframe your focus to a positive. [30:50] #4 Be okay with mess ups. They will happen. [31:49] #5 Imagine the audience is laughing at the right spots and loving every minute. [33:21] #6 Decide to get over it. Find positive things to focus on and see yourself better. [34:33] #7 Do as much video as you can as often as possible. [35:13] It's time for a new challenge. I’ll be going live every day between now, April 10 and May 15 when episode 100 goes out. Will you join me? Find me on social and use #BeThoughtful 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics Zoom Has Added More Videoconferencing Users This Year Than in All of 2019 Thanks to Coronavirus, Bernstein Says Self-Esteem and Memory for Favorable and Unfavorable Personality Feedback How to Have Proactive Conversations With Employees (and Calm Their Fears) Still Trying to Multitask? How to Make More Time for Deep Work 5 Ways to Be Comfortable & Likable on Video (from Someone Who Used to Hate Video) The Psychology Behind Video-Phobia What It Means if You Hate Having Your Picture Taken The Science Behind Why No One Likes to Be on Camera 13. Adjusting Your Mindset: Tips To Overcome Imposter Syndrome And More: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Master Your Mindset Mini Course Use code BRAINY to save 10% 12. Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 89. Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated Dread Going Into Work Every Day? The Culprit May Be Hanging in Your Office 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 413: It’s Not About The Price with Melina Palmer 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab #CrazyHairDay 66. Ultimate Pricing Confidence with Special Guest Interviewer Nikki Rausch

I am very excited to introduce you to Dr. Sudy Majd, a behavioral scientist applying concepts from behavioral economics in business. Sudy has always been interested in how people behave. Right out of college, she worked for a consulting firm that enabled her to travel all over the world to study consumer behavior. She then got a PhD in Psychology at Columbia where she focused on consumer decision making. She is now a consultant and on the advisory board of startup Candid™. In today’s episode, we talk about a couple of specific projects she did on behalf of Candid™, a company that helps people straighten their teeth with clear aligners without ever having to go into an office. Sudy has been bringing behavioral science out of the lab and academia, and testing things within a real business. She shares how applying behavioral economics principles in a real business setting had unexpected results, and she discovered that the business questions were more complex than she realized. This is that concept of “finding the right answer to the wrong question” you hear me talk about on the show often, and the value of “questionstorming” – which I teach to many of my clients and with the group of members in the BE Thoughtful Revolution.  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [02:23] Dr. Sudy Majd has been interested in how people behave for most of her career. Right out of college, She worked for a consulting firm that enabled her to travel all over the world and observe how people behave to make recommendations to increase sales. [03:03] She then got a PhD in Psychology at Columbia where she focused on consumer decision making. [03:16] This gave her insight into why people make decisions and how to influence those decisions. [03:27] She then started working at tech startup Candid™. She also works with other clients to help incorporate behavioral science into their businesses. [04:08] Sudy shares a story of how consumer behavior ended up being different than she expected it to be. [05:02] Many Candid™ customers didn't return their kits with impressions and photos, so that wouldn't result in a sale. [05:43] They added cards that incorporated behavioral science into the copy, and the return rate became worse (hindsight helps, I offer up a reason it may not have been successful). [07:45] Humans have a lot of conflicting things going on in their lives, one card wasn't enough to push them over the edge. [09:21] They decided to identify psychological traits of customers who were and weren't returning their kits. [10:52] They implemented feedback loops with penalties or rewards. This was a different way of framing the message with loss aversion and incentives. This also included nudging, time discounting, and herding (links to past episodes below).  [12:05] The penalty framing worked the best. These customers converted worse but were cheaper to acquire. [14:19] Marketing is to get people interested enough to take the next step. [16:30] They always incorporated customer feedback to figure out why something was happening. [18:17] Have the user see themselves in your brand and use their language to describe the product. [21:18] Sudy thinks the future of behavioral science is testing it in actual businesses. She loves discovering how the physical design of retail spaces influence how people behave. [22:41] She would also like to incorporate behavioral science theories into big data applications. [26:25] Having something that doesn't work teaches you as much as something that does work. [29:17] Testing is key to the growth and success of any business. Keep trying and improving. 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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Candid™ Sudy Majd, PhD on LinkedIn 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 36. Incentives – The “N” In NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments 87. Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales 88. Marketing to Mindstates: A Discussion With Author, Will Leach 4. Questions or Answers Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution  Forget Brainstorming, Try Questionstorming (Inc Article by Melina)

Have you ever wondered why it's blindly accepted to just do things the same way they’ve always been done? Have you noticed how a new business can completely disrupt an industry by doing things totally different? Sometimes they put established companies out of business, even though the original business could have implemented the same strategies before the disruptor. A big reason this happens is normalcy bias.  Normalcy bias is where the brain believes that everything will be normal and waits for things to be normal again in a time of crisis. This principle not only applies to business, but it very much applies to some of the reasons many people weren't prepared for the coronavirus pandemic even though it had been on the news weeks before the shutdown. This normalcy bias episode is directly influenced by episode 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics. If you have not yet listened to that episode…I highly recommend it. There is so much going on right now with new announcements every day of countries taking new and very important precautions to stop the spread of this disease. That episode talks about why the brain is wired to react the way it does during a novel and frightening situation like this, and why we all feel inclined to hoard lots of supplies like toilet paper even when we know that is a bit irrational. Normalcy bias is very much tied in with the situation we all find ourselves in as coronavirus is changing our entire world. It is also a bias that you can overcome to benefit your business. It’s also something we are talking about in the BE Thoughtful Revolution.  If you’re interested in joining the BE Thoughtful Revolution, you can get a 7 day free trial and a 50% discount using the code HALFOFF through March 31, 2020.  Show Notes: [03:39] Normalcy bias is the tendency for the brain to believe that everything will be normal – and to wait for things to be normal again in times of crisis or change. This impacts both sides of change. [04:20] It's easy to assume that things will stay the same and remain normal. This combines with availability bias and time discounting. [05:09] We have a hard time preparing for something before it happens. [05:48] Disruptors are able to infiltrate because those in the industry are too close, and their normalcy bias is telling them that things will always be the same. [06:09] Disruptors can see things differently, because they aren't subject to the same constraints of the brain. [07:29] Progressive’s head of marketing “fires himself” every 12 to 18 months to reset as if he just got hired. [10:03] Normalcy bias makes it so we all don’t properly prepare for or anticipate a big change. The other side of this, is that once change is thrust upon us, while we are in the midst of it…we cling to “normal” more than ever. [10:28] The brain grieves for what used to be, what it was used to, and its inclination is to ride out the storm until things are normal again. [11:12] Our brains love the status quo and what they are used to. [12:02] An example of the finance industry, status quo, and Apple Card.  [14:29] The desire to wait and see…to weather the storm when you are in the midst of change…is normalcy bias keeping you stuck. If you aren’t careful, it can cause you to miss the boat and your business could be in serious trouble. [15:47] My brain is constantly wanting to say that this is a temporary setback. I can’t rely on that being the case. My business model needs to adapt to the possibility that there may only be a few conferences in the coming months. [16:44] This is the time to look at other opportunities: what can be done virtually? [17:33] I also need to make sure that I am investing time and energy into what is the best fit for the market. What do people want, and need and where does that coincide with my expertise? [18:29] Having too much reliance on any particular product line, client, or type of service is always something that should be reviewed. [19:07] If you are listening to this episode right when it comes out or shortly thereafter, coronavirus is presenting the opportunity for you to practice getting out of your own normalcy bias and looking at your business differently. [20:04] If you aren’t already a member of the BE Thoughtful Revolution, please do join us now. You can take advantage of a 7 day free trial if you join by March 31, 2020 and use the code HALFOFF to get a 50% discount. [20:41] Normalcy bias is constantly impacting you in life and business. Now is the time your brain wants you to wait and see…and I’m here to tell you that strategy will not suit your business well.   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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution Use code HALFOFF by March 31, 2020 and take advantage of a 7 day free trial The Continuity Principle: a Unified Approach to Disaster and Trauma The Normalcy Bias and Its Impact on Security 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Jeff Charney, Progressive CMO: You Better Out-Create 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode

Fundamental attribution error is another example of a behavioral economics concept with a really terrible name. Similar to my choice to call “hyperbolic time discounting” the “I’ll start Monday effect” fundamental attribution error is one where I think we can benefit from a simpler name, I like to call this the “Pot / Kettle Phenomenon.” You may be able to tell from that name a little bit about how this concept works, but here’s the simple explanation and then we will get into the details. If you have ever heard the phrase, “that’s like the pot calling the kettle black” we are basically talking about fundamental attribution error – when you use different criteria to think about yourself and how you are acting than you use to think about and judge others. Today, I explain this concept and share examples that bring it to life. I also give you an actionable five step plan to change the way you react to others and have less instances of this phenomenon.  I’ve received an overwhelmingly positive response from listeners about last week’s episode about coronavirus and why our brains react the way they do in pandemics. If you’re still wondering why people are hoarding toilet paper, this episode will help explain why.  If you’re interested in joining the BE Thoughtful Revolution, you can get a 7 day free trial and a 50% discount using the code HALFOFF learn more here.   Show Notes: [04:38] FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR is another example of a behavioral economics concept with a really terrible name. I prefer to call this the “Pot / Kettle Phenomenon.” [05:16] “That’s like the pot calling the kettle black” is basically talking about fundamental attribution error. It's using different criteria to think about yourself and how you are acting as opposed to how you would think about others and how they act. [06:16] How do you feel about someone who cuts you off in traffic? How do you feel about yourself when you cut someone else off in traffic? When thinking about yourself, you know you are a good person and this one act doesn’t carry over into your interpretation of your entire personality. [07:39] When you hear the story of someone else who you may have labeled as “bad,” you'll have empathy for them when you understand their story - like the Wicked Witch of the West.  [08:26] Why can't we stop ourselves from doing this and realize how often it impacts our personal and business relationships? [08:39] Even when we know about the rules our brain uses to make sense of our surroundings, it doesn’t mean we can just change them. [09:43] You have to use your conscious processing over the top of the thing your subconscious wants you to believe. [10:01] Your brain is biased to think of you (itself) as different and better than others…especially people who are not like you. You don’t have to let that immediate reaction form a lasting impression of someone else. [11:01] In the workplace, think about someone who shows up late to your meeting…what is your immediate thought about them? You likely think, “Ugh, he is so rude and disrespectful” this can then combine with the focusing illusion, so that you only notice times where the person in question is doing things that are rude and disrespectful. [12:16] INTRINSIC VS EXTRINSIC The big difference between the way we see others and how we see ourselves is the intrinsic story compared to the extrinsic story. [12:42] If someone’s personality or their disposition led to the lateness, it is intrinsic or internal attribution. If it was due to the situational factors, it would be external. [14:37] Steps to change the way you react to others: 1)  Decide you want to work on this and understand why it’s 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 a decent number of total interactions (30 days is a good rule of thumb for people you see often) 5)  Move to the next group [16:26] If you have been passed up for a promotion or been told you aren’t a team player or feel like everyone is out to get you… fundamental attribution error could be a culprit. [16:44] Fixing your mindset in regards to the way you think about others is about your choice. You can’t change them or their responses to situations. [19:43] In the “in-group” perspective shift, it will take a little time at first where you have to consciously remind yourself to not have an “us versus them” mentality. [22:58] Resist the urge to use the same “good thing about them” every time. [24:21] Once you have completed the process with the first group you can move on to the next one. And the good news is, this should get easier over time. Unlike other goals which need to be limited, this can combine and add other groups where you start to use these techniques whenever you are ready. It is a positive snowball. [26:00] I want to talk a little about the flip side of the Pot / Kettle Phenomenon. It's important to look at your own behavior the way others do. Try to stop writing an extrinsic story for why it is ok. 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution Use code HALFOFF by March 31, 2020 and take advantage of a 7 day free trial Fundamental Attribution Error 91. Coronavirus and How the Human Brain Responds to Pandemics 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Thinking, Fast and Slow 89. Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated 70. How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals 76. The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude Here's Why Rushing to Back-to-Back Meetings Is Hurting Your Reputation Why Learning To Embrace Criticism Should Be Your Top Resolution This Year

Coronavirus (or COVID-19) is everywhere on the news, and everyone's talking about it. The statistics and status of outbreaks are changing rapidly, and there is uncertainty around the virus. I can't answer all of the questions surrounding this issue…(no one can at this point) but I  hope this episode will help you understand a little bit more about how the human brain responds to pandemics. I'm going to talk about how the way our brains work affects our reactions in situations like this.  We'll start with an example of framing. What do you think of when you hear a “state of emergency” is declared? I live in Washington where we had the first coronavirus death and the first state of emergency declared in the US. California is the second state to have declared a state of emergency. “State of emergency” is a name that doesn’t help contain public fear. I understand why it's called this and why it's important to declare it…but…talk about a framing issue.  I also talk about the focusing illusion and how focusing on something makes it seem more significant. I'll cover several other concepts that apply to what goes through our minds in times of uncertainty, danger, fear, and panic. I'll also cover opportunities to make the most of things and lots and lots of informative links to help you educate yourself about the current situation.  It is important to note that the information about coronavirus specifically is changing rapidly – what I put in my notes and record today will not be accurate by the time this goes live on March 13 and after. Also, there is no judgment or criticism of choices any person or country or entity has made. The intention of this episode is to explain how our brains are wired to work during times of uncertainty, like the coronavirus pandemic.  Show Notes: [02:54] I've been reading a lot about coronavirus lately, and it's a big deal. I live in Washington state where we had the first recorded coronavirus death in the US. [03:32] Declaring a state of emergency is definitely a framing issue. When the brain hears this, it doesn't take it lightly. It wonders what the emergency means and creates more panic than is helpful. [03:58] The human brain has a lot of capacity to process information: when given something new and unknown it will run rampant. [04:15] Our brains will over analyze and freak out a little bit. Focusing on something will make it feel more important or significant. This is the focusing illusion. [04:36] Our counterfactual and prefactual thinking will also ramp up and go into overdrive. [04:59] A lack of control is a breeding ground for fear and a brain bonanza. [05:19] New or unknown things are scary, because we can't categorize them using the concept of relativity. We have nothing to compare it to. [06:17] Probability neglect is where we drastically overestimate our own personal risk in a situation. [07:21] We also have a zero risk bias where we would rather eliminate all the risk we can. [08:37] Our inability to properly understand probabilities and aversion to risk AND need for control AND penchant for the status quo all combine in the worst possible way when we are confronted with an unknown, highly contagious disease. [09:05] Availability bias is when our brains believe what we hear most often to be true. [10:47] I want to make sure everyone knows that I know we are talking about real humans – each of those numbers represents a person: mother, father, sister, brother, friend. I do not take this lightly as I share the details throughout the episode. [13:20] Why don't we hear about (or get as scared by) the flu-related deaths that happen every year? It's because we've all had the flu, and it's a known entity.  [14:02] Our availability bias says that flu is annoying, but it's not that big of a deal. [14:37] The recommendations to stop the threat of coronavirus are the exact same recommendations to stop influenza. [15:18] Availability bias is a huge culprit in the reaction to the coronavirus. The focus is on the scary stuff. [16:32] The unknown variables of the coronavirus are what make it really scary to the brain. [17:47] We need to maintain these better habits that will keep us healthier and happier well into the future. [18:02] Why is it so difficult to change habits? We are used to habits. We have subconscious rules stuck in our brain.  [20:30] Changing habits takes diligence at the beginning, and continued effort to maintain. Conscious processing can only do so much work at the same time.  [21:44] Before you react, stop and ask if your behavior is rational or if you need this. Take a moment to breathe and focus. [22:36] One other problem we have when it comes to changing behavior, is our brain’s natural risk thermostat. Essentially, when we do one thing good, we feel justified slacking on something else. [23:52] If we can all do only one thing well to fight the spread of viruses, because that one thing has a bunch of hidden steps, we should be focusing on the one thing that is proven to be most effective. [24:20] No one wants to be diagnosed with coronavirus. The mentality of staying home and not getting tested for fear of what others will think is a combination of herding and an ostrich or head in the sand type of response. [26:11] If people don't self-quarantine or get tested when they get sick, there will be more outbreaks. It's our brains natural reaction to avoid risk, but it's best to get tested. [27:47] One person making a rash and extreme decision can cause a huge chain reaction that is difficult to stop. [30:13] When we feel a lack of control, of uncertainty, like we do when a novel virus is spreading around the world, we get scared and the brain looks for something to do and control. [31:29] This is an opportunity to revisit the way you have always done things. [32:59] What can you be doing today, while people aren’t traveling and the status quo is already disrupted, to look at your offering and find opportunities to make your company 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Coronavirus and Its Global Sweep Stokes Fear Over Facts. Experts Say It's Unlikely to Produce 'Apocalyptic Scenario' Am I Going to Get the Coronavirus and Die? Psychology of Viral Pandemic: What We Need to Know and Do How Bad Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Get? Here Are 6 Key Factors Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary What Role Did Rumour Play in Australia's Toilet Paper Frenzy? 'I Never Really Felt Unwell' - Coronavirus Patient Why We Can’t Think Straight About the Coronavirus (and What to Do About It) 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 14. Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 89. Focusing Illusion: Why Thinking About Something Makes It Seem More Important Than It Is (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 71. Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations 12. Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode The Cognitive Bias That Makes Us Panic About Coronavirus 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Live Coronavirus Data Flu Shot Better Than Last Year, Despite Tough Season for Kids Influenza (Seasonal) Changing Behaviour to Slow Coronavirus Spread Is Easier Said Than Done Behavioural Strategies for Reducing Covid-19 Transmission in the General Population Handwashing Can Stop a Virus—So Why Don’t We Do It? Hand Hygiene: Why, How & When? Even as Behavioural Researchers We Couldn’t Resist the Urge to Buy Toilet Paper 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode About HR Answers Remote Work / Telecommute Sample Policy & Employee Agreement 90. Habit Weekly: A Discussion With Creator Samuel Salzer COVID-19: Implications for Business

I am very excited to introduce you to Samuel Salzer, founder of the super awesome resource Habit Weekly. He provides content via a newsletter and LinkedIn every week with lots of great updates in the behavioral world. There are links for job openings in behavioral science around the globe, upcoming conferences, top podcasts and articles of the week – it is a really fantastic resource I recommend everyone subscribe to. Today, we discuss how Samuel became interested in behavioral science and his interest in habit formation. We also talk about not creating content for the sake of creating content. Samuel discovered firsthand that if you create what people actually want, they will ask you for more. This is so applicable in business. Find out what people actually want and give it to them. Put good stuff out into the world and people will want to engage with you.  Show Notes: [03:03] Samuel has always been an entrepreneur and started his first business when he was 16. [03:51] He moved from Sweden to Australia to study accounting and economics. He also started doing research on behavioral economics. [04:34] This opened his eyes to the nuance of human decision-making. [05:35] He also wanted to use this knowledge to help his mother establish a meditation habit. [06:38] He started studying the science of habit formation, behavioral science, and psychology.  [07:37] Samuel is his first test subject, and he does his share of self-experimentation.  [08:44] He helps clients create behavior change for good. [09:31] You are succeeding if you create value for your customers and a solution for their problem. [10:55] Samuel likes to focus on the underlying principles of what he is trying to do. [12:29] Samuel likes the concept of friction: both decreasing and increasing it.  [13:16] There are moments when it's beneficial to increase friction. You can strategically increase friction to eliminate negative habits. [16:20] Samuel is fascinated by habits and how they are formed. There are also ways to boost behaviors. Such as loss aversion or framing behaviors to make them more motivating. [17:07] Habits can have a trigger and a reward or consequence. There can be a negative (or positive) consequence after a behavior. [20:25] We often have habits or things we do that are designed to remove a negative.  [22:53] The concept of "eating the frog" or doing the hard thing first. [25:43] Samuel started sharing links on LinkedIn. This eventually evolved into Habit Weekly. It's now a mailing list that sends content related to behavioral design on a weekly basis. [28:04] You know you found something that people really want if they are reaching out to you asking you to create a mailing list. [30:09] Samuel works to make sure that anyone interested in behavioral design has the best resources throughout the week. [33:26] Accurate research and due diligence are very important to Samuel. [34:02] Samuel is excited about the future of behavioral design. In his opinion, the field is in the adolescent stage. The mature stage will be more about the process. [36:44] He's excited about being able to take all the tools and components and using them together to accomplish great things.  [39:46] Samuel's super power or wish would be to see the world through other people's eyes. That's part of what has drawn him into his work. A good book or movie can show the world from another person's perspective. 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brain Science Behind Your Shopping Decisions (watch Melina’s TV interview!) Habit Weekly Samuel Salzer Samuel Salzer on LinkedIn Samuel Salzer on Twitter Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time 81. How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 72. Friction – What It Is And How To Reduce It, with Roger Dooley 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 58. Partitioning: Why We Eat More Cheetos From A Party-Sized Bag Than A Fun Size: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making 34. Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 85. What is BrainyTab? An Interview with the Founders Radu and Raluca Judele 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 30. Booms and Busts

In a previous episode, I talked about a study on happiness which found that when asked if people thought they would be happier if they were to suddenly be a paraplegic or suddenly win the lottery, most everyone believes they would be happier winning the lottery and significantly less so to lose the use of their limbs. In actuality, these two groups of people – paraplegics and lottery winners, are essentially just as happy as anyone else. Why would this be and why would people predict it incorrectly? It has everything to do with the focusing illusion. When people only focus on one piece of a giant puzzle that piece ends up with far too much weight. Losing the use of your legs or winning the lottery is just one small piece of an entire life. There are so many factors that play into happiness, and while these pieces are significant and impactful in many ways, they don’t tend to have an impact on overall happiness like we think they would. This episode is all about the focusing effect and how these principles can be used in your business and your life. I talk about focusing on that one thing and making it incredibly clear to your target market. I also talk about asking yourself what people should focus on when thinking about your brand and what would motivate your ideal customer to take action. Show Notes: [04:44] A study about happiness that illustrates the focusing illusion. [05:47] Kahneman did a test back in 1998 to find out if Californians or Midwesterners were happier with their lives. [06:24] If you said Californians, you would be wrong. A focusing illusion bias puts more weight on things like sunshine and a seemingly laid back lifestyle. People adapt to their surroundings. [07:06] “Nothing in life is quite as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.” - Daniel Kahneman [07:53] Focusing on something, not surprisingly, puts a whole bunch of attention on it. [08:59] Think about decluttering and how you would feel getting rid of something you might need. The focusing illusion is combining with counterfactual and prefactual thinking to maintain your status quo bias and keep you stuck. [09:54] When you are asked to think about how happy someone would be or how angry something would make you or how satisfied you are or would be…your brain will focus WAY too much on a few key aspects and answer in a way that is just not in alignment with reality. [10:47] Social proof. People are more likely to take action based on the thoughts and actions of others. They are also likely to weigh a few key items as the most important indicators of their happiness. [12:32] Our brains are split up into two processing systems: the subconscious is super busy filtering through 11 million bits of data per second, while the conscious can only handle 40 bits per second. Your brain will sort through all of the data to validate what you're focused on. [13:20] Anything you want to believe (or that all important first impression) will be supported by the focusing illusion. [13:36]  Another example by Kahneman from Thinking, Fast and Slow using the halo effect. [15:25] Initial traits in a list changed the very meaning of the traits that appear later. The sequence in which we observe characteristics of a person is often determined by chance. Sequence matters, however, because the Halo effect increases the weight of 1st impressions. [16:40] When you are focusing on something, a particular aspect, you build it up in your mind and it changes your perception, expectation, experience, and memory of an experience. [17:20] There's a high likelihood that you will create bias in questions asked on surveys - hire an expert. [18:08] Focusing on finding examples to back up your brain’s earlier perceptions is confirmation bias. [19:17] It's good to take a step back and ask yourself if your bias may be guiding your interactions. [19:48] I share the story that was inspiration for this episode. [22:02] Live that truth and focus on that now. Your brain will focus on what you want it to. [23:34] Think about your approach to a project – what you focus on, the way you do things (or the way the company does things). [24:31] The problem that is facing you may not be as big of a deal as it seems – and something you aren’t even aware of could create a much bigger impact if you took the time to look for it. [25:36] A story about a detergent company fixing an obvious pain point and communicating it in their advertising. [26:32] Find the one or two points of value and talk about those…all the other features and benefits are extra. [27:12] Focus on that one thing and make it incredibly clear to your target market. [28:12] The mindstate guides the focusing effect and what the subconscious is looking for. Narrowing your messaging makes it more likely to resonate because it aligns with the brain of your customer. The BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group is live! Use the code LAUNCH to lock in your rate and save 60% (ends March 1, 2020). 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram 88. Marketing to Mindstates: A Discussion With Author, Will Leach Mountain Clarity Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer?  A Focusing Illusion Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) 71. Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 83. How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics 87. Social Proof: How to Use Herding to Boost Engagement and Sales Thinking, Fast and Slow (note this is on page 82) 76. The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude

Companies are getting more savvy about using behavioral economics not only to sell products, but to help consumers make better choices. Will Leach has taken the concepts of behavioral economics and social sciences to the next level with his book Marketing to Mindstates: The Practical Guide to Applying Behavior Design to Research and Marketing. I am very excited to talk with him today. He is the founder of the behavioral consultancy TriggerPoint. Previous to starting his business, Will led behavioral science methods at PepsiCo, and he has won numerous awards for his innovative work in behavioral economics. When reading Will’s book, I knew within the first few pages that he needed to come on the podcast. This is even before I realized that he got his master’s from Texas A&M University (I talked about the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab in episode 33 where I interviewed Dr. Marco Palma.) Will and I had a lot of fun talking about the lab and team down there before we jumped into the interview. Will was at A&M before the lab was built, but we have both seen it in person thanks to Dr. Palma.  Will does such a great job of breaking down a really complex area of marketing into a formula that any business can follow – from global corporations like PepsiCo to small businesses. One area I know non-marketers (and even many marketing teams to be honest) struggle with is determining their target market and really narrowing it down and then knowing how to properly communicate with them. Will and I talk about his and the concept of the 18 different mindstates and nine motivations. He also shares his step by step process to help you determine which is the best for your company. This is an innovative and mind opening interview. Show Notes: [03:46] For Will, behavioral economics was the classic “I didn't know it existed until I stumbled upon it.” [03:56] Will joined the military right out of high school. He then studied classical economics. [04:16] He discovered marketing research through a graduate program and fell in love with it. It wasn't just looking at economics, it was looking at why people do what they do. [04:39] While working at PepsiCo, he discovered behavioral economics and behavioral science. In 2009, PepsiCo invested $20 million in a laboratory to study the neurological impacts of messaging. [05:08] Will was lucky enough to get to run behavioral science experiments, and he loved it so much he started his own business and wrote a book about it. [05:55] His favorite project was working on a brand new snack. It was a healthy baked hummus chip. The brand called Wicked Crisps was designed using purely behavioral sciences. The target market was the owner's daughter (or millennial moms). Will helped design the name, logo, tagline, bag, and website. Behavioral science was behind everything that they designed from fonts to benefits. [11:58] Will studied economics. He didn't want to just talk about theory. He wanted a practical book.  [13:02] He conveys specific models through story.  [14:01] He also dug into motivational psychology and goal theory. He looked at all six social sciences and found patterns. [16:25] Will thinks of mindstates as moments in time when we are being influenced. We aren't always consistent with our beliefs and attitudes. Our environment changes us. [18:20] His book is about moments in time and why a certain archetype may behave outside of the norm for them. Applying mindstates can help understand beliefs and values and impacts of the environment on these moments.  [20:57] Companies now look at how to help customers make better choices. Making their whole life better gives the company permission to sell them more. Brands are getting smarting and taking a holistic approach. [24:46] Will is the most excited about the idea of getting the mindstates out for everyone to use. They want to get more and more people to understand that there is science behind our decisions. There are also emotions around our decisions and just understanding a few small rules is a huge benefit. [25:57] We can sell more with behavioral economics. We can also reduce anxiety levels and create a better society.  [26:30] Will is getting more excited about the education side and using these concepts to help understand and overcome biases. [27:02] He uses goal theory to help understand what people are trying to accomplish. Helping people reach their goals can create a better society. [29:39] The nine motivations are achievement, autonomy, belonging, competence, empowerment, engagement, esteem, nurturance, and security. Then find optimistic and cautious examples. [30:28]  When guys are asked why they want to lose weight and get healthy the answer is usually so they can walk their daughter down the wedding aisle. [31:20] One reason why a dad would want to do this is nurturance. So a goal is “walk my daughter down the aisle” and the motivation is “nurturance.” [32:09] Promotion (or using an optimistic lens) is seeking to maximize losing weight. It's about maximizing gains. [32:45] A prevention lens focuses on eliminating doing bad things. [33:10] These details matter when you frame your benefits. They are either using cautious nurturance or maximizing nurturance.  [36:36] Be clear and stand for one thing. Take a stand and own it, and you will benefit tremendously. [38:33] The Hero and the Outlaw does a good law job of outlining archetypes. The BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group is live! Use the code LAUNCH to lock in your rate and save 60% (ends March 1, 2020). 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Marketing to Mindstates: The Practical Guide to Applying Behavior Design to Research and Marketing 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand 61. Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal 75. The Littery – Interview with CEO Michael Manniche 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 86. Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis StoryBrand The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes @Trigger_pointer on Twitter Marketing to Mindstates on Facebook Marketing to Mindstates on Instagram William Leach on LinkedIn Marketing to Mindstates on Twitter TriggerPoint Will Leach BE Thoughtful Revolution Membership Group Wicked Crisps The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories E. Tory Higgins

Social proof was introduced by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence. It’s one of the six principles of persuasion (accompanied by reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, and liking). I talked about social proof in last week's episode on Peloton. I talked about the infamous ad that made Peloton have a dramatic drop in market value, but I also talked about all of the things they were doing right and how they were using availability, priming, stacking and bundling offers, money back guarantees, reciprocity, choice architecture, herding and…of course…social proof.  I’ve heard from many of you who are actually considering getting a Peloton after that episode. That wasn’t my intention, but something I love to hear because we have been so happy with ours (and it is an example of the third type of social proof - users). Herding and social proof are closely related. When social proof is present, we are more likely to herd. We also look for social proof because it helps us validate our decisions. I’ll talk about the six types of social proof which are expert, celebrity, user, wisdom of the crowd, wisdom of friends, and certification. I’ll show how our biased brains are susceptible to social proof, ways it shows up, and how easily it can be implemented in any business – and why it is important to incorporate it. Show Notes: [02:28] Social proof is closely related to herding. [02:39] The concept of social proof was first introduced by Robert Cialdini. Cialdini’s 1984 book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion introduced the concept of social proof as one of the six principles of persuasion (the others are reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency and liking). [03:34] Social proof and herding feels a bit like a chicken and the egg situation. We are a herding species, we look for social proof to validate our decisions and be accepted by the group, but when social proof is present…we are more likely to herd. Which came first? [04:31] Having a lot of other people (or the right people) who have made the same choice in the past (regardless of whether or not it is a good one) is the social proof we need to nudge us into making the same choice. [05:01] You may be using social proof in your business or have seen it used in other businesses. Now you have scientific proof that these methods work. [05:19] The six types of social proof are: expert, celebrity, user, wisdom of the crowd, wisdom of friends, and certification. [05:52] Expert social proof would be when someone who is an expert in the industry recommends or speaks on behalf of a product or service. An expert extends a halo effect to the organization who brought them there. [06:37] Be aware of authority bias. People are conditioned to believe those who are in authority. [07:55] In your business, consider who an expert is on a topic, and how you might be able to bring them in to interact with your audience. [08:35] Experts lend credibility and the value of social proof to a brand – they make people feel comfortable about working with you. [08:59] Celebrity: There is a clear value in having a celebrity talk about your product. [10:01] You need to reach the right people in a way that will encourage them to take action. [11:12] Microinfluencers can impact your business by reaching the people who are likely to buy. [11:50] Just because a celebrity is easy to get, doesn’t’ mean they are a good fit for you or your brand. It is important to be discerning and make sure there is alignment. [12:08] The perceived personality of the celebrity carries over onto the perceived personality of the brand. [12:45] Have a user talk about your product. You could also stack this with a celebrity who used your product. [13:16] Incorporating users includes reviews and testimonials. [13:30] People are more likely to be influenced by those who they consider to be like themselves. This is the herding piece in action, along with our personal biases toward our own in-group. [15:25] Cialdini's towel example shows how incredibly powerful social proof can be. [15:46] A genuine user talking about the product is influential. When you can help people to see that others like them have found value from your business, it is a win. [16:42] I find key moments to mention that I have clients and people do work with me. It helps people to see that others like them work with me. [18:26] For testimonials: you do not need to write out the complete testimonial OR put the name of the person who provided it. [21:51] Understand why you are using the testimonial and why it matters to the person making the decision, and only use the important pieces. [24:16] Wisdom of the crowd is when someone follows you on Twitter and you look at their profile and decide whether to follow back based on the number of followers they have. [25:24] If you have a lot of past customers or clients, or downloads of a podcast, or subscribers to your YouTube channel or whatever it is…that is worth sharing. Showing those numbers (even off to the side) will be noticed. [27:20] Having a Starbucks “on every corner” is a version of social proof as well – “it must be popular if there are so many”. [28:33] Wisdom of your friends, when someone is closely affiliated – someone you actually know like and trust, their opinion goes further. [28:51] One really easy thing to do is to do Facebook ads to friends of people who like your page already – then when the potential liker sees the ad it will say something like “Melina Palmer and 4 other friends like this page” which will make that person more likely to consider liking the page too. [31:13] Another way to trigger the wisdom of friends is by asking people to share photos of themselves using your product. [31:45] Certification is someone else with credibility giving you their stamp of approval.  This form of social proof helps people to feel comfortable with making a decision because it shows someone else did a considerable amount of due diligence. [33:02] Earned media is when you or your business gets featured on the news or a local magazine. [33:44] Being on a show like Shark Tank raises awareness even if they don't get a deal. [34:58] Showing that other people have already been there and liked that is really valuable in getting more customers for your business. Sprinkle these in all over your messaging. [36:21] There are so many ways to incorporate social proof into your business. It's possible to overdo it, but you would really have to say it a lot. Remember your customers brains are busy so you need to put it out there several times. The BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group is live! Use the code LAUNCH to lock in your rate and save 60% (limit 50). 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram 86. Peloton: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 83. How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Principles of Persuasion The Psychology of Marketing: 18 Ways to Use Social Proof to Boost Your Results The Open Psychology Journal 45. Overview of Personal Biases 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 6. How To Sell From The Stage 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 14. Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Here's How to Send a LinkedIn Connection Request to Someone You Haven't Met Before Without Sounding Like Spam 20 Examples of Social Proof in Action in 2020

Last year on the show, there were behavioral economics analyses of Apple Card, Costco and Starbucks and this is the first time in 2020 we will be digging into a specific company. I’ll talk about the infamous Peloton ad that made the company’s market value drop $1.5 billion in three days: what happened in the ad and why it went wrong. Then I’ll explain what could have been done better and the behavioral economics concepts that back it up. I also talk about my own personal experience with Peloton. I recently got one and I’m loving it. You’ll learn about the behavioral economics of financing options, the 30 day money back guarantee, as well as how they use the concepts of social proof, herding, reciprocity, and more in very smart ways. If you don’t have a Peloton, you’ll learn a little more about equipment, subscription, and app options. I also talk about some of the really cool things they are doing that align well with behavioral economics – including sharing a bunch of concepts I see in their set up, and we will wrap up with tips for your business based on successes from Peloton.  As a note, I don’t do any work with Peloton and don’t know if they are working with anyone in behavioral economics or if they are familiar with any of these concepts or doing any of this intentionally. The stuff I talk about in this episode are my own thoughts and observations, not from any conversations I have had with anyone at Peloton. If you work there or know someone who does that would like to Connect, please email Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com  Show Notes: [03:28] Peloton is a fitness company that sells equipment and features live streaming videos on a screen attached to the equipment. [03:52] According to Peloton’s website, there now have more than 1.6 million members. They state over 55 million workouts completed in 2019, and in their last fiscal year (which ended in June 2019) the company made $915 million dollars. [04:21] They also have a 94% 12-month retention rate. [04:48] Over the Christmas holidays, they featured an ad about a woman who receives a Peloton from her husband as a gift. We then get to watch her video blog of her entire year riding the bike and she says she didn't realize how much it would change her. [05:38] The internet hated this commercial. There was all kinds of backlash about the husband giving her an exercise bike and how it was sexist. It had negative coverage in all the publications. [06:10] According to Business Insider, Peloton lost 1.5 billion dollars in three days after the release of the ad. [06:33] In my opinion, the ad wasn't as bad as it was made out to be on social media. The real problem is mixed messaging (something many companies struggle with). [07:03] The ads that Peloton makes are clearly directed towards wealthy people. They also only have very fit people in their ads (which is fine if this is a clearly defined niche). [07:34] The other side of their brand is being a community opportunity for everyone to be able to have access to amazing fitness regardless of whether you have access (or time to go) to a gym. [07:49] If you say you are for everyone – a community of all kinds of people coming together to support each other…the ads should reflect that. [08:03] If you are truly only for wealthy people, you should say that. [08:27] There is no reason that any business can’t target a high income or high net worth group of individuals. Just make sure that the messaging is clear. [09:15] I think they do want to be inclusive – especially after having the bike for a month now. Their website is “One Peloton” and they share that messaging throughout all the workouts and interactions. They are very focused on their community. [09:24] my recommendations: First the ad needed a teeny tiny back story where everyone knew that the wife actually wanted a Peloton. [10:04] You cannot assume everyone who watches your ad or sees your message is coming from the same place as you. [10:32] When you don’t provide the proper context in the backstory, people will fill it in with their own story, which could be loaded with negatives (especially when you’re talking about health, diet and fitness). [10:45] Take a step back and look at your message from many perspectives and look for what people would disagree with. [11:17] A noticeable difference in the protagonist from the beginning to the end would have made a big difference.  [12:42] If you are going with the inclusive message, it should have closed with a very quick line like “One of the many stories of Peloton” which could then trim down to say “One Peloton”. [14:22] Peloton has enough content for a ton of advertising if they take the time to find it within their community. [14:46] Understand your market niche and who you are speaking to. When this is grey you can get into trouble. [14:54] Bring people along with you in your story, you can’t assume they know the right context. It is important to share key elements to ensure the right message is being conveyed. [15:19] Don’t overlook your community when creating ads and messages. You have a huge amount of people who love you and your brand and would be honored to be featured while singing your praises. Ask for stories. [15:45] Even though Peloton went down 1.5 billion in value it doesn't mean that will last forever. [16:18] Even though it wasn't the greatest way to go viral more people probably know about Peloton now. [16:34] Availability bias is when you start to see something everywhere and then it gets more weight in the brain. [18:06] The availability bias and the ad being everywhere pushed Peloton through the subconscious filter and got you to consider it. [18:50] One of the reasons it was easy to join Peloton was in the framing of the offer. Their equipment is expensive, but they have a 30 day trial with a money back guarantee and a 0% financing option where you can pay for the equipment over three years. [19:37] They have a 94% stay rate from people after 12 months, so their main hurdle is to get that bike or treadmill into your home. [20:22] You can be part of the community by paying a monthly membership fee to access the content. [21:14] There isn't a discount for people who bought the bigger thing (equipment) from Peloton - they actually pay more each month. [21:39] It's important to note that you don't have to discount when you bundle things together or have repeat customers. [23:11] The access to content, free trial and 0% financing are all examples of reciprocity. You pay each month to have access, but there is so much value it feels like a gift to have these great instructors, stats and details. [24:11] Choice architecture (specifically structuring complex choices) is in play with over 20 new classes going live daily and more than 10,000 already on demand. [25:02] You can easily search and filter for what you're looking for based on what matters to use such as type of class or instructor. [26:26] Sometimes it's good that people have to search a little to get to what they're looking for (the subconscious is always scanning). [29:56] Peloton uses concepts of herding and social proof to really enhance the community experience. You get all the goodness of being a part of a community without any of the awkwardness. [32:40] The instructors walk you through what numbers to focus on (in their case “resistance and cadence”) and there is an overall output that ranks you on the leaderboard. Limiting the areas of focus is a framing benefit. [34:37] Social proof is kind of like herding, in that it shows other people are there and liking the course. With Peloton, they do a FANTASTIC job of incorporating social proof and making you feel like part of a gigantic community. [37:20] They shout out milestones throughout the class, starting high and working their way down. This helps with anchoring, another important concept for Peloton. [38:25] Anchors are set in tandem with the social proof by announcing those in the live class who hit milestones. When they shout you out, they say, “I see you”. [40:07] Another way they use anchoring is in tandem with commitments and precommitments – which help form good habits. [41:34] These anchors help boost the amount you might have worked out otherwise, and committing in advance makes you much more likely to form a habit and reach a goal. [42:16] Peloton wants and needs people to change their behavior; to use the app and equipment consistently so they continue to find value and pay the subscriptions. [43:58] These little nudges make a big difference and help to show why Peloton is a smart company making (mostly) good choices. [45:07] If you have a peloton and want to connect there, please follow me – as I said, my name is “BEthoughtful” all as one word…so it shouldn’t be too hard to find me. I look forward to seeing you there. [45:30] SUMMARY OF TIPS: Know who you are speaking to and make sure your branding is aligned with that target market. Narrowing your focus is good and will help you better align with your right people. [45:34] Context is important in any story you are trying to tell. You can’t assume people know the story or have the same background as you have when you came up with the story. Take the time to understand which details are important and show them in the right order. [46:00] Use the stories from your community. [46:17] It’s ok to have complex offerings with a lot of choices, but you need to make the structure of those really easy for people who are using your product or service. [47:11] Anchoring is always important. Start with big numbers to help others see what is possible and set your anchors. [47:29] Social proof – saying things like “I see you” and helping people feel  there is a bigger community present is critical for an online space if you want people to feel connected. [48:18] Giving things away can trigger reciprocity and make people want to get more from you. [48:30] It's ok to not have discounts for people who are buying other stuff from your company. The BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group is live! Use the code LAUNCH to lock in your rate and save 60% (limit 50). 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com 73. Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis The real lesson your credit union should learn from Peloton’s ad flop (it’s not what you think) The Gift That Gives Back | Peloton Bike Commercial Peloton Investor Relations Peloton's nightmare before Christmas: $1.5 billion vanished from its market value in 3 days amid holiday ad backlash 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 84. How to Stack and Bundle Products and Services So They Are Most Appealing to Potential Customers 77. How to Raise Your Prices 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 41. Structuring Complex Choices: The “S” in NUDGES: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram  

As students of behavioral economics know even when we are aware of our biases, they still exist. Our brains and subconscious act on autopilot and incorporate biases into our decision making process without us even realizing it. If that’s the case, how can we make our decisions more rational? Improving our awareness of these biases can help us at least understand how we are being influenced. From there, we can determine opportunities to step back and take a second look at the information at hand.  Behavioral economics is a broad subject with a lot of variations of biases and principles. Fortunately, BrainyTab is a tool to help learn about and reinforce some of those biases. I’m excited to have Radu and Raluca Judele on the show today to discuss BrainyTab. Radu and Raluca wanted to create a tool to shine a light on those cognitive biases. They started researching and came up with a browser extension called MyCognitiveBias which has now evolved into BrainyTab. I couldn’t resist learning more about a tool set up to share behavioral economics with the world. That’s why Radu and Raluca are here today to introduce the extension to you and talk about why they came up with it, how it has helped them, and why it can help you. It’s free for everyone, and you can download it from their website. The tabs introduce about 530 concepts, and they are constantly adding new material including relatable, real-life examples. They also have a fun contest where users can get a chance to win $100 worth of books from Amazon.  Show Notes: [03:32] Radu was nervous to reach out to The Brainy Business (I’m so glad he did!) He and Raluca wanted to work on a project together. BrainyTab is phase 2. Phase 1 was an extension called MyCognitiveBias which was inspired by the cognitive bias codex.  [04:38] A browser extension seemed like a reasonable way to remind users of cognitive bias. [04:51] Raluca did the research. They built the extension together.  [05:11] They started thinking about things that were connected to cognitive biases that could improve decision-making. The next step was adding Mental Models. The also thought people should be more aware of Dark Patterns.  [06:21] They have received tons of positive feedback. They are focused on growth and what steps to take next. [08:01] They were hoping for 100 users for MyCognitiveBias, but ended up with 3000.  [09:04] BrainyTab teaches you a new tidbit each time you open a new browser tab, it will show a random cognitive bias, mental model, or dark pattern. If you like to reinforce one concept over and over (instead of a new one each time) that is an option as well. It also has a bookmark manager. [11:13] Melina had access to the beta version.  [12:33] Repetition and loss aversion are some of their favorite principles. We are aware of our bias, yet the reminder helps.  [14:01] BrainyTab helps bring awareness to things that exist and identify why our brains are doing something.  [17:31] Radu is a marketer, and he has worked in hospitality. As an observer of people he noticed patterns. When he started marketing, he became aware of behavioral economics.  [19:17] Raluca had a mini-stroke about 18 months ago. It was stress related and a game-changer for her. She now enjoys her research and what she is doing. In many ways, working on BrainyTab helped retrain her brain and reduce stress. [21:09] Understanding the patterns helps her control stress and emotions.  [24:42] They have around 530 concepts on their tabs. They want to make the information relatable and add real-life examples.  [27:31] We aren't as rational as we would like to be. Setting a goal ahead of time and removing emotion such as selling a stock at a certain number is a mental model.  [29:21] It's Melina's mission to help as many people as possible understand how our brains work and how that applies to our lives. BrainyTab is such an obvious connection point. Melina is excited to help build out the content and sources for BrainyTab (Radu and Raluca are not behavioral economists) to make it more robust).  [30:26] Radu and Raluca are having a contest to give free books to users.  The BE Thoughtful Revolution membership group is live, and we are digging into live weekly calls in the Brainy Mindset Course next week! Use the code LAUNCH to lock in your rate and save 60% (limit 50). 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.  Links and Resources: BrainyTab BrainyTab on Twitter Radu Judele on Twitter Episode 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Episode 61. Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else Episode 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 80. Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think Cognitive Bias Cheat Sheet The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram BE Thoughtful Revolution Membership Use code LAUNCH to save $60 a month (limit 50). The Brainy Mindset Course Use the code BRAINY50OFF to take $50 off your registration and join us to tackle mindset!

This show is all about how to stack products and services to make them the most appealing to your potential customers. Those of you who've heard me speak, have heard me talk about this before (especially in relation to The Truth About Pricing) and the concepts of anchoring, adjustment, and relativity. I share examples of how certain numbers can get stuck in our subconscious and in comparison to the real price, we feel that we are getting a bargain.  I also talk about how infomercials use several combined behavioral economics techniques in their presentations. To show how I practice what I preach, you’ll learn about the pricing strategies for the new BE Thoughtful Revolution Membership group. I also give you an actionable example of how you can increase your prices by 10% and feel great about it. As always, this episode is packed with real world information and examples that correlate with behavioral principles you can use in your life and business.   I've had listeners asking about a membership group for a while now, and the BE Thoughtful Revolution Membership Group is now open. I’m so excited about this membership and all of the benefits it has to offer.  Members get direct access to me for all of your behavioral economics questions in our dedicated Facebook Community. This is where I'll be doing live Q&As, training, and all sorts of other stuff.   You’ll also get access to The Brainy Courses. The Brainy Mindset Course and Brainy Pricing Course are $399 each. (That’s a combined value of $800.) You’ll also get exclusive content from The Brainy Business, and members get special discounts on workshops, products, and strategy sessions and will be the first to know when new stuff is coming out. The membership is $99 a month, but the first 50 people to sign up with code LAUNCH get 60% off and will only pay $39 a month. Lock in that price before it’s gone! CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD Show Notes: [05:36] Stacking and bundling products and services. Anchoring, adjustment, and relativity are the real concepts at play in this process. [06:43] Anchoring and adjustment is about our brains being swayed by numbers. [07:11] The Snickers study I share all the time is part of this concept of anchoring.  [07:28] The brain latches onto the number and will move up or down from there. [08:15] When an item is limited, people will actually buy more. This is all because of anchoring, and even unrelated numbers can have an impact on this. [09:03] If you throw in a larger number in your description, it makes the price seem smaller. [09:43] The brain kind of glosses over what it hears at any given time because there is a lot going on, but it hears a number and latches onto it for a while. [10:01] Think of these concepts in examples of infomercials. Your brain likely didn’t have any preset number for what it thought that random item was worth or what you would pay for it. [12:26] If you ever discount something, or offer a special, make sure you talk about the higher number first. [12:47] When I introduced the group, I talked about the benefits to you first, like “people have been asking for it” which is a combination of herding and priming. [13:08] I mentioned you would get access to the Brainy Mindset Course and Brainy Pricing Course, which are both $399 for a combined value of $800. [14:01] After sharing the value just in the courses being at $800, I shared the regular rate of the group, which is just 99 a month. And THEN I said that the first 50 people could use a code to claim their spot at only $39 a month. (That order was intentional, and it matters) [14:38] You need to spell it out to people in the right order - and know that saying things are “priceless” doesn’t help your anchoring case. [15:21] Instead of saying something is priceless, find a way to quantify that value. [16:09] Relativity is where the second number feels lower or higher based on how it compares relative to the first number. [17:16] The way numbers are shared via framing, relativity and anchoring make all the difference in how the customer reacts.  [17:36] When you have multiple options available and want to showcase one of them. You don't want to show the least expensive thing first and work your way up. Always start big and work your way down. [18:36] Find the best product that you want to sell and has the most value for clients. Create a high anchor to present before that. Add 10% to the amount that you're going to charge. [25:17] You could also create a totally different third product. You don't have to though. [26:29] You can use the third option when you are selling physical objects like sofas.  [28:18] This can make the best option seem like the obvious best choice. It helps customers to feel good about the investment.  [29:29] The context and relativity all matters and makes a difference. It takes a little work on the front end to make sure you are presenting the options in the right order to help the customer make their best choice. [30:38] Bundles are great tools and can be oh so useful. Often, bundles are provided with a discount and that is prônant where your mind goes first, but it isn’t required. [31:29] If you make it easy for a customer to find everything they need with one or two clicks, you can charge a premium for that.  Convenience has value. [33:47] “We offer three courses, the first one is $500 and it is on XYZ, there is also a $600 course on ABC and an $800 course on being awesome. Which would you like to start with?” In that case, you are leading them to the $500 course, because it became the anchor. [36:26] If you want the bundle to be the best choice and a clear best offer, you can have a discount included. Start by defining the main thing and build everything around making that look as good as possible. [36:55] The way you talk about it, the framing, shifts based on what you want to showcase and what most people should pick. [37:52] You can build your offering to be anything you want it to be and if you understand the value and can properly communicate it, you will find people to buy what you are selling. 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.  Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution Membership today! Use code LAUNCH to save $60 a month Links and Resources: 83. How to Organize Your Brain with Behavioral Economics BE Thoughtful Revolution Membership Use code LAUNCH to save $60 a month.  5. The Truth About Pricing 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 12. Relativity: The Brain Can’t Value One-Off Items: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 23. Reciprocity: Give A Little, Get A Lot: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 14. Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Why You Should Overestimate the True Value of Your Products Mommy Income Master Your Mindset Free Mini-Course The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram

Clutter has a negative impact on your brain. It can lead to disorganization, overwhelm, increased stress, and even health issues. That’s why organizing your brain and your surroundings is so important. This episode is about the benefits of organization in your life and how it can lead to positive outcomes such as weight loss, decreased stress, increased productivity, and clearing the way to smash through your goals. The benefits of an organized brain are really amazing, and I want to help you get there.  This episode walks through a bunch of tips and some of my favorite tools I use to keep organized. This includes a couple of great books that can help eliminate clutter from your physical and digital life, as well as the tools and systems I use to manage all existing commitments while building and scaling The Brainy Business. Tools discussed include: Focus mode on Word, Time Timer, Gmail’s Snooze feature, GANTT charts and how I use Trello to get it all done in an organized and sane way.  Before diving in, I want to tell you about a really cool article that was posted recently on Bloomberg. It’s called Top Jobs for the Next Decade Are Behavioral Scientist, Data Analyst. This is great news for the field, and I am totally not surprised as so many people have been reaching out with questions about getting degrees in behavioral economics or how they can pursue work in the field. More people are also finding the podcast and asking about working together. Look for an upcoming episode with my recommendations and resources for exploring this fascinating and growing field. If you have specific questions you would like included, hit me up on social media.  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [01:49] If you want to be featured on the show – leave a review of the podcast in the app you listen to, and I may talk about you and your business in an upcoming episode. [02:25] This episode is going to cover a lot of resources and things you can consider as you work to organize your brain. If you are already on The Brainy Business list, you get direct links to everything related to each episode…as well as access to the super secret subscriber page with all the freebies. [03:44] Bloomberg recently came out with an article called Top Jobs for the Next Decade Are Behavioral Scientist, Data Analyst. So awesome! [04:05] So many people have been reaching out and asking questions about getting degrees in behavioral economics or how to pursue work in behavioral science. [05:14] When your brain is overwhelmed…which happens a lot quicker than you would think…worse decisions are made. An example would be the chocolate cake study. [06:15] Essentially, when the brain gets overwhelmed – even by a few extra digits – it makes worse decisions. [07:20] Your conscious brain’s 40 bits are bogged down with that big number. More things that would normally be handled by the conscious brain are now in the realm of the reward seeking subconscious brain. [07:44] Clutter also increases stress, makes it harder to focus, increases the likelihood you will procrastinate, costs time and money, and can keep you stuck in the past. [09:19] We are loss averse as a species, we don’t like to get rid of things. We want them “just in case” and the brain will make reasons for why it needs that extra stuff around. [09:48] If the “things” (physical, mental, emotional, digital) surrounding you aren’t well organized and are getting out of hand it is keeping you from reaching your goals. This is why the first step in the Brainy Mindset Course is to work on clutter. [10:10] Even if you aren’t consciously paying attention to the clutter, your brain knows it is there and it creates distraction. [11:02] The reverse is that the brain loves organization. Think about when you go on vacation or are looking at awesomely organized spaces. [13:10] Americans waste 9 million hours per day collectively looking for misplaced stuff – 30 minutes per person per day on miscellaneous stuff from keys to remotes to shoes and socks. [13:34] Clutter leads to procrastination, weight gain, stress…all kinds of things keeping you from your goals. [14:31] THE LIFE CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo. When people clear up the clutter in one area of their life they make huge shifts in other areas of their life. [16:08] You go throughout your house and make a huge single pile of everything in the category. You start with clothes – everything you own in one giant pile. Does it spark joy? [19:45] INDISTRACTABLE by Nir Eyal has great tips for eliminating digital clutter. [20:43] NO MORE NOTIFICATIONS - Changing the notifications on your phone is easy and SO freeing. It only takes a few seconds and can help you take control of your life, living in an organized style on your own terms. [22:32] You can also turn off email notifications.  [25:13] The next tool I’ve learned to love is “FOCUS MODE” from Word. If you need to write a lot of content…like me…you spend a lot of time in word and it is easy to get distracted. Focus blacks out everything except the document you are working on. [26:27] Your brain is constantly pulling focus and looking at other stuff. If you remove it from your sight, you really just…stop thinking about it. [28:26] Another thing I use to keep focused and productive is the TIME TIMER.  [29:33] Let’s say I want to commit to writing, instead of saying “I am going to sit and write…no distractions this time!” I say, I am going to write for 20 minutes. And set the timer…that feels easier to focus. [32:35] The SNOOZE function for Gmail. I don’t know if other email clients have this…but if they do you should absolutely use it if you can. The Snooze function allows me to determine when I want to tackle an item, and move it so it is out of my inbox and will only come back in at the set time. [35:20] If you’ve snoozed something more than twice, ask yourself, “Why am I not doing this? Does it really matter?” [36:06] A GANTT CHART is essentially a visual tracking system that lets you sort through your tasks and see what is upcoming. A GANTT chart is helpful because it allows you to see what is coming up and where you might have overlap. [38:10] Narrowing your goals, removing the clutter around them and then aligning your to dos with something like a GANTT chart can really help you. Splitting the big goal into its smallest components is one of the most critical steps [39:10] The BE Thoughtful notebooks will really help with this when they come out soon! FILL THIS OUT to get notified first. [39:20] Trello is awesome and it has totally changed the way I approach my days, my life, my clutter and my business. Take heed: there is a LOT of effort up front effort required to set it up properly so it does everything you want it to. It's very customizable, which is great, but it could quickly become a time suck if you aren’t ready for it.  [40:44] Remembering all the junk you have to do for routine tasks is keeping you stuck. Trello can help turn that into a process that reminds you of the next step so you don’t have to. [45:45] For those of you already signed up for the Brainy Mindset Course – I’ll be walking you through my boards and can create templates and things for you that are shared. It’s so valuable. The Brainy Mindset Course is starting now. Use the code BRAINY50OFF to take $50 off your registration and join us to tackle mindset! 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.  Links and Resources: Susie Barolo on Twitter Top Jobs for Next Decade Are Behavioral Scientist, Data Analyst The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making How Clutter Can Affect Your Health 5 Reasons to Clear the Clutter Out of Your Life How Clutter Affects Your Brain (and What You Can Do About It) 7 Ways Clutter Is Ruining Your Life 9. Loss Aversion: Why Getting New Stuff Is Not The Same: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode The Brainy Mindset Course Use the code BRAINY50OFF to take $50 off your registration and join us to tackle mindset! How Much Time Do You Spend Looking For Lost Possessions? The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo Episode 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions 51 Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Time Timer Audible Countdown Timer Trello

I don’t know about you…but I am having a hard time believing that it’s 2020 already. 2019 was such an amazing year with so many milestones for The Brainy Business. This episode will be digging into the top content from 2019. Links to all of the articles and episodes are below along with a link to the post with the full list. My subscribers will receive all of these links along with over 40 freebies I’ve given away (if you want to be on the list, download any freebie -- including the Master Your Mindset mini-course -- and you’ll be automatically added).  I want to take a moment to 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. These are some of my favorite messages to get – I truly love hearing from you. I’ve received messages from all over the world, including Poland, Romania, Spain, South Africa, India, Italy, Ireland, and more.  Wherever you are, if you love the podcast and behavioral economics, please do reach out through your favorite social app to let me know who you are. I love connecting with each of you, and it really is me responding. I’ll kick off this show with sharing the top countries that have downloaded the podcast and then move on to the top shows and articles, and I might throw in a few surprises along the way.  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD Show Notes: [00:59] I talk about many milestones in this celebration episode 80. Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think. [01:39] You can also find everything here The Best of The Brainy Business: 2019. [03:58] The top countries downloading The Brainy Business begin with the US and are then followed by the UK, Canada and Australia.  [04:23] India has pushed past Germany to claim the number 5 spot. Brazil is still number 7 and Mexico retained its number 8 spot. The Netherlands has made its way into the top 10 claiming the number 9 spot, and South Africa rounds out the list.  [04:43] Ireland came in at number 11. [05:12] The top 10 states in reverse order begins with North Carolina at number 10, followed by Colorado, then Georgia, Virginia and Florida at number 6. The state with the fifth most downloads is Illinois, number 4 is New York, then Texas at number 3, Washington is number 2, and California is number 1. [07:07] The top 10 downloads were found by doing a sort of all the downloads of the podcast. [07:53] We begin the countdown with 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode. [08:05] I also call this the “I’ll start Monday” effect, because it is the concept behind all our new diets, exercise plans, failed resolutions…as well as efforts to save more money, quit smoking and generally change behavior. [09:01] Changing behavior doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it out to be, and understanding time discounting is a big way to help combat that. [09:34] Two of the top 10 were analyses of businesses, including episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis at number 9 and episode 73. Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis at number 5. [09:38] I used real world examples and talk about what top companies do in business that outline various concepts from behavioral economics and how you could use the same concepts in your own business. [10:33] Number 8 on the list was episode 59 on the Pain of Paying: Why The First Item In A Purchase Is The Hardest: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode. [10:44] This episode was part of a series that talked about partitioning as well, and how adding little barriers can impact behavior. [11:14] Getting someone to buy one thing is the hardest part, but once they have bought something it is easier to add on more items. This is why loss leaders are effective. [12:11] While we are talking about paying for things, I want to give a little shout out for The Truth About Pricing, episode 5, which was a top downloaded episode of all time, but didn’t quite make the top 10 in 2019. [13:11] The next episode is 62. Game Theory: Life And Business Are A Game…Do You Know The Rules?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode. This was a really fun episode and so important for understanding negotiations and communication with anyone you know. [13:30] The big tip I will give from this is to understand the difference between playing to win…and playing not to lose. They are not the same thing and result in vastly different outcomes. [14:18] Next, we have episode 45, which was an Overview of Personal Biases, part of the 8-part series on all the biases, and episode 50 on Selective Attention Biases made the top 10 as well, it was actually the third most downloaded episode of the year. [15:23] Next is episode 61 on Color Theory: When It Comes To Color, This 1 Thing Matters More Than Anything Else. This was a topic a lot of listeners asked for and something that comes up so much in branding and marketing discussions. Colors absolutely do matter, but it might not be in the way you think. [16:42] The number two episode of all time is Episode 2 – The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make this also has a related presentation which I gave several times in 2019. [17:05] The categories to avoid are: too literal, too much, too vague, too confusing and too boring. [18:02] Before I get to the most downloaded episode of all time and in 2019, a little shout out to episode 3, Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Which was the 6th most downloaded episode of all time, but didn’t make the 2019 list. [19:06] The most downloaded episode of 2019, and the podcast in general, is the very first one, – Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain. [20:04] In this first episode of the podcast, I talk about behavioral economics in general, a little about my background and why I started the podcast, and how the brain works. [23:07] I want to give a little shout out for the content I created for CUinsight for all the credit union folks listening. My article 1 Word That Increased Sales by 38 Percent made their top 10 list for 2019 - woohoo!  [23:54] I wrote 27 articles for Inc last year, and expect to create a bunch more in 2020! [24:37] Number 11 on the most read articles on Inc is about counterfactual and prefactual thinking and How to Break the Negative Cycle of ‘What If’ Thinking. [24:53] I share a simple tip of incorporating the language of “next time, I’ll” into your life. [25:04] The importance of word choice also came up in the number 10 article, Why Rami Malek’s Choice of Self-Talk May Have Led to His Academy Award. [25:38] The next article is 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions, which is based on insights from Nir Eyal’s book Indistractable. [26:32] The next article is Here’s How to Send a LinkedIn Connection Request to Someone You Haven’t Met Before Without Sounding Like Spam. It has some easy tips using their own algorithms to help you reach out in a way that makes people want to engage. [26:53]  The last release of the year has had a lot of traction already. These 5 Simple Concepts of Behavioral Economics Can Drastically Improve Your Marketing Efforts. This article is a summary of the top recommendations I give to my clients on how to include behavioral economics in their businesses. [27:28] Next, is called These Small Tweaks to Your Daily Routine Will Eliminate Unnecessary Mistakes and I was inspired to write it while I was traveling in London working with a client. [29:00] Number 5 is The Font Size on Your Price Tags Could Be Reducing Your Sales by 28 Percent. Here’s How to Fix It. The tips apply beyond physical price tags and are important for showcasing prices in any format (website, brochure, etc). [29:45] Effortlessly Increase Creative Ideas With These 4 Simple Brain Hacks is about priming and associations in the brain. [30:24] The third most read article is another new post from late December, called, Why You Should Ditch Your Flimsy, Paper Business Cards Right Now – this also gets into priming and brain associations, and is essentially outlining how the senses impact the way people think about your brand. [33:05] The second most read article on Inc is the first one I wrote for them! It’s called, 1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever This is very much in the mindset genre, and something I will work on with you in the Mindset Course. [35:52] The top content of 2019 with the most read article I wrote for Inc, which is called, A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales. [36:11] This article is about framing, and breaking free of the way we have always done things. [37:12] Asking a slightly different question can move the interaction in a much different direction. The Brainy Mindset Course starts soon! Use the code BRAINY50OFF to take $50 off your registration and join us to tackle mindset! 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 80. Celebrate! It’s More Important Than You Think The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Social Bee Podcast Episode 96 – the Psychology of Why People Buy – With Melina Palmer. Business Bros – Episode 167 – Melina Palmer (The Brainy Business) The Best of The Brainy Business: 2019 The Brainy Business In The News Episode 81. How to Finally Change Your Behavior (So it Sticks) Episode  14. Scarcity: Why We Think Less Available Means More Value: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode The Brainy Courses Episode 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode The Brainy Business Podcast Episodes Episode 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 71. Prefactual Thinking: How to Turn “What If” Into “Why Not” – Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal Episode 18. Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode The Brainy Mindset Course Use the code BRAINY50OFF to take $50 off your registration and join us to tackle mindset!

In honor of the new year, today’s episode is about how to make behavioral change that sticks. Welcome to 2020 everyone! 2019 was an amazing year here at The Brainy Business, with 52 episodes released, more than 100,000 downloads in 150 countries, a brand new column on Inc.com (which already has 27 articles posted), a white paper on savings behaviors, two courses launched, and lots of engagement with all of you on social media. Next week, I’ll dig into all of my top content from 2019. Today, is all about behavior change and narrowing your focus, so you can accomplish what matters most. If you are trying to do too many things at once, you will stay stuck. And, your brain actually wants that. I also talk about the Moment In Time or the Fresh Start Effect (like beginning your new goal or exercise program at the beginning of the year). I also talk about Temptation Bundling, which is combining something you should do (but often neglect) with something you really want to do) to help motivate you. This episode will help you name and claim your goal whether you are using fresh starts or temptation bundling (or ideally both!) to get going. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD Show Notes: [06:45] The first thing to do, and something I have been preaching to you for months, is to narrow your focus. [07:09] The brain can’t handle too many priorities. If you are trying to do too many things at once, you will stay stuck. [07:19] The human brain likes predictability, it builds your world based on what has happened in the past and it likes to know where its next reward is coming from. [07:51] If you don’t take the time to prioritize what really matters, your brain can keep hiding and keeping you stuck. [08:24] Would you rather look back 10 years from now and say, “I made a little bit of progress on a lot of things…but never really completed what I wanted to” or “I completed one thing at a time and built on each success”? [09:23]  Now that you understand the importance of limiting your priorities and goals to no more than three, we can talk about how you can set yourself up for the most success for actually achieving what you have set as your priorities. [09:46] There are many ways to tackle goals, and I'm going to share two of my favorites in this episode. [10:54] You can and should throw everything you can at your goals including the tactics of "moments in time" and "temptation bundling." [11:15] The "moment in time" is also known as the first start effect. This is exactly what you get at the beginning of the year (or decade in this case). [11:36] We humans are wired to look at new moments in time as a fresh start. This is a form of mental accounting. These time breaks allow you to look at yourself fresh. [12:27] We also create a new and distinct version of ourselves along with these fresh starts. [15:04] One thing that the fresh start does is it prompts you to stop and, essentially, look up.  [15:39] Fresh starts are the opportunity to stop and look around to reevaluate what you’ve been doing and decide if it's time for a change. [16:11] Anything and every day can be a fresh start. [19:00] Any moment is an opportunity to be better than you were the moment before – an opportunity to reinforce those three goals you are focused on. [21:51] Having an opportunity to step out of the everyday work and realign your priorities and make sure that you are still on track is a benefit to every business and individual. [22:33] This practice can help you to reinvigorate your dedication to your life and commitments, to see what is working and what needs to change. It keeps you tuned in with yourself and your goals. [22:45] Schedule quarterly appointments with yourself. [23:22] If you are someone who sells products or services that align with being better or positive change…you should know when people are most likely to be looking for you and your offerings. [23:40] At your office, align talking about change at times when people are already aligned for change like a holiday or New Year. [24:37] While milestone dates can be beneficial for forming new habits…they also are a key point where you might BREAK habits – for better or worse. [25:14] You can control this. Awareness is key. [26:11] I've talked about bundling tasks and habit stacking in the goals episode. [26:39] Temptation bundling is another way to motivate yourself to have positive behavioral change. You can combine doing something you really want to do with something that you know you should do. [27:19] The only time you get to do the reward is when you are doing the thing that you should do. [29:33] Two thirds of people would prefer to have their possessions locked up to keep them on track. Committing your goal to someone else means you are much more likely to keep it.  [31:09] The thing for you to do is think about what you wish you could do – or something where you tend to get distracted from your goals…and combine it so you can ONLY do it when it is helping you achieve your goal. [32:19] Combining the knowledge of these two methods: temptation bundling and fresh starts, are a great recipe for achieving those goals and resolutions in 2020 and throughout the whole new decade. 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.  Links and Resources: Master Your Mindset FREE mini-course The Brainy Mindset Course The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram Articles by Melina Palmer on Inc. The Brainy Business In The News The Brainy Business Courses The Best of The Brainy Business: 2019 Episode 50. Selective Attention Biases Episode 51. Time Discounting: The I’ll Start Monday Effect – My Favorite Concept!: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 73. Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis 1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales Why You Should Ditch Your Flimsy, Paper Business Cards Right Now Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Episode 70. How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals Episode 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated Katherine L. Milkman Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Creating Enduring Behavior Change The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior Episode 56. Mental Accounting: How To Make Your Money Math Work For You: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 34. Optimism Bias: The Good And The Bad Of Those Rose-Colored Glasses: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode 376: CEO Day – Vision Casting 377: CEO Day – Strategic Planning Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling

Merry and happy holidays to you all – whatever you celebrate or don’t, wherever you are in the world…I hope you are surrounded by joy, friends, family and everything else good as we close out 2019. Can you believe it’s almost the end of another year? We’ve hit a milestone here on the podcast with 80 completed episodes. So much to celebrate – and as you’ll learn today, it's very important to celebrate…everything. Yes, everything. Big, small, momentus or seemingly mundane…celebration is great for our brains! This is based on a lot of the foundations I shared with you in The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude.  Being grateful breeds happiness. It also makes people more creative and even sleep better. Being grateful makes the people around you happier, you perform better in life and work, and have better memory retention and better relationships. It’s an all around great thing. Celebrating is very similar to that. Celebrating allows you to slow down – be thoughtful – and reflect on the great things you have done. On the achievement in front of you.  Many of us achievers who want to achieve big things in this world, and I’m guessing that’s you if you have chosen to listen to this podcast, we tend to keep our eyes on the prize. We haven’t “made it” yet, and so every milestone along the way is just a check mark on the road to greatness. But it needs to be more than that. We need to celebrate the big and small accomplishments and the things that we are so very grateful for. In this episode, I kick things off by sharing some of the Brainy things that I am grateful for and celebrating.  Show Notes: [04:07] Our brains choose to do what has felt good in the past. Our experiences are shaped by our actions…not the other way around. [04:31] When we celebrate and mark things in our memory as achievements that make us feel good our brain will look for more of those achievements to boost ourselves up and create a more positive outlook on life. [04:42] “Celebrations are the punctuation marks that make sense of the passage of time; without them, there are no beginnings and no endings. Life becomes an endless series of Wednesdays.” David Campbell [05:24] I love celebrating and have always been able to find the silver linings as a default. [05:58] If you have employees, celebrate them at their annual review. I encourage my employees to keep track of wins when they came in. This makes a huge list of accomplishments to begin the annual review. [07:19] The BE Thoughtful Notebook is coming out in 2020! Want one? Get on the waitlist.  [08:03] This was an amazing year with a lot of great things to celebrate. [08:19] Highlights include: The Brainy Business blew past 100,000 downloads with listeners in over 150 countries. I launched two courses that both made money on their first time out, and we already have people signing up for the 2020 courses.  [09:44] I was offered and started a column with Inc.com; went to visit Texas A&M and started doing research with them (so cool), I spoke to audiences around the country and led workshops abroad. I completed my masters in behavioral economics with a published white paper through the Filene Research Institute and walked at a graduation ceremony. I got to go back to Rome and show my husband where I used to live and we wrapped up our visits to all 50 states. There were amazing partnerships and connections and possible working relationships slated for 2020...so many cool projects underway! [10:11] All this amidst a much more balanced family life and bringing some exercise back into the mix, running a 5k in New York with my husband on Thanksgiving, and seeing the Macy’s parade in person! [10:38] What can you celebrate from 2019? Celebrate those little wins too. It's not all about the big stuff. Share with me on social media. [12:08] My dad is a captain for American Airlines. He has flown there for nearly 35 years. His last flight will be on December 19th, and I'll be on it. [13:43] Dad, I don’t know if you will hear this – I guess this is a test of who really listens to the podcast – ha! – but I am so proud of you and honored to be able to celebrate with you. Congratulations. [14:02] I want to wrap up the year and this mini episode (80 episodes of The Brainy Business podcast!) by saying, thank you to you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for making this year amazing. 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.  Links and Resources: The BIG Brainy Bundle ending SOON! Use the code BRAINY100OFF by December 31st to get all three pieces (a $1200 value) for just $599. I can’t wait to have you join us in 2020. Master Your Mindset FREE mini-course Episode 76. The Brainy Benefits of Gratitude Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Why You Should Celebrate Everything Throw a Party! Why It’s So Important to Celebrate 3 Reasons Celebrating Your Many Accomplishments Is Critical to Your Success 3 Reasons Why It’s Important to Celebrate Yourself Every Day Episode 79. Why Our Brains Love Nostalgia & Traditions (And How To Incorporate Them Into Your Business Strategy) Episode 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal BE Thoughtful Notebook The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram

Holidays are a time filled with traditions and reflecting upon the past, remembering the good ol’ days or reliving your childhood…while creating new memories with (and for) those around you. This episode is all about nostalgia and traditions, and it fits in perfectly with the holiday theme. As we dive into the topic of nostalgia, I’ll explain nostalgia’s Swiss origins in the 1680s and the root of the concept. I talk about how it’s not negative or pain inducing, but it can be triggered by a sad or tragic event.  There are a lot of benefits of nostalgia and thinking about the good ol’ days. It can help increase self-esteem, feelings of belonging, growth on a psychological level, and even make people act more charitably. It can also be a powerful technique for marketing and advertising.  People are most likely to become nostalgic at major transitions in life. This is why a midlife crisis is a time where people buy the car they always wanted when they were in high school, or go back to visit their childhood home. Marketing or advertising for these sorts of things at the right time can trigger nostalgia and action in a buyer of a certain age. I’ll be talking about all that and why our brains love nostalgia and tradition while also giving a few tips about how to use this in your business – whether it’s at the holidays or any other time of year. Show Notes: [02:22] The concept of nostalgia was first introduced in the 1680s. Being far from home caused Swiss soldiers to have all kinds of symptoms. [02:40] The root is from the concepts of “return home” and “pain.” [02:55] Everyone can feel nostalgia, and it's not negative in and of itself. [03:11] A sad event may cause us to think about the good old days. There are actually many benefits of nostalgia. It can help increase self-esteem, and feelings of belonging, and encourage psychological growth. It even helps us to remember that our lives can have meaning and value. [03:44] It's also a powerful technique for advertising and marketing. [04:00] Our bodies are made up of constantly changing atoms. Our makeups change every five years.  [05:23] Sometimes what feels like a tradition is actually an assumption from the observer. [05:49] Ask a question. If you've always done something a certain way ask why. (Even if it doesn’t appear broken...ask.) [06:09] Nostalgia helps us remember our lives have meaning and value. Most of our best memories are from the ages of 10 to 30. This span is called the reminiscence bump. [06:26] This period of time is important, because it's heavily linked to the time that we form a sense of ourselves. [08:45] Children are quite sensitive to effort, and with good reason. Actions speak louder than words. [09:17] Children can differentiate between fantasy and history, evaluate the strength of evidence and prefer claims with scientific framing. Children in many cultures are less likely than adults to appeal to supernatural explanations for unlikely events. [10:09] Feelings of nostalgia are most likely to come up whenever you feel sad or lonely. Nostalgia – remembering important people in your life or key moments – can help you to feel better about yourself. [10:51] People are also most likely to become nostalgic at major transitions in life. This is why a midlife crisis is a time where people buy the car they always wanted when they were in high school, or go back to visit their childhood home. Marketing or advertising for these sorts of things at the right time can trigger nostalgia and action in a buyer of a certain age. [11:16] Finding a trigger that can make someone feel nostalgic can make them feel better and more endeared toward your product. Incorporating all of the senses is also important. [13:03] Studies have shown nostalgia physically warms you up! [13:21] Our brains are also wired to make memories much better than they actually were. Our nostalgic brains build memories up to be better than anything that could possibly be. [14:33] Our brains are nostalgic and brands can and should use this in advertising and marketing when it makes sense to do so. The right memories need to be chosen and triggered properly. Get as close as possible to the context and emotion. [16:32] When you feel nostalgic, ask why that experience meant so much to you. [17:03] The brain does things based on what has felt good in the past. [17:44] There are four key elements of a traditional ritual. This includes 1) a strictly defined time and place, 2) a set of features that are repeated year after year, 3) another set of features that are different from year to year, 4) and a lot of symbols. [18:42] It's psychologically important for the event to contain a lot of sensory information. [19:53] Having enjoyed a happy set of childhood traditions makes parents more likely to give you support and enact effective rituals for their children. It has actually been shown to create more mentally strong kids. [20:34] Traditions have been passed down through story or ritual in cultures all around the world for a reason. They teach us morals and what is important. [22:24] Brands like Macy's have holiday traditions, and there are even traditions in the brand of food we buy. [25:22] I have loved learning about some of your traditions over the last couple of weeks – and not surprisingly, this is something people love to share about because…we love our traditions! [26:08] What is your favorite holiday tradition and why is it important to you? Will you tell me about it on social media? [26:28] For your business, it is a good time to ask, is there something you can do to be part of a tradition at the holidays or any other time of year? How can you be part of a ritual?   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.  Links and Resources: The BIG Brainy Bundle ending SOON! Use the code BRAINY100OFF by December 31st to get all three pieces (a $1200 value) for just $599. I can’t wait to have you join us in 2020. Master Your Mindset FREE mini-course Why Do We Feel Nostalgia? - Clay Routledge Why Do We Feel Nostalgia? Why Children Really Believe in Santa – the Surprising Psychology Behind Tradition Why Do We Experience Nostalgia? Episode 24. Vision Does Not Happen In The Eyes, But In The Brain – On The Sense of Sight: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 25. Why Burnt Popcorn Has Derailed So Many Meetings – On The Sense Of Smell: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 26. Why You Actually Taste With Your Nose – On The Sense Of Taste: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 27. Did You Hear That? – On The Sense of Hearing: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 28. Why Picking Something Up Makes People More Likely To Buy – On The Sense Of Touch: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Why Do I Get Nostalgic? That bittersweet longing for the past can have an important impact on the present. Advertising to Bilinguals: Does the Language of Advertising Influence the Nature of Thoughts? Episode 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Episode 78. How to Become Indistractible, Interview With Author Nir Eyal Why We Love Traditions, According To Science Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 73. Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram

I am so beyond excited to introduce you to Nir Eyal, author of the fantastic new book Indistractable, which I have mentioned a couple times on the podcast already because..well...I haven’t been able to contain myself! I also wrote about some of my learnings from his book in an article from my Inc. column. Nir is awesome, and he was so engaging to talk to. His writing has been featured in Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, Time and The Huffington Post to name a few. You may have heard of his first book, Hooked, which became an international phenomenon, loved by everyone from Silicon Valley and beyond. He’s taught at Stanford and sold a couple tech companies…I could list the accolades for ages, but I think you get the idea. Nir is awesome and I can’t wait for you to meet him as we talk about brains, goals and being Indistractable. So without further ado, Nir, welcome to The Brainy Business podcast! CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [03:10] Nir calls himself a behavioral designer. He uses consumer psychology and behavioral economics to change customer behavior through the technology that we use. As well as helping people shape their own behavior by understanding their cognitive characteristics. [03:41] His first book Hooked was all about how to build habit-forming products and create habits. Indistractable is about how to break habits and how to make sure we can get the best out of these technologies without letting them get the best of us.  [04:24] Nir writes because he wants to know the answer. With Hooked, he wanted to uncover the techniques that tech companies use to make their product so habit forming. He wanted to allow other industries to use these techniques to help form healthy habits.  [05:40] He wrote Indistractable, because the products can be so well made it's hard to stop ourselves from using them. That was the situation he was in.  [06:40] He was using an activity book with his daughter. There was a super power question, and he missed his daughter's answer, because he was looking at his phone. She actually left and went outside to play.  [07:41] He decided to read everything that was written about this problem. The answer in all the books was to get rid of the tech. So he did. And...he discovered that he still got distracted.  [08:35] This is when he realized the problem was much deeper than the technology. The technology was a proximal cause or symptom of a larger dysfunction. [09:48] He decided to find an answer that actually worked. We can find ways to get the best of these tech tools without letting them get the best of us. [11:07] The opposite of distraction is traction. [12:53] The best place to understand distraction is to learn its opposite. Traction is an action that pulls you towards what you want to do. A distraction pulls you away from what you want to do. [15:03] Tech tools aren't bad if you use them on your schedule. We can turn anything into traction as long as we make time for it. [16:42] Nir wanted to get down to the root cause of identifying distraction and knowing what to do about it. [17:11] Find out what prompts towards traction or distraction. What are the triggers?  [18:14] Our most common triggers start from within. The real disease is that we are uncomfortable with our emotions, so we let ourselves be distracted. [19:23] Why do we do what we do? Our brain gets us to act by spurring discomfort.  [20:25] Motivation is spurred by a desire to avoid discomfort. [21:11] We use distraction as psychological pacification. Time management is pain management unless we learn tactics to cope with discomfort. The first step is to master these internal triggers. [22:50] People can become addicted to anything from exercise to news. It's not about the behavior. It's about what we are escaping from.  [27:46] We were not designed by evolution to be happy all the time. Constantly striving and craving is what helped our species to progress. [28:21] We need to channel our uncomfortable sensations towards traction (not distraction). [29:50] Step two to becoming indistractable consists of three steps reimagine the task, reimagine the trigger, and reimagine our temperament. [36:23] Our brain craves simple answers which always get us into trouble. That's what's happening with the boogey man of distraction.  [39:04] Gum sales have gone down since the iPhone has come out. We don't need gum to distract ourselves. [40:01] If it's something you are serving instead of it serving you...it's time to disconnect.  [41:06] Step number three is to hack back the external triggers. Turn off phone notifications. Hack back the open floor plan office.  [42:31] Every copy of Nir's book comes with a sign you can put on your monitor that says that you are currently indistractable.  [44:09] Nir's wife wears a concentration crown to let her daughter know that she is working.  [44:48] The fourth step is to prevent distraction with pacts or commitments to stay on track.  [46:05] Find one thing that you can do to start the journey to become Indistractable. [48:00] The antidote to impulsiveness is forethought.  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.  Links and Resources: The BIG Brainy Bundle pick the Big Brainy Bundle and use the code BRAINY100OFF by December 31st to get all three pieces (a $1200 value) for just $599. I can’t wait to have you join us in 2020. Master Your Mindset FREE mini-course Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions How This Year's Nobel Prize Winning Research in Economics Can Help Your Business Episode 15: Availability: Why People Are More Likely To Get Flood Insurance Right After a Flood: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 21. Habits: 95% Of Decisions Are Habitual – Which Side Is Your Business On?: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 22. The Power of Habit Episode 70. How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals Episode 13. Adjusting Your Mindset: Tips To Overcome Imposter Syndrome And More: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Episode 27. Did You Hear That? – On The Sense of Hearing: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Nir & Far Indistractable Nir Eyal on Twitter

“How do I raise my prices?” is a question I hear all the time. You all know that pricing is my jam. In fact, I’ve even created a Brainy Pricing Course that has a module on raising prices. In a recent questionstorming session with my current Brainy Mindset Course group, they asked to focus on getting past mindset blocks about raising prices. That is one of many reasons this episode seemed particularly fitting right now. It is all about raising your prices and learning to get past your own mindset blocks that have always tripped you up in the past (so you can move past them next time).  If you are wondering if you can raise your prices...the answer is probably yes. As I’ve said many times, it’s not really about the price. It’s about what comes before the price and the framing of that price. I’ll get into the importance of understanding your why and the context of the price too. I talk about scarcity and how it can actually validate a higher price. I talk about why it’s okay if raising your prices is scary. It is for everyone. It’s how you raise the price and why that matters. I also share a secret tip to convey your price to your clients with confidence just like you were telling them the time or the weather.  This episode should help give you the tools and encouragement to confidently make a pricing strategy plan. If you do want more pricing help, I have an awesome year end special where you can get the Briany Pricing Course plus the Virtual Workshop Bundle, and you get the Brainy Mindset Course completely free! The BIG BRAINY BUNDLE is a $1200 value for $699, and if you use the code BRAINY100OFF you can get the whole thing for just $599, or 50% off – but that deal is only through December 31 so don’t wait. Show Notes: [04:13] If you wonder if you could or can increase your prices or raise your rates…the answer is probably yes. [04:28] Pricing isn't about the price. It's about everything that comes before. If you can't raise your rates the block is often internal. [05:28] When you are working in massive volumes, small changes that are not going to be noticed much by consumers can have a huge impact on the bottom line. [05:53] Another way to look at profitability and prices is to understand what your costs are and how it all ties into the baseline question of why you want to increase the price. [06:48] Before you go through the process of raising your prices, it's important to know that you definitely could do it. [07:09] The next phase is: should you raise your prices and discovering what you are trying to accomplish. [07:18] The reason you want to raise the price is important to understand as you tackle the fears you have about raising prices. [07:36] Someone in the service industry may want to raise their prices because they're too busy. The brain will try to scare you and ask “what if I lose clients?” The answer is, it's okay to lose people because you're trying to reduce your workload. [08:28] The increase in revenue should make up for the people who leave. [08:58] Scarcity helps validate a higher price, so don't always be available. [09:08] Another reason to raise your prices is if you're not making enough profit. You need to sit down and understand your whole strategy behind pricing before you make the adjustment. [10:15] When raising your prices, know that nothing is for everyone and it's okay not to be a fit for someone anymore. [10:52] Don't tell them they can't afford you. It's their job to decide they don't want to work with you anymore. [11:10] People get more value from things that they pay more for. [11:48] Think about jeans and framing. We believe are expensive jeans are better than our cheap jeans. [12:27] Once you know you want to raise your prices and why, don't over explain and draw attention to the fact that you are doing so. [14:21] Apologies aren't necessary when raising your prices. Most people will pay the price, and some people will move on. [16:52] Some of my favorite questions to ask clients: What would happen if you charged 10 times more? What would make people happy to pay 10 times more? [18:18] If your campaign is all about price people will notice. [19:14] You can also charge new clients the new rate and phase in the new pricing for existing clients. [21:02] This can also be a chance to let a few problem clients go. Think through what you will do when people ask for discounts or threaten to leave.  [22:33] Look at the competition and understand what others charge, but don't let it dominate your space. [23:10] Have a plan and understand some people won't want to pay your new rates. That's okay. They're not your people anymore. [26:00] You need to understand what is on the shelf next to your product. Consider the context of the price and what people will compare it to.  [27:08] Consider search terms your ideal client will use, where your more expensive item can be showcased as the best choice.  [28:32] High anchors can make something look more affordable. [29:01] Everyone hates raising prices. It's scary. Something as simple as how you present your price on a sticker can impact the sales. [30:19] Just because raising your price is scary that doesn't mean that it's wrong. [31:07] It isn’t about you – it is about the customer and what value you provide for them, which is done through proper strategy and framing as you set and raise prices. [31:31] You need to say this new price so many times that your brain automatically thinks of the new price as the right number and you can say it as if you are saying the weather or time of day. [32:31] Confidence is the number one important thing when talking about pricing. Use a confident and friendly tone and ask for the sale every time. [34:22] If you want to raise your prices, you absolutely can. You always can, and it is best to have a plan to make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and you know how you will react if you do get questions or pushback. 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.  Links and Resources: The BIG Brainy Bundle use the code BRAINY100OFF by December 31st to get all three pieces for just $599 (50% off!) I can’t wait to have you join us in 2020. Master Your Mindset FREE mini-course Episode 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Episode 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco The $40,000 Olive: How Entrepreneurs Can Spend Time Saving Money Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com Episode 16. Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11. Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Choosing a Pricing Strategy for Your Small Business Is Daunting. Here's How to Choose the Right One The Font Size on Your Price Tags Could Be Reducing Your Sales by 28 Percent. Here's How to Fix It Episode 19. Herding: Come On And Listen…Everyone Else Is Doing It: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 31. Mirror Neurons: A Fascinating Discovery From A Monkey, A Hot Day, And An Ice Cream Cone: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode

Happy Thanksgiving! This episode is coming out the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday – a day of crazy deals and holiday shopping (which I have written a few articles about recently on my Inc column) including, Why Black Friday Is the Perfect Holiday Sale According to Neuroscience, Why Year End Is Actually a Bad Time to Send Gifts to Clients, and Why Offering a Deal at the Holidays Isn’t Right for Every Business and Should Always Be Done Thoughtfully. I’ve also been thoughtful about a year-end deal from The Brainy Business - and we’re having one! In honor of this episode, it will be called the Gratitude Discount (details below). Last year at this time, episode 23 was all about reciprocity and the benefits that come from giving gifts. While today’s episode is about gratefulness, there is a reason I brought up last year’s reciprocity episode to kick us off today. 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, giving things away, can help you to feel happier. And, as you learned in that episode on reciprocity, people want to give something in return; they can feel good from receiving AND from giving. It creates a nice virtuous cycle that I like to extend beyond the holiday season…though this is the perfect time of year to talk about this sort of thing. Reciprocity is the act of helping someone else to be a little happier. Giving away things, even in business, needs to be genuinely about that thing and not what you will get back. This episode explores how our brain filters for gratitude and how those principles can be applied in life and business.  Show Notes: [02:07] Check out episode 23 on reciprocity (fab favorite!).  [03:25] Gratefulness and giving can help us feel happier. [04:17] Giving away things, even in business, needs to be genuinely about that thing and not what you will get back. [05:13] Dan Gilbert shares what really makes us happy in his TED Talk. He found our brains systematically misjudge what will make us happy.  [06:29] Studies found that a year after winning the lottery or becoming a paraplegic people had the same happiness levels.  [07:11] People don't know what will make them happy. One of the most important things the human brain does is allow us to synthesize the future. [07:55] Natural happiness is a product of getting what you want. Synthetic happiness is what we get when we DON’T get what we wanted. [08:35] 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). [08:57] We really and truly do create our own reality, and understanding how your brain looks at these situations can help you to be happier through a filter of gratitude. [10:30] Our brains reinforce our decisions.  [11:27] You can be grateful and appreciate things and have them make you happier even if you don’t remember going through the process before. [11:55] There is such a thing as too much choice. “Freedom to choose is the opposite of happiness.”  [14:31] 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. [14:59] Lots of choice and opportunity to ruminate are a recipe for unhappiness. [15:16] Gratefulness comes before happiness. Gratitude is tied to happiness and helps people feel more positive emotions. [16:42] The benefits of gratitude filtering can impact all areas of life in a positive way. [17:34] When you are “filtering for gratitude” as I call it, you are resetting the way your subconscious is looking at the world around you – encouraging it to find good things happening so you will have something to write about at the end of the day or week. [18:08] Students who hand wrote a letter of gratitude had a huge boost in their happiness. [19:27] Our brains pay attention to what we write down, and it allows us to slow down and be thoughtful. [20:26] The BE Thoughtful Notebook will be released in early 2020. Get on the list! [21:01] Gratitude can also improve relationships. Sharing the good makes it easier to share the bad.  [22:11] Do you want to be happier? Do you want to sleep better and be more creative? Do you want to make those around you happier, and increase performance on the job and off? Do you want better relationships and memory retention? [22:27] Then it's time to filter for gratitude and start writing down what you are grateful for. [22:49] The year end deal! Claim your spot and get discount pricing before it goes up at the end of the year!  [26:09] If you get the pricing course and workshop bundle before the end of the year, which is only $699…you get the Brainy Mindset Course FREE! Use code BRAINY100OFF to get it for $599! 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.  Links and Resources: Here's Why Black Friday Is the Perfect Sale, According to Neuroscience Holidays Can Be the Worst Time to Send Client Gifts, According to Research. Here's What to Do Instead Does Your Business Need to Offer Holiday Deals? Contrary to Popular Belief, Maybe Not Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Daniel Gilbert The Surprising Science of Happiness Dan Gilbert TED2004 Stumbling on Happiness Episode 75. The Littery – Interview with CEO Michael Manniche Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion What Does It Take To Be Grateful? In Praise of Gratitude 5 Reasons Writing by Hand Is Good for the Brain and for Well-Being 4 Benefits of Writing By Hand for National Handwriting Day Three Ways That Handwriting With A Pen Positively Affects Your Brain 9 Incredible Ways Writing By Hand Benefits Our Bodies And Brains How Arianna Huffington, Tony Robbins and Oprah Winfrey Use Gratitude as a Strategy for Success Successful People Do This at the Beginning of the Day—Do You? BE Thoughtful Notebook Gratitude Discount Claim your spot and get discount pricing before it goes up at the end of the year! Get the pricing course and workshop bundle before the end of the year for $699 and get the Brainy Mindset Course FREE! Use code BRAINY100OFF to get an additional $100 off and get it all for $599!

Litter is found just about everywhere you find people. Discarded wrappers and dropped pieces of paper aren’t meant to be cluttering up our parks, running trails, and sidewalks. Yet, litter is everywhere. It’s a problem that hasn’t been solved. Today’s guest is someone who looked at this problem and used intuition and research to create a solution.  I am so excited to have Michael Manniche, CEO and founder of The Littery as my guest. When I learned about The Littery in a post on LinkedIn, I knew instantly it was a perfect example of behavioral economics being used to create a business to help the planet and people from all countries living on it by turning litter…into lottery tickets. In today’s interview, Michael shares how he first invented the name (it contains the problem and the solution). Michael has always felt that litter is totally unnecessary. He also understood that litter was a behavioral problem. The solution would need to be something strong enough to change that behavior. He then shares his research and how he has built a business model that pays people prize money to stop littering. This is a great example of how behavioral economics can be used in business and in making the world better.  Show Notes: [03:27] The problem and the solution are in name The Littery. (“litter” + “lottery”) [04:07] Michael has always felt that litter is totally unnecessary. [04:52] He wanted to find a motivation strong enough to change the bad behavior of littering.  [05:48] Lotteries have been around for over four thousand years and all over the world.  [07:44] Michael had a theory that a lottery incentive could stop littering. He did a test in his home country of Sweden and the results were better than he expected.  [09:14] It's actually incredibly easy to change behavior with the right driver or motivation.  [11:31] To test the concept, Michael went to a movie theater. They had students measure litter on the floor, in bins, and for correct sorting.  [14:07] Patrons were offered an opportunity to win €5000 or free movie tickets if they put their trash in the correct place.  [15:41] After one month, across four locations, the litter in the bin was now 100% and correctly sorted!  [19:35] The success of the test encouraged Michael to leave his job, get investors, and start his company. [20:29] You put an app on your phone. When you open a smart bin and throw something in, you get a digital lottery ticket sent to your phone.  [21:38] It's also a goal to sort recyclables correctly. There is a camera in the bin that checks the sorting process. You don't get a ticket if things aren't sorted correctly.  [23:33] The AI and image recognition was more difficult than Michael thought it would be. The lighting and things have to be exactly the same as it would look inside of a bin.  [30:02] He incorporated in Latvia (and moved to Sweden to support his dream), because he had Latvian investors.  [31:02] The next phase will be piloted in the Paris area. In the future they will use the city litter contract money to purchase the bins and pay the lottery prize money.  [32:47] The business model depends on procured contracts. Having a new solution is a challenge for procurement. This stage they are also raising funds to help finance the pilot programs.  [34:52] Some partners include a large waste management company and Coca-Cola.  [35:33] 10% of earnings will go to charity. Winners can also donate to their charity of choice.  [41:01] Optimism bias and framing comes into play when you think about how picking up trash can give you a chance to win a lottery.  [42:14] Now, when Michael looks at a cigarette butt on the ground, he sees a lottery ticket. Hopefully everyone will have that same opinion soon. [44:31] Humans want to behave as the norm. We are also prone to enjoy competition. Michael has incorporated many of these things into the app.  [46:35] If anybody wants to invest reach out to Michael.  [49:02] Michael is learning that behavioral science is super intriguing.  [50:35] Using incentives to influence the larger group is the plan.  [51:41] “When litter hits the bins everybody wins.” 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.  Links and Resources: The Littery Behavioral Economics Group Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Episode 39. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The E in NUDGES – Expect Error Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion

It’s that time of year when everything starts to speed up. We all have so much to do for our businesses and personal lives...how can we get it all done? This is the perfect time to talk about your brain on time pressure as we head into Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and limited time offers at every turn.  You may be considering if you should do a year end sale or offer in your business, or maybe you love taking advantage of the deals—or want to know why you can’t stop yourself from a deal sometime. Whatever the background, we all can learn about our brains on time pressure. And it isn’t just buying decisions that are impacted by this, which I will get into during the episode. You also have other impacts within your work and personal life where your precious commodity of time is limited and impacting your performance.  Think about it. If you had all the time in the world to make a decision…what would you do? How would you go about it? I discuss time pressure and how it impacts you as a consumer. Then I will discuss some ways to think about using time pressure in your promotions and offerings, and finally, some ways to think about how it impacts your actions in life and business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [03:46] If you had all the time in the world to make a decision, what would you do? [03:59] You would ideally be able to evaluate every important feature and aspect against each other, and devise a system for ranking values. [04:39] Trying to consider every facet and every decision means you never actually make a decision. [05:01] We need to structure our decisions properly and only consider what matters. The subconscious brain has to make a lot of those decisions because the conscious is too slow. [05:47] The subconscious is heavily influenced by rules and concepts of personal biases and that doesn't always lead to the best results in life and business. [06:03] Limited quantities, opportunities and time are all closely tied to value in the brain. [06:44] When there is plenty of time available, we might be calmer and the conscious has some time to think and process. But time pressure? Move over conscious! You’re too slow and I got this down. [07:06] Studies have found people are less creative when they are under time constraints. They also defer making choices at all and if forced to make a choice, it's not the best one.  [07:25] Time pressure is a form of stress. [08:24] How time pressure affects you as a consumer. People buy more during the holidays. [09:34] When the brain is overwhelmed, the subconscious takes over and that can negatively impact your decisions. [09:48] Studies show that the things the brain focuses on when making decisions shift and can actually reverse when time pressure is applied. [10:03] When there is plenty of time available, people become risk-averse. When pressure is applied, we become loss averse and FOMO takes over. [10:17] Time pressure can encourage people to buy an extra item or get something “just in case” especially when paired with a discount or benefit of some kind. [10:42] Have a plan and a list if you have regrets about overspending after time discounted shopping. [11:19] Make a list of everyone you want to shop for. List of dollar amount you want to spend on each person. Run this against your total budget for the holiday to make sure you are in alignment and make any necessary edits. [12:12] Having a list makes it easier to hold yourself accountable to a plan. [13:44] It's good to set up rules when you are in a cold state so you are prepared when you get into the hot state. [15:28] Having any check in point and taking a moment to breathe can help you determine if this thing you are interested in is truly a great deal for YOU at this moment. [16:16] Making promos and offers. It's important for most businesses to have promotions and offers at some time or another. [16:28] Some ways you can incorporate time pressure in your offers is to have a discount or sale or gift that is only available until a certain date or time. [17:04] Countdowns are very effective in showcasing a deadline and the time pressure. [18:03] Another way you can look at time pressure is with a limited quantity. [19:03] Look around at what makes YOU want to act. When have you bought something you didn’t realize you were ready for? [20:33] It's best to test and find out what works for your business. Time pressure can almost always be effective when used properly. [20:59] Don't feel like you have to do a Black Friday offer just because everyone else does. [21:53] If it doesn’t work for your business…don’t do it! [22:20] Actions you take in life and business and how they are impacted by time pressure. [22:51] The worst case and best case scenario become the new normal and that impacts your decision. [23:12] When you have lots of time to get something done, you have a status quo of all the important things to look at and do. You make a list and work through it and have risk accounted for. [23:24] When there is time pressure, your brain looks at the biggest extremes – the worst thing that could happen if you don’t act and the best thing that could happen if you do. [24:03] Time pressure may get you to finally act and get things done…but are they of high quality and what you would have actually wanted done? [24:23] Studies have found that time pressure causes people to be less creative, less accurate, and for some people can cause them to freeze and revert to making no decision at all. [26:23] Do you have any big things that are constantly moving to tomorrow or next week on the to do list? Constantly putting the important things off is a mindset block we work through in the Brainy Mindset Course.  [26:47] You don’t need to be under constant pressure to get things done. If you know what your brain is doing, why it is putting those blocks out for you and why they are actually holding you back, you can find time to alleviate that pressure. [27:55] Start by narrowing down your goals. Put in time budgets and deadlines based on what is truly in your day. [29:56] Planning and breaking it down into micro-tasks or mini goals can help you to accomplish the big stuff because it gets you out of time pressure. [30:09] Sometimes, time pressure and deadlines can be helpful, but it is best when you are setting those time limits yourself. [30:26] Thoughtful time blocking and time pressure can help you move forward and make progress. [30:59] Set rules for yourself and remember to say that you DON’T do the thing instead of CAN’T do the thing. Studies have found that the way you frame your self talk is really important. [31:28] Take a step back and take time to evaluate what's really going on. 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.  Links and Resources: Judgment and Decision Making Under Time Pressure Decision Making Under Time Pressure: A Model for Information Systems Research This Is Your Brain 'On Sale' Decisions under Time Pressure: How Time Constraint Affects Risky Decision Making Searching for a Better Deal: on the Influence of Group Decision Making, Time Pressure and Gender in a Search Experiment The Effects of Time Pressure and Completeness of Information on Decision Making Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Holidays Can Be the Worst Time to Send Client Gifts, According to Research. Here's What to Do Instead Episode 70. How to Set, Achieve & Exceed Brainy Goals Master Your Mindset Free Brainy Course Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding

Six months ago, I did my behavioral economics analysis of Costco, which has zoomed into the 11th most downloaded episode of this podcast. My analysis of Apple Card is right above it, so we can say they share the 10th spot. Today, I’m doing another behavioral analysis of a business: Starbucks.  It’s not a coincidence that we are getting into Starbucks right around the holiday season. They have definitely done some things very right when it comes to the holidays…and I will touch on the controversy they’ve seen as well. In the episode we will talk about featured drinks, red cups, nostalgia, pricing strategy, scarcity…and a whole lot more. If you’ve been listening for a while, you know I love Starbucks. Not just for their chai tea lattes and marshmallow dream bars, or because I live in Seattle…but because of the amazing things they have done as a company to shape the world we live in today. Starbucks is a dynamic and large company with a plethora of examples I could have chosen to talk about today.  There isn’t time for everything. Instead, I have picked some of my favorite pieces for the episode – ones I think you will find valuable and interesting and be able to apply to your own business (whatever that may be). Whether you work for a global business like Starbucks, are a solopreneur or an academic or somewhere in between…you can learn from the smart things the company has done and how they have understood human behavior. In the episode, we will dig into their star rewards program, as well as featured drinks and products – from PSL to the Unicorn Frappuccino, as well as the coveted red cups (which just launched a couple days ago by the time this comes out), the personality and overall brand choices in their logo, locations and on social media and, of course, pricing. Show Notes: [04:31] Without the original brand and pricing, Starbucks would be just another coffee shop. [05:04] It really is an amazing feat when you think about the commoditized industry Starbucks was facing before it launched its first store. [06:04] One of the big aspects Starbucks had to overcome was the pricing anchor. The first number you hear (or a standard price) is the anchor, and the brain adjusts from that to determine what is reasonable. [07:02] The way we act is driven by our subconscious, and when you ask a logical question to the conscious, it doesn’t answer in a way that reflects true behavior. [07:19] To justify a higher price, Starbucks needed to invent a new category. [07:59] This wasn’t just about coffee – it was creating community…a “third place” – an experience that was something more.  [08:21] Functional fixedness: when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. [08:48] When you look at what everyone else is doing, herding will keep you stuck. [09:01] Howard Schultz and Starbucks took a step back, got out of their own way, and created a new category which changed the conversation about coffee. [09:12] Asking good questions can help you get there. [10:01] Ask questions that aren’t about what everyone else is doing. Don't get stuck in the herding or the anchors. Instead, it is about looking to what could be, and asking “How might we?” or “Why?” [10:07] For your business, look at all the things you do because everyone else does. Is that serving you well? What would make your customers excited? Delighted? [10:29] Price is never about price. It's about all the things that come to for the price. Starbucks is a fantastic example of that. [10:56] Studies about wine show that people get more enjoyment from drinking wine that is more expensive. [11:37] When you can break free from the herd and make it about something more, your business can reap benefits beyond what you even imagine. [12:13] Starbucks changed the game with all of their drink options. The first drink they made famous was the Frappuccino. [13:38] The brain gets what it expects. If you expect Frappuccinos to be delicious and you get something similar by a different name, it won't be as good. [14:46] Starbucks started the original pumpkin spice latte or PSL. The limited nature triggers scarcity and loss aversion. [15:53] For scarcity to be a value in your business, you actually have to take something away. [18:43] Starbucks is constantly testing, and they're not afraid to have something popular only available for a limited time. [19:20] The new thing that started this week is the red cups. Keeping traditions alive is something that Starbucks does amazingly well. [20:03] For many, the red cup has become part of a tradition on holidays. When you become a lifestyle brand, you bear the responsibility of becoming a part of peoples’ lives. [21:34] Starbucks had a set of filters that every brand aspect had to pass through. These included being handcrafted, artistic, sophisticated, human, and enduring. [23:46] Taking the time to stop and evaluate what is really going on is important. [25:11] When you think about the value of the brand, it's about the overall experience with the brand at its core. [26:33] Your business should learn to watch the trends. What is going on that is cool and interesting and that everyone is talking about, and how would it look if you were to incorporate that into your offering? [28:00] Star rewards are one of the smartest things Starbucks could have done for their business. In many ways, this built upon the wildly popular “treat receipt” where you can get a discount when you buy a second item after 2pm or 3pm. [29:06] The star rewards model is built to create habits for users and increase visits. [34:03] Star rewards are a smart balance of loss aversion, scarcity, relativity, habits, and more. All executed through a series of experiments to see what is bringing the most value to the company and its customers. [34:42] Don't get sucked into your brain’s natural tendency to herd. Just because everyone else is doing something one way, doesn’t mean it is RIGHT to do so. [34:59] Take a step back and think bigger. Look to the future and the possibilities. [35:11] Scarcity is a powerful tool when used correctly. Especially when paired with loss aversion to help people choose your product. [36:05] Making your brand a habit is about more than caffeine and sugar. Starbucks puts effort into getting more customers to choose them more often for more things. [37:59] Next week, we are digging into the concept of time pressure. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis A Starbucks Barista Asked Me This 1 Simple Question, and Using It May Be a Great Way to Boost Your Sales Every Starbucks Growth Strategy Is Working 30 Interesting Starbucks Facts and Statistics (2019) | By the Numbers Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment How Starbucks Transformed Coffee From A Commodity Into A $4 Splurge Episode 53. An Overview of Lazy Brain Biases Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 4. Questions or Answers Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Starbucks Didn't Invent the Frappuccino. Here's Who Did. Starbucks Has Made An Insane Amount Of Money From PSL Sales Starbucks Red Cups 2019: When Do Christmas Holiday Drinks Start Going on Sale? A Brief History of Starbucks’ Holiday Cup Controversies Episode 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Episode 44. Rebrand, Refresh or Reinforce? Starbucks Will Be Selling Fewer Limited-Time-Only Drinks That Can Be Super Hard To Make Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity SPAM® Pumpkin Spice Master Your Mindset Free Mini Course

Roger Dooley is here to talk about his new book Friction. Roger is the founder of the Neuromarketing Science website, host of the Brainfluence podcast, a Forbes contributor, and the author of Friction, Brainfluence, and The Persuasion Slide. FRICTION―The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage is about making customer’s lives easier by removing friction.  Roger is the perfect guest for me to have on this show because neuromarketing and behavioral economics are similar in many ways, and throughout the book Roger gives examples and shares concepts of behavioral economics: including relativity, nudges, framing and more. It’s a great book, and a perfect interview topic for this show.  If you’re a regular listener, you’ve heard me talk about Richard Thaler (the Nobel Prize winner and co-author of Nudge). Here is his review of Friction. “What do Amazon, Apple Google and Netflix have in common? They made life easier for their consumers by removing what Dooley calls friction. Reading this book will arm any manager with a mental can of WD-40.” CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:08] The book Friction intentionally has a slightly gritty cover to convey a sense of friction.  [05:35] Roger began his career as an engineer, but he was always interested in psychology and advertising. [06:03] When he was about 30, he was in charge of strategic planning for a Fortune 1000 company. This is also the time he chose the bailout and become an entrepreneur. [06:14] He co-founded a catalog marketing company at the very early days of home computers. Over the years, his businesses have evolved and become more digital oriented. [06:45] About 15 years ago, Roger noticed neuroscience and marketing beginning to come together. That's when he started his website about neuroscience marketing. He now has over 1100 blog posts on the topic. [07:48] Books, his podcast, and his website give Roger the opportunity to explore how neuroscience and marketing come together. [09:20] There has been a recent increase in business interest in behavioral science. Even Neilson has about 20 neuroscientists on board.  [12:50] 95% of the time businesses have too much friction in their processes.  [13:08] An example of when adding friction helps is a retirement plan that requires a form instead of a phone call for withdrawals.  [13:50] Amazon reduced friction with one-click ordering. They actually patented it. Steve Jobs paid Amazon $1 million to use one-click in iTunes.  [16:19] Friction is any unnecessary effort required to complete a task. [22:05] Total cost, time, and effort need to be looked at when creating ways to reduce risk. Many burdens are for stuff that isn't important.  [23:20] Where there is high trust, there is low friction.  [24:08] Expense reporting can create extra paperwork. Some processes can have unintended consequences and waste time and effort.  [27:40] Think how things can be made easier and how many people will be affected.  [29:20] A more difficult form can be a screen. This is a time when more friction may be better.  [31:15] To increase phone leads, eliminating the web form didn't work, instead the form had to made longer and less friendly to increase phone leads.  [32:25] BYAF (but you are free) technique. Letting someone know they are free not to do something relieves the pressure and helps them comply with the request.  [34:56] Buffer took all of the friction out of scheduling social sharing. They even used to have curated content.  [38:09] Never say “actually” when answering a support question, because it seems to correct the person. [40:36] Loyal customers are more valuable than new customers. What drives loyalty is low effort experiences. High effort experience doesn't inspire loyalty.  [44:23] Eliminating processes can also be an option. To board a cruise ship people had to go through a check-in process and fill out a health form. This useless process was eliminated.  [48:38] Open your eyes and look for things that take longer than they should. Is there something you can do to reduce the effort your customer has to take to do business with you? 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.  Links and Resources: FRICTION―The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 28. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Touch Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Roger Dooley Roger Dooley on LinkedIn Roger Dooley on Twitter Neuromarketing Nudge Conversion Sciences Buffer Hootsuite

You may remember episode 68 on counterfactual thinking (why we ‘what if’ and ‘if only’). That episode and the Inc.com article I wrote on how to break the negative cycle of 'what if' thinking were incredibly well received. That episode talked about the different types of counterfactuals – upward or downward, omission or commission, and usual or extreme. Today, I’m going to build on that and talk about the difference between a prefactual and a counterfactual. I’ll explain how they can work differently to help you achieve goals (building on last week’s episode as well). Goals are so important at this time of year. As the year is ending, you’re looking back at what you have done, what you could have done, and also looking forward at what you can do in the future. This is all counter and prefactual thinking in action, and as I’ve already said, they can be a huge aid in reaching goals…or a massive hinderance. Understanding how they work is a big step toward being able to use them to your advantage, and that’s really the point of this episode. Before we jump in, I want to remind everyone that the cart for the Brainy Mindset Course is now open! Claim your spot by November 1st. The first of our six weekly live training sessions begins on November 5th. There are also lots of worksheets and a dedicated Facebook community where I will also be answering your questions. It’s going to be amazing, and we already have some fantastic people signed up and interacting in the group and getting a jump on things. Another amazing thing is that it’s only $199 for the entire six week course, which will give you all the steps to tackle mindset including live support with me walking through it with you every step of the way. To make things extra sweet for you podcast listeners, there is an extra bonus of 25% off. This brings the total down to only $149 if you use the code BRAINY50OFF at checkout. Sign up now!  Show Notes: [06:05] Counterfactuals are looking back at something that has already happened, and essentially undoing it in some way in your mind. [06:19] Ruminating isn’t the same as a counterfactual. Memory reflection itself isn’t enough…you need to change what happened or could have happened in your brain for it to be a counterfactual thought. [06:39] Prefactuals are when you look to the future, and think about what could be. Like counterfactuals, this can either be negative positive. [06:49] If you look to the future in a negative way, it has been called “defensive pessimism” and may involve anticipation of regret and building strategies to avoid that. [07:27] 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. [08:25] The brain does get benefit from dwelling and dread. [08:51] Your brain loves dopamine and it drives it to do all sorts of things. Anticipation is at the core of prefactual thinking. [09:48] The treat for the brain is in the pre-buildup or the prefactual. [10:31] I decided to send a Gratitude Discount to people on my mailing list for my Brainy Course, unfortunately there was an email mistake and about a dozen people received %firstname% instead of their name.  [13:06] I could dwell on this for hours in the counterfactual/prefactual world.  [14:37] Counterfactuals tend to focus on things that we really have no control over. [14:57]  Prefactuals are more likely to focus on things in your realm of control. [15:33] Instead of just predicting the possible future outcome, you want to identify a specific circumstance. [16:19] My 10/10/80 A/B test gave me a chance to think a little about what could happen (prefactual) and because I didn’t dwell too much on what might have been (counterfactual) I could take steps to actually make it better. [18:46] I also used the power of prefactual thought to prevent this from happening again. [19:41] One key to using counterfactuals and prefactuals for your benefit, is to look for the learning opportunity. [21:30]  When something goes wrong the inclination is to make a giant alert on the website, but you can't always do that because it will overwhelm the brain and make it so nothing else is noticed and draw attention to it. [22:15] If something goes wrong, and only affects 2% of the audience, there is no need for a massive alert to everyone. (It can actually make things worse.) [22:55] Knowing the true impact is really important before you send out that apology. Don't let prefactual and counterfactual thoughts blow things way out of proportion. [23:31] First – take a deep breath, pause for a moment to assess the situation. Then ask some questions. How many people were impacted? What really happened? Is it fixed already? If not, when will it be fixed? What can we do now to make it better? [23:47] Then take the actions that you know need to be taken. [24:09] Write out what you could do to make this situation and others like it better in the future. [24:23] Breathe, assess, questions, actions, reflection. [25:22] One study I really liked was looking at how counterfactuals and prefactuals impacted performance in a balancing task compared to a control group. [26:05] Three groups completed balancing tasks, one group used a prefactual prompt, another used a counterfactual prompt and the last was the control group. [26:37] The control group stayed the same. Positive structured prefactual/counterfactual thinking did 5-6 times better.  [26:55] Studies have also found that people perform better on a task after doing prefactual thinking even if they have no prior experience. [27:15] Role playing and visualization techniques are so important (and why they play a big piece in mindset work). [27:23] Planning for the future is how you shape it into what you want it to be. Moving out of negative counter and prefactuals into the positive space is such a useful and versatile skill for everyone. [27:53] Use the “Next time I’ll” language to program this thinking in your mind.  [28:35] You will get there faster and easier if you structure your counterfactuals and prefactuals to the positive. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) How to Break the Negative Cycle of 'What If' Thinking The Brainy Courses Use the code BRAINY50OFF Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Improving Physical Task Performance with Counterfactual and Prefactual Thinking When Thinking It Means Doing It: Prefactual Thought In Self-handicapping Behavior Fixing Your Brain: A Guide to Balancing Neurotransmitters

How do successful people get things done? A lot of it has to do with setting and achieving goals. A topic that isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Today’s episode is about setting, reaching and exceeding brainy goals. We all have goals, and are all optimistic that we’ll achieve them “someday,” but the truth is 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’re capable of. (I’ve linked to episodes on time discounting and optimism bias that help explain why our brains are fine with “someday”.) Everywhere you look, you’ll find advice on goal setting and tips and tools to help you achieve what you want. Success can be as simple as taking (and adhering to) the following three steps to set and achieve your brainy goals. All you have to do is 1) define your goals limiting them to no more than three. Then 2) break those large goals into small steps that will get you there, and 3) say NO to everything else, so you can focus on what really matters. Sounds easy right? Not so fast. Our brains are wired to rebel against this simple process. (Especially, step three.) Saying NO is the hardest part, and where most humans get hung up. We want to do a little of this and a little of that…multitask…not limit ourselves. You’ve likely heard some of these tips before, but I’m adding the extra (and very important) layer of explaining WHY your brain doesn’t want to adhere to the plan to help you fight it when it rebels against you. This show will explain the way our brains react to these steps, and if you want someone to walk through the steps with you the Brainy Mindset Course (cart opens next week!) can do that. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:23] We all have goals, but if we don't set them up correctly, there's a good chance we won't achieve them. [04:48] The three tips for setting and achieving brainy goals are: 1) define your goals, 2) break it down into smaller steps, and 3) say no to everything else. [05:22] Saying no to everything else is the hardest one for humans to do. [05:37] In a few weeks, I'm going to have author Nir Eyal on the show to talk about his new book Indistractable. [05:51] One of my favorite insights from his book is that you can’t call something a distraction unless you know what it is distracting you FROM. [06:07] The opposite of distraction is traction. [07:26] When it comes to goals, you need to limit them. You cannot have 85 goals or even 10 or 5, because you can’t achieve them. It’s too much for your brain to handle. [08:53] To limit your goals, you first need to list out every goal you would like to accomplish in the next 5, 10, or 50 years. (Use the free worksheet in from the Master Your Mindset mini-course...link below.) These are the things that you want done when they read them at your eulogy. [09:09] List out everything you want to do and then think about how they might combine together and into an overarching goal. [09:40] Now that everything's listed, pick three goals. [10:51] Setting these goals can take some time but don't get caught in perfectionism or analysis paralysis. These are mindset blocks. [11:13] Keeping you stuck is a tactic used by your brain to delay change. [11:42] Your inclination is to have the top three be the most important, but still let goals 4-15 take up mental energy and be out in the world as things you are interested in. But they can't. [12:16] Items 4-15 are a distraction that you should avoid at all costs. [13:02] It's important to declare and OWN those top goals so everyone in your life knows what is most important and is on board. [19:17] Setting three goals and then sticking to them is really hard. [19:50] Once you know what the top three are, the next step is to break each big goal into small steps to get there. [20:54] When it comes to the big overarching goal all of these other things are little steps to get there. [21:55] Break the big lifetime goal into sub goals for the year. [22:25] With tiny habits, you break your big goal into the smallest possible component, something that would be impossible to say no to. [24:06] You can also use habit stacking to accomplish the small steps. [24:46] Now that you have your goals, how tiny can you make the steps to reaching them? [25:06] Every goal is reached in lots of small steps. It’s a sum of all the effort to get there, not the end result, and if you don’t plan for them, they won’t get done and you won’t challenge the status quo your brain loves and you won’t reach your goals. [26:04] The subconscious brain is the filter that determines what your conscious gets to focus on. You need to be incredibly particular about what it sees all day to help guide the filter. [29:21] Use reminders on your phone – set an alarm that repeats your mantra back to you or that you read. Put sticky notes on your bathroom mirror, or paint a picture that reminds you of the goal. (Master Your Mindset free mini-course has tips and a worksheet to help you with this) [30:11] Determine what three things are important to you and shout them from the rooftops and put every single egg in their baskets. That is how you set, achieve, and exceed brainy goals.    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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com Join the October 24 webinar for a discount on the Brainy Mindset Course Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Episode 67. How to Get (and Stay) Motivated Episode 69. Management Mess To Leadership Success, an Interview with Scott Miller, Management Mess to Leadership Success Master Your Mindset Free Mini-Course Brainy Courses Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life 3 Ways You Can Limit Everyday Distractions Friction: Passion Brands in the Age of Disruption  

After a year of doing this podcast, I’ve noticed trends in the topics I’ve been requested to do. My Human Behavior Lab interview with Dr. Palma was very popular. People also know that I read and do a lot of research, so I get a lot of requests for book recommendations. Today, I’m incorporating a new segment to the podcast where I interview authors who have written great books about or incorporating concepts from brain science. When I find a fit for the audience, I’ll have the author on the show, so that we can really dig into the lessons and how they apply to business.  Today’s episode features a great discussion with Scott Miller, Executive Vice President of Thought Leadership at FranklinCovey, and author of the new book, Management Mess to Leadership Success. Scott is the host of the On Leadership podcast and Great Life, Great Career on iHeartRadio. He is also a fellow columnist on Inc.com. I’m super excited to share our conversation with you.  Show Notes: [06:22] Scott's book sold 20,000 copies in the first 6 weeks. (Wow!) [07:25] Scott is Executive Vice President of Thought Leadership at FranklinCovey. They are the world's most prominent leadership development firm and have been in business for over 40 years. [07:42] Their influence is built upon a variety of thought leadership books including The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. They do a lot of consulting around leadership development, productivity, and executing strategy. [08:07] Out of the hundreds and hundreds of business leadership books written every year, Scott never had one that spoke squarely to him, so he wrote his own. [08:30] He wrote a very vulnerable and relatable book that challenges conventional wisdom. He talks about the 30 challenges that every leader faces not only in business but in life. [09:01] His book is raw. He lays out his messes and his successes. It's also short and digestible, which is part of the reason it's done so well in the four months since the launch.  [12:13] Scott's philosophy is that we all have messes, but let's not wallow in them or make excuses for them. It's hard to improve if you don't acknowledge your mess. [14:01] The 11th challenge is Check Your Paradigms. One of Dr. Covey's gifts to the world was understanding your paradigms or belief systems. Leaders don't always have the full picture. Their lens is tinted by what they believe to be true. [16:21] Stereotyping and brain bias is an issue for everyone. They serve us in some ways, but we also need to know how they impact us.  [17:48] Challenge two is to Think Abundantly. Having an abundance mindset means you believe that there is enough to go around. [22:00] Being loyal to the absent. Defending those who are absent obtains the trust of those who are present. [22:49] Great leaders don't speak about people when they're absent any differently than they would if they are present. [26:18] Challenge 23 and 24 are about setting wildly important goals (WIGs). WIGs are like BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals). Leaders need to be very articulate about elevating some goals over others.  [27:36] Properly defining goals is also super important. You can influence lead measures but not lag measures.  [28:37] Align your actions with the goals. To accomplish a wildly important goal, you either have to learn something new or do something different. [32:40] Most people confuse opinion and emotions with facts. [34:39] Assume good intent and declare your intent.  [36:10] Leadership in organizations has been positioned as it's easier if you just keep doing what you've been doing. Leadership is hard and it's not for everyone. Acknowledging and understanding your messes can make you a genius maker. [37:13] Leadership is a combination of confidence and vulnerability. [40:57] Scott is giving up some things on B level like his radio show to do more things at A level.  [41:45] The tips in Scott's book align well with the concepts of this podcast even if the terminology is different - I’ve linked to some relevant episodes and other items we discussed below. 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.   Links and Resources: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow Everyone Deserves a Great Manager: The 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team On Leadership with Scott Miller Scott Miller on Twitter Scott Miller on LinkedIn The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Episode 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Episode 68. Counterfactual Thinking: Why We ‘What If’ And ‘If Only’ (A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode) Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life Susan David Ted Talk The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage Multipliers, Revised and Updated: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter Master Your Mindset Free Mini-Course Good to Great  Built to Last How the Mighty Fall

I love the concept of counterfactual thinking. In fact, it was one of my favorite things to read about in school – I find it to be fascinating in many ways, but perhaps it’s because it relates to something we all do, all the time, and don’t really stop to think about why. And more importantly – we don’t stop to think about if it is doing us harm or good, and how we might control this natural state of the brain. Counterfactual thinking is a fancy way to say “what if..” or “if only...” Maybe you have memories of your childhood or choices you made, and then think that with a little more discipline (or focus or effort or training) you could have been an actor or doctor or run that marathon.  We all have regrets on actions taken or not taken, and these are represented in our brains via counterfactual thinking. This may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but it is actually central to being a human being – our emotions and the way we think - and can be a VERY good thing (listen to learn the 1 important step to shift from vicious cycle to goal-achieving awesomeness). Studies have found counterfactual thinking happens across all cultures and as early as 2 years old. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [02:42] Counterfactual thinking is a fancy way to say "what if" or "if only." [04:05] Counterfactual thinking can be very useful for setting and accomplishing goals.  [04:20] There are different types of counterfactuals, and they do different things. When you are thinking about a better alternative it is called an upward counterfactual, and those with worse alternatives are downward counterfactuals. [04:57] Upward counterfactual are tied very closely with regret. Anticipated regret (or prefactuals) will be the focus of a future episode. Regret and counterfactual thinking really go hand in hand. [05:17] The first theoretical explanation of counterfactual thinking came from Kahneman and Miller back in 1986, and was called norm theory. [05:39] When looking at counterfactuals consider if they are omissions or commissions, ruminations or undoings, usual or extreme, actions of ourselves or others, and if they cause negative impact or how they can be used for good. [06:29] An omission is when you wish you had acted. A commission is wishing you had not taken an action.  [07:10] A rumination is where you think about what happened, but you don’t have any thoughts about how things might have been different. Undoing is where the counterfactual “if only” or “what if” comes into play – what might have been if you had or hadn’t done something. [08:40] Usual or extreme: the way you do your counterfactual thinking will be different if it was coming in through the same door as you always do versus coming in a way you never do. [11:24] Ourselves or others. Whose actions the counterfactuals are targeted at. We tend to focus our counterfactual thoughts on ourselves – what we coulda shoulda woulda done – more often than we look at others. [12:24] Distress and anxiety. While there is a healthy side to counterfactuals, when used in excess it can be really damaging to the psyche. [14:25] Thinking and counterfactualizing doesn't change what happened. [16:02] Putting too much into ‘what if’ and counterfactual thinking can often make a mountain out of a molehill. It can be unhealthy and cause you more harm than simply letting it go and moving on would do. [16:12] Your conscious brain can only focus on so much and the brain gets what it expects. [18:16] A study was published in 1995 in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin on counterfactual thinking and undoing traumatic life events. [20:58] A study found that 80% of those that lost loved ones in a car accident had ruminative thoughts of the event, and 59% said they had thought about the events leading up to the accident within the past month. [21:49] Over half of the respondents were actively undoing the event in their heads – having counterfactual thoughts – within the last month, for an event from 4-7 years earlier. [22:20] 69% focused on a usual activity. 28% focused on an exceptional activity. [23:34] 41% of those undoing reported wishing that they had done something. 31% reported wishing that they had not acted as they did. 17% reported both. [24:24] 55% focused on their own behavior, while the other 45% were focused on the behavior of the deceased. Not one person reported trying to undo the other driver’s behavior (even though in most cases that person was legally responsible for the accident). [26:29] The person thinking about the process is more likely to undo the actions of the focal actor – themselves or the person they knew. [27:26] If you go through counterfactual “if only” and “what if” sort of thinking…remember that just because your brain is only focusing on you…it doesn’t mean it is right or the only option. [28:39] Undoing may, at least partially, be a distress-driven cognitive process. [31:09] The more you continue to focus on undoing, the more you will have continued distress. [32:28] Highly distressed people come to undo more frequently, thus perpetuating their distress. [33:06] The only item that led to increased levels of distress was the frequency that someone was going through the process of undoing. [33:55] Your mood and focus is created by your own brain. And while it is perfectly normal to partake in counterfactual thinking, too much can be harmful.  [34:30] Counterfactual thinking is a critical way we regulate our behavior and how we are able to reach our goals. [34:50] When you fail to reach a goal, you are more likely to have counterfactual thoughts. [35:23] Instead of having counterfactual thoughts, decide what you could do better next time. [37:47] You need to allow yourself to move on and not let it take over everything else in your life and work.  [38:57] Next time you get into a counterfactual spin…think about how someone else might think you’re the luckiest guy or gal in the world! [40:17] Whether you are naturally a silver lining person or not…acting as if you were is often enough to trick your brain into starting to think that way. DON’T FORGET to sign up for the Free Master Your Mindset Mini Course now to tackle mindset issues and be on the waiting list for the full course, on sale October 24! 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.   Links and Resources: The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking Norm Theory: Comparing Reality to Its Alternatives The Undoing of Traumatic Life Events Episode 62. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Game Theory Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time Episode 4. Questions or Answers Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Free Master Your Mindset Mini Course

Motivation is definitely a key piece of the mindset puzzle, so it’s no wonder its been taking up brain space for me recently. My Instagram followers already know I’ve been working on getting back into running. In this episode, I get vulnerable and share with you my very personal relationship with running. It revolves around a limiting belief that was created in my mind, as well as mindset and motivation issues.  I also talk about the two types of motivation. Motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Essentially, that means it either comes from your own self (intrinsic) or from an outside source (extrinsic). I also talk about apps and other things that can help you with motivation (or you can use to motivate employees or customers in your business). In fact, this is where today’s topic came from. While on a run I was thinking about the apps I use and how their pricing could be better aligned with motivation and the way the brain actually works. Hopefully, you’ll walk away with motivation inspiration and pricing insights for your business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:03] Motivation is definitely a key piece of the mindset puzzle. [05:01] I'm going to get vulnerable and share a story about my relationship with running. [06:14] Unfortunately, words from a misguided ballet teacher helped cement a limiting belief in my mind that I couldn't run. [08:27] I wanted to run again and tried, but I still had mindset blocks. In 2013, an executive coach helped me to break through my mindset blocks.  [10:36] I had overcome my running mental demons, but was then hit by two cars on the freeway. This led to new mindset and motivation struggles. [12:09] In August, I decided to apply all of my mindset learning and make a change. I started Couch to 5k all over again from the beginning. [13:30] Running gives me clarity. The spark for this episode came from my thoughts around the running apps that I used and how their pricing could be better aligned with motivation and the way the brain actually works. [13:59] Motivation can either be intrinsic or extrinsic. Essentially, that means it either comes from your own self (intrinsic) or from an outside source (extrinsic). [15:12] Thinking about something from a fresh, new angle will allow you to shake off the cobwebs and old rules to refresh your motivation. [16:16] A lot of people get hung up on is sales calls or some other version of drumming up new business. [16:28] the act of making the call is scary – that’s fear talking. You are intrinsically dwelling and keeping the whole conversation inside your own head. [17:02] You could make a commitment to a friend that you will both make a certain number of sales calls by the end of the week. [18:10] Loss aversion and other brain motivators can help you get over the mindset block and into motivation territory.  [18:29] When you are feeling a lack of motivation or want to motivate yourself, think about the mindset block that is keeping you stuck. [19:25] Understanding your priorities so you can say no to things that are outside the goals is key to getting (and staying) motivated. [20:37] Couch to 5k is a free app, but you have to pay to upgrade to get some bonus features. [22:19] One thing I think this app really lacks is it stops tracking when their prescribed course is done. [22:42] They are conditioning me to not want to put in any extra effort or push myself beyond their 30 minutes because there is no benefit to doing so. [25:04] Also, I am pushed outside the app to get my pace, which decreases the value of the sell and makes me less likely to pay. [26:56] If ZenLabs and Couch to 5k was my client, I would recommend that the monthly payment include access to all the apps and benefits.  [27:34] If it does not include all the apps, I recommend the extrinsic motivation / loss aversion model. [29:30] If you don’t plan (which conditions for the importance of mental preparation around fitness) you pay if you miss. Lazy Jar does exactly this. [30:10] This is like stickK which I believe was the first app to use brain science for motivation in this way. This app was created by behavioral economists and has helped people reach all sorts of goals. [31:18] Runkeeper allows you to store your running data. You get tons of free stats. You also get badges, and it does gps tracking. [33:31] I can pay up to track how similar runs get better or worse.  [34:32] Little pulls from an account on a regular basis could be a motivational tactic as well. [34:53] Runkeeper is definitely catered to the one time annual payment (which I believe is opposite of Couch to 5k). [35:33] Isn’t it funny how the big price disparity makes one thing look like a better value?  How one small shift makes it look completely different? [36:10] If you have a business with subscription models that depend on regular usage and enjoyment…the goal is really to keep motivation up. [37:55] My 3 tips: 1) Limit your goals. Having too many goals is a recipe for motivation failure. Get your total goals down to 3 max. [38:18] 2) Flip the script (reframe). Look at the mind block and ask if its intrinsic or extrinsic and then switch to the other. [39:11] 3) Look at the small steps. Start by thinking big and then putting together small action steps to get there. [40:00] If social media is a priority, you can break it up into small steps. Once something becomes a habit, you can incorporate more things. [40:55] Keeping motivated doesn’t have to be as elusive as it might seem. It’s all about understanding the brain and how to work with its rules around mindset to achieve your big dreams. [42:11] Sign up for the free Master Your Mindset mini-course to get a jump on conquering your mindset AND get on the waiting list for the full mindset course. 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.  Links and Resources: Your Sales Maven Episode 66. Ultimate Pricing Confidence with Special Guest Interviewer Nikki Rausch Master Your Mindset - Free Jenn Bays on Instagram The Brainy Business on Instagram Couch to 5k Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 22. The Power of Habit Peter Myers on Twitter Runkeeper Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter Episode 65. Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings? Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Lazy Jar stickK Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity The Brainy Business Courses

The Brainy Business Pricing Course is now live. For a fun twist on today's episode, I am interviewed by my good friend and client: the amazing Nikki Rausch of Your Sales Maven. Nikki helps entrepreneurs learn to sell easily and authentically, and we all know that sales and pricing go hand in hand. I gave Nikki a walk through of the course, and she has been along for the ride while I’ve created it.  We talk about the course, what it entails, why it was the perfect first topic to kick off the Brainy Courses, and the positive impact brain-friendly pricing can have on your business. Nikki is the perfect person to interview me about this, because she understands the questions a potential student would be interested in. Nikki is also the author of new book The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling and an all-around awesome friend and client.  Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF Master Your Mindset Free Mini Course CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:42] Nikki calls herself a super fan. She is excited about the course. [06:48] I put pricing first, because it's the thing I get asked about the most. Price is such a huge factor and having the right price makes such an impact.  [08:49] This course is about all of the stuff you need to think about when creating a pricing strategy. We don’t talk about specific prices until the very last module. [09:58] There seems to be a huge gap in all of the ways to think about the numbers. The course helps to understand numbers in a more robust way and factor in things that matter (like time).  [11:10] There is also a step by step walk through on how to raise prices. That discusses what to talk about now before raising your price (and how to change the language/plan for current and new customers). [12:10] There also scripts for presenting the price depending on the platform.  [13:50] I also review and explain specific framing examples using real-life ads and email subject lines from companies.  [15:32] The Brainy Pricing Course has comprehensive worksheets to guide through all the steps and possible situations.  [18:38] I structured the courses and workshops to be evergreen and updated when new relevant content comes out. Purchasers can revisit the course over and over.  [21:35] The workshop component helps put a deadline in place to complete the work and it's an avenue to get questions answered and overcome hurdles that may come up. [25:07] The workshop emulates a mastermind hot seat format. There is so much extra value from hearing other people's experiences. [26:58] You can purchase the course and then add the workshop, but you will save $100 purchasing both at once.  [28:55] Having the ability to set the right price and be confident about it is like the course paying for itself. [31:41] The course has 10 modules. You can also get the mindset module for free (Master Your Mindset mini-course) to see what a full course might be like.  [35:26] You can find all the courses in the Brainy Business Member Vault. You can also save by buying the bundle, and use the above discount codes for an even better value.  [37:24] This course is an investment you make in yourself and in your business. If you follow the steps, I guarantee it will more than pay for itself. 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.  Links and Resources: Your Sales Maven The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF Master Your Mindset Free Mini Course

I’m so excited to finally talk to you about my study on behavioral economics and increasing savings rates. In my master’s program, I was required to do my own study and submit it to at least one location for publication. I already had a relationship with the Filene Research Institute, so I decided to reach out to them before choosing the focus of my project. Their top choices were helping people save money and increase loyalty. A group of researchers from Duke University did an experiment in Kenya to try and find ways to increase savings. After six months, the surprising results were that a using a gold coin to mark off weeks of savings outranked sentimental reminders and matching funds. I loved these findings and wanted to see if this could be replicated if modified for the US. My white paper is now published, and I finally get to talk about the study and share it with you. I was privileged to have a conversation with Dan Ariely which helped me narrow down my three main concepts for the study which are time discounting, reciprocity, and a physical manifestation of savings. I hope you enjoy the results. Before I begin, I also want to remind you that the Brainy Pricing Course is now live. This 10-module course will walk you through mindset, priming (and finding your scent of the cookies), framing, anchoring, and relativity for pricing as well as knowing your numbers, notes on discounts and how to raise prices. Brainy Courses are a little different because they include a workshop component. Here’s all of the info along with money saving discount codes.  Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [06:19] Publication wasn't a requirement for graduation, the study just needed to be submitted. [07:27] The study done in Kenya on savings behavior stuck with me. [08:17] The gold coin was the condition that did the best. It even did better on its own than when paired with matching funds. [08:32] Finding a way to encourage saving without matching funds is like the holy grail. [09:05] I was interested to see how this would translate in the United States. [09:20] Problem number one was replicating the gold coin in the US. [09:53] The coin was a constant reminder to save. This needed to be replicated at least in premise. [11:17] The three main concepts I wanted to focus on were time discounting, reciprocity, and a physical manifestation of saving. [12:02] We started with 240 members, who were narrowed down based on a few factors, including age, income, and time with the credit union.  [12:36] Filene requested we look at loyalty scores as well. [12:48] One item we used to narrow down the list was if they had completed a Net Promoter Score survey in the six months or so before the study began. [13:41] The 240 members were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The control group received no communication at all.  [15:05] We tracked savings until the Monday before Black Friday so we wouldn’t end up with totally skewed numbers when people went shopping after Thanksgiving. [15:29] I also had the previous year's data for comparison. [16:31] It was decided to not have the members precommit to wanting to save or sign up for a program. [17:50] Two of the groups groups received communication from the credit union talking about the importance of saving and this new information they found on helping people to save. (The other group was control.) [18:29] About a week before the planned study, the two non control groups received a letter with very similar text. One group also received a refrigerator magnet. [21:23] The magnet group’s letter also had an image of the magnet in the corner. All envelopes were the same. [21:44] After 12 weeks, the 160 individuals all received an email reminding them of the importance of saving, and letting them know it was never too late to start or pick up where they left off. [21:52] And after the 24 weeks were over, they received an email thanking them for participating, encouraging continued saving, and everyone – all 240 members – received an email with an NPS survey to see if the loyalty numbers were different after 24 weeks. [22:55] Making the future self more tangible today is important in combating time discounting. [24:15] Even though I was only using three main concepts, these others still had to be considered and incorporated for the best chances of adoption. [24:53] The hypotheses of the study were that the magnet group would save more than either of the other two groups and that the magnet group would have a higher increase in loyalty score than the other two groups. [26:14] Physical representation is the magnet itself, which was specifically designed to be a reminder of money and savings. The letter only group was encouraged to make their own note and place it somewhere to be a reminder of savings and goals. [26:37] Time discounting is represented in the verbiage on the magnet, “I care about my future self” and that same verbiage was included in the letters and emails for both groups. [26:50]  Reciprocity was in both the “gift” of the magnet, which was called out specifically in the language on the letter for that group, and the less physical gift of tips to save money and have a happier, more financially secure life. [28:22] The hypotheses were that the magnet group would save more and have a bigger change in their loyalty scores over the 24 weeks. And they did! [29:16] The control group savings went up 1.42%. The letter only group went up by 1.35%. The magnet group went up by 4.51%. [30:07] The most significant jump in loyalty score was by the magnet group. They went up to 9.2. [30:49] The main thing to learn from this study is that the magnet group went up in both categories, and while we cannot say with 100% certainty it is because of the nudges, there aren’t any other explanations that readily explain what else might have happened. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Episode 64. How To Make Concepts Tangible Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings and Member Loyalty? PDF to the Study How to Help the Poor to Save a Bit: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Point West Credit Union What Is Net Promoter? Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 31. Mirror Neurons Episode 61. Color Theory Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The physical representation of concepts is an important tool to use in your business. Things like colors and shapes can be recalled by our brains and associated with other non related things. This topic is really an amalgamation of other concepts, but it’s still a valuable tool to understand and use when communicating about your business. This episode gives examples of making concepts tangible, and their practical applications in business.  This topic is the last main concept from my research paper that I announced last week. I also gave tips on running experiments like: keep it small, be thoughtful, and test often. I am super excited about next week, because I’ll finally be sharing my study on on increasing savings behavior and its results.  And...speaking of exciting, the Brainy Pricing Course goes live Monday, September 9! Learn all about it and save with special discount codes below: Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:59] This isn't really a topic you can easily look up. It's more of an accepted premise. The physical representation of concepts is an amalgamation of various other concepts. [05:35] The brain works on associations.  [07:47] Colors and shapes bring a physical presence that can be recalled easier than words. Your brain has been trained to recognize this physical representation of the concept of street signs (as explained here). [08:56] Logos are physical representations of the concept of a business. [09:27] The physical manifestation of the brand makes the business more real in your mind because there is a logo to relate to. [10:21] This is not exactly the same as anthropomorphism, which is when animals or objects are given human-like tendencies; it can be a similar concept because it helps you relate to the item in question. [10:52] Abstract concepts are everywhere in business, and they can easily cause miscommunication in conversations or messaging. Providing a physical reference point makes everything feel more real.  [15:16] I did not want to get rid of my DVDs during a decluttering session. The reason why was because the physical, tangible, representation – the box and the item itself – was tied to my emotional center and triggered loss aversion. [16:06] Where could you inject physical form we're only concepts exist in your business today? [16:48] How Progressive took the concept of insurance and made it tangible. [18:41] When you take something from conceptual to tangible, it makes it easier for the brain to categorize, relate, and remember. [19:19] Pictures, logos, and icons make your business and its features feel real. [19:29] Physical representation can help remind you of associations that you have made previously or that are important to you. [19:56] Physical items are a constant reminder to your brain. [21:57] You can make physical items that remind people of your business without having your name plastered all over them, that will be subtle reminders of you and your business. [22:04] A strong brand is able to live through the lack of words and evoke feelings – they leave an impression even without their name. [23:31] What could your business do to be a constant association and reminder in the brains of your customers? [25:01] I share a credit union concept where the idea of using logos on items could have gone very wrong. Keep in mind that small associations matter. [25:53] For your business, consider the emotions you want to convey – the things you want people to think when they consider your brand. Or, when they might be most likely to need your brand. What can you provide that will help them and remind them of you? [27:10] You can also create visuals around what you want to do to help achieve your goals. What you surround yourself with has a HUGE impact on your approach to life, business and your success. This is priming in action. [27:32] I want to help you surround yourself with the right physical representation of the concepts you care about to help you be successful. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 62. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Game Theory Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF Master Your Mindset Free Course Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Progressive TV Commercial For Name Your Price Tool Progressive TV Commercial 'The Box' Jogger Commercial | Allstate Mayhem Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on YouTube Episode 61. Color Theory Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming

Testing and experimenting is one of the best ways to find what works best for your business. This week we are talking about the benefit of experiments and some of my tips for how to do this on your own in your business, as not every experiment requires hiring a consultant to come in and run a big study. If you have been listening to the podcast for a while you probably remember me mentioning a few times that I have a research paper coming “soon” based on a project I did on behalf of the Filene Research Institute and a credit union in Portland, Oregon. I am so excited that I have approved the (potentially) final draft and that should be published any day now!  There will be a dedicated episode talking about the research in two weeks, but I wanted to give some tips about experimenting first, because it truly is so important for every organization to test things. Next week is an episode on the physical representation of concepts, which is the only main concept in the study I have not yet covered on the podcast. Then on September 13th, I’ll share all the details and findings of my research study. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:08] Experimenting is important for any organization. You have probably done experiments and not even realized it. [05:30] Good experiments need to be narrow and focused, because if you test too many things at once you won't know what contributed to the result. [07:09] I share a story about how I needed to continue to narrow down a research paper topic.  [08:16] The study found that advertisements for low cognition products were twice as likely to be standardized as high cognition products. Ads using pictures were more than twice as likely to be standardized as those using text. [09:08] There were so many variables and items cross referenced just for a study that looked at one month of magazine ads. [09:59] The study I ended up with, which felt incredibly small to me at the time, was actually a huge undertaking - it was a true experiment. [10:16] When there is a lot weighing on the outcome of the experiment, it's a good idea to bring in experts. There are also tests you can do on your own fairly easily, which can still have a great impact on your business. [10:41] You can be more agile and adapt quickly with small tests. [10:56] The three things to keep in mind when setting up experiments are to be thoughtful, keep it small, and test as often as you can. [11:14] Keeping it small allows you to do the test on your own and understand what contributed to the results you are seeing. [11:55] To determine what is best, separate everything into multiple mini-tests. [12:53] Make one small change and track what the results are, so you'll be learning every step of the way. [14:44] One of the studies I share the most often is the one with the end cap displays for Snickers bars. This used anchoring and adjustment and found when they said “buy 18 for your freezer” there was a 38% increase in sales. [15:36] Behavioral economics shows us that hunches about what customers will do are often wrong, because they are based on logic, not the rules of the subconscious brain. This is why everything needs to be tracked. [16:01] Some other things you could test would be how your ads (or emails or direct mailers or website pages) do when you change a number frame. You can also do tests on blog post headers, or copy on social media posts, and images you use on ads. [17:04] The second important way to focus your attention is to be thoughtful. Being thoughtful means looking outside of what you always do or what you “know” to be true. [17:45] Behavioral economics teaches that humans do not always act “rationally” or with much forethought. Take the time to plan before you jump into a test, or start testing absolutely everything. [18:45] Instead of testing everything, just test the right things. Know the problem you are trying to solve and narrow your focus. [19:15] Anything can be worth testing, but everything can be a waste of time if you don’t have a clear focus and goal. [19:36] If your company is about driving value, then all your tests should be about creating more value for your customers. [20:16] Focus on items that are driving revenue and value to your company. [21:01] The results of one test will not necessarily hold true in every situation or for every business. This is called generalizability or being generalizable - while it matters in most academic studies, it isn’t as important if you are testing for your own business (because if the results don’t apply to your competitor...who cares?) [22:05] It's also important to know whether the data you are collecting is qualitative or quantitative. Conversations with people are qualitative, number of clicks are quantitative. [24:00] If you know you will want to dig into demographics and other details, you probably need to build that into your data pull up front. Think and talk through what you actually want to know. [24:35] My final tip is to test early and often. [25:24] Small tests let you act quickly, so the more you test, the more you learn. No results still tells you something important. [26:25] Findings tell you what attracts attention or what matters to your customers, but non-findings tell you what they don’t pay attention to or care about. Remember to keep it small, be thoughtful, and test often. Remember - The Brainy Business now offers courses! 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.  Links and Resources: Filene The CUInsight Experience podcast: Melina Palmer – Seeking answers (#34) Episode 4. Questions or Answers Behavioral Economics and Business 048 How Applying Behavioral Economics Can Benefit Your Business, With Melina Palmer of Brainy Business Podcast Bam Success Summit Conference Your Sales Maven Association for Consumer Research Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment 1 Word That Increased Sales by 38% Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Qualitative vs Quantitative

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you already know that humans aren’t rational (and, honestly, you probably know that just from being a human person too). And the base of economic theory would often incorrectly predict behavior because it assumes logical people making rational choices.  Because humans do not behave this way in practice, new theories needed to be developed which accounted for these irrational choices. And in game theory, it is exactly the same. We humans don’t always make choices that are fully rational. We try to game the system or play the odds. This episode is all about game theory and how it can help your business. We will dig into three basic games: the dictator game, the ultimatum game and the prisoner’s dilemma.  And if you haven’t checked out last week's episode, it was all about color theory and what really matters when using colors in your business and your brand.  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [03:21] If you're wondering, Game Theory actually has a lot to do with business. [03:41] Humans aren't rational. Basic economic theory would predict behavior incorrectly, because it would assume logical people are making rational decisions. [03:45] Since humans aren't rational, new theories needed to be developed. [05:06] Downton Abbey and Survivor are great examples of game theory in action. [05:22] In behavioral game theory, we need to consider how revenge, fairness and personal gain all play into the outcomes. Three main games that are often used in game theory are the ultimatum game, the prisoner’s dilemma, and the dictator game. [05:38] We start with the dictator game. What it is and how different scenarios can impact your behavior or decision.  [08:38] The ultimatum game is similar, but the second person has an option to respond to the offer. If they reject, both get nothing. [10:18] History has a lot to play in the actions people take, and existing relationships help determine actions. [11:04] The human component – knowing you are playing against a person who is profiting from your situation – has a big impact on the way people respond. [11:57] Think about how the anchor shifts when you have power versus when you don’t. [12:33] It's important to understand who has what power in each situation when you determine what to offer and think about how they might react. [13:11] Even when money is not changing hands, the process of buying and selling is exactly the same. Other items of value can be bartered. The way people react changes based on the power or belief they have. [13:22] This is worth considering as you put offers out to people and are wondering how they may respond or act. Are you putting power in their hands that makes a generous offer seem stingy? [14:02] In your business, you aren’t limited to the lab style test – your clients know who you are and what you are offering them. [15:29] If you give something, people want to give back (reciprocity). [16:10] The last game is the prisoner's dilemma.  [17:41] The shifting anchor impacts the position someone takes. Saying something may feel like a win win (even though it often isn’t).  [19:57] The best overall strategy for the extended prisoner's dilemma is a tit-for-tat strategy in which you cooperate until someone defects then you respond in kind. [21:41] Most of us would likely plan to play fair. Do you expect the same kindness and fairness in others? How does the story you tell yourself about what they think influence your actions? How would your strategy be influenced by the look of the person?  [22:48] Game theory applies in all sorts of business situations. Obviously, this applies in negotiations with potential partners. [23:37] Humans are emotional, and it is not just in the after-the-fact stuff...the thoughts and “what ifs” before a negotiation starts can always influence actions much more than we may think. [23:57] Always have written contracts and agreements. [24:19] Negotiating terms in a cold state is so much better than not doing your due diligence. [24:38] Another example of how this impacts business is in advertising. [26:21] There are countless examples of game theory – it is truly all around us all the time. Pretty much any time you interact with another person or business or entity, game theory comes into play. [27:21] Buying in at the bottom of a recession is game theory in action. It’s all based on what you expect other people will do and how you choose to react to it – before and after the fact. [29:47] The YouTube example of United Breaks Guitars which is the ultimate customer revenge.  [32:15] 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. [32:49] Perspective lets you look at the game in a whole different way and play by the real rules. [33:15] The last point I want to make is this: when it comes to games, many people are playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. [33:47] When you play to win – in games, life or business – you know it is a long game and have a calmer approach. You understand the rules backward and forward. This is much more effective than playing not to lose. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 61. Color Theory Take a Peek into Your Buyer's Behavior with Melina Palmer of The Brainy Business The Prisoner's Dilemma Behavioral Game Theory The Ultimatum Game- Are people rational? The Dictator Game The Psychology of Revenge (and Vengeful People) An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining Behavioral Game Theory: Plausible Formal Models That Predict Accurately (Behavioral) Game theory Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 7. Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity The Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma and The Evolution of Cooperation Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Toms Warby Parker United Breaks Guitars

Last week we talked about how to surprise and delight customers, as well as the difference between satisfaction and delight and its impact on loyalty and profits. I also wrote an article that went live on Inc.com this week titled “Want to build brand loyalty? Surprise your customers—literally.”  ALSO: The presale for the Brainy Course on pricing is now live. Lock in your discount.  You’ve probably heard the basics of color theory before – that certain colors link to certain feelings or emotions in people, and so some colors are better than others for brands. There are tons of color charts out there. I’ve even linked to a few. I’ll give you the general associations in this episode, but I’m also going to explain what really matters when it comes to using colors in your branding – the common mistakes and the most important things to keep in mind. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:01] GENERAL COLOR MEANINGS [05:03] Red: is full of excitement and said to be youthful and bold. It is also said to make people hungry or angry, and is associated with stopping. [05:45] Orange: is said to be cheerful and have confidence. It is also fun, whimsical, childlike, friendly, spontaneous, glowing, hot, and persuasive. [06:16] Yellow: has optimism, clarity and warmth. It is also joyful, illuminating, nourishing, sunny, sweet, stimulating, innovative, energetic, hot, surprising, or can bring awareness. [06:50] Green: is said to be peaceful and associated with growth and health. It can also be calm, quiet, fresh, lush, soothing, renewal, balance, life, and fertility. [07:43] Blue: is associated with trust, dependability and strength. Some other words (again, depending on the shade) can be calm, quiet, water, clean, peaceful, reassuring, serene, transcendent, open, sophisticated, confident, tasteful, cool, credible, authoritative, classic, traditional, nautical, or professional. [08:42] Purple: is associated with creativity, imagination and wisdom. It can also be romantic, thoughtful, nostalgic, thrilling, dramatic, regal, intuitive, mysterious or visionary. [09:19] Pink: ranges from vibrant, flirtatious, attention-getting and high energy to soft, subtle, romantic, compassionate, delicate, innocent, fragile or youthful. [10:08] Grey and other neutrals: are bringing balance and calm. It is also classic, corporate, timeless, quiet, logical, reserved, basic, modest, efficient, accountable, staunch, professional, sleek, classy, mature, sophisticated, and methodical. [10:50] Brown: is earthy, rugged, outdoor, rustic and woodsy, but as you change the shade to chocolate it could be delicious, rich, robust or appetizing. [11:28] Black: is powerful, empowering, elegant, sophisticated, mysterious, bold, classic, strong, expensive, nighttime, stylish, or prestigious. [12:12] White: is positive, pure, clean, innocent, simple, airy, bright, pristine, or bridal, but it can also be seen as sterile, cold and clinical. [13:09] COMMON MISTAKES [13:11] Colors have tons of associations and meanings, and often opposite associations depending on the shade or context. [14:02] GENDER PREFERENCES [14:13] Gender does have different impacts on preference for colors, which can be important for brands. [16:06] Blue and green are universally predominant favorite colors. Orange and brown are least favorite for both genders. Purple is gender polarizing.  [16:27] BEYOND GENDER In some cultures, white is bridal, pure and innocent, but it is a funeral color for others. Black can be sophisticated or menacing. Red can be aggressive or mean luck. [19:33] THINK ABOUT BRAIN ASSOCIATIONS The associations absolutely do matter, and studies have found that appropriateness of the color to the brand persona matter quite a bit. [20:18] Think about how all the context triggers come together to support or contradict the color used in your brand, logo or other aspects of your marketing. [20:41] When people are not already familiar with a brand, the common emotions tied with the color of the logo make a big difference in the way they interpret the brand. [21:13] When starting your brand be aware of the associations with color and the emotions those colors bring up. Knowing the color associations can also help you go against the traditional theory if that is your strategy.  [23:00] When it comes to the way a designer or someone working with colors would explain the type of color, there are three important items: hue, value, and chroma. [23:51] The hue is the color itself. Purple, red, and green are all hues. [24:14] Value shows us how light or dark a color is – the level of brightness. [24:18] Chroma is the saturation of color or its vividness. [26:00] Google tested to find the perfect blue for its links.  [27:13] There are ways to use color in your business, beyond brand associations and color choice. [28:28] The thing that is most important when it comes to calls to action is to have a lot of contrast. This is known as the isolation effect or the Von Restorff effect. [29:39] You want to pick your colors based on congruency to your message and the personality, as well as the market you are targeting. [30:03] Go with contrast when picking secondary or tertiary buttons and links, so they stand out. [30:22] Know what your competitors use so you can stand out.  [31:26] Fight the urge of your herding brain and be different from the competition. [32:05] Trendy colors generally aren’t good for brands, but they can be great for for special editions etc.  [32:56] For physical items, keep in mind what your competitors are using and find colors that help you stand out on the shelf. [35:31] Color is incredibly important for brands to understand and consider when creating their materials. With a little bit of thought and consideration, you can absolutely use color to your business’ advantage. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Want to Build Brand Loyalty? Surprise Your Customers--Literally The Psychology of Color The Psychology and Meaning of Colors Color Psychology: How Color Meanings Affect Your Brand When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding Colour Assignment There's Evidence Humans Didn't Actually See Blue Until Modern Times Exciting Red and Competent Blue: The Importance of Color in Marketing Current Research Development Impact of Color on Marketing The Interactive Effects of Colors and Products on Perceptions of Brand Logo Appropriateness Color Psychology Why Google Has 200m Reasons to Put Engineers Over Designers Which Button Color Converts the Best? 10 Proven Ways to Build a Website that Customers Will Love Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding

First off – welcome to episode 60! How exciting – I love hitting milestones and I am excited to celebrate this one with a fun episode on surprising and delighting customers and how that differs from satisfaction. Last week we talked about the pain of paying and how it can impact the way people spend with you. It is quite possibly one of my favorite episodes to date – I really enjoyed digging through the research on that one, and I think the most telling study for you was the AOL example.  Special Announcement: The first online course from The Brainy Business is going live on September 9, and there is a one week presale starting this coming Monday, August 12! A lot of businesses are competing for your ideal customer. Plus, those same customers are becoming more selective and are more aware than ever of the many options they have. These days, it’s not enough to just get the job done or to do an ok job. If you really want to build true customer loyalty and customer engagement, you’ll need to surprise and delight your customers. This is how your business can build a loyal following and increase profits. In this episode I talk about how to do exactly that. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [06:26] Many people assume there is a linear relationship between dissatisfaction, satisfaction and delight, but it doesn’t really work that way. Satisfaction is not the opposite of dissatisfaction, and vice a versa. [07:08] The scale of customer experience actually goes from outrage, to dissatisfaction to satisfaction to delight. [07:29] When you have a surprising positive experience, it results in delight. An unexpected, surprising negative experience? That is when outrage comes into play. [08:25] In a business, you have to be aware of these all the time, including your overall experience for everyone as well as for each individual customer. Ideally, you are living in “satisfied” territory most of the time, with a few “delights” popping up here and there. [08:57] Delight is much more likely to drive loyalty than mere satisfaction, and there is a lot of research that shows loyalty is positively linked to profits and stock market price. [09:45] Once a customer becomes satisfied, they have achieved pretty much whatever level of loyalty they are going to have, but the loyalty score shoots up when delight is introduced. [12:27] Delightful experiences are much more likely to hit the emotional center of the brain and be much more likely to be remembered. This also holds true for the mirror of delight which is outrage. [13:23] One heavily cited study estimates that a 5% increase in loyalty from customers can increase profit anywhere from 25% to 85%! [14:13] Delighted and loyal customers can have a lifetime value equal to 11 “regular” customers. [14:31] Loyalty can also result in lower costs in advertising, branding and acquisition, as well as higher revenues per transaction or per customer, lower defection rates, plus an increase in brand equity. [15:22] There's no standard scale for measuring delight.  [17:08] Satisfaction is more of a cognitive process. Delight and outrage are more emotional. [20:25] The reason the Ed Sheeran Edchup promotion works is because fans know that it's authentic. Consumers can’t be expected to let you know what will delight them, because at its core they can’t be expecting them. [22:33] It's important to know your numbers, so you'll know in advance if the cost of delighting is worth it. [23:06] The next pitfall is the peril of ever-changing expectations. If the delights become standard, customers will expect them. The key to delight is surprise. [24:23] The last pitfall to be aware of is assuming that everyone has the same expectations. [26:41] Often, simply being courteous, showing empathy, and making an effort to understand the needs of the customer are enough to create a delightful experience. [29:41] Employee empowerment is still crucial in any business if you want to surprise and delight. [33:08] You can also provide unanticipated value. You can also provide novelty and entertainment – think of Disneyland or Disney World. [35:52] Reposition the business to focus on delivering solutions instead of products and services. [39:18] Seven organizational changes from the Berman paper to consider so you can better deliver delight: be aware of the need for organizational change to establish delight objectives; link customer delight to bottom-line benefits; look at world-class customer satisfaction criteria; listen to customers to ascertain what's important; empower employees so that they can go "the extra mile"; make measurement of customer delight and loyalty a priority; and link raises and bonuses to customer satisfaction scores. [41:30] Delight is not something you do one-off and hope for the best. It requires time and strategy. [43:13] If you are sending gifts to your clients and customers, don't do it in November or December, because people are expecting gifts at that time. 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.  Links and Resources: Melina@thebrainybusiness.com The Brainy Biz on Facebook @thebrainybiz on Twitter The Brainy Business w/Melina on Instagram Episode 59. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Pain of Paying How to Delight Your Customers Customer Delight: Foundations, Findings, and Managerial Insight Delight by Design: The Role of Hedonic versus Utilitarian Benefits Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases Ed Sheeran Launches Own Heinz Tomato ‘Edchup’ Ed Sheeran Edchup on Instagram Ed Sheeran on Instagram @teddysphotos Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful of Employee Empowerment Turkey Talk Line Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding

Buying things isn’t all fun and games – and the process of paying for things can actually cause pain for many people. In fact, neuroeconomics has found that when scanning subjects’ brains in an fMRI machine while they are going through the process of buying things, there is activity in the insula, which is a pain center in the brain. In many ways, it is just like physical pain, and the emotional pain can be very real. It doesn’t impact everyone on every single purchase, and there are some times when it is more impactful, and some people it is more impactful for. In many cases in business, you want to do what you can to reduce the pain of a payment so people are more likely to go through with a purchase, but there are times when it is important to keep those pains in place…I will give examples of these and what to do when the pain can’t be reduced.  In this episode, I will let you know how this concept works including twelve different conditions where it is most likely to occur, some unexpected mechanisms that can cause pain when you wouldn’t even realize it, and (of course) tips for how to use this concept to your benefit in any type of business.​ CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:08] The process of paying for things can actually cause pain for many people. [06:16] Context is incredibly important when it comes to the pain felt by making a payment.  [10:06] Paying and consuming have sort of a reciprocal relationship…because making a payment reduces the joy of consumption, but consumption reduces the pain of paying. [11:48] The way you talk about the price impacts the pain felt in paying more than the amount. Everything that comes before the price matters much more than the price itself. [12:42] The more a transaction is perceived as: fair, an investment, immediate, for the sake of another person, under one’s own control and has payment before consumption…the WEAKER the pain of paying. [13:45] When the pain of paying is too much – so that people do not buy things that they need or want because it is too difficult to give up money…they 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…we call them spendthrifts. [16:43] Tightwads and spendthrifts don't change their ways even when their income fluctuates. [19:45] Tightwads are most sensitive to framing adjustments, so that is where you can make a difference. Adding the word “small” before a fee, or framing the purchase as an investment made it so tightwads were more likely to buy and feel less pain in paying. [22:25] When people feel good about themselves (as when purchasing a virtuous product) there is less pain felt and associated with the payment across the board. [23:35] One of the big issues for spendthrifts is they do not account for or intuitively understand the opportunity cost in the moment when they are getting ready to buy or wanting to buy things. [25:38] Everyone will feel some sort of pain when paying. It is your job 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 least pain felt. [27:27] Think about how people interpret what they are getting. Did they choose the circumstance or was it thrust upon them? If it was not their choice, are there some other areas where you can help them feel like they did make a choice? [31:14] When the pain of paying isn’t felt as much, it doesn’t impact the experience. [33:29] Loss aversion is a big contributing factor to having the meter running and the pain of paying. [36:30] Sometimes, people are willing to pay money to reduce the pain of lost time and they enjoy the experience more because it was their choice. [37:15] Consumption can reduce the pain felt by paying, but paying can reduce the joy felt during consumption. This is a concept called coupling. [39:56] Think about yourself as a consumer and how you would feel if you got the bill for your product or service after the fact. [40:43] Are there any points in your business where you could use coupons or tokens or chips or beads instead of cash? [41:28] The biggest thing is to make sure that people feel they are really gaining something when they spend money, and that it is not just being thrown away.  [43:11] Classifying your product or service as a gift really helps overcome the pain. [44:34] Reminder: the more a transaction is perceived as: fair, an investment, immediate, for the sake of another person, under one’s own control and has payment before consumption…the WEAKER the pain of paying. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 56. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Mental Accounting Episode 58. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Partitioning Abaneeta Chakraborty on Twitter Tightwads and Spendthrifts: An Interdisciplinary Review Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories The Pain of Paying Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers The Pain of Paying by Dan Ariely The Red and the Black: Mental Accounting of Savings and Debt

Last week was the tribute to NASA in honor of the 50 year anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. In that episode I told you about the space race, the Cold War, and how that all boiled down into five tips your business can learn and implement from the success NASA saw during the 1960s. If you haven’t listened to it yet, give it a shot! Today, we are going to talk about partitioning, which I mentioned briefly in episode 56 on mental accounting. This is essentially about how the way things are offered or packaged can either encourage or discourage additional purchases and actions. I will let you know how this works both for physical products and service businesses, and how you can use this concept within your business. Show Notes: [04:09] 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. [04:46] If you are sitting in front of the TV with a giant, party-sized bag of Cheetos in front of you…how much will you eat? It's likely you will eat more than you intend even if you don't realize it. [05:30] When food items are partitioned into smaller containers, and you're required to take an action like grab another one out of the box, it creates a new decision point. The small transaction cost will drastically reduce the number of people who will go get a second serving. [06:26] An experiment was done with bottomless soup bowls. A group whose bowl kept refilling, without them knowing it, ate 73% more. [07:55] Have you ever found that putting less on your plate and having to go back for seconds caused you to eat less? [09:10] Decision making opportunities increase awareness and the amount of cognitive processing used. [10:31] One study found that once something became common – like a white partition between cookies – it no longer acted as a partitioning mechanism. [11:52] It isn’t just effort that matters, but drawing the attention of the conscious brain really matters too. [13:03] Partitioning and aversion impacts can also be seen in gambling. [13:49] A gambling study featuring partitioned envelopes showed that once an envelope was opened…all the coupons inside were likely going to be bet, but the number of envelopes significantly impacted the total amount gambled. [15:50] Gamblers will think of house money differently and keep cash or chips in different pockets while playing. They have instilled their own method of partitioning, even if they don’t realize it. [16:43] In another study, people with a higher aversion to gambling were significantly impacted by the partitions. [17:57] Partitioning money has also been found to help people save more or spend less. [18:45] The Shopping Momentum effect is where once you start the process of spending, you are more likely to spend again until you hit a partition. [20:32] What does this mean for your business? It's not only impactful on eating and spending, but other behaviors are impacted. It doesn't need to be a physical item that needs to be opened or unwrapped. Any cognitive interventions can trigger partitioning. [22:11] Having an AC that shuts off automatically and you have to walk over and turn back on is a nudge to use less energy. [25:03] Anticipated regret can force you to rethink a decision and possibly change your mind. [26:56] Questioning the price of a customer's purchase is a lose-lose situation where adding a partition is worse for everyone involved. [27:08] It's easy to talk people out of a sale, or make them feel bad about a purchase (or start to regret it) even when you are trying to be helpful. [27:24] If you keep asking someone, “are you sure?” you are creating unnecessary partitions and of course they are going to say, “I guess not” at some point. [28:00] 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. [29:06] Removing partitions and obstacles can be great for businesses and customers alike. [30:08] Schedule a follow up call and get on their calendar RIGHT THEN at the event. I do this all the time thanks to the advice of Sales Maven Nikki Rausch, and it has made such a difference. [32:10] Every piece, whether it is an email or a Facebook ad or a direct mailer should be clear and concise. Can someone look and very quickly know what they are supposed to do? What the next step is? Simplify to eliminate steps. [33:49] The moral: make it easy for people to do business with you. Remove unnecessary partitions in the process and everyone will be happier. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 57. 5 Things Your Business Must Learn from NASA These 5 Leadership Strategies Enabled NASA's Impossible Moon Landing. They Matter Now More Than Ever Episode 56. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Mental Accounting 14th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards The Effect of Partitions on Controlling Consumption Episode 52. Biases – Math is Hard Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake A top Cornell food researcher has had 15 studies retracted. That’s a lot. Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion The Shopping Momentum Effect Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Your Sales Maven The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling

In honor of the 50 year anniversary of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, we are going to talk about behavioral economics lessons you can learn from NASA! On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended onto the lunar surface and uttered those immortal words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." It’s hard to believe that was 50 years ago, and that – knowing what we know today about technology – that it was able to be done with the equipment they had available. Most anyone today would think it was impossible to have completed that feat in the 1960s. So the questions may arise – why then? Why the moon? Why did it matter so much? There are lots of lessons your business can learn from NASA during the space race. While your failures are likely not life or death situations and you may not be breaking world records at every turn, and this story unfolded half a century ago, I want to break down five areas where your business – no matter what industry you are in – can learn from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions at NASA. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:40] On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended onto the lunar surface and uttered those immortal words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." [05:43] Most people today would think that would be an impossible feat with 1960s technology. [06:40] The cold war intensified as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite, into orbit in October 1957 – much to the shock of the United States. [07:19] This led to fear and essentially kicked off the space race. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (also known as NASA) was created in 1958. [07:47] Kennedy really ratcheted up excitement and budget for NASA. [07:59] In Kennedy's famous speech at Rice University, he mentioned that the budget and taxes would be increased to accommodate the new space program.  [08:24] Overall, the Apollo program cost nearly 20 billion dollars – a third of NASA’s budget for those 13 years, so public interest was important to keep funding around for the program. [08:42] Kennedy also does a great job of priming and framing throughout the speech, and playing on the past victories and pride of the US, Texas and the city of Houston. [09:17] In the moon speech, he did great work to motivate the audience and the general public about the importance of the program and to encourage them to get behind the initiative. [10:53] Kennedy drew a line in the sand that helped launch the program. He also helped to overcome some hurdles by saying we CHOOSE to go to the moon. [12:02] Acknowledging our mistakes and hinting that the Soviets had mistakes helped to instill confidence and combat the availability bias. [13:24] Kennedy also made the task ahead relatable to the audience. [14:35] Kennedy's speech was truly amazing and inspiring. Everybody should read /watch it. [14:57] There are a lot of lessons that your business can learn from NASA during the space race. [15:47] 1) Look for problems (and solutions) [16:31] It would be impossible to think of every possible issue that could come up, but it was critical to think through as many of these pieces as possible. [17:01] Using challenges as inspiration is in direct competition with a bias humans are susceptible to called functional fixedness. [17:23] There are times in your business when this natural bias in your brain is doing more damage than you realize. [19:00] When the astronauts needed to fix their CO2 scrubber, they were literally faced with fitting a square peg in a round hole. Flight director Gene Kranz famously said, "I don't care what anything was designed to do--I care about what it can do."  Those on the ground were inspired to overcome their natural tendency toward functional fixedness to create an ingenious hack to save the lives of the astronauts over 100,000 miles away. [19:12] It's important to think through problems before they come up. [20:05] 2) Test and Retest (But Know When to Move) [20:34] Simulations and trial runs were critical. [21:38] They still moved forward instead of suffering analysis paralysis. [21:51] Narrow down your focus to one or two important goals. Break your goal into small tasks and set up tests to ensure they can be done. [22:35] 3) Autonomy and Support [22:53] The teams were united working toward a common goal, but they were also given the autonomy they needed to solve problems. [23:44] The leadership mindset came from the top down. [25:26] I always told my teams that I would support them in any decision they made and let them know how delegation was a sign of my trust in and respect for them. [26:19] In your business, do you delegate enough and trust your team to take on and really own your big vision? Do they feel supported to look for new options and innovative paths for you? [27:01] 4) Visibility Makes a Difference [27:21] The moon landing made the impact it did because of videos and photos cataloging it every step of the way.  Mirror neurons allow us to experience what we are seeing. [28:23] Are you making your important projects visible enough to rally the troops? While not everything needs to be put on video, and not every little detail needs to be shared with everyone…there is a lot of power in transparency. [29:13] Where can you share more – either via video or other communications – to ensure big goals and projects are remembered? [29:27] 5) Word Choice Matters [29:58] No one told Neil Armstrong what to say, or asked him what his first words would be when he stepped onto the lunar surface. The words he chose perfectly captured the moment, [30:00] What he said was easy to remember, poignant, and succinct. [31:31] Gene Kranz had countless quotes including, "failure is not an option." [32:11] The lesson for you as a leader, and within your business is this: in the moment, it may feel like word choice isn't critical. You may think you can always clarify, but the subconscious brain is picking up on so many millions of bits of information. It would take many words to undo the damage of not saying something properly. [33:12] As you move up the ranks in an organization, the words you use in everyday conversations matter much more than you realize. [33:50] I encourage you to be thoughtful each and every time, because the words you choose in any conversation could be the difference between changing the world forever, and just another day. [34:12] RECAP: Think about the ripples and look for problems before they come up so you can plan for them…and always be working on innovative solutions.  Break your goal into smaller tasks, and test each step before you move forward on the final goal (but make sure you actually do move forward) Let your teams know you trust and support their decisions, and that delegation is an extension of your belief in them Make big, important projects as visible and transparent as possible Take the time to choose the right words, because they might be famous quotes attributed to you one day! 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 56. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Mental Accounting @BethAMcAuley on Twitter Your Awards and Accomplishments Don't Mean Anything to Your Customers Unless You Talk About Them in This Way Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing @thebrainybiz on Twitter The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on YouTube 14th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards Apollo 1's Fatal Fire Almost Ended the Program | Apollo John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium President Kennedy's Speech at Rice University Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming ‘No university is more synonymous with NASA than Rice’ How The Cold War Launched The Space Race Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories NASA History Overview Immunity to Functional Fixedness in Young Children NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Edited Oral History Transcript This is the actual hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII Lessons in Manliness from Gene Kranz My Everyday Extraordinary The Apollo 13 Accident Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Careers at NASA: Explore the Extraordinary, Every Day Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time Episode 31. Mirror Neurons

Hopefully, you tuned in last week for the special anniversary episode, where I went over the top episodes by downloads, your votes and some of my favorites. I also gave some of my book recommendations and a sneak peek behind the scenes with the top questions I get asked, the weird thing I hear all the time now…and so much more. Today, we are back into the swing of things with a behavioral economics foundations episode on mental accounting. This concept was mentioned briefly in the biases series, but today we are going to dig into what this really is and just how much it impacts our approach to money, risk, time and more. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:02] The concept of mental accounting was introduced by nobel prize winner Richard Thaler, and is based on humans’ illogical approach to value in relative terms instead of looking at it as an absolute. [05:31] Three examples by Richard Thaler of mental accounting.  [07:41] These are all examples of the way that mental accounting can impact the decisions we make. [08:17] Money and accounts should be perfectly fungible (that is an economics term for interchangeable). It shouldn’t matter if money was in a savings account, or a checking account or your pocket or a 401k…it would all exchange exactly the same. [09:32] Our brain segregates when thinking about money. This is one of the reasons the field of behavioral economics was needed…traditional economics does not account for the importance of this phenomenon. [10:10] The three ways money is commonly labeled: expenses are grouped into budgets like food, rent, and entertainment. Wealth is separated into accounts (checking, emergency or “rainy day” funds, and retirement). And lastly income is looked at in categories: namely regular or windfall. [12:35] Much like regular accounting, in mental accounting, individuals will book and post any occurring or planned transactions to the mental account. [15:59] When businesses are reporting their year-end earnings and losses, they always want to have a positive year end, which could make it tempting to hold on to losses until the next year. [16:42] If you are looking like you are going to have a bad year and have no option but to take a loss, general wisdom is to throw in as much negative and expense as you can. If it is going to be negative, might as well have it all come in at once. (Known as “taking the big bath”) [17:13] Adding a small amount to an already large payment doesn’t feel the same as having that payment on its own. This is because of decoupling – where you remove the pain of the payment away from the joy of the purchase. [18:28] There are some times where people significantly prefer to prepay over delaying their payments. Vacations are enjoyed more when they are prepaid because they feel free. [24:10] The way the consumer uses their mental accounting transforms something that can be very expensive hobby (like wine collecting) into one that is seen as free. [25:24] People can and often do plan for expenses in one way and experience it completely differently in the moment. [26:57] Internalize how the brain is wired to make its decisions around mental accounting. Think about how this has impacted you and how it can impact your customers. [27:52] Expenses are thought about in budgets, and wealth is considered in accounts. [28:03] The most tempting and easiest accounts to spend from are the current assets, this is your checking account and physical cash. [28:13] It's less tempting to spend from the current wealth category, which is made up of other liquid assets – savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. [28:33] The next, even less tempting category is equity (like that in a home or car you own). Future income is the least tempting category. These are your retirement accounts. [29:27] Those who have issues with self control should set up accounts that are off limits and put together automatic transfers so they are not tempted. [31:03] An example of losing a movie ticket and losing $10 that shows when the loss is associated with the outing to the movies, it is aversive, but when it is not associated with the outing, it is still annoying, but doesn’t impact the mental account for the movie. [31:22] Money that you earn in your paycheck is considered different than money you win in the lottery or find on the ground. [32:58] How will the mental account allocation impact the way the gift is used? And how does that line up with the intention behind the gift? [35:54] While losses should be lumped together, gains should be separated out to really feel their value - don’t wrap all the Christmas presents in one box.  [36:26] Brands can use mental accounting to their advantage in the way they advertise products. How can you use this frame on mental accounting in your business? [37:03] Mental accounting impacts more than money.   [39:43] Context is important in the way that people react. [42:53] Being aware of how the sausage is made can impact your enjoyment of it. Keep this in mind when you present pricing to customers. [43:10] One other scarce resource impacted by mental accounting is time. [43:41] Labeling time as only in the “family time” account makes it so “work time” isn’t even in the consideration of what to do on Saturday morning.  [45:20] Are there times where you are wasting high value productive time? Take a step back and think about how you could better allocate your mental time account. 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.  Links and Resources: Episode 55. Special Anniversary Episode: Celebrating the First Year of the Podcast Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on YouTube Always Leave Home Without It: A Further Investigation of the Credit-Card Effect on Willingness to Pay A 1-minute clip from a Dustin Hoffman interview sums up the life’s work of a Nobel-winning economist Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Bank of America Keep the Change Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting The Red and the Black: Mental Accounting of Savings and Debt Invest now, drink later, spend never: On the mental accounting of delayed consumption Mental Accounting Matters Choices, Values, and Frames Episode 30. Booms and Busts Episode 8. What is Value? Here’s what the average NFL player makes in a season Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing

Welcome to season two of The Brainy Business. This episode is a special anniversary episode celebrating the first year of the podcast. I can’t believe it has been a full year already. Year one brought us 54 episodes with over 60,000 downloads in 133 countries around the world. So  much has happened this year. I’ve made amazing connections to listeners in person and on social media. I’ve had conversations with academics, students, business owners, and marketers. I also launched my column on Inc.com Today, I’m going to share the top ten episodes by downloads, some of your favorites – with clips from the audiograms you submitted, and a few of my favorite episodes – including which ones I share the most. I will also give some looks behind the scenes, with the top questions I get asked, the funniest thing people say to me now (that I had never heard before becoming a podcaster), my favorite books, and more. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:43] An audio clip featuring Nikki Rausch of Sales Maven. [06:06] The Business Bros are early adopters and find this podcast instrumental in their marketing. [08:59] I share the top 10 podcasts based on your downloads. [09:40] A message from Maureen about episode 43 and how she benefited from a discovery call and then working together.  [13:15] Number 9 on the countdown was episode 42: A Behavioral Economics Analysi of Apple Card. [14:54] Episode 32 was one of my favorite episodes, and it includes the chocolate cake study. This one is about The Overwhelmed Brain, and I play a quick clip from Debby. This was also the first episode where I referenced the Texas A & M Human Behavior Lab. [19:27] Episode 3 about lead magnets was number 7. This was based on a popular video I did before the podcast launched. [21:03] Episode 47: The Behavioral Analysis of Costco was number 6. I have some more fun business analysis shows coming up. [23:16] Episode 35, which was The Introduction to Choice Architecture and Nudging. This episode is where I first started using my air conditioner example. This is a really intricate and complex topic. It's critical for any business to understand the complexity of choice. [27:03] Episode 45: An Overview of Personal Biases was the fourth most downloaded episode. I was a bit nervous launching into this rapid fire series.  [29:10] Number 3 was episode 5: The Truth About Pricing. I also play a quick clip by Kadra who I was fortunate enough to work with. [32:47] The second most downloaded episode of all time is episode 2. This episode was the Top 5 Wording Mistakes That Businesses Make. Because of this episode I am now associated with cotton candy grapes. [34:40] Number 1 is also Episode 1: Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain. I write out full scripts for my podcast. I discovered this was the best way to work after episode 1 and 2 had to be recorded multiple times each.  [37:38] Episode 11: Anchoring and Adjustment was also really popular. This is the episode with the story about the 38% increase of sales in Snickers. [38:48] Episode 23: Reciprocity and Episode 31 on Mirror Neurons were also popular with listeners. I got to talk about Sheldon Cooper and the Big Bang Theory in episode 23 (which I love). Mirror neurons are so fascinating and one of my favorite topics. [41:39] Kelly Ferguson, of Ferguson Avenue Photography said via Facebook that episode 8, What is Value? is her favorite. It was so much fun to come up with examples of what creates real value.  [42:48] An episode I recommend  often is episode 16 on Framing. I also recommend episode 19 on Herding and episode 17 The Power of Numbers.  [44:00] I also loved talking about Time Discounting and my interview with Texas A & M. My online strategy session was also a favorite.  [44:53] I also loved the episode on Booms, Bubbles and Busts because it was really fun to talk about tulips and Beanie Babies. [45:13] The last episode I want to talk about is episode 9 which was my very first foundations episode on Loss Aversion. I was concerned the foundations episodes would come across as too academic, but people loved them. [47:40] Where we hang out: A lot of people listen to the podcast on their commute or while walking their dogs. Some listen at the gym. One listener even listened while running a marathon. I'd love to hear where we hang out. [52:06] My rapid fire book recommendations with links below. [55:05] A quick shout out to the team at Pro Podcast Solutions.  [55:20] I record my episodes with a USB microphone in my home office.  [56:06] Brain is a custom creation made from a model. I added a little purple paint and we have Brain.  [57:02] Thanks again for making this year beyond what I could have imagined.  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.  Links and Resources: Melina Palmer Behavioral Economics and Business on Inc. Your Sales Maven Business Bros Podcast Episode 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Episode 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 1. Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 31. Mirror Neurons Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 30. Booms and Busts Episode 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Episode 10. On Air Strategy Planning Session with Mariel Court A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely Nudge by Richard Thaler Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman The Buying Brain by Ak Pradeep Simpler by Cass Sunstein The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton The Invisible Gorilla by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons Pre-suasion by Robert Cialdini

Today is our last episode in the series on biases – and the last episode of the first year of the podcast! Can you believe it? A whole year of behavioral economics and business. A lot has happened over this year and I look forward to sharing that in next week’s anniversary episode. Today’s episode closes out the series on biases by talking about our brains’ penchant for novelty and story. You probably know that people remember better when they hear stories, and that they pay more attention, but this will explain the concepts of our brain that make it the case for everyone - and how you can use it in your business to be more effective. Show Notes: [04:00] Our brains like things that stick out or are different. This is called the bizarreness effect because things that are bizarre are remembered better than more common stuff. [05:13] We are also more likely to remember funny things compared to those that are not humorous due to the humor effect. [06:32] Incorporating humor into messaging is not always easy. If it is not done right and feels staged it can be detrimental to any brand. [07:32] Due to pareidolia our brains are primed to see faces in pretty much everything. No matter how vague or random the stimuli, it can be seen as significant when our brain gets a hold of it. [08:14] Illusory correlation is an inaccurate memory about the relationship between two different things. [09:17] Seeing faces on houses, trees, cracks in the sidewalk or whatever else (pareidolia) are deeply rooted in our love of story and of novelty. [10:51] Our brains’ appreciation for stories impacts so much of everything we do. We often tell ourselves stories about other people because it helps us to understand them. [11:07] Due to the empathy gap, we are likely to underestimate how much feelings will influence decisions and how strong they can be – this occurs both for ourselves and for other people. [12:48] Due to the identifiable victim effect, people tend to have a lesser response to a large group of people than they do to a single person. [13:58] Giving a specific story can help form a picture in their brain, which means they are more likely to remember you in the future. [14:39] Survivorship bias is a way we can remember and focus on those who survived and ignoring everything else because it is less visible.  [16:14] If you are not thinking about where survivorship bias could be impacting your analysis, you could be doing a huge disservice to your business. [16:33] The just world hypothesis is where we want to believe the world around us is fundamentally just, and we will rationalize some injustice that is otherwise inexplicable as being deserved by the victim. [17:20] Moral luck is the tendency for someone to use the outcome of an event to assign moral standing even when it is likely unrelated. [18:07] Authority bias is where we are more likely to believe and be influenced by the opinion of someone in authority. [20:35] The Ben Franklin effect shows that if we have done a favor for someone, we are more likely to do a second favor for them. [22:03] Social desirability bias is where we want others to see us in the best possible light, so we will likely overreport our own socially desirable behaviors and characteristics, while we will under report them for everyone else. [22:30] The courtesy bias is where we share opinions that are more socially acceptable than our true thoughts and feelings so we do not offend anyone. [22:47] Because of omission bias we will judge actions (also known as commissions) more harshly than inactions (or omissions) even if they are more harmful than taking an action. [24:18] The backfiring effect is when we have done something good, and are therefore more likely to allow ourselves to do something bad. [25:33] The stories we tell ourselves are impacting the decisions we make all the time, and it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as these studies have made it out. [25:56] Once you understand how these biases impact you and your life, think about how it impacts the opinions others have of you (and you have of others). Then think about how understanding them can help you to make better decisions. 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.   Links and Resources: Melina Palmer Behavioral Economics and Business 1 Simple Brain Trick That Can Help You Overcome Self-Doubt Forever The Brainy Biz Facebook Page @thebrainybiz on Twitter The Brainy Biz on Instagram Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment 12 Examples Of Pareidolia Simulating Pareidolia of Faces for Architectural Image Analysis Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight The J. Paul Getty Museum Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Missing what’s missing: How survivorship bias skews our perception | David McRaney | TEDxJackson Moral Luck CFP Board Commercial Can You Tell the Difference 30 second TV Ad Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity The Omission Bias in Sports A Meta-Analytic Review of Moral Licensing Do Green Products Make Us Better People? Moral Self-Licensing: When Being Good Frees Us to Be Bad Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases Episode 50. Selective Attention Biases Episode 52. Biases – Math is Hard Episode 53. An Overview of Lazy Brain Biases

We are getting near the end of our eight week series on all the biases. There is just one more to go after this one, which is about how our brains are biased toward novelty and stories. The first six episodes in the series, which are linked in the show notes, were on personal biases, how we are biased toward others (both individuals and groups), memory, present versus future, selective attention, and last week was all about how math is hard. Turns out we aren’t so good with money, value, numbers, games and probabilities. So, why do we take shortcuts or accept something as a fact without actually doing the investigative work behind it? It all has to do with our lazy brain. The truth is we have the power to use our brains however we want. Learning some of the lazy brain biases will help us use our brain more efficiently in our life and our businesses - or at least help us understand the science behind some of our choices.  Show Notes [04:58] The default effect, which was covered in episode 20 and again in episode 38 as part of the series on nudges. We humans are most likely to choose a default option when we are provided one, whether it is in our best interest or not. [05:39] Due to the decoy effect someone’s preference for a choice or product will change based on the options that are presented. [08:05] We have an automation bias, which leads us to have an excessive dependence on automated systems, this can create a situation where those automated decisions override the choices of individuals that would be more correct and accurate. [08:43] There are lots of things automation can’t do properly, so it is important to be thoughtful and take a look under the hood every now and then. [09:08] The law of the instrument, where we are overly reliant on a familiar tool. The old adage to explain this is, “If all you have is a hammer...everything looks like a nail.” [09:26] Functional fixedness is where someone is limited to using an object only in the way it is traditionally designed or expected to be used. [09:49] Our businesses would be best served if we could look at a problem in a new way, from a new angle, and find a new approach. [10:49] A great example featuring the Apollo XIII story. [11:54] Our brains are looking for the easiest answer and solution most of the time, the way the information is presented – or the frame – can determine what actions we take. [12:44] When I talk about anchoring and pricing I always recommend to start with the highest price first. [13:00] The contrast effect makes it so different stimuli are viewed differently based on what was seen just before it. [14:12] Interoceptive bias is when we believe that input from our senses are used to influence our external decisions. [15:22] The ambiguity effect is when we avoid options and choices where we don’t know the odds or likelihood of the outcome in advance, and we would rather choose an option with bad odds that we happen to know, than go down the unknown path. [15:55] Action bias is where we take an action to feel like we are in control of something. [17:38] There are two versions of illicit transference. The fallacy of composition is when you assume things about a group because of one person you have interacted with. The fallacy of division is where you determine each individual must be like the whole group. [20:59] When we are presented with tasks that are particularly daunting, we may become a victim of Parkinson's law of triviality, which is also known as bikeshedding. This is when trivial issues are given way too much weight and we can get stuck on the small stuff to avoid fixing the big stuff. [23:03] Lag effect is how we learn better if our studying is spread out over time instead of trying to cram it all in during one session. The levels of processing effect is where not all methods of putting information into our memory have the same level of effectiveness [24:07] The list length effect is where we can remember more items when given a longer list. Our brains are only as lazy as we allow them to be. [24:56] Take a limiting belief that you have and push the limits. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases Episode 50. Selective Attention Biases Episode 52. Biases – Math is Hard Leave an Audio Review or Talk With Me Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Episode 38. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The D in NUDGES – Defaults Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Predictably Irrational Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment The Greatest Space Hack Ever This Is the Actual Hack That Saved the Astronauts of the Apollo XIII Apollo Expeditions to the Moon - A Square Peg in a Round Hole Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Action Bias Among Elite Soccer Goalkeepers: the Case of Penalty Kicks Action Bias and Environmental Decisions The Inaction Effect in the Psychology of Regret Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits

Last week we got to finally have the episode on time discounting, which was very exciting for me because as many of you know, it is my all time favorite concept. As you learned in episode 51, I call it the “I’ll Start Monday Effect” because it is the bias behind all the times we commit ourselves to do something in the future (like starting a new exercise program on Monday) and when we wake up…we feel like a completely different person and hit snooze. As you have heard me mention on the show many times before, 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. We will get into that in more detail next week, but today I want to talk about how that impacts our interactions with numbers and math. Most people think math is hard and our brains are particularly lazy when it comes to hard stuff, so we often risk being wrong rather than take the time to do the numbers. I dive deep in the fascinating whys and why nots of this phenomena. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [04:34] 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. [05:54] Our brains make lots of assumptions based on the little bit of information they are looking at. This combines with our brain’s natural tendency to believe everything it learns to be TRUE first and ask questions later. [06:27] Because we are particularly lazy when it comes to math, we rely on the source of whatever is thrown our way, and the brain would rather risk being wrong than to take the time to do the numbers in everyday interactions. [07:27] Because of unit bias, you may have assumed the amount you serve yourself matches the intended serving size. [09:00] Calories are the main comparison people make when thinking about cereal. Most people don't take the time to do the actual math involved in the serving size. [09:54] Due to the less is better effect, our preferences change when we evaluate things alone versus comparing them against others (this is relativity in action). [11:16] Great quote from Thinking Fast and Slow, (which was actually a quote from Paul Rozen, an expert in disgust) “a single cockroach will completely wreck the appeal of a bowl of cherries, but a cherry will do nothing at all for a bowl of cockroaches.” [11:48] MONEY AND VALUE 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. [12:09] Due to the denomination effect we are more likely to spend money in smaller denominations than when it is in bigger ones. [12:53] We still do a lot of mental accounting. This is where we think money in different places or accounts is not all accessible in the same way. [13:33] Why is $1000 not the same everywhere? Consider all the ways this is good and bad. [14:37] Due to the IKEA effect (yes, that is its actual name) people will value things more that they made themselves or partially assembled. [15:13] The endowment effect is where we value things we own more than things we do not. [15:43] For your business, remember that making people feel like they came up with the idea makes them more likely to support it. [16:11] Due to the Zeigarnik effect we will remember the tasks we did not complete – or where we were interrupted – better than the tasks we did complete. [16:43] Due to the disposition effect we humans will tend to sell assets that have accumulated in value and hold onto those that have declined in value. [17:29] Because of our time saving bias, when going at a relatively low speed, we underestimate the amount of time we could save by speeding up or lose by slowing down. [18:14] Perspective can make a huge difference for good and bad. [18:40] Duration neglect. This likely combines with the IKEA effect where we forget the 8 hours it took to put together that simple bookshelf and just see the glorious thing we have created. [20:05] Well-traveled road effect. We underestimate how long it will take us to go on roads or routes we have taken a lot, and overestimate how long it will take to go on less familiar ones. [21:37] GAMES AND PROBABILITIES The hot hand fallacy. ​It's a myth that “hot hands” are going to continue to defy the odds. [22:18] The clustering illusion is where we see phantom patterns and overestimate the importance of small streaks. [22:40] This is a lot like the gambler’s fallacy. This is where we think the past has any impact on the future probability. [23:50] We are biased toward having zero risk if we can. This is much like ambiguity aversion, or uncertainty aversion, people are more likely to prefer the things we know. [25:46] Neglected probability territory is when we are uncertain about the options or outcomes and need to make a decision we completely disregard everything we do know about probabilities. [26:12] Berkson's paradox is where someone will misinterpret statistical experiments when the probabilities are conditional. [27:11] Due to the subadditivity effect, we judge the probability of the whole to be less than the probability of its individual parts. [27:41] Insensitivity to sample size, which is where we don’t properly anticipate the variation that will show up in small samples. [28:04] Weber Fechner Law which is when we find it difficult to compare and see small differences among large samples. [29:38] Melina shares a story from Thinking Fast and Slow. [33:31] Everything we know to be true is not necessarily true. We need to step back, flex, and relax. Try to take an objective look at your business processes. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting @atubanos on Twitter Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Less Is Better: When Low-value Options Are Valued More Highly than High-value Options Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Thinking Fast and Slow Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 30. Booms and Busts The Disposition to Sell Winners Too Early and Ride Losers Too Long: Theory and Evidence Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases Treatment Decisions Under Ambiguity Ambiguity and Nonparticipation: The Role of Regulation Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Statistics How To Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases How to Feel Like You Have All the Time in the World (even If You Don’t)

Today, we are getting back to our behavioral economics foundations episodes to discuss time discounting. I hope you enjoyed the last three episodes in our series on all the biases, where I told you about memory biases, our biases toward the future and how that impacts our decisions today, and how our selective attention and focus can color our decisions. Time discounting is one of my favorite concepts. I recently did a research project centered around the concept of time discounting and saving money, and there is a white paper about it coming out this summer. Time discounting is the basis behind a lot of the future versus present biases which I talk about in Episode 49. In this episode, we will learn all about time discounting and why I love it so much. I tell people to think of time discounting as the “I’ll start Monday effect.” In this episode, you’ll learn why. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [07:30] Have you ever said you would start your diet, or exercise plan, or quit smoking, or be more organized or whatever it is… “on Monday”? [08:58] So, what happened? Why do you feel like a completely different person when the alarm goes off than the person who set the alarm the night before? [09:26] When we think about ourselves, a certain part of the brain lights up, and it does this differently when we are thinking about ourselves versus thinking about someone else. [10:05] For most of us (and especially for particularly impatient people) when we talk about our future self, the brain lights up as if it is talking about a completely different person! [10:34] It's easy to talk about our future selves doing something early in the morning, but when the alarm goes off it's actually us who is waking up. [11:08] We have a hard time judging what is best for us today from what is best for us tomorrow. [12:30] We aren’t inherently good are bad at this...more like we are great at this in some situations but terrible at it in others. [12:54] When looking at this from your business perspective (and in understanding more about yourself…which we will talk about both later on in the episode) try to think about the concept in general and how it could apply to you, your peers and current or potential customers. [13:16] The term hyperbolic time discounting shows us that the way we discount is not consistent over time, and studies have found it does not occur at a rate that is constant or linear. [15:40] Our lazy brains (which is the topic of an upcoming bias episode) don’t take the time to do all this logical thinking, and the subconscious wins out with its present-focused mentality. [16:10] Think of some of the ways that time discounting has affected you, because I'm sure it has come up in many ways. [17:14] Just because it is hardwired doesn’t mean you can’t change it. On the contrary, understanding how this concept works and how it is genetically conditioned in your brain allows you to set up a sort of brain hack so you can work WITH your brain to change and accomplish your goals. [19:46] If a client came to me with this problem (of helping employees save more for retirement), the first thing I would do is recommend we dig into the current plans. What are the offering, how do they present it to employees, when do they get it, what are the options, how difficult is it, etc. And then I would remind them that just because a plan has always been set up a certain way…doesn’t mean it is the right way or that it has to stay that way. [21:35] One other question to consider when thinking about the power of time discounting is opting in versus opting out. Forcing people to choose more often and consciously think of what they are doing does not always encourage them to make better decisions. [23:11] It's easy for the brain to commit when it is in a cold state. [25:17] BRINGING TOMORROW TO TODAY One other way to make the future self of you and your customers to be more visible in the present, is to look at renderings. Consider how you could help someone make tomorrow more real today with the help of technology. [30:02] OTHER BUSINESS EXAMPLES I once worked for a company that changed the review process for managers so that every manager’s ability to get their full raise potential was dependent upon having their reviews done in a timely manner. [32:43] ​I also used to encourage my employees to keep lists of all their accomplishments throughout the year and would reach out to them a month before their review to let me know what they were especially proud of. [33:30] ​I would also recommend for companies to not stack reviews so they are all needing to be completed at once. [37:37] ​Vagueness can produce inaction even when people are informed about risks and potential improvements. What can you provide to your staff to help them find the blood drive or voting booth or get their flu shot? [39:03] Making the experience real and actionable (you can picture that today even if your day/time is not for a week or so) makes it more real. This also activates mirror neurons. [40:12] Every customer who is not signed up for a recurring plan with you of some kind is having to take on some sort of action and give up their precious money to do business with you. [42:00] If you have people delaying to buy for whatever reason, think about why they are putting off the decision. [42:48] The brain wants the benefit now, so make it as easy as possible to say yes when they are on the fence. [43:27] The next example is a little taste of what I did in my research project with the credit union in Oregon. [44:25] Constant reminders of saving keep it on your brain. [45:24] One thing many of us do is set far too many goals for ourselves. Due to our optimism bias, we think we can do a lot more than we really can. One reason we have an optimism bias is because of time discounting. [47:13] If you only had one top priority to get done, you would be much more likely to accomplish it. [48:07] You can use loss aversion to motivate your clients by putting money in a jar if they keep their commitment, but if they don't they lose it all. This makes future consequences tangible today. [49:26] When you are looking for ways to apply the solution to time discounting, it doesn’t have to be directly related to the thing that is causing the delay. [52:53] I want to help everyone realize their future dreams by taking the right actions today - how can we work to combat time discounting 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 share what you liked about the show. Links and Resources: Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases Episode 50. Selective Attention Biases Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Buffalo Seamery on Instagram Impulsivity and Cigarette Smoking: Delay Discounting in Current, Never, and Ex-smokers. Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review Increasing Saving Behavior Through Age-Progressed Renderings of the Future Self Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting Initial Examination of Priming Tasks to Decrease Delay Discounting Unstuck in Time: Episodic Future Thinking Reduces Delay Discounting and Cigarette Smoking Simpler: The Future of Government by Cass Sunstein Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 22. The Power of Habit Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans. Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self-Control by Precommitment The Power of Small Wins Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving Oldify - Age Your Face Change My {FACE} Human Behavior Lab About the Research Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Episode 39. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The E in NUDGES – Expect Error Episode 31. Mirror Neurons Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias

This has been an amazing month as I spoke at eight different events across the country on 6 different topics, from pricing to change management, why consumers are weird and how behavioral economics is the future of branding. I love speaking at events like this and want to welcome all of you who are joining the podcast after hearing me speak at one of those events. I had so much fun getting to know and interact with many of you, and want to thank you for listening. Welcome to The Brainy Business Family! What do I mean when I talk about “selective attention” biases? If you have been listening to the series so far, you know we have talked about how our brains are biased toward ourselves, the way we think about others, our memories, and past versus future. Today, we are going to dig into all those biases that have to do with how we focus our attention and how that can color our impression of the world around us. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [00:04:25] We are going to dig into all those biases that have to do with how we focus our attention and how that can color our impression of the world around us. [00:05:34] I have broken selective attention into three categories: where we focus our attention, how that impacts the decisions we make, and how it colors our perception when looking back. [00:05:54] The most common concept and one I am guessing you are very familiar with even if you don’t know the name of it, is called the frequency illusion, selection bias or the Baader-Meinhof effect. This is where after something comes to our attention it seems to be everywhere. [00:07:30] The recency illusion which would be if I thought the phenomenon of the word “panacea” being everywhere is because it is a brand new word everyone has just started using (instead of a word that was recently introduced to me). [00:08:30] This is similar to availability, which was the focus of episode 15. We humans put more weight and importance on things we can recall easiest. [00:09:43] This can lead to the availability cascade, which is a self-reinforcing process where hearing and seeing something more and more makes it feel more and more true or real. [00:10:14] Once we become familiar with things or concepts, we are much more likely to like or believe them because of the mere exposure effect. [00:10:53] Selective perception is when our expectations impact the way we perceive things. For example, if you expect a sales call to go badly, it probably will. [00:11:53] This is very similar to attentional bias, which is when our perceptions are impacted by recurring thoughts and the focusing effect, which is when we place too much importance on one aspect of an event. [00:14:12] The Von Restorff effect, is where something that sticks out is more likely to be remembered than everything else. [00:16:09] Due to the rhyme as reason effect, we believe statements that rhyme to be more truthful than those that don’t. [00:16:45] Due to the belief bias, we also base the logical strength of an entire argument on the believability of the conclusion. [00:17:26] We also tend to focus on specifics and think they are more likely to happen than general conditions because of conjunction fallacy. [00:18:39] Base rate fallacy or base rate neglect, where we tend to ignore generic or general information (also known as base rate information) to focus on more specific information that only pertains to a certain case. [00:20:13] Exaggerated expectation is where people tend to predict and expect more extreme outcomes than what actually happen. [00:20:46] DECISIONS MADE: Our brains get what they expect. Because of the Semmelweis reflex, people tend to reject new evidence that contradicts their perspective, paradigm, or expectation. [00:21:27] Experimenters or expectation bias is the tendency for someone to believe, certify, and publish data that aligns with what they expected to see. [00:22:46] Illusory correlation is when someone will inaccurately perceive a relationship between two unrelated events. [00:23:40] Subjective validation ​is where someone sees something as being true if their previous beliefs demand it to be true. [00:24:09] Biases can lead to the backfire effect or the continued influence effect, which is when someone will disconfirm evidence that is presented by strengthening their previous beliefs. We also suffer from confirmation bias, which is when we search for, interpret, remember or focus on information that confirms our preconceptions. [00:25:16] The size of the space being searched can cause the researcher to observe something statistically significant that actually wouldn’t be if the parameters had been set correctly because of the look elsewhere effect. This is similar to congruencies bias, where someone will directly test their hypotheses instead of testing possible alternatives. [00:27:25] Information bias is when we keep seeking more and more information even when it can’t affect our actions. Distinction bias is when you are comparing two things at once you are more likely to see what is different about them (than if you evaluate each on its own). [00:28:51] Due to hindsight bias or the “I knew it all along effect” we tend to see past events as being more predictable than they actually were. [00:29:22] Outcome bias is when we judge a decision based on the outcome instead of the quality of the decision. [00:29:57] The misinformation effect is where memories are less accurate because of information that comes about after the event is over. [00:30:20] Consistency bias is where you remember your past attitudes and behavior as in alignment with the way you think and feel now (even if you didn’t feel that way at the time). 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. Links and Resources: Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases Episode 49. Present Versus Future Biases Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases Availability: A Heuristic for Judging Frequency and Probability OJ Simpson Murder Trial: "If It Doesn't Fit, You Must Acquit" Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 30. Booms and Busts Thinking, Fast and Slow The Base-Rate Fallacy in Probability Judgments Episode 4. Questions or Answers Calendly Acuity Schedulicity

This episode is about present versus future biases. This is part 4 of our 8 part series about biases. We've already talked about personal biases, how we think about ourselves versus other people, and memories. When it comes to present versus future, people want their payoffs now, so humans tend to place a greater weight on the outcome that is closer to now. Other things that impact our decisions include losses and risks. We are impacted more by losses than gains. We are also biased towards maintaining the status quo. I talk about optimism bias and even pessimism bias. When you know the rules of the game, it can be easier than you think to trick your brain into doing more in your favor – whether it is making choices today that you will appreciate tomorrow, or helping to get yourself out of a negative spiral. This episode will help you understand why we tend to make decisions a certain way and enable you to make better decisions for your business and your life. Show Notes: [04:10] People want their payoffs as quickly as possible. We place greater weight on things that happen closer to now. [04:31] This is closely tied to time discounting (what I call the “I’ll start Monday effect”). [04:39] We tend to make decisions today that our future self may not be as happy about. [05:39] Due to diversification or projection bias, we may think our future self will want more variety than we really want or will use. [06:07] You think you'll want options that are more virtuous - could be related to optimism bias. [07:14] Due to impact bias, we overestimate the duration of intensity of the impact of how we will feel in the future. [07:50] We are also victim to projection bias, which means we overestimate how much our future self will share the preferences we have today. [08:34] Reactance is the urge to rebel and do the opposite of what someone wants you to do to hold on to some form of control and power. [10:44] Irrational escalation – also known as the sunk cost fallacy – where people will keep spending and justify pouring money into a bad prior investment even though evidence shows it is bad. [12:43] As your brain gets overwhelmed your subconscious is more likely to take the reigns, meaning you will make more battery and present-focused decisions. [13:47] The hot-cold empathy gap finds that in a cold state it's much easier to make better decisions then in a hot state or in the moment. [16:01] The reverse is the cold-hot empathy gap where smokers underestimated their cravings to smoke when they were in a cold state. [17:26] People are impacted more by losses than gains – and it takes double the joy felt by a gain to equal the pain felt by a loss. [17:52] Dread aversion – dread results in double the emotional impact of savoring. [20:11] We tend to beef up the status quo and defend it more than may be warranted because of system justification. [20:33] Due to normalcy bias and not wanting to think about change, we may refuse to plan for or have the proper reaction to a disaster which has never happened before. [21:35] Due to a zero risk bias, we will prefer to reduce a small risk down to nothing than taking a bigger reduction in a larger risk. [22:47] Because of risk compensation or the Peltzman effect, we are more likely to take a greater risk when our perceived safety increases. [24:26] Because of the pseudocertainty effect we are more likely to make choices that avoid risk if the expected outcome is a good one, but seek out risk in an attempt to avoid a negative outcome. Which could lead to the ostrich effect or ignoring a negative situation. [26:06] A predisposition toward viewing the past in a positive way and the future in a negative way is called declinism. [26:21] The pessimism bias is to overestimate the likelihood of negative things happening to us in the future. [26:42] A zero sum bias is where you think that the only way one person gains is at the expense of another. [27:05] Look for the win win. For one person to succeed, it doesn't mean that another person has to fail. [27:25] Negativity bias is when it's easier for us to remember negative memories over positive memories. The worse than average effect is where we believe that we are worse at tasks than average people are. [29:06] Acting like a confident, optimistic person can create the benefits as if you are confident and optimistic. [29:44] When you know the rules of the game, it can be easier than you think to trick your brain into doing more in your favor and using these biases as your advantage. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases @wagsRJ Robert Parlange on Twitter Magic of Self Direction by David S. Schwartz @BusinessBrosPod on Twitter Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott @thebrainybiz on Twitter Diversification Bias: Explaining the Discrepancy in Variety Seeking Between Combined and Separated Choices Mixing Virtue and Vice: Combining the Immediacy Effect and the Diversification Heuristic Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Research on How Self-control Works Could Help You Stick With New Year's Resolutions Free Will in Consumer Behavior: Self-control, Ego Depletion, and Choice A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect Hot–Cold Empathy Gaps and Medical Decision Making Exploring the Cold-to-Hot Empathy Gap in Smokers Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion The Endowment Effect Anomalies: The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem Does Market Experience Eliminate Market Anomalies? The Case of Exogenous Market Experience

This behavioral economics podcast episode is about memories. Specifically, it will be an overview of memory biases  Last week, we took a little break from our series on “all the biases” for a behavioral economics analysis of Costco. Today, we dig into memory. This topic will be divided into three sections. The first section is general memory stuff, then we will talk about false memories and wrap it up with some tips on how you can use these biases to help you remember things better! When we think about our brains and all the amazing things they do, much of what we are accessing are memories. This episode breaks it all down with some fun facts and cool tips about our memories that a lot of you may not know. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [03:59] When we think about our brains and all the amazing things they do, much of what we are accessing are memories. [04:21] Most people think of our brains like a filing cabinet, but that's not how it works. [04:36] Our memories are basically inaccurate renditions our brains tell us...and every time we access them, we change them a little. [04:49] The more we think about something the less likely it is to be accurate. This is partially because of two biases called leveling and sharpening. [05:00] Memories can be distorted over time when details are lost. In this process, there may be selective recollection (where you only remember, sharpen and exaggerate certain portions of the memory). Or, it can be leveled out to fit some other biases that exist and just get a little dulled over time. Both of these are constantly reinforcing each other over time. [06:41] Our biases impact our memories and our present and future. [06:58] Because of the self relevance effect we find it much easier to recall memories about our self or things related to ourselves. [07:13] You are the hero of your own story, but even you don't remember your own story correctly. [07:20] Due to the fading effect bias, our brains like to feel positive emotions more than negative ones, so the emotions tied to bad memories will fade quicker than the emotions tied to positive events. This is likely tied to optimism bias and our ability to persevere through hardship. [07:54] Because of reminiscence bump, people do not remember things from all times of their life equally. Instead, people will have memories and be able to recall more personal events from happenings in early adulthood and adolescence than from any other time in their life. [08:35] We remember some time periods better than others, some items from years and years ago are able to be recalled “like it was yesterday.” [08:55] Due to the telescoping effect, we tend to think of recent events as being further back in time, and those which happened longer ago are placed more recent in our minds. [09:14] The peak end rule – where experiences are not about the sum of that entire experience over time. Instead, it is about how it was at its peak and how it ended. [10:12] If something bad happened, it might be worth putting in some effort to make sure that is not the last experience and instead have it be a midpoint negative item if you can, that becomes outweighed by some very positive peaks over time. [11:05] The tip of the tongue phenomenon. I am sure you have had this frustrating experience at least once – when you can almost remember something…and the word or phrase or moment or name of that movie is “on the tip of your tongue” – right? This is thought to happen due to blocking, when multiple memories that are similar to each other are being called upon at the same time. [12:23] A false memory is when we accidentally think something we imagined really happened, and misattribute it as a memory. [12:55] Think about selling – confidence is key to selling. Try and imagine what it would be like if you had done this successfully already, think through the whole memory to help make it as real as possible. When you believe it, that could make future selling easier. [14:02] Our brains are powerful, but they are easily manipulated too. [14:40] The illusion of truth effect. Essentially, people are more likely to believe something they have heard before – or are familiar with – than something they have never heard before (or are unfamiliar with). [15:25] The opposite of a false memory is called cryptomnesia – when a real memory is mistaken as imagination because there is not the proper subjective experience of it being a memory. [16:54] We kind of smooth and average things out. This is why we tend to remember high values, likelihoods and probabilities as lower than they were, and low ones as higher. This is known as the conservatism or regressive bias. [17:39] You remember something that took a long time as not being as much as it really was, and because you are optimistic you will do even better the next time, you severely underestimate how long it will take. [18:12] HOW TO REMEMBER THINGS BETTER [20:04] Don't bog down your consciousness with stuff that can be found easily. Make room for other stuff that can't be found easily. [20:35] Repeated exposure over a long period of time is better than cramming it all in last minute. [21:12] It's easier to remember something in the right context. [22:23] It's easier to remember happy memories when you're happy and sad memories when you're sad. [23:24] Repeating information out loud can help you remember it this is called the generation effect. [24:38] Having the general message should be enough to help you remember. [26:13] Note cards with images could help you remember. [27:35] Stuff that takes longer to read and process is easier to remember. [29:12] Put the most important things on the list at the end. This is because of the modality effect. [30:21] In networking situations or in meetings…are you always waiting for someone to take a breath or pause so you can speak? That is a sign you aren’t really listening to others when they speak, because you are creating a next in line effect all the time. [30:48] Being a good listener is key to building relationships 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. Links and Resources: @walidkoleilat on Twitter Episode 47. A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis COGNITION Chapter 6: MEMORY DISTORTIONS Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases The Science of ‘Accidental’ Joke-Stealing and Plagiarism Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making  

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you have likely heard me mention Costco before. They do so many things differently than traditional business might suggest is best or profitable, but they have found a way to make it work and their business thrives because of it. In this episode, I’m going to discuss how Costco rivals almost any store or brand, and how they don’t do traditional marketing and advertising. I’ll talk about how they invest back into the community, have a simple code of ethics, reward shareholders, and how having a membership model and plan can work if it’s done right. Costco is the perfect brand for a behavioral economics analysis, because they do things differently, but in a smart, strategic way that makes their unconventional plan a huge success. Today, we learn why Costco is the powerhouse that it is (and what you can implement in your own business - even if your model is completely different). Show Notes: [04:19] Many consider Costco’s biggest rivals to be Walmart / Sam’s Club or Target – but depending on the section of the store…they pretty much compete with everyone: from Amazon, Home Depot and Best Buy to Expedia, Pizza Hut, Les Schwab and your local optometrist. [04:54] They participate in the community and reinvest in the company in a way that creates advocates, which reduces the need for traditional marketing. [05:32] That gets me to the core of Costco – their mission. It seems basic and generic enough, “to continually provide members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.” [06:06] But they differentiate with their Simple Code Of Ethics: Obey the law. Take care of our members. Take care of our employees. Respect our suppliers. And then, reward shareholders. [06:57] The Costco membership model. [08:01] A membership is good for the store because it encourages people to shop there to “get their money’s worth” – this is loss aversion in action. And, this is not just triggered by perceived ownership…you actually have some real ownership because you have paid to be part of the in-crowd. [09:29] Costco has put a lot of work into making it a lifestyle choice. [10:22] Having time to slow down and experience with all the senses puts perceived ownership into overdrive. [10:54] This aversion to losses combines with the scarcity factor to encourage people to buy more. I’m sure items are scarce at Costco to encourage sales, but there is more to it than that. The high turnover of product and high efficiency model of Costco increases their profit margin and allows the whole model to really work. [11:31] They also have a very generous return policy. [13:22] The Costco food court is one of predictable beauty, which as you know is a perfect recipe for building habits. [15:28] And, of course, this increase in sales is made possible by one form of marketing Costco does believe in – free samples. Again, this is loss aversion and reciprocity at work. [17:12] If the item is an exclusive Kirkland Signature item, you know the exact thing isn’t available in other stores. All Kirkland Signature products are carefully researched, tested, hand selected, or custom-created by Costco. They truly live their mission through the whole Kirkland Signature experience – of doing best by their members, employees and suppliers. [20:02] One reason samples increase sales at Costco is because there are not too many choices. [21:28] Happy employees means lower turnover, which reduces expenses. Happy employees also means a better experience for shoppers, which keeps them happy and coming back. And, knowing that you shop at a place that values their employees also makes shoppers feel good. [22:34] Costco also does a lot of work to support their local communities, with a focus on children, education, as well as health and human services for grants and donations. [24:00] Costco works with partners and uses the value of bulk buying with their suppliers. [25:09] It is about knowing profits matter, but they aren’t everything. Squeezing out an extra 50 cents on hot dogs or rotisserie chickens – or allowing for a 16% margin on some products would make a huge impact on shareholder pockets, but it isn’t worth the negative it would cost to the members, who come first. [27:04] No company’s set up is something any other business can copy and paste. [27:29] Costco knows who they are and what their brand is there to do, and every decision they make is so easy because they can tie it back to the mission and code. [29:16] Is being a member of benefit that would work well in your business? Think about the value. [30:43] What do you stand for? Make it clear to yourself, employees, customers, and more. [32:04] Do you make it easy for people to buy from you? Are you encouraging them to get items or is it difficult? Can they get a test or sample? [33:42] Money back guarantees are worth it. [34:00] Should you incorporate a loss leader that benefits people and draws them in? [35:09] Think about the full experience. What can you be doing? [36:33] Everything matters, and it's always important to try things. 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. Links and Resources: Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain @wagsRJ on Twitter Magic of Self Direction by David S Schwartz @BusinessBrosPod on Twitter Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott Costco’s Mission, Business Model, Strategy & SWOT The Costco Story What is Costco's Mission Statement and Code of Ethics? Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Business Strategy Lessons From Costco Business Model Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 28. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Touch Episode 26. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Taste Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity 12 of the weirdest returns Costco employees have ever seen! Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 22. The Power of Habit Things You Didn’t Know About the Costco Food Court Why Costco Food Courts Have Charged $1.50 for Hot Dogs Since 1985, According to Employees Costco's Great Pricing Strategy and Business Model Costco Builds Nebraska Supply Chain For Its $5 Rotisserie Chickens 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Costco’s Free Samples Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart Costco's Simple Strategy For Outperforming Wal-Mart And Target Donation and Grant Eligibility Guidelines Costco Communities The Top 100 Retailers of 2018 Episode 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Episode 44. Rebrand, Refresh or Reinforce?

This is the second episode in the series on “all the biases” broken up into eight categories. Last week, I told you about all the personal biases (and the rules your brain uses to convince itself it is the most awesome and amazing thing in the world). Today, we are going to talk about all the biases that relate to other people and groups. We will start out with general biases, and then have sections about the biases that apply for people we are similar to and those we are different from. And, in case you are curious, the other six categories of biases we will cover in coming weeks are: memories, future versus present thinking, selective attention, math is hard, lazy brain, and finally novelty and stories. I’m so excited to break those all down for you! And as a reminder, this series is not about digging deep on any one topic, but instead giving you just a little taste of each bias and how you can use it in life and business. Each of these biases will likely get its own episode over time, but this will allow you to learn a little about them, and how they relate to each other, now. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [04:32] Intro to general biases toward other people and groups. [05:28] This first term is probably one you are familiar with: groupthink. This is essentially what happens when people are in groups, and either because they want to have a harmonious experience or not rock the boat…or just the herding mentality of humans, the people within the group start to make bad decisions. These could be irrational or different than what the person would choose to do if left to their own devices, and it is often in an attempt to minimize conflicts. [06:01] One way Amazon combats this is by having a silent start to meetings (and I linked to an article in Inc. about this in the show notes). Essentially, the leader of the meeting has to write a very well-thought out meeting prep document, which is presented at the beginning of the meeting, and everyone will sit and read it silently to themselves. [07:18] Shared information bias can be counterintuitive. [08:03] Bike shedding is when it's easier to talk about a simple topic instead of the one big topic that you should be talking about. [08:29] Be aware of the bandwagon effect in groups. [10:20] It's harder to build the snowball than to keep it moving so you will have more effort on the front end. [10:55] People look better and are more attractive when they're in a group then when they're by themselves. Remember, things are not always what they seem, so don't be intimidated. [11:57] Because of hostile attribution bias you might think that the group will be mean to you. [13:07] Stereotyping is a natural tendency and doesn't have to be hostile. It's expecting someone who's a member of a certain group to have certain characteristics. [15:04] Humans are complex and belong to all sorts of affinity groups that make up our identities. [16:09] The bulk of your perception of any person is based on their group affiliations and a stereotypical bias which may or may not be true or accurate for an individual. [17:52] Implicit association, which is how quickly a word comes to mind or matches with a previous word that was said. That can show how closely they are associated. [20:10] Because of the moral credential effect, if you have tended to not be prejudiced in the past…your likeliness to be prejudiced in the future is actually higher! [21:21] Fundamental attribution error is important to keep in mind when thinking about how we assess the actions and choices of other people. [22:10] When people experience the flip of this – thinking others’ behavior is due to a situation and their own behaviors are more about their personality, it is called extrinsic incentives bias. [23:25] When you make an internal attribution error to the whole group instead of the individuals that make it up, it is called ultimate attribution error. [24:04] When we apply this bias to individuals instead of a group, it is called the halo effect. [25:50] And, my general advice is to be aware of it and try to think of other people as multidimensional, and remember that every group is made up of multiple, multidimensional people. [26:18] PEOPLE LIKE US 00:26:34] Alright, moving on to groups of people like us. In general, we like people who are like us more than people who are not like us. This is called the in-group bias, and people are more likely to give preferential treatment to people who they see as part of their own group, or who they think are like them. [27:57] Another place where in-group bias can come up is when hearing about a victim in a story. Defensive attribution hypothesis occurs when people assign more blame as their similarity to the victim increases – this can be both in physical attributes or situational similarities. [29:25] Anthropocentric thinking is when we use human analogies and thought processes when considering less familiar, non-human things. A common example would be noting that most humans think of death as a negative thing, they apply this same value to non-human entities, even though death is necessary for many ecosystems to thrive. [31:36] This is called anthropomorphism or (as you might remember from school) personification. When we see a dog smiling we think it is happy. [32:27] PEOPLE DIFFERENT FROM US [33:03] Reactive evaluation, which means we will think less of proposals or suggestions that we believe came from an adversary or someone not like us. [35:09] Be aware of these biases and how they impact your experiences every single day. [35:30] Try to identify your biases and see where you are unfairly judging or giving benefits to someone similar to you. [35:55] Let's open our minds and make the world a little less biased and a little more thoughtful shall we? 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. Links and Resources: Jeannette Castañeda on Twitter Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases 'Silent Start': The Brilliant (and Surprising) Meeting Method I Learned From Amazon's Jeff Bezos Hostile Attribution Bias 21 Things You Didn’t Know About Bronies Brony Herd Census & State of the Herd Report Episode 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Dr. Palma from the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab Moral Credentialing and the Rationalization of Misconduct Susan Boyle Audition HD - FULL Top 10 Professions Dominated by Women University of Phoenix: Red Socks Marketing Myopia Do Dogs Smile? The Science Behind the Looks We Get From a Happy Dog

This is the start of a new series on cognitive biases. To present the series in an organized fashion I found around 200 biases and then categorized them in a way that would be relevant to what we do here on The Brainy Business. I came up with eight categories, and I will go over each bias in the category in a pretty quick succession. A cognitive bias is an error in the way humans think. It's a way that is often not in our best interest. These biases aren't random. They are predictable and that is the basis for behavioral economics. This week we are talking about those personal biases that lead us all to believe we are uniquely talented and awesome…and generally better than everyone else. As you listen to the list, think about yourself – how have you experienced this in your own life? And also think about other people – have you seen this in others? How could you use that bias in the way you message to customers or attract people to your business? Show Notes [10:48] EVERYONE IS UNIQUELY TALENTED Optimism bias: Humans assume they are more likely to have a positive outcome in life compared to other people. [11:28] You want to look at ways you can use optimism bias to your advantage when setting big goals, but your day to day tasks should be more realistic and less than you think you can accomplish. [11:32] Planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate how long it will take us to complete a task. [12:30] Do you ever find yourself with a list of 10 things you “need to do” today and you only end up getting through two? Understanding planning fallacy can help you do better in setting more realistic tasks (and therefore being happier - and more productive). [12:48] Naive realism is the belief that unlike other people, we see reality exactly as it is. [14:21] Try to be open to the perspectives of others. Your curse of knowledge will make this hard because you know a lot about your area of expertise. [15:01] In order to be successful in life and business, you need to be able to understand the perspectives of other people and how they differ from yours. [16:09] The false consensus effect is our tendency to overestimate how much other people agree with us. [17:41] Illusion of asymmetric insight this is when people think they understand their peers better than those same people understand them. [18:15] If you assume that everyone thinks you don’t understand them as well as they understand you, it could be beneficial to ask them questions that help them explain more about themselves to you. [18:49] Illusion of transparency: people also overestimate their ability to know others, and the ability for others to know them. [19:56] False uniqueness bias is when everybody thinks of themselves and their business as a special snowflake with unique problems unlike anyone else's. [21:17] When you are communicating what you offer, use the Forer effect (also known as the Barnum effect) to your advantage. This could also be seen as the astrology effect or the fortune telling phenomenon: people tend to think statements that are vague and general enough to relate to a large group of people are highly accurate and “exactly them!” [22:42] Generalities can inspire people to take action, so keep that in mind when creating your messaging. [22:57] Illusion of control, which is your tendency to overestimate the influence you have over external events. [25:33] Egocentric bias is when you feel like you do more than the other person and because of our naive cynicism, we also expect other people to have this bias more than ourselves. [26:47] It's important to praise others for their contributions without diminishing your own efforts. [27:28] Social comparison bias: Because of self-preservation and wanting to stand out and be the best, we tend to favor potential candidates whose strengths are not in direct competition with our own. [27:50] Self serving bias, where we want to claim more responsibility for successes than the things we might have failed on. We want all the glory and none of the blame. [28:23] The spotlight effect is the tendency to overestimate the amount that others are focused on our appearance or the things we say or do. [28:53] Because everyone else is the center of their own universe as well, you can relax a little. [30:07] Because of the 3rd person effect everyone believes they're less likely to be influenced by mass marketing than other people. [30:40] A bias blind spot is where we see ourselves as less biased than others and tend to be better at spotting these cognitive biases in others than in ourselves. [31:23] Illusory superiority is where we overestimate our own desirable qualities and underestimate our undesirable qualities. [32:14] Restraint bias: We all think we have more restraint than others and generally overestimating our ability to resist temptations. [32:53] Trait ascription bias: We think others have very predictable personalities, moods and behaviors (that they are more one dimensional) and that we personally are much more dynamic. [35:14] The overconfidence effect: for certain types of questions, people will say they are 99% certain in their answers…but they are actually wrong 40% of the time. [36:24] Pro innovation bias, which is essentially having massive optimism about an invention or innovation. [37:48] REVISING IN HINDSIGHT [38:06] Post purchase rationalization is when people buy on emotion and then persuade themselves it was the right decision. [38:55] Choice supportive bias is where we say retroactively are choices were more informed than they actually were. [39:22] Illusion of external agency, which means we think our personal preferences are based on insightful influences and benevolence. [40:21] Illusion of validity, where we believe our judgments and choices were accurate. [40:43] Conservatism belief revision you would not sufficiently revise your belief. [41:13] Continued influence effect, where you continue to believe misinformation even after it has been corrected. 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. Links and Resources: The Brainy Business on YouTube Torcom Talk on YouTube @ser_technology on Twitter Ser Tech Webinar Blowing Consumers Minds Using Behavioral Economics Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Ser Tech Webcasts Ser Tech Open Lending @thebrainybiz on Twitter @HBLtamu on Twitter Predictably Irrational Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Exploring the "Planning Fallacy": Why People Underestimate Their Task Completion Times Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Five Most Daunting NFL Stadiums for Visiting Teams Scarlett Johansson & Brie Larson Play ‘Who Saves the World? Girls!’ Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making The Trouble With Overconfidence Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing

How do you know when it is time to rebrand? I’ve been getting this question a lot by clients and listeners on social media. This inspired me to do this episode on deciding whether to rebrand, refresh or reinforce. Last week, I launched into branding by discussing what makes a brainy brand and how you can use behavioral economics to help make your brand as strong as possible Now it’s time to talk about rebranding, refreshing or reinforcing your brand (including when and why you would do each one). During this episode I am going to talk about the difference between rebranding, a brand refresh and what it means to reinforce your brand…as well as examples of each one with advice to help you decide when you should do each in your own business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes   [05:32] Questions like “Why did you start your business?” and “What is the dream?” are so important for overall brand conversations in companies of any size…but they can be particularly meaningful for small businesses. [06:07] The most common thing I find when I go through this process with clients is that they are not thinking out far enough into the future. They plan what they need to do to make money today instead of planning out a sustainable business for 5, 10 or 20 years in the future. [06:32] When I ask people what the ideal business would look like…they are usually building a completely different business today than what they want to have in 5 years. This is a recipe for being stuck in a business that runs you instead of creating a business and life you love. [08:37] When something is off, customers can feel it and it impacts everything. It could also make business owners who could have been really successful get resentful and not love their business. [09:15] When you get to a point where you need to rethink things many start to ask if they should rebrand. [09:34] When you have a brand that fits your company…one that resonates with customers…everything just clicks. [11:38] REBRANDING means you are changing everything: new name, new logo, new colors, maybe a new target demographic and new focus entirely. [12:36] REFRESH means you are planning to keep a lot of the central pieces of the brand – the name, basic logo and colors, but you are making some tweaks to tighten the message, shift the demographic, or maybe enter a new space. [13:18] REINFORCE is when you still take the time to (hopefully proactively) look at your brand and determine what is working and what isn’t. [14:12] The goal of rebrands and refreshes is to get to a point where you can reinforce. You want a brand that everyone gets and knows and loves. [16:05] New Coke triggered loss aversion in customers with nostalgia and an emotional tie to the brand, which resulted in hoarding, angry phone calls/letters, and fear. [17:38] The rebrand actually made people think of Coke differently and inadvertently put it on a pedestal. Coke now knows that they are solidly in reinforce mode. [20:50] Being too literal is one of the top 5 wording mistakes businesses make. [23:28] Verity Credit Union went through a rebrand 10 years before I led the refresh, where we needed to realign with the values that mattered to the target market. [24:07] Local artists were contracted to show what truth meant to them in whatever medium they used. [26:02] We had an all-staff event where we talked about the research, unveiled the new logo, showed the first four commercials and talked about the future. People were so excited to be part of it. Brand awareness nearly tripled in less than two years. [28:41] When you find a brand that works down to the core and is authentically tied to the vision and goals of the company, you get into a state of flow and that's how you know that you found "it" and can move into the reinforce phase. [30:11] When deciding to rebrand, refresh or reinforce consider 1) everything matters, 2) think bigger, 3) are we asking the right question? and 4) always be thoughtful and strategic. [32:21] Whatever brings you to the “is it time for a rebrand?” question…it is a key moment in time to stop, breathe, take a step back…and think about the bigger picture. [32:48] Too many companies ask “Who are our current customers and what do they want?” Instead, ask this question... [36:32] The next question people tend to ask when looking at a rebrand is, “What can we salvage?” It should not be the goal to keep as much of the old stuff as you can to save money. Instead you should... [41:25] The main thing I want you to remember and think of in your own rebranding is that strong brands, the best ones that get seen and make a difference and stand out from the competition…had to step away from the herding mentality of what “everyone else does” to get 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. Links and Resources: Episode 43. A Guide for You to Create a Brainy Brand Dani McDonough Photography Artwork By Dani Episode 4. Questions or Answers Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Post-it Super Sticky Easel Pad The Real Story of New Coke Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Episode 41. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The S in NUDGES – Structuring Complex Choices Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Verity Credit Union Boom Creative Verity CU YouTube His Voice Is So Emotional That Even Simon Started To Cry! Real Beauty Productions Cadbury's Gorilla Advert Aug 31st 2007 The Fun Theory 1 – Piano Staircase Initiative | Volkswagen Kristen Bell and Her Cofounders Built a Company to Save Lives. But Growing It Wasn't So Simple The Brainy Business on Facebook

Branding is one of my all time favorite topics. If you are new to the show (in which case, welcome) you may not know that I have an extensive background in this area. I obtained my undergraduate degree in marketing before working at an advertising agency, then started a credit union marketing consultancy and then ran a marketing department at a financial institution for 6 years. While there, I led a brand refresh that nearly tripled awareness in less than two years. This background in branding and marketing has led to the way I implement behavioral economics for my clients and here on the podcast. Recently, I have received a lot of questions about branding – what matters, what is included, and how behavioral economics ties into that…and that’s what we’ll dig into today. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [04:55] A brand is “a type of product made by a particular company under a particular name” or the way ranchers mark their cattle. [05:31] You put your stamp on something to show it is yours (and many people wear those same brands with pride to show they are part of the herd). [05:52] People pay more for brand name items and they even get more value out of them because of expectations and conditioning. [06:56] Marketing and branding are not the same thing. Marketing is all the one-off stuff you do to get your name out there – radio ads, website work, flyers, brochures, and sponsorships. Marketing is reactive. It isn't building something bigger. [07:49] When you create a brand, you have a strategic center everything can relate back to – a touchstone for your company. Any opportunity or new request can be brought back to this foundation to see if it is in alignment. [08:53] Marketing research has long struggled to be considered true research in the same way the sciences are. [09:07] A brainy brand knows what it is trying to achieve and builds quantitative and qualitative research projects to test, learn and grow. [11:19] Examples from Jonah Berger's amazing book Contagious. Such as people wanting Mars bars after hearing about the Mars Rover and being more likely to choose Sprite after writing with a green pen. [13:13] The concept of priming was used when shoppers were shown pictures of dogs that helped prime them to choose Puma shoes. [13:23] Think about the messaging that's coming right before your advertisement. It's important to think about the context of your ads. Priming is really relevant. Make sure that you are associating your brand properly with the right things. [15:47] When creating the brainy brand it was important to me to choose things that were fun but intelligent to draw people in. It's my responsibility to make sure that the messaging is consistent. [16:27] It's important to be strategic and thoughtful about what it is that you are doing for your company. [17:35] There is cookie dough next to the milk, because simple associations win the day. The product is placed where it is more likely to trigger the buyer’s brain. [19:01] Availability is the weight our brains place on one thing based on how easy the item comes to mind. [20:02] A brainy brand knows that everything matters. This is why I truly believe behavioral economics is the future of marketing and branding. [20:18] When you understand how the brain works and all the bazaar ways it makes decisions, it unlocks a powerful space where you can see what a certain word choice or ad placement could do that another would not. [21:12] Brands have personalities just like people…and for good reason. Known personalities create expectation in our brains. [22:18] When you expect someone to act one way and they act completely differently…like their personality has been surgically replaced with that of their opposite…it is unnerving. [22:52] There is always another competitor, a new medium to look into, a new product entering the market. [23:36] A truly brainy brand, one that is laying the foundation of their messaging and who knows who they are and how they would respond…who has a brand personality so well known that it is like a real person…they can react properly to change – and create some of it themselves. [25:32] 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. [26:39] The best brands – brainy brands – know everything about who their brand is as if it were a person. [27:17] When brands have great personalities, it ties into the associations people have about them. [28:54] Brainy brands need to have everyone on board, rowing the boat in the right direction. [30:03] Behavioral economics and other studies of the brain look into why people do the things they do, and how to use that insight to predict what they might do in the future. I'm so excited to be a part of it. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Predictably Irrational How Brands Grow Unconventional Wisdom Contagious: Why Things Catch On How to Make Your Content Go Viral Dogs on the Street, Pumas on Your Feet: How Cues in the Environment Influence Product Evaluation and Choice Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Episode 22. The Power of Habit 15 Actors Who Went to Seriously Extreme Measures for a Role HR and Marketing: A Natural Partnership Delivering Happiness

We are digging into Apple’s recent announcements today, with a heavy focus on Apple Card. When Apple made its announcements and Apple Card was included…I knew I needed to create an episode on this topic. Apple made a series of star-studded announcements about their new offerings, which included the announcement of Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and, of course, Apple Card. An interesting aspect of these announcements is that they didn’t talk about anything that is available yet, and didn’t include any pricing information. In this behavioral economics podcast, I’ll tell you why this was their true genius. It’s different from previous announcements, but they are also taking a huge turn by switching from products to services. As we dig in, I’ll explain where Apple did some really smart things and took a strategic approach to these announcements and their shift in offerings. Plus, tips for you to take away and apply in your own business. Disclosure: Specific details were accurate at time of recording. Policies are subject to change. Find the most current details at Apple.com. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [03:02] When Apple made its announcement, I knew I needed to talk about the Apple Card. In last week's Facebook Live I also let talk of the Apple Card run the discussion a bit. I did tie it back to the topic of loss of version and anchoring and adjustment, though. [04:21] Last week, Apple made a series of star-studded announcements about their new offerings, which included the announcement of Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+ and, of course, Apple Card. [04:43] People think it's weird that Apple didn't talk about anything available and didn't disclose any pricing. In reality, this is the true genius behind the announcement. [05:09] It's justified for Apple to make a shift, because they are changing their offerings from products to services. [05:30] People aren't logical. People say they think and will do one thing…but their subconscious will often think different (Apple ad throwback alert!). [06:15] When we look at the announcement from a behavioral economics point of view, we'll see a lot of smart things that your business can use or learn. [07:03] In the episode I will talk about building anticipation and expectations, the delayed pricing strategy, subscription models, framing, herding, how familiarity breeds liking, and the value of celebrities. [07:20] BUILDING ANTICIPATION AND EXPECTATIONS While it has generated a lot of complaints from our logical brains, I would argue one of the smartest things Apple has done is announced all the greatness of the services before they are actually available. [10:39] We thrive on the excitement of anticipation. [11:23] BUT having anticipation creates loss aversion and perceived ownership, which also means you are much more likely to feel the need to experience the treat at the end or to at least test it out and see how it meets or exceeds your expectations. [11:51] Being top of mind is key in influencing buying behavior. [13:06] Far too many organizations wait to announce a launch until it is actually launching. In reality, people need time to get really excited about things. [13:41] High expectations are okay (as long as the actual release isn’t a total fail), because studies show that the brain gets what it expects. [14:44] Building expectations of greatness means people will expect this thing to be good – and we expect it to be really REALLY good if they went out of their normal strategy to announce it before it was ready. [15:12] THE DELAYED PRICING STRATEGY The truth about pricing is price never about the price.  Everything that comes before the price matters much more. [15:36] Creating value is about framing and anticipation…which Apple is taking time to let ruminate before the pricing is announced. [16:27] HERDING This also allows for herding behavior to be triggered earlier than it would otherwise as people start talking about the products. [18:30] HOW FAMILIARITY BREEDS LIKING Speaking of herding behavior…our brains don’t just herd behind others…we also do a sort of self-herding, and “get in line behind ourselves.” [20:46] THE VALUE OF CELEBRITY Our brains love celebrities and we associate all their qualities with the brand of Apple directly now. [21:44] HABITS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS Apple is jumping on the subscription train. [24:57] Apple Arcade is an aggregator of games: all you can play, across all your Apple devices, with NO ads and a commitment to privacy. [25:21] FRAMING People have said what they want. Apple is framing their new offerings with the things that people have said they want. [25:38] Apple Card is a framing story more than anything. [25:57] A lot of the functions and features being touted in Apple Card already exist. [26:12] Apple asked a better question to uncover what people care about, and then (here’s the kicker) they found a way to frame the product and message so it is within those parameters. [28:12] Why haven't other banking institutions offered "no fees ever"? They are too close to the situation. [29:48] The rates on Apple Card (13.24% - 24.24%) are reasonable for a rewards card. [30:47] There is no fee for late payments, but late payments accrue additional interest. [32:31] Apple was able to look at a product with fresh eyes and shape their offering in a way that gives people what they want. [33:57] Look at framing your products to be most appealing – and then look at how you are framing the message of communicating that across the organization and to customers. [34:34] INCENTIVES Another thing Apple Card is doing really, really well is their cash back offering. [36:07] The most important thing they have done from a behavioral economics sense is bringing the reward as close to the trigger as possible. [36:29] Instant payouts mean lots and lots of positive associations with the card. [37:36] If you give benefits of any kind back to your customers, how can you make it real, tangible, and as close to the behavior you want repeated as possible? [40:23] Framing matters – how the product is framed and the message around that product. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Episode 37. Behavioral Economics Foundations: the U in NUDGES – Understanding Mapping Episode 38. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The D in NUDGES – Defaults Episode 39. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The E in NUDGES – Expect Error Episode 40. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The G in NUDGES – Giving Feedback Episode 41. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The S in NUDGES – Structuring Complex Choices Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Shopping, Dopamine, and Anticipation Sapolsky on Dopamine: Not About Pleasure, But Its Anticipation Steve Jobs Introducing The iPhone At MacWorld 2007 Apple's 'Show Time' Event Was Really Weird – Here's Why Introducing Apple News+ Everything you love about News. Plus. Introducing Apple TV+ Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don't Know Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Dogs on the Street, Pumas on Your Feet: How Cues in the Environment Influence Product Evaluation and Choice Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Predictably Irrational Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making ‘Subscription Fatigue’: Nearly Half of U.S. Consumers Frustrated by Streaming Explosion, Study Finds Apple Arcade Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Apple Card Episode 4. Questions or Answers How Payday Loans Work

This is the end of our series on nudges and choice architecture – we started with an introduction to the concept in episode 35 and have worked our way through all the aspects of the NUDGES acronym: incentives, understanding mapping, defaults, giving feedback, expecting error and now wrapping it up with structuring complex choices. Be sure and download your free worksheets on all of the aspects of nudges by becoming a subscriber. In this behavioral economics podcast, I talk about structuring complex choices. I also revisit mapping and the five steps to understanding mapping, because it is the foundation of complex choices. This episode is also our final application of the air conditioning example. I also dig into several other examples to illustrate this concept and how it all ties into ways to make your business better. Show Notes [02:41] Mapping is the foundation for complex choices. Thaler and Sunstein describe a mapping as “the relation between choice and welfare” and use a simple example of choosing a flavor of ice cream. [03:16] Some tasks like choosing an ice cream flavor are easy. Others are more difficult. The path from the choice to the outcome is called a mapping. [04:25] The task of the choice architect (that’s you) is to set up a system that helps make the map as clear and easy to use as possible. [04:37] The five steps I created and identified in understanding mapping were: 1) encourage thoughtful review and open-mindedness, 2) break it down, 3) make it relatable, 4) help them get there and 5) call to action. [05:12] When you get into a more complex choice, there is a need for filtering and removing options. [07:12] The compensatory strategy works for easier choices or choices with less options, but not with more complex choices. Instead, you need what is called elimination by aspects. [07:32] By choosing a few aspects that matter, you use those to narrow the field. [08:47] When you eliminate everything over a certain arbitrary line, you could miss something that is just outside the parameters. This is the risk we take with elimination by aspects and the constant battle of complex choices. [09:25] The internet has given us tons of resources to help simplify our complex choices. [09:57] A presort can help us when looking at a menu. This way we can eliminate the options that we don't care about. [11:20] When people are presented with too many options they don't buy. We get overwhelmed with too many choices. [14:16] We only see a lot of choices as a benefit when they are properly handled such as going to a toast restaurant with all of the spreads and toppings categorized. [14:52] Cold Stone Creamery uses a form of anchoring and adjustment to help with their complex choice options. [15:41] Showing how aspects can come together can help people make a more complex choice. It can help them eliminate things they know they don’t want when they are properly categorized. When looking at your own business, it is important to recognize if you have an inherently complex choice or if you are needlessly creating a complex choice. [15:50] The final air conditioning example. Complex choices can be made unnecessarily complex. Our AC choice became more complex because we needed to upgrade the heater. [18:34] It's important to present the options in a way that doesn't talk you or your customer out of business. [19:06] Don't be afraid of silence with complex choices, because people need time to process. [19:25] Using behavioral economics in business is much more than messaging, branding, sales, or any single aspect. To incorporate it properly, it's important to know all of the concepts and how they work together. [21:40] A paint color example where using swatches makes the color choice much easier than names or numbers. [23:50] A fun exercise where I give names of companies and how their methods could be applied to your business. [24:03] This technique will help you shake things up and get out of your comfort zone. [25:09] An example using The Knotted Wood. [25:48] Try to look at the cursory decision and ask if you are trying to solve the problem in the right way. [26:00] Companies that do a great job structuring complex choices. [30:17] Remember to think about ways you can reduce complexity as well as how you might add complexity to your business. [30:41] Seven episodes felt like a TON to put into a series, so thank you for those of you who have tuned in for the whole thing - and for letting me know how much you enjoyed it. [31:08] All businesses are based on choice. It's your job to structure those choices in the best way possible, using a map so the customers know what is in their best interest, aligning the incentives to set up a default – and give feedback along the way for all those errors you expect people to make. 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. Links and Resources: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice Architecture Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Episode 37. Behavioral Economics Foundations: the U in NUDGES – Understanding Mapping Episode 38. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The D in NUDGES – Defaults Episode 39. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The E in NUDGES – Expect Error Episode 40. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The G in NUDGES – Giving Feedback Elimination by Aspects: A Theory of Choice Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 4. Questions or Answers The Knotted Wood Coca-Cola Freestyle

We are getting close to wrapping up our series on NUDGES today – and if you have been following along each week you know we went a little out of order and did the E in nudges last week – expecting error, and are now coming back to G for giving feedback. This combines with incentives, understanding mapping and defaults (which we have covered already starting off the series in episode with an introduction to nudges in episode 35. Next week will wrap it all up with structuring complex choices…and then we will move on to our next topic (and it is one I am really excited about – you are going to love episode 42 to be sure). In this behavioral economics podcast, I talk about the importance of feedback, and why it lets us know if we are doing a good or a bad job. I give several real life examples involving cars, banking, our continued HVAC example, and some fun gadgets that help us conserve energy or be better weekend painters. I talk about the importance of visual cues and incorporating all of the senses and how the concepts in this series can be used to improve your business.   Show Notes [03:19] Last week I talked about errors people make on things like getting their oil changed or replacing the filter on the refrigerator. The light that comes on to alert you it is time to take care of this task, is essentially the feedback mechanism or the little nudge. [03:51] Choose your feedback wisely, when there is too much people start to ignore the alerts. [04:48] This is where understanding mapping is really important. When you understand the best outcome for the chooser you can properly structure the choice architecture. [06:24] There are a combination of concepts at play along with the nudges and choice architecture, including optimism bias, and time discounting. [09:33] A speed sign with flashing lights is feedback from an expected error. Something that has been created based on the way the brain actually makes decisions to help make the roads a little safer. [11:27] Remember, vision takes place in the brain. Our brains take in all those pieces of data and put them together with alerts and tasks based on rules of thumb. [13:03] The HVAC company could have a system that would notify customers when it’s time to schedule their maintenance. And, because it has smart technology, it could be created to do the work for them. [15:57] The nudge the company could put in place (which is using a combination of feedback and loss aversion) is to strategically create their sales process to encourage the person to make their decision that day. [17:34] Like the wedding dress store, the HVAC company could give discounts if the customer purchases on the same day of the sales call. [19:48] Simple things can make a big difference. Examples are our phone cameras clicking, and website links changing color. [22:29] I think it is important to note here that a lack of a negative does not necessarily lead to a positive feeling. [24:07] Feedback allows people to know they are doing a good job – or where they are going astray. [26:12] Wouldn’t it have been nice if you had a little feedback during the process? This is exactly why the geniuses at Glidden created a ceiling paint that goes on pink and dries white. [28:22] Color coding is really helpful for our visual brains. The episode on color theory is coming soon – I promise, but know that our subconscious picks up on the colors and knows what it should be striving for (green is good, red is bad). An example on helping people use less energy. [28:46] How can your business incorporate the senses – color, pressure, scent, or sound to provide feedback to your customers to nudge them into better behavior? [29:16] Feedback can also be useful when things take a while and there are a lot of steps happening behind the scenes. Domino's Pizza Tracker gives helpful feedback. [31:01] Feedback is appreciated and can help your customers to quell an anxiety they may not be able to articulate beforehand. [31:45] Timers without a tracker make people wonder if they did something wrong. [32:12] If someone is stressing about all that stuff, they are not paying attention or retaining anything from your advertisement, so you should provide that little bit of feedback. [33:19] Using feedback with credit cards. Is there a way to provide feedback and a nudge for those who would have issues without inconveniencing those who do not need the nudge? [34:43] The point of feedback is to get as close to the action as possible. [37:24] Using money in a jar as feedback of progress and an incentive to keep moving forward. Also using loss aversion by losing that money if you miss a day. [37:33] You can use this trick for any goal. How could you use a tactic like this with your employees or customers? [38:29] Take a look at your company, customers, and the products or services you offer for opportunities to provide feedback. 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. Links and Resources: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice Architecture Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Episode 37. Behavioral Economics Foundations: the U in NUDGES – Understanding Mapping Episode 38. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The D in NUDGES – Defaults Episode 39. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The E in NUDGES – Expect Error Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Measuring the LSD Effect: 36 Percent Improvement Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Glidden® Pink to White Ceiling Paint Nissan ECO-Pedal THE ENERGY ORB: Visualize Electricity Consumption! Episode 26. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Taste Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 28. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Touch Domino’s Track Your Order stickK

This behavioral economics podcast is another foundations episode where we discuss the E in NUDGES: expect error. I think this might be my favorite of all the types of nudges. This is really the reason we need nudges at all – and why choice architecture even exists. Choice architecture takes a lot of time, effort and strategy to do well and having a background in nudging is essential to helping your customers and employees make good choices. If we humans did not make errors, we would not need help in making decisions. We would be able to evaluate all the possible options and make an informed decision every time. Because we don’t and can’t…we need choice architecture. And it is all built on expecting those errors to properly build in nudges. In this episode, I talk about different types of errors with real life examples and how to apply this information to your life and business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [05:02] If humans didn't make errors, then we wouldn't need help making decisions. [05:16] We need choice architecture, because we don't evaluate all of the possible options and make the most informed decision every time. [05:36] When it comes to errors – we can expect humans to err on nearly anything. No matter how brilliant someone is, they will still make errors throughout their lives. [06:01] Quote from Nudge: “Beethoven wrote his ninth symphony while he was deaf, yet he would frequently misplace his house keys. How can people be simultaneously so smart and so dumb?” This is what makes us human. [06:42] Errors come in many fashions – as I said it can be as simple as forgetting your keys or leaving the card in the ATM. These are actually part of a subcategory of error called postcompletion error. [06:57] Postcompletion errors occur whenever we have a task to do, and once it is partially done, we mentally check it off the to do list. [08:41] The list of potential errors is truly endless. [08:59] The dinging noise your car makes when you don't have your seat belt on is a nudge, because manufacturers expect you to make an error at some point. [09:24] Check engine and filter lights are also nudges. [10:31] Try to incorporate all of the senses when creating a nudge. [10:52] Any time something is not consistent enough to become a habit (check out episodes 21 and 22 if you need a refresher) it is a prime candidate for error. [11:15] Consistency is key in business. [11:35] A good example of this is taking medicine every day at a consistent time. [13:06] Subscription models are really useful when an error is expected. They help the customer do what they are supposed to do, and it gives the business a built in reason to follow up and stay top-of-mind. [13:33] In the case of an air conditioning unit…it is important to have the ducts cleaned on a regular maintenance schedule. [14:16] I would recommend regular check ins with their customers – on more than just maintenance tips. That way, you can check in more than just once every three years (which is longer than you want to go if you want to remain top of mind). [15:24] People want heat when it is cold and AC when it is hot (this is availability bias – episode 15). [15:33] Send an annual check in or reminder in the fall and spring. The AC company could also create some type of certification program to prove that the unit has received recommended maintenance. This could help when selling a home and realtors could also be partners. [16:42] You get all this benefit from a little strategic foresight and understanding of when people will make errors, so you can step in and be the solution. [16:56] In any company, there are bound to be tons of places where people will make errors – both employees and customers. Dig deeper and look for more opportunities to solve errors before they happen. [18:28] Staff at the Ritz-Carlton have the ability to make things right for customers without having to ask for permission. [20:06] When you are trying to anticipate errors to nudge, you should be looking all over the company – not just at customers, but employee processes as well. [21:39] Busy or overwhelmed brain, which we talked about in episode 32. This is where postcompletion error comes in. [22:21] Our conscious brain can only focus on so much and the subconscious is making the vast majority of our decisions using rules of thumb (as you know – this is the basis for behavioral economics). When we get busy, we become overwhelmed and have more errors than usual. [22:34] Things that aren't habits are easily forgotten, but habits also get forgotten. Try to be present in the moment or nudge your team or employees to remember. [23:19] Too many nudges can become one more thing to not pay attention to. Try to get into the mindset of your customer or staff. [24:10] Things like auto-pay and subscriptions can be helpful nudges. [24:51] Stop trying to change the behavioral errors and force people into a system that doesn’t work. Instead look at what you can be adding into the process to make it easier. [26:15] Changing the nozzles for different drugs and anesthesia helped reduce common errors. Checklists in hospitals are also good reminders. [27:06] A busy brain and commonly repeated tasks are a breeding ground for errors. [28:37] Any time you say someone “should” be able to do this or “they know better” or if you have multitasking staffers…they are prime candidates for nudges. [29:09] Products to solve a problem. Customers are willing to pay for a solution to a problem that helps them avoid making an error. [32:59] Gmail has come up with some clever nudges such as asking if you have an attachment if you write the word “attachment” in the text of your message and there is nothing attached, and putting ignored emails back at the top of the inbox. [33:32] The next category involves understanding a hot state and a cold state. When someone is in a cold state, it is easy to say they will do something (or not do something) but then when they are in their hot state…it is a lot harder to stick to the commitment. [34:10] Find things that can be done in a cold state to prevent behaviors from happening in a hot state. [35:32] Programs like Save More Tomorrow have been used to increase the amount someone will pay into to their retirement using a precommitment. [36:30] Staying top-of-mind and why consistency is key in business. [37:13] It's important to stay consistent with your business and have regular touch points with your potential customers. Put your customers in a drip campaign and send out your newsletter on a regular basis so it becomes part of their routine. [38:12] Remember, people make mistakes and it is your company’s job to find a way to make it easier for them to use your product or service. You cannot expect your customer to do that for you. [38:54] Follow your customers to see how they interact with the product provided. [39:59] Pourable laundry soap spouts are a result of observational research. [40:31] Look at your company or product for errors that take place and ways to place a nudge as a reminder. 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. Links and Resources: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice & Architecture The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Behavioral Economics Postgraduate Degree Programs Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 22. The Power of Habit Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center Episode 4. Questions or Answers Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Silpat Macaron Baking Mat Clocky Episode 34. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Optimism Bias Be on time with the Procrastinator’s Clock Save More Tomorrow™: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving Episode 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? RecurPost  

This week marks the halfway point in our episodes on the types of NUDGES. We have already covered incentives and understanding mapping. Today, is all about defaults within choice architecture. When you think about choice and defaults, you may think it only applies when there is a preselected option on a list, but this is not the case. In every choice there is always a default. In many cases, the default is to do nothing…and that is still a choice, which is important for many choice architects to remember. I won’t be talking too much about what a default is, but I will talk about how what I’m calling “implied defaults” can be incredibly helpful when they are used strategically. I’ll also talk about how customers appreciate them and how they can benefit the company using them. In this behavioral economics podcast, I also go over how defaults can apply to the air conditioning example I have been using and how this concept can be applied to your company or service and how it can even help you save money. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD Show Notes [03:03] In every choice there is always a default. In many cases, the default is to do nothing…and that is still a choice, which is important for many choice architects to remember. [03:32] When you are constructing a choice for someone, it is important to remember what their default is and how status quo bias will influence the default. [04:19] Air conditioning example. The default is to do nothing. [05:09] The company should make it easier for their customer to overcome this default hurdle. [07:34] The unit size we need is based on things that are already known…but they choose not to mention any numbers at all until you are deep into the process. [07:43] This is a mistake because first, there is no anchor. When there isn't an anchor the anchor is zero. This is a terrible place to start. [08:12] Sticker shock is created when people actually hear the cost. [09:24] When thinking about defaults in choices, it is important to realize that each complete choice can be broken down into a bunch of mini choices, and each one has its own default. [09:58] When the choice is presented, it can be properly worded to help nudge to a different default than nothing. [10:50] The default when quoting pricing for AC could and should be for the monthly payment of a loan instead of the bulk cost. [12:05] I give an example of where I move the default option in the offer from “not getting air conditioning” (the true default) to getting AC on a 24 month loan (the implied default). This is the power of framing. [13:09] How does a company choose and understand what they should use as their default? [13:28] Understanding incentives and how they impact the business is very important when choosing a default. [16:55] Carrie Clarke of Next Level Coaching does a great job framing with, “The ROI on coaching is 700% and you will reach your goals 9 times faster than trying to do it alone.” [18:28] Printing receipts is an example where defaults can cost a business money. [19:52] The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma reportedly switched all their printers to default to double-sided printing, which they estimated saved them more than $41,000 a year in unnecessary expense. [20:39] Our default as humans is often to eat food in front of us and mindless eating can be a problem. If the default plate is smaller, you will put less on the plate and often realize you are full earlier. [21:51] Not defaulting to adding straws and napkins to orders can reduce waste. [22:24] An Amazon subscription example, which used a default. [26:01] Think about your business. Do you have a product or service that people buy regularly? [26:38] An opt in versus opt out can have a huge impact on choice. [28:05] Where do you have opt ins versus opt outs in your business? Are there any features people have to opt in for that would actually be best for them and increase your profitability? [30:13] Think about what your customers want and what will benefit them and what's going to benefit the business before you set up that default. [31:03] GAP insurance is usually an add on which is a hard sell. The advice I would give is to bundle it with the initial quote and clients can opt out if they want. [33:46] Defaults are a powerful and very simple nudge to apply. When used responsibly, defaults are great and often appreciated by customers. [36:27] Implied defaults can be incredibly helpful when they are used strategically. Customers appreciate them and they can benefit the company using them. 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. Links and Resources: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Episode 37. Behavioral Economics Foundations: the U in NUDGES – Understanding Mapping Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Only 39% of Americans Have Enough Savings to Cover a $1,000 Emergency Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Next Level Coaching Consulting Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Seattle Becomes First U.s. City to Ban Plastic Utensils and Straws License Fees Raise $1.4m for Parks Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion

Last week, I kicked off the different types of nudges and how they apply to choice architecture with incentives. The word NUDGES is an acronym for the categories of nudging, and we are breaking those down episode by episode over six weeks to showcase different aspects of choice architecture and nudging. Now that we tackled incentives last week, we will jump into understanding mapping – both what in the world that means...and how to use it to your best advantage in your business. In this behavioral economics podcast, I share how nudges and my 5 Steps for Mapping can be used in your business to encourage the buying process. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [02:56] Thaler and Sunstein describe a mapping as “the relation between choice and welfare” and use a simple example of choosing a flavor of ice cream in one of their papers on choice architecture. [03:30] At its core, the path from the choice and its outcome is called a mapping. [03:50] For ice cream, you have some mapping in your brain that let you know which flavors you would enjoy the most. [04:20] It's more difficult to see the mapping with more complex choices. [04:49] Their paper uses the options of surgery, radiation, or watchful waiting with a cancer diagnosis. Comparing the options weighs a longer life against negative side effects. [05:45] In spite of this, most patients decide which course to choose at the very first meeting when they are given the diagnosis. The option they choose also depends strongly on the type of doctor they see. [06:44] My five steps for a choice architect to make the mapping as clear as possible: 1) encourage thoughtful review and open-mindedness, 2) break it down, 3) make it relatable, 4) help them get there, and 5) call to action. [07:25] With big decisions it's important to understand your biases. [08:21] It's important for doctors as the choice architects to understand the way they are framing the options. [09:29] Our brains put more weight on the default or what we hear about first. [10:02] The best choice architect should know that a person shouldn't make a decision when they are highly emotional. [11:06] Breaking it down. If you want to make a map, it's important understand all of the options available. [12:41] That way you can anticipate the questions a potential customer (or patient or client) will have, the things they need to know, and guide them to the right recommendation. [13:11] Make it relatable using simple rules of thumb. [13:56] Use the customer's language and an example that they can relate back to. [15:16] Find the thing that customers care the most about. [15:50] The way you build your choice architecture is to think about how your customers will determine what to buy. What is the primary reason they are buying? [16:06] What do your customers need to know or hear, and what rule of thumb will make the choice simple and easy to make? [16:51] Once you know what your customers need, they still may require a little sample to get there. Incorporating the senses can help them make a decision. [17:44] Your call-to-action is the final step - it is important because it helps the chooser realize it is an appropriate time to stop analyzing and consider making a choice. [18:41] It's also important to prime all throughout the interaction. [19:15] To encourage thoughtful review, an air conditioning company should know that the customer has other options. [20:11] Frame the cost in a relatable way. [21:49] Relating their mindset to the right point is your “taste test” when they can’t have a physical sample. [22:23] Ask for the sale...and then stop and wait. [23:52] If you use a script, understand the intent behind the script and know the content by heart in order to have a true conversation. [24:12] Price is never about price. It's about all of the things leading up to the price. [25:42] Here are some basic mapping examples (because the final installment of the series – the “S” in nudges – is for structuring complex choices). [26:29] Using a menu to break options down into manageable chunks. Well worded descriptions help you evaluate if the item is something that you would like. [28:10] One well chosen word can make your brain want to read the description. [30:00] Our subconscious brain can take in a lot of information and glosses over a lot of things. [31:03] These menu descriptions include some taste words as well as relativity, anchoring and adjustment, and framing. [31:55] A nail salon example. [33:47] Adding more may seem like a benefit, but when it doesn’t have a useful map so the chooser can compare, adding more options can cause a lot more harm than good. [34:47] When creating a product website, consider what you present from the mind of the customer (think back to the menu example). [36:30] With a service website keep in mind the concept of incentives. [38:00] How our brain sees miles per gallon wrong, and why gallons per mile is better (yes, they are different). [39:54] How can you put numbers out there that are easier for people to understand and see the value? [40:05] Thaler and Sunstein recommend a system called “RECAP” which stands for Record, Evaluate, Compare Alternative Prices. [41:24] What if movies did not have trailers or descriptions? Trailers help you map the available movies and decide what you want to see. [42:45] Commercials take advantage of mirror neurons in the customer’s brain by showing someone else using the product, tasting it, picking it out from a menu or off a shelf. [44:54] The visual is best for the subconscious. [45:09] Any type of company – whether you sell physical products or a service – can use a guarantee of some kind. [45:58] Simple Tip You Can Use Immediately: use a call out or title like “Most popular” or “top choice” or “best value” – know, of course, that you are responsible in your business to ensure that it true. [46:45] Remember, the intent of a nudge is to help people make the best decision, but they must maintain free choice. 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. Links and Resources: Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Episode 36. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The N in NUDGES – iNcentives Choice Architecture Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Episode 26. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Taste Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 28. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Touch Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Nikki Rausch of Sales Maven Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Ruth’s Chris Dinner Menu Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Nudges Episode 31. Mirror Neurons 1995 Breyer's Ice Cream Commercial

The word NUDGES is an acronym for the categories of nudging, and we are breaking those down episode by episode over the next six weeks to showcase different aspects of choice architecture and nudging. Today, we are starting with the N of nudges…which is for innnnnnncentives. This episode will explain what iNcentives mean when it comes to nudges, I will reference some excerpts from Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, as well as some of their research papers. The goal of this behavioral economics podcast will be to help you think about how to offer incentives and nudge your clients to look at things differently while using nudges in your business.   CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [03:21] You are a choice architect if you present options to people and indirectly influence their choices – this is everything from where you place food in the line in the cafeteria to an opt in form on a website to doctors presenting treatment options. [04:23] A nudge is something that helps someone make a choice. This is everything from the order things are on a list of choices to the wording used to them, and yes, incentives. [04:51] Supply and demand fluctuate in predictable ways and are like two opposing forces in an intricate dance. [05:12] Proper incentives can help to encourage sales when you understand how they work. [05:14] The tricky thing about incentives is that they are never one sided and our lazy brains don’t tend to think about all the proper aspects of the choice presented. [05:51] Good choice architects understand how to structure the nudges and architecture to do what is best for their business. [06:02] Ask these questions to figure out what all the incentives are and how they work together: Who uses? Who chooses?  Who pays? Who profits? [07:17] I am going to use the example of air conditioning as a constant throughout the series. [08:36] My husband and I bought a house that didn't have air conditioning installed. The builder gave us the option of adding air conditioning whenever we wanted. We decided to test out a Seattle summer and see if it was really needed. [09:08] After one super hot summer, we decided to get the air conditioning. [09:19] We had someone come to the house and do the evaluation for air conditioning. I learned the standard formula based on the square footage of the house, the number of vents, etc. [09:52] You think the choice is, “Do you want air conditioning or not?” Yes or no. Of course…it’s not really that simple, which is why this air conditioning example will be featured throughout the series. [10:28] For the air conditioning example, the person who uses is me/my husband. [10:57] Who chooses is my husband and I, but the choice is much more complex than meets the eye... [11:31] When cooling our home, we actually have many options such as using fans, staying in hotels, or filling our bathtubs with ice. There are also multiple companies to choose from once we decide we want air conditioning. [12:16] Who pays is my husband and I (note, payment is not always monetary). [12:45] The company that sells the air conditioning units (and their employee making the sale) are the ones who profit (as well as their manufacturers). There are different levels of profit. [13:57] I know there is markup on the items and I am paying for the convenience of not having to invent and build air conditioning. [14:42] What happens when there are conflicting incentives? [15:57] After we agreed to purchase the air conditioning, we were asked if we wanted a wifi enabled unit. [16:31] Wifi enabled allows you to adjust the temperature using your phone. [17:42] When finding this out my main question was, “Why would anyone NOT want this?” [17:55] It's also the same price as the unit without wifi. This got me thinking about what I would advise this company if they were a client of mine. [18:07] Why is it the same cost to the consumer? And why wasn’t that choice communicated better? Where was the nudge? [19:32] Do I want my choice made by a guy who was influenced by his commission? (NO) [19:44] This happens all the time because of conflicting incentives. [19:53] The advice I would give this company is to align the incentives to find the win-win-win scenario. [21:13] If it was necessary to increase the price for the wifi enabled model, it should be the default option (the price you start with) and then let the person take away wifi if they don’t want it. This is your choice architecture. [21:37] Now the question becomes, “Do you want the wifi enabled unit or not?” versus “Do you want AC or not?” This simple nudge and shift in the architecture completely changes the question in the mind of the consumer (for a way that is favorable for the business). [22:18] Sometimes as a company, you need to take a step back to understand what is worth paying for. [24:18] Salience, or saying something is salient, is the way an item “stands out” from other items. [24:44] The consequences of a choice are salient means that the chooser is aware of the consequences of each choice. [25:06] It's important to always ask and try to understand if the person making the choice is aware of all the incentives, consequences, and dynamics of that choice. [27:08] How can you make the choice and its repercussions more salient for the chooser? [30:07] It's an easier choice to make when things are broken down in a way that your brain can understand. [30:30] Being in sales is being a full-time choice architect. [30:41] Understanding all the incentives involved and how they interact with each other can help ensure the choice that is best for everyone gets nudged. [31:12] An example of incentives and salience when buying a car. [33:43] The way a choice feels can impact the choice a human makes. [34:43] Think about what you want to bring your customers attention to. Examples for gyms, soda, television and more. [40:28] Surge pricing and energy usage. This may teach people to use less energy, but it's not as salient as it could be. [42:58] US Healthcare example. The way the information is presented affects the choice, and it may be too complex for anyone to choose correctly (stay tuned for this to come up again in our episode on structuring complex choices - the S in nudges). [46:42] Think about your own business and what you are selling to your customers – whether it is a product or a service. What do they need to know and have salient to make a good choice? 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. Links and Resources: Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice Architecture Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity What is Capitalism? Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing The Brainy Business on Facebook

Nudges and choice architecture are complex and advanced topics. During my master's program, I had an entire course on choice architecture, so I'm going to break down this foundational topic into a series. Today's behavioral economics podcast is an introduction to nudges and choice architecture. In each episode, I’ll share the concept and then give real life examples to illustrate that concept.You’re a choice architect whether you realize it or not, and honestly whether you want to be or not. So, it is best to understand the concepts. Don’t you owe it to the people you are presenting choices to? Wouldn’t you want someone in your same position to help you to make the best possible choice? This series is going to help you so much in your life and business both when you are making choices and when you are constructing them for others. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [03:29] In its most core definition, a nudge is a gentle touch or tap. [04:37] An example of nudges in a school cafeteria where rearranging the food items impacted their consumption by 25%. A prominent position can increase consumption by 25% and a less prominent position can decrease consumption by 25%. [06:55] An excerpt from Nudge which outlines the dilemma of where how to structure the food in the cafeteria: 1. Arrange the food to make the students best off, all things considered. 2. Choose the food order at random. 3. Try to arrange the food to get the kids to pick the same foods they would choose on their own. 4. Maximize the sales of the items from the suppliers that are willing to offer the largest bribes. 5. Maximize profits, period. [07:50] Option 1 has obvious appeal, yet it does seem a bit intrusive. [08:25] Option 2, arranging the food at random, could be considered fair-minded and principled. [08:55] Option 3 might seem to be an honorable attempt to avoid intrusion (but the test shows why this is flawed). [09:44] Option 4 might appeal to a corrupt person in the job (not us). [10:02] Option 5 has some appeal, especially if we think the best cafeteria is the one that makes the most money. [10:22] What would you choose? How would you choose? This, is the burden of the choice architect. Many of you are already choice architects and you might not even realize it. [11:15] There are many parallels between choice architecture and more traditional forms of architecture. A crucial parallel is that there is no such thing as a “neutral” design. [12:33] Small and apparently insignificant details can have major impacts on people’s behavior. A good rule of thumb (as you have heard me say many, many times before) is to assume that “everything matters” [13:16] A choice architect must choose a particular arrangement of the food options for lunch (or whatever choice they are facilitating) and by doing so we can influence what people eat. We can nudge. [13:39] “A nudge is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding options or significantly changing their economic incentives." [14:15] Some of the key takeaways from the paraphrased explanation are: 1. Everything matters 2. There are no neutral options 3. You cannot avoid being a choice architect – any format is influencing the choices, so it is best to be informed 4. Nudges can help simplify complex choices and help illogical humans make good choices 5. Nudges are not mandates – they need to be easily avoidable to still count as a nudge. [15:02] Choice architecture and nudges are very closely tied – but they are not the same thing. [15:12] A choice architect is someone who indirectly influences the choices of other people. The choice architecture is the mechanism you use to facilitate the choices. [15:26] A nudge is something you would use to influence the decision. [16:21] An example of the concepts using an HR department: You want to structure choices on a form to help encourage employees to contribute to their retirement account. [18:21] The first item on the list will have the most weight on the brain. It's best to put the recommendation first (a nudge). [19:28] Different wording has different results. Consider saying something like: “Experts recommend contributing 15% of your salary to a 401k, how much would you like to allocate?” (and how it differs from other verbiage) [19:49] This example includes framing, priming, and anchoring and adjustment. [23:39] For your options, you can include several positive options (which start with the word “yes”) and then one “no” option at the bottom. These nudgy options remind the user of the expert recommendations. You can also prime them to contribute at a later time. [24:21] Options on online sign-up forms. [26:56] When used subtly, nudges are very effective. [29:25] Choice architecture is used in all sorts of decisions – from retirement plans to choosing a flight for your next trip. [29:49] Proper choice architecture and nudges can increase profitability on menus, help people to save more for retirement, decrease infection rates and deaths at hospitals, increase organ donations, get more money for public parks, help people to use less energy, and more. [30:20] In this series, I will be outlining choice architecture and the different types of nudges. I will introduce the topic and then give you practical examples. [31:24] There are six categories of NUDGES: iNcentives, Understand mappings, Defaults, Give feedback, Expect error, and Structure complex choices. [33:46] Can nudges be used outside of choice architecture or can you have choice architecture without a nudge? Not really...for example, even if you don't put effort into creating a nudge, there is always a default. So, it is best to be informed and think strategically. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 33. Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab From Cashews to Nudges: The Evolution of Behavioral Economics Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Choice Architecture Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 32. The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making The Most Ridiculous Loss Aversion Example

Today’s behavioral economics foundations episode is all about the optimism bias. I hope you’ve got your rose colored glasses, because here we go! This is one of those topics that has a name that makes it seem like you MIGHT know what it is…but you potentially don’t know for sure…and you probably don’t realize how much it impacts you and your customers every day. So, what is optimism bias? Essentially, this is our tendency to overweight the likelihood good things will happen to us, and underestimate the likelihood bad things will happen to us. This episode explores why we think this way and how understanding optimism bias can be used to improve our businesses. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes   [05:25] OPTIMISM BIAS - This is one of those topics that has a name that makes it seem like you MIGHT know what it is…but you potentially don’t know for sure…and you probably don’t realize how much it impacts you and your customers every day. [05:31] This is our tendency to overweight the likelihood good things will happen to us, and underestimate the likelihood bad things will happen to us. [06:34] It is important to note that optimism bias is not the same as being an optimist. And, if you consider yourself to be a pessimist or a realist…it doesn’t mean that you are not impacted by the optimism bias. It just might impact you a little bit differently. [07:08] Marriage is a great example of optimism bias. In spite divorce statistics, no one thinks that they are going to get divorced when they get married. [07:57] According to the CDC, 1 in every 4 deaths is due to heart disease, claiming 610,000 lives each year. Do you think the statistic will affect you? Your spouse? Parents? Close friends? Probably not. [08:36] We also think our children are uniquely talented and skilled – that they will grow up to change the world and do amazing things. [09:30] Tali Sharot said, “We are optimistic about ourselves. We are optimistic about our kids. We are optimistic about our families…but we are not so optimistic about the guy sitting next to us. And we are somewhat pessimistic about the fate of families in general and the fate of our country.” [10:08] Optimism bias means that deep down, ingrained in our DNA, we believe that we have a unique ability to do better and be better than everyone else. [10:40] Think about yourself and how you rank compared to the rest of the population in your ability to get along with others. Attractiveness? Honesty? Driving ability? Most people will rank themselves in the top quarter of the population on abilities and characteristics. (Even though that is impossible.) [13:16] Optimism bias is believing that you are uniquely going to do better than the odds. [14:01] What my social media followers said they were most interested in concerning optimism bias. [14:51] The first question is the over/under. At least 80% of us are impacted by optimism bias (but I say it hits everyone at least once in their lives). [15:36] For all the entrepreneurs listening – we are likely to be the serious optimism biasers of the world. We believe we can launch or create something no one ever has. [16:00] The “low expectations” theory - debunked. Turns out people with high expectations are happier than those with low expectations. [16:32] When someone with high expectations succeeds, they tie that back to their own abilities and traits. [16:55] When people with high expectations fail a test they think that they'll do better next time. [17:05] People with low expectations think if they fail it's because of something they are lacking. [17:26] Optimism and success are not just related – success is built on optimism. [18:06] People who use optimism and the optimism bias, who have high expectations, are happier. [18:23] However, optimism bias can cause people to make bad decisions and take bigger risk than they should. [19:21] Another way the optimism bias shows up in business is when we estimate how long something will take. [21:06] Why do we make to-do list with so many tasks that we'll never get through them? It's because our brains are anticipating the rewards after, and we are uniquely capable of getting those things done. [22:10] BIG TAKEAWAY: Let optimism bias guide your goals and dreams. Whatever those big goals are, fill them up with as much optimism bias as you can muster, because confidence will get you there. [23:22] Set corporate goals with optimism bias, but set realistic tasks for your staff. [26:16] My interview with Karla Starr, author of Can You Learn To Be Lucky? [27:28] When people treat you well you develop a stronger sense of self. (Examples from Sarah Palin and Brad Pitt.) [29:37] If you live as a confident person and think things will go well for you, (often) they will. [31:42] Formative years can instill how you believe about yourself. [33:09] Use optimism bias to your advantage to help you be lucky in life and business. [36:26] Join my Facebook live chat with Karla on February 13th - and ask your questions live! [41:16] Businesses will fall on either the light or dark side of this bias - and they need to market/message completely differently. Consider which side your business is on: light or dark? Make sure optimism bias works for you instead of against you. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 33. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Human Behavior Lab Super Bowl Commercials 2019: A Behavioral Economics Review Nicole Bandes.Virtual A Team on Instagram Virtual A TeamExploring the Causes of Comparative Optimism The Optimism Bias Episode 30. Booms and Busts Heart Disease Facts When Harry Met Sally... | "The Wagon Wheel Coffee Table" Emotional reactions to achievement outcomes: Is it really best to expect the worst? Episode 13. Adjusting Your Mindset Episode 22. The Power of Habit Understanding the Optimism Bias Next Level Coach Can You Learn to Be Lucky?: Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others Karla Starr The Brainy Biz Facebook Live Events

I recently took a trip down to College Station, Texas to visit the Human Behavior Lab at Texas A&M University – which is (at the time of recording) the largest human behavior lab in the world. Today’s behavioral economics podcast gives you an inside look at what happens inside of a laboratory like this. In this episode, I interview Dr. Marco Palma to find out what really goes on and answer questions like how do they actually take these concepts from behavioral economics and study them to impact real businesses? What sort of equipment do they use? How do they know what is going on in the brain and more. I hope you enjoy this sneak peek into what really goes on behind the scenes at a Human Behavior Lab.   Show Notes [04:11] The lab has sensors that helps them understand human behavior and what drives the emotions. [04:34] We are heavily influenced by our emotions, and in some cases, don't even realize it. [04:59] Some of the equipment they use includes facial expression readers which can correlate movements in the face with emotions. [05:19] They also have the capability of looking directly into your brain. They can measure stress signals like respiration and heart rates. [05:38] They are trying to understand and measure the motivations behind behavioral economics. [06:03] They also want to test results in the real world. [06:15] The virtual room is a mock grocery store which allows for testing with real products. [07:00] Experiments are conducted in a controlled laboratory environment and in the real world to understand the complexities. [07:27] They use eye-tracking hardware created by Tobii. They can also combine this with an EEG device and have all the hardware in a very small backpack so the subject is mobile. [08:18] The global leader that makes it easy to synchronize multiple devices at the same time is iMotions. [09:19] These new tools have really advanced the pace of discoveries that they can make. [10:02] They're interested in emulating what drives attention. When they know what people are paying attention to the message can be created in a way that will be noticed. [11:18] This is also useful for judging the effectiveness of a website and product placement in a store or display. [11:54]  Everything matters. Often small things that we don't think will matter can make a huge impact. [13:15] We are often guilty of making messages that are overly complex. We want the message to be perceived as simply as possible and to clearly communicate the benefits. [13:56] Menu optimization includes maximizing benefits and minimizing cost. Anchoring can be used for pricing on menus. Work done with eye tracking shows how people actually search for information. These clues can tell you where to place your anchors. [16:16] We use rapid eye movements and digest a lot of information in a very fast manner. [18:00] These devices can track 600 data points per second. Collecting data allows us to make inferences about behavior. [20:15] The foundation of what they do in the lab comes back to establishing causality. [21:52] They control for every detail to establish causality. [22:25] In 2019, they are interested in looking at self control. [22:52] By February 1st, 80% of Americans will have given up on their goals. [23:22] Small changes are much more sustainable than large drastic changes. [23:57] They are also going to look at cheating and lying. They are looking at what drives people to cheat for themselves and for other people. [24:41] What drives the behavior based on the assumption that large corporations or the government aren't being hurt by cheating? [24:52] They are also going to look at what drives people to be more generous. They're going to look at drivers for giving. Also at things like matching funds and fundraising campaigns. [26:15] They are also looking into competition and what drives high-achieving individuals. [27:23] They are trying to find ways to promote competition particularly for women. [29:12] Dr. Palma also wants to mention all of the work that they are doing with food. The way we interact with food is paramount to everything that we do. [29:46] Part of the obesity epidemic in this country has been driven by the access to food. They are trying to find a way to help people make better choices without telling them what to do. [30:14] It's interesting to understand the way that our brains are wired and how we can change that. [30:31] Our survival depended on finding sugar, because it meant that we were able to store calories. The reward pattern for ingesting sugar is the same as the reward pattern for taking drugs. [31:43] We owe it to ourselves and to society to recognize how we can overcome these phenomenons. [32:49] It's important to place this research into the hands of entrepreneurs who are doing important work. [33:58] We can now predict brain activity with 84% accuracy about whether someone will buy something or not. This shows the power of research. [34:36] My current and potential clients who are interested in doing a study to make their brand messaging more effective can work in tandem with myself and the Human Behavior Lab. Interested? Send me an email - melina@thebrainybusiness.com. 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. Links and Resources: The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life Human Behavior Lab Website Human Behavior Lab on Facebook Human Behavior Lab on Instagram @HBLtamu on Twitter Self-control: Knowledge or perishable resource? iMotions on Facebook iMotions Biometric Research Tobii Website The Brainy Business on YouTube The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on Facebook Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com

What happens when our brains get overwhelmed? What is the impact on decision making? Today’s behavioral economics podcast is going to focus on these foundational topics. Businesses always ask people to take some sort of action (buy this, click here, download that). It’s a good idea to be careful not to overwhelm your potential customer. An overwhelmed brain will move on and file your business in the “maybe I’ll look at this later” pile. A real life business example of taking care not to overwhelm a potential customer (or in this case listener) is these show notes. I take extra time and expense to have everything laid out in an easy to understand way with all of the related links and studies available for you. That way you can relax and enjoy the show, and if you ever want to learn more or check out the links, you know they will be here waiting for you. I also give more real life and business examples of overwhelm and how it affects the brain and your business. CLICK THE IMAGE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [03:32] OVERWHELMED BRAIN [03:46] I have extensive show notes for every episode, because I want to make it as easy as possible for you to relax, listen to the podcast and still have the resources available (so you don’t have to fill up your brain with the one thing you are trying to remember). [04:57] This is the same reason my strategy sessions are done on Zoom and recorded. I want my clients to be able to be in the moment. [05:50] This is another testament to NUDGES and expecting error. I do not expect that someone will remember every little tidbit they want to from every conversation we have. [06:07] There are two errors here – 1) the inability to remember what was discussed because there is a lot and 2) the inability to really focus in the moment because the conscious brain can only devote so much. [06:32] To combat both of those things, I have show notes and videos to help relieve some of that pressure. [07:14] CHOCOLATE CAKE STUDY [07:45] Participants in a study were asked to memorize a two-digit or a seven-digit number. Participants with the two-digit number were more likely to choose a healthy snack when offered. Those with the seven-digit number? They were more likely to choose chocolate cake. [08:34] Our subconscious brains can process 11 million bits of information per second. Our conscious brain can only do about 40 bits. [08:43] When your conscious brain is focusing on something, it tunes everything else out. [09:01] With your conscious brain occupied, the subconscious is tasked with taking the wheel. It is now running the show. [09:17] Our brains are fueled by rewards like dopamine. [10:23] Just think of all the times your conscious brain is able to get overwhelmed. [10:36] One subconscious rule of thumb is to ignore things that are too complicated. [12:53] Dan Ariely provides a great example of this in his book, The Upside of Irrationality, where giving people an opportunity for a large bonus (5 months salary) severely lessened their ability to perform on somewhat easy tasks. [13:18] The amazing computers in our heads are very easy to bog down. [13:50] POVERTY AND COGNITIVE ABILITY [13:58] Studies have found that those in poverty have reduced cognitive abilities. [14:54] This definitely gets at the core of why it can be hard to break a pattern when you are in it. [15:03] SNOWBALL VERSUS BATTERY [15:15] If your brain is overwhelmed…you will probably reach the point of fatigue much faster than you would if you were in a relaxed state. [16:20] POST COMPLETION ERROR [17:47] I travel quite a bit, but when I am packing for important trips, I tend to do a lot of running through lists in my head, “iPad – check, good shoes – check, toothbrush – check” you know what I mean. This creates an overwhelmed brain. [18:50] Why do we sometimes forget to bring our purse or wallet to work? Or drive away without putting the lid back on the gas tank? This is called post-completion error, and it happens when we complete some or most of a task, and our brain marks the whole thing as “done.” [20:23] Your brain holds more weight and importance on things you write down, so having a physical list you can check off can help really mark it as complete in your brain. [20:39] I am going to have a sticky note method to help nudge me about the laundry (so I don’t leave damp clothes in the wash all day and have a funky smelling family!) [21:20] Three questions: How could you help yourself in your work and personal life by relieving some of the overwhelm from your conscious brain? How can you be a resource to your customers to help them relieve some of their overwhelm? How often are you overwhelming your current or potential customers? Here is a 5-step way to avoid overwhelm... [23:53] 1. Write things down – this is like my checklist for packing. [24:52] 2. Do one thing at a time – multitasking is a myth and a path to productive procrastination. [27:38] 3. Make it a pattern (habit) – if there are things you need to do consistently and don’t want to have plagued by overwhelm, turn them into habits. [29:28] 4. Which brings me to the next point…have a goal – hopefully you have already set your 1 to 3 goals for the year after listening to the resolutions episode. [32:41] 5. The final tip is to incorporate constant check ins and breathing points – both for yourself and with customers. Download your free worksheet to help you work through these five steps for yourself and with customers. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 31. Mirror Neurons Guru’Guay on Instagram Guru'Guay on Facebook Heart and Mind in Conflict: the Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain (Whether Or Not You Finish Them) Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity The Brainy Business on Facebook

Mirror neurons are the topic of today’s behavioral economics podcast. We are really going to get into what they are, how they work and why they matter in any business. Mirror neurons are the key to empathy and our ability to learn from observing others instead of only by doing things ourselves. Mirror neurons have done some amazing things for all of humanity – first of which is our ability to learn by observation and second is our ability to empathize. In this episode I explain the accidental discovery of mirror neurons, and talk about learning by observation, our other senses, facial expressions and empathy. I also include a lot of additional resources for further learning and explain how this knowledge can be applied to any business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [03:52] Mirror neurons are the key to empathy and our ability to learn from observing others instead of only by doing things ourselves. [04:21] Mirror neurons were discovered in the early 1990s. The whole thing happened by accident when scientists noticed that a monkey's brain lit up when one of the researchers walked into the lab eating an ice cream cone. [06:32] We humans have mirror neurons as well, and they greatly impact our lives everyday. [06:47] Mirror neurons have done some amazing things for all of humanity – first of which is our ability to learn by observation and second is our ability to empathize. [06:55] We humans tend to take for granted how quickly and easily we learn things simply by watching others. This isn't something every species can do. [07:46] Without mirror neurons, life as we know it would not exist. [08:08] Mirror neurons are how the species learned to hunt, gather, farm, build homes, and all the skills we use every day. [08:26] The collective intelligence of the species grows very quickly as one person learns to do something because others can watch and have their brain behave as if it has already done it once before. [08:45] We each have 100 billion neurons in our brains and each of those has 1,000 to 10,000 contacts with other neurons forming associations. [09:36] Mirror neurons are actually found in one spot in the brain – in the frontal lobes. The front of the brain is also home to our ordinary motor control neurons. [10:51] A study found that the mirror neurons were more active when the context was included – meaning both intentions and actions matter and relate for mirror neurons. [11:03] Mirror neurons will not respond to random, meaningless gestures – it has been found that they are specially connected to respond to actions with clear goals. [11:46] The processing of the senses actually happens in the brain. Because our brains bring context, interpretation and analysis to everything we experience…it turns out they don’t really know the difference between what is physically in front of us, versus on tv, or a print ad, spoken into our ears or read in text. [12:54] Mirror neurons are what allow us to experience drinking spoiled milk when we see someone else do it. [13:55] Seeing things is the best way to trigger mirror neurons, but the other senses will trigger them, as well. [14:10] When someone smiles at you, your brain brain reacts as if you are smiling too. [14:32] You don't have to be consciously aware of what's happening, you just do it. [15:29] The response of mirror neurons is quick, intense, and automatic. [15:44] Mirror neurons may well be at the core of how we understand the actions of others and empathize with them. Without mirror neurons, we would probably not have any awareness of the actions, intentions and emotions of others. [17:38] All that separates us from other people and experiencing the same things they are experiencing at every moment they are within our proximity…is our skin. [17:53] This is why people with phantom limb syndrome can be helped by watching someone else get a massage. [19:45] Mirror neuron therapy helped a couple whose baby had a stroke at 10 days old regain body control on his left side. I've linked to the touching TED Talk. [21:16] BUSINESS APPLICATIONS - Video is effective. When you can show someone taking the action you want your customers to take, it makes it easier for them to follow suit. [22:54] Any time you can get someone to see another person experiencing your product, it is good. HOWEVER you need to be very careful of the facial expressions and all the slightest nuances of the person in the video. [24:44] If the subconscious can fill in the gaps when presented with a few images…that is important for using mirror neurons. [25:07] Our mirror neurons allow us to relate to what is being displayed in the pictures and we fill in the gaps to make sense of what we are supposed to do. [25:33] A well produced story with all the RIGHT details is better than a drawn-out, verbose explanation any day. [25:46] Great storytellers can hold conversations well. Our brains allow us to experience the words in the story as if we are participating ourselves. [25:57] Include action words and partner them with matching gestures to help the audience come along with you. [26:29] When you can activate mirror neurons, you are helping the individual to familiarize themselves with your brand, story, product or process. [26:57] Be aware of your actions and facial expressions even when you aren't speaking. [27:25] Smile genuinely, be interested, and be inviting whenever you're in a room with people. [28:14] To attract positive customers, you may need to try a shift within yourself. [30:30] An experiment was done with an honesty snack box at a workplace. They tried different images and the one with eyes on it encouraged people to put more money in than those with flowers. [32:20] Showing your potential customer someone using the product in the same way you want them to is a great way to activate mirror neurons because it combines an action with intention. [33:20] Consider the actions and intentions to use mirror neurons to the best of your ability. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Episode 30. Booms and Busts Episode 26. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Taste Unlock the Mystery: Behavioral Economics with Melina Palmer Rachel Antonia The Mind's Mirror The University of Parma The Neurons That Shaped Civilization Grasping the Intentions of Others with One's Own Mirror Neuron System What's So Special about Mirror Neurons? Mirror Neurons And Their Role In Marketing Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 28. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Touch Both of Us Disgusted in My Insula The Common Neural Basis of Seeing and Feeling Disgust The Mirror Neuron Revolution: Explaining What Makes Humans Social A Touching Sight: SII/PV Activation during the Observation and Experience of Touch In Our Baby’s Illness, a Life Lesson 'Big Brother' Eyes Encourage Honesty, Study Shows The Brainy Business Facebook Page @thebrainybiz

This behavioral economics podcast is about the psychology behind economic booms and busts. The first big bubble on record happened almost 400 years ago and there have been countless since then…so why haven’t we learned to avoid them? Why do we keep falling into the same traps over and over again? This is where the “behavioral” part of behavioral economics comes into play. This episode is relevant today because of the current status of the stock market, which had a tumultuous 2018 to say the least, as well as the recent rise and fall of cryptocurrency.  In this episode, I will cover optimism bias, overconfidence, herd mentality, time discounting, and emotions like envy and excitement. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [04:04] TULIP EXAMPLE - One of the earliest known bubbles happened in the late 1630s when Tulipmania struck Holland. [04:43] WHAT CAUSES BUBBLES - When excessive demand for an item drives the price up so it is far above the intrinsic value, it forms a bubble. [05:11] When the general population realizes that the prices are over inflated, everyone tries to get out at once causing a crash. [05:42] BEANIE BABIES - the beanie baby bubble took place about 20 years ago. [05:56] The genius strategy of retiring beanie babies, creating scarcity and increasing their value dramatically happened more by accident than anything else. [07:15] Ty changed the framing message by telling buyers that Lovie the lamb had been retired not that it was a supply issue. [07:30] Disappointed buyers were suddenly delighted at the prospect that Lovie might be worth more than what they originally paid. [07:42] Warner then begin intentionally retiring Beanie Babies. [08:56] Four women in Chicago who saw the potential of buying retired Beanie Babies actually started the craze. [09:16] As excitement caught on, Beanie Baby prices began to rise. [09:55] The entire bubble lasted five years. [11:30] Just like the Tulips, it all came crashing down. A retirement was announced in 1999 and prices remained stable. A release of 24 new beanies on that same day was overwhelming to investors and sales began to decline. [13:23] The first concept in the brain that contributes to forming bubbles is our bias toward optimism. A bias toward optimism is what makes people underestimate the chances that we will be in a car accident or get diagnosed with cancer relative to other people. [14:08] On the flip side, we may say that winning the lottery is a one in a million shot…but we still think WE have a good chance of winning. [15:01] We have a hard time not imagining what it would be like and our optimism bias tells us “that could be me!” which combines with perceived ownership and makes you feel like it is worth the small risk to play. This is the concept of availability, which was the topic of episode 15. [15:43] The anticipation releases dopamine and gets your brain excited about the opportunities. This creates a quick feedback loop, which gets people caught up in the hype of the bubble. [16:12] OVERCONFIDENCE - Consider something people say “can never fail” as a red flag. [17:27] HERD MENTALITY - We also get swept up in the hype because of our herd mentality, which was the focus of episode 19. [18:21] When an animal is part of a herd, it is best to simply follow everyone else. [19:16] Do your own research, don’t get swept up in the hype of others in the herd. [20:03] Our brains believe “it is better to be conventionally wrong than unconventionally right.” [22:33] Once something hits the mainstream and “everyone knows” it is a hot buy…it is probably past the point where you should have bought in. [24:01] TIME DISCOUNTING - We are programmed to see the immediate benefits and risks, and disproportionately weight them against future benefits and risks. [26:16] Value fluctuates, and it is easy to feel as if you “had” the money and dream about all the things you could do with it, but in many cases that is simply on paper. [27:56] Because our brains claim ownership over things very quickly, it is difficult to not get emotionally invested in the highs and the lows. [28:27] EMOTIONS - With bubbles, booms and busts, we let our emotions get the better of us and we quickly become our own worst enemies. [29:55] WHAT TO DO - If someone comes to you with an investment that seems too good to be true, it probably is. Consider going against the herd and finding new opportunities. [30:19] Self-confirmation bias is where we have a tendency to confirm our own beliefs. 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. Links and Resources: What Causes Economic Bubbles? - Prateek Singh Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing How the Beanie Baby Craze Was Concocted — Then Crashed Family Ruined By $100K Beanie Babies 'Investment' The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute Exploring the Causes of Comparative Optimism Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Lifetime Risk of Developing or Dying From Cancer It's Math: Why You Should Never Play The Lottery Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability How the Bitcoin Bubble Will Pop 5 Contributing Factors in Housing Market Crash Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Obvious Investments Are Often the Worst Possible Choices Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Dow Jones - 100 Year Historical Chart Don’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy When Investing The Dark Side of the '90s Beanie Baby Craze Stock Market Crash of 1929

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! This is the first behavioral economics podcast episode of 2019. Like so many of you, December is a time of reflection for me, and planning for the year ahead. I do like the “fresh start” that comes with a new year, new quarter, new month, new client or new project…but what happens when the newness wears off? Why is it so hard to keep our resolutions even when we have the best of intentions? That is what this episode is all about. I am going to dig into 5 ways we have all been approaching resolutions wrong, and give you the strategy you need to change that in 2019 once and for all. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [07:38] What do you think about resolutions? Personally, I have never been a big fan. [08:18] I have never enjoyed investing time in things that will fail. The subconscious brain makes 99% of your decisions. It makes those decisions based on proven rules of thumb which it has found to work over your lifetime or our genetic evolution as a species. [08:44] When you say you want to change something you can have the best of intentions, but there’s a reason resolutions are easier said than done. [09:28] Our brains are constantly looking for rewards and many of the things that we find rewarding are the things that we want to change. [10:32] TIME DISCOUNTING - I call this the “Monday effect.” Have you ever said you would start something “on Monday”? Then…in what seems like minutes instead of hours…the alarm goes off. Where did the motivation go? Why do you feel like a completely different person today than you did last night? [13:07] Maybe tomorrow is a better day to start. Then tomorrow never really comes either. This is time discounting. [13:31] Studies have found that when you talk or think about your future self…the brain lights up as if it were talking about a completely different person! [14:20] “Future you” is actually a different person than you. [14:37] The problem comes when I wake up on Monday morning and it is time to face the music. “Oh, you mean I need to do that stuff?” [15:02] Time discounting compounds with overconfidence and optimism to make a perfect storm against change. We overestimate how good we will be at something. We also underestimate how long it will take to accomplish something. And overestimate how our outcomes will be compared to other people's outcomes. [15:50] Making your future self “real” to you so that you see yourself in the commitment can make a difference. [16:21] People saved more for retirement if they were shown a picture of themselves that looked like they had aged 10 or 20 years. [16:55] 1. When you are making the commitments, ask yourself if the plan is realistic. Think about this in terms of yourself right now. [17:19] 2. When you feel like you want to hit the proverbial snooze button (and you will) remember the commitment you made and why it is important. [17:43] 3. When making your commitment, make it something you can turn into an “I don’t” statement. [18:20] ANTICIPATED REGRET/COUNTERFACTUAL THINKING [18:25] Anticipation of regret is a huge reason people delay taking an action. [19:11] One reason regret is so powerful is because of counterfactual thinking. This is easier known as “what if” or “if only” thinking. [20:28] Your brain will combine the best features of unselected (and heavily evaluated) items into a “super choice” (which doesn’t really exist) to make you feel even worse. In this example, your brain creates a super safe, awesomely stylish car that you “could have had if only you hadn’t picked the stupid good deal” car. [20:41] Our brains want the immediate gains and benefits of “now” instead of waiting for something that is good for us in the future. [21:32] To make your resolutions stick, watch out for anticipated regret and all the times you start to think about “what ifs” and “if only’s” that aren’t leading to your goal. [21:52] Before you pick your resolution, be sure it is something you really want and are willing to make a change for. Think about why it matters and come to terms with the things you are going to give up in order to get it. [22:33] WILLPOWER (BATTERY VERSUS SNOWBALL) [22:40] There has been debate over the years as to how willpower and self control are created and maintained over time. [23:05] New research out of Texas A&M University’s Human Behavior Lab has found that it is actually BOTH – a battery and a snowball. [26:59] When you try to commit to too much and come in too hard and too fast, you are setting yourself up to fail. [27:27] Setting yourself up with too many goals and tasks is also a recipe for failure. You can’t focus on so many things at once. [27:48] What is the one thing that will change your business next year, and how can you put all your effort toward meeting that one goal? [28:40] Advice from Warren Buffett: Write down your top 25 goals for your life and business. Circle the top 5 most important goals. What happens to 6-25? They become your “avoid at all costs” list. [30:30] Not having a clear focus and narrowing down your purpose is why we lack self-control and have a hard time making changes. [31:18] You have to learn to say no. You need to make sacrifices. It will be hard, but it will be worth it if you pick the right things to focus on. [31:29] SMALL STEPS AND NUDGES [31:44] You only get to move one step at a time. All change – from weight loss to massive business success – comes one small step at a time. [32:06] If you make your list of 25 and narrow it down to a top 5, I am telling you to bring that down to a top 1 to 3 MAX for your resolution or big business goal for 2019. [35:42] You will not have a flawless path, there is trial and error. You may expect a snowball and get a battery. [36:10] Expecting error (part of Richard Thaler’s acronym NUDGES) is why the car dings at you when you forget to put on your seatbelt. [36:41] Make a list of all the spots where you might be likely to slip for those top three goals you have set – your 2019 resolutions. [37:54] If you have a resolution around more effective networking, set goals before you go for how many connections you are going to make - and schedule time in advance to follow up. [38:20] BE THOUGHTFUL [38:47] If you focus on something, and everyone else knows it is important to you, if it is the thing you live and breathe and are 100% of the time, you will move forward. [39:30] You need to limit the focus and think about the small steps you can take to BE thoughtful about this one thing (or three things). [41:06] How can you help your customers have more realistic goals they can achieve and feel good about? [41:51] Does your lead magnet speak to these goals people will focus on and give them an immediate win? 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. Links and Resources: Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Business Coach for Women Episode 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Sales Maven Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 1. Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain The Brainy Business on Facebook @thebrainybiz on Twitter The Brainy Biz on Instagram The Brainy Business YouTube Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Impulsivity and Cigarette Smoking: Delay Discounting in Current, Never, and Ex-Smokers Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting Simpler: The Future of Government Exploring the "planning Fallacy": Why People Underestimate Their Task Completion Times The Trouble With Overconfidence Exploring the Causes of Comparative Optimism Episode 13. Adjusting Your Mindset The Functional Theory of Counterfactual Thinking Regret Aversion and False Reference Points in Residential Real Estate Self-control: Knowledge or Perishable Resource? Human Behavior Lab Texas A&M Human Behavior Laboratory Now Open for Business Research on How Self-control Works Could Help You Stick With New Year’s Resolutions Heart and Mind in Conflict: the Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making This Story About Warren Buffett and His Long-time Pilot Is an Important Lesson About What Separates Extraordinarily Successful People from Everyone Else Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Blissfully Healthy - Coach Emmie Perez

This behavioral economics podcast episode is the final installment of my series on the five senses. We’ve already talked about sight, smell, taste and hearing. Today, we dig into the sense of touch. Touch is one of the topics that I’m the most excited to share with you. Touch is directly connected to buying behavior in a way that is fascinating to behold. We value things more once we have touched them, and the triad of the endowment effect, perceived ownership and loss aversion are triggered directly by touch, which I will get into during the episode. I talk about how touch works and share scientific studies and real life examples that will help illustrate how this fascinating sense can be incorporated into your business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [07:32] Touch is directly connected to buying behavior in a way that's fascinating to behold. [08:23] Touch is directly linked to emotional language. [09:05] We can get along without most of our other senses. It's not the same with touch. [09:59] Our sense of touch and having contact with others is important for development throughout life. [10:45] Touch is the social glue that binds us all together. [11:17] Touch is important for the development of people and societies. [12:07] Developing emotionally makes one more receptive to touch. [12:44] The wisdom of Dr. Seuss. [13:33] Our skin has many nerve endings. These nerve endings have different jobs. Fingertips have nerve endings for pressure, and that is why they can read braille. [15:27] If I asked you if water was hot or cold your answer would depend. As with the truth about pricing (where it isn’t really about the price) – it’s not about the water and its temperature, it’s about everything leading up to the touch and temperature that matters. [15:52] Nerve endings are different than emotional touch and sensation. [17:13] Emotion and touch are very closely linked, and we form bonds with the way things feel. [17:42] TEAMWORK - Human contact is important to our development throughout our lives. [18:04] Touch has been shown to impact the overall effectiveness of teams. [19:01] Waitresses who touch the arm of a patron in a platonic way (whether they are male or female) have been shown to get more tips. [19:40] Providing comforting touch is part of who we are as humans and it impacts our relationships and how we do business. [19:52] Use touch with caution and make sure you are always incorporating appropriate touch. [20:32] Whether we realize it or not, the texture of the paper an item is printed on says a lot to our subconscious about the business as a whole. [21:47] That first impression is everything and could be impacting every decision from that point forward. Invest in high quality materials that reflect your brand and message. [22:38] If you want to show you are out of the box there are many options – I have gotten wooden and metal business cards and they definitely say something about the person who gives them to me. [22:54] Think about everything that is physically touched. They all say something about your brand. [23:54] Merely touching an item greatly increases the ownership over that item. [24:29] Our brains want us to reach out and touch things. [25:28] Smart companies know that touch increases purchases. [25:58] Far too many stores neglect the power of the dressing room with poorly-lit, messy dressing rooms. [26:34] A personal shopper is a very easy way to experience the clothing and decide what you like. People would buy more if every store experience was like this. [28:04] Advice from What Not to Wear. Color, pattern, texture, and shine should be incorporated into every outfit. [28:21] Texture matters because we can see what something might feel like with our eyes. This creates visual interest and appeal. [29:51] Similar to the paper you print things on, texture and the power of touch are actually a big influence on how people perceive you…even if they will never touch your outfit. [30:24] We can emotionally “feel” something with our eyes, and it helps us to make decisions about the person in front of us. [30:39] The feel of a piece makes a big impact on purchase behavior. [31:28] Think about your packaging also. [31:54] The power of touch without touch - the benefits of envisioning yourself touching an object or an image of an object. [33:31] Well-chosen words can make your brain trigger its texture centers so you are responding as if you were touching it – triggering perceived ownership, loss aversion, and an increased likelihood of buying. [33:48] The truth of the matter is this – touch – whether it is actually happening in your hands or simply in your mind, impacts sales. [35:24] BRAND - Brands need to think about the way they make people feel and how that ties in with their overall experience. [36:00] The materials you choose for everything you do – from physical products to chairs in the lobby and business cards, postcards and letterhead all impact the perception (and likelihood of buying). [36:58] All the senses are impacting our lives much more than we realize. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Episode 26. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Taste Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion The Science of Touching and Feeling | David Linden | TEDxUNC Grinch's Heart Grows Sense of Touch Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity New Study: When NBA Players Touch Teammates More, They and Their Teams Play Better Tactile Communication, Cooperation, and Performance: An Ethological Study of the NBA The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Visual Perception of Texture of Textiles The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership

We have already covered the sense of sight, smell, and taste. Today’s behavioral economics podcast is all about the sense of hearing and sound. As a vocalist, avid music lover and podcaster, sound and the sense of hearing is very near and dear my heart. I talk about the basics of hearing and how the brain interprets signals from the ear. Then we move on to sounds, and the signals that sounds can send to our brains. Similar to the sense of smell, sound can have a huge impact on what the brain perceives. I share some fun studies and articles that involve music, pop culture, branding, and I even play some some branding sounds for you to guess. As always, everything ties back to how you can use sounds to make your business more appealing to your target market. CLICK THE IMAGE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [04:48] Sound is basically just air. It hits the outside of our ears, which help to determine where a sound is coming from as sound waves bounce off of them. [05:00] The ear canal then works like an amplifier on the way to the eardrum. [05:12] The eardrum works like a physical drum by turning the air that hits it into a physical vibration which pass along to the tiny bones of the inner ear. [05:28] This causes the fluid of the inner ear to slosh around, stimulating tiny “hairs’ in the ear which move molecules around and send signals to the brain to be interpreted as sound. [05:43] This is also what controls equilibrium and allows you to stand up and know the difference between what’s up and down. [06:12] The cochlea translates sounds into electrical pulses and sends them to our brain. [07:09] Vibration of sound waves is at the core of sound and what we hear. [07:49] Your body takes in a stimulus that needs to be interpreted by the brain to actually mean anything to you. [08:27] Hearing has a similar ability to distract and take over everything the same way that smell does. [08:49] A good smell can flag your brain in a positive way, and a bad smell can do the opposite. [09:48] Sound has a similar impact on our ability to perform. [11:48] Music is amazing and powerful. [12:30] Every culture on Earth has been found to have some type of musical component. [13:18] We truly are uniquely able to understand and create music and it impacts more than just our ears. [13:41] Studies have shown that our bodies physically react to music in amazing ways. A quick tempo in a song will make our hearts beat faster. [14:03] The body actually changes when music is played, which is pretty amazing. If you want to get pumped up before an important call – choose a great song. [14:37] The easiest way to turn any sound into music is to repeat it. [15:20] Our brains love repetition. Familiarity is favored and music is all about repeating. [15:51] Music impacts our brains differently than words and it can actually help people to heal. [16:49] Studies have shown that restaurants playing faster music can turn more clientele than those who play slower music. [17:39] Understanding how you make money can make it easy to pull the right levers. [18:51] Studies have shown that stores need to carefully select music that matches the brand to encourage shoppers to stay in a store longer. [19:18] Locations that played music that was a better fit increased time in a store by 22 minutes! [19:51] The emotion of the music can impact the way the consumer feels about the brand they are interacting with. [20:42] Everything leading up to the sale or conversation or price or item being sold matters more than the price or item itself. Everything matters. [21:13] JINGLES: Sounds have a strong connection to memory, emotion and behavior and jingles associate brands into our brains in a different way than images or words alone. [24:02] Sounds make or break movies. They say if you are ever watching a movie and get too scared to put it on mute. It completely changes the experience. [25:28] People truly can hear whether you're smiling or not (even if they can’t see you), and it makes a difference with how they interact with you. [26:17] The study I have linked to found that the way a number is sounded out can impact the way the price is perceived – as being big or small – more than the mere number does alone. They did this by testing out the way words are formed – vowels and consonants to determine what is a “big” sound versus a small sound. [28:05] This study found that “bigger” associations in the phonetics translated to a bigger price in the brain. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Episode 26. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Taste How Do We Hear? Hearing & Balance: Crash Course A&P #17 Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 6. How To Sell From The Stage Episode 7. Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Episode 8. What is Value? Beats by Dre goes ‘Above the Noise’ with Olympic athletes in latest campaign Beats by Dre x Colin Kaepernick Hear What You Want Commercial Explained Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You - Loop Pedal Version Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool The Effects of Background Music on Consumer Responses in a High-end Supermarket The Impact of Music on Consumers' Reactions to Waiting for Services Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming 10 Iconic Horror Theme Songs Are Emotionally Different with a Major Key Change Mrs Doubtfire Recut as a Horror Movie The Shining (happy version) Small Sounds, Big Deals: Phonetic Symbolism Effects in Pricing

Today marks the halfway point in our series on the five senses – we have already talked about sight and smell…and today we are digging into taste. Smell and taste are closely linked so be sure and listen to last week's episode about the sense of smell. Both taste and smell use chemical receptors to the brain, and are our more primitive senses. Smell is directly tied to the emotional center of the brain and also closely bonded to our memories. Taste is not as strong in that department, but it still has more of a link than some of the other senses. In this episode, I talk about parts of the sense of smell that are closely tied to taste. We dig into mirror neurons for the first time. In case you don't know, I explain what anosmia is and tie everything into ways to increase and improve your business. Show Notes [09:25] Smell and taste are closely linked together. Both use chemical receptors in the brain and are more primitive senses. [09:50] Taste and smell are closely linked (unless you have anosmia a condition where someone loses their sense of smell). [11:02] People who lose their sense of smell also lose the majority of their sense of taste. Why? Because taste is actually 80% smell! [11:53] Your olfactory bulbs are bringing in the molecules that help you distinguish between all those scents to help you have a better sense of what you are tasting (and tying that to memories and emotions). [12:41] Our tongue’s 10,000 taste buds can basically distinguish between a few categories of flavors – salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami (which is sort of a savory flavor). [13:11] The tongue’s taste receptors basically know if something is salty or sweet, but can’t tell the difference between the flavor of a tortilla chip or a pickle. The nose is required for that. [13:36] We can actually taste all flavors at any area on the tongue (and some of the rest of our mouth as well). [13:48] Taste is actually strongest around the edge of your tongue. [13:59] “Spicy” is not a taste - it is a pain receptor. [14:23] The little bumps you can SEE on your tongue are NOT your tastebuds! Those are called fungiform papillae and the taste buds are down between those bumps. [15:02] The tongue absorbs molecules from the foods we eat and sends a signal to the brain, which then determines what category it falls into. [16:25] MIRROR NEURONS These are basically what allow us to “feel” what others feel. [17:21] The story of how scientists accidentally discovered mirror neurons in a lab in 1991. [18:56] MIRROR NEURONS AND BRANDING [19:44] Cleaning products used to have the face of Mr. Yuck on them. [20:44] Using food and the sense of taste can quickly backfire on you because of mirror neurons. [22:06] If you ARE selling food – good news! You can trigger mirror neurons all the time and use them to your advantage. [22:28] Studies have shown that taste relies on all the other senses to create a full experience. [22:39] Sight is important. If you have ever watched a tasting challenge on the food network you know that being able to see the food makes a difference. The expectation of what is coming to them impacts the taste. [24:07] Some studies have shown that taste tests for orange juice varied based on color alone. [24:28] Think about eating a potato chip, or celery or popcorn. If you can’t hear the sound of chewing it – that satisfactory crunch – does it impact your perception of taste? You bet it does! [25:33] Touch includes the feel in your hands as well as texture and temperature. These all impact taste. [26:15] When it comes to taste – all the senses are involved because of the way they are processed in the brain. [26:31] Our brains get what they expect. [27:26] Don’t judge a book by its cover? Unfortunately, we do every day – which is one more reason brands matter. [30:37] We know taste is greatly impacted by all the senses. [31:32] When it comes to advertising the taste of something – incorporate all the senses if you can. [34:01] The words you choose, images, smells, flavors, sounds, and everything else matters. [34:52] Everything leading up to the interactions with your brand matters more than what you are selling, the price – and the taste if you have one. [35:11] So always, always be strategic and thoughtful in everything you do. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 25. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Smell Filene Laura Peterson on Instagram Copy That Pops Allison Melody on Instagram Food Heals Podcast on Instagram Business Bros Podcast on Instagram @BusinessBrosPod on Twitter 64: Unlock the Mystery: Behavioral Economics with Melina Palmer Bogdan Rosu Podcast with Melina Palmer of The Brainy Business Taste & Smell: Crash Course A&P #16 What is Taste? How does our sense of taste work? Confusing Tastes and Smells: How Odours can Influence the Perception of Sweet and Sour Tastes The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind The Effects of Advertising Copy on Sensory Thoughts and Perceived Taste Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Coke Won the Cola Wars Because Great Taste Takes More Than a Single Sip Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 22. The Power of Habit Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming

This behavioral economics podcast continues our series about the five senses. Last week, I talked about the sense of sight. This week I’m talking about the sense of smell. No matter what type of business you have, these episodes will apply to you. The senses are all powerful and create memories the brain uses to make decisions, and decision making is a big part of successful business. Understanding how our brains use past experience to interpret the world around us is super important when it comes to understanding how to integrate stimuli from our senses in business. We have all experienced a certain scent bringing back a memory. Today, I talk about the sense of smell and how awareness of it can help make your business better. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [09:48] The sense of smell is made up of olfactory bulbs, which are part of the limbic system. [10:06] The sense of smell is one of our oldest senses, and it connects directly to memories and emotions. [10:17] It's one of the first senses we use as infants, and it ties to certain emotions and memories by the time that we are five years old. [10:43] Our sense of smell developed through evolution to help our species survive. We can detect danger through our sense of smell, and we can find our children in the dark. [11:35] Molecules of items separate from the item in question (like bread baking) and those little pieces travel into our noses and are read by our olfactory epithelium (which are like the taste buds of our nose), sending a direct message to the brain. [11:55] Sight, sound and touch do NOT have this connection, so they are not as closely linked to memories or emotions. [12:19] Adult humans can distinguish between approximately 10,000 unique odors using 40 million different olfactory receptor neurons. [12:54] Because it has a direct route to the limbic system, certain scents can trigger fight or flight while others bring up vivid memories and others can make your mouth water. [13:27] Scent is also linked to physical attraction and our noses are trained to like people who are dissimilar to ourselves. [14:46] Smell is linked to where, when and why – thus the power of memories and really taking us back. [16:24] Being able to understand how these memories are formed and how to create positive associations can help with your business and customers. [16:47] Most of our scent memories are formed when we are around the age of five. [19:59] Scent marketing and scent logos are a thing. [22:02] Melina shares a story of how smelling Lush products made her hungry for P.F. Chang's food. [22:53] ScentAir made grocery store sales go up by 7%. 83% of shoe shoppers preferred a floral scented room when shopping and valued the shoes at a higher price. [23:40] An experiment with scented slot machines. Casinos have branded scents. A gas station was able to increase coffee sales by 300% with coffee scented air. [25:08] Rosemary essential oil made test subjects perform tasks faster. [25:23] People can remember a scent and its related memory with 65% accuracy after 12 months. [25:47] An inhaled vanilla aroma decreased anxiety for 63% of MRI patients. [26:42] If you have a physical location, the scent you infuse makes a huge difference and you want to make sure it ties in with your goals. [27:38] There are companies who are experts on scent branding. You can actually hire them to help you choose a scent for your business. [28:53] Scents are used to create an experience, and it will be a different experience for each business. [30:10] Bad scents can impact behavior and make it difficult to focus on anything else. [31:10] Our world and the way we think about it impacts everything we do. Our memories – and particular scents – can trigger emotions. [32:05] Even showing a picture of someone smelling something can trigger mirror neurons. [34:01] If you don’t sell food and you don’t have a physical location, it is still important to know the power of scent. You can use the power of sent to prime memories. Just be smart and intentional about it or things can backfire. [36:43] Next week on episode 26 we are diving into the sense of taste. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight A Fresh Wave of Marketing: An Intentional Approach to Marketing for Visionary CEOs Casey Gromer on Instagram Virtual A Team The Buying Brain 2-Minute Neuroscience: Limbic System How Do We Smell? - Rose Eveleth The Power of Scent Hippocampal Projections to the Anterior Olfactory Nucleus Differentially Convey Spatiotemporal Information During Episodic Odour Memory The Neuroscience of Smell Memories Linked to Place and Time Smells Ring Bells: How Smell Triggers Memories and Emotions How Does Scent Drive Human Behavior? Fragrant Flashbacks Perfume Directory Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Let Them Sniff, Customers Will Buy More The Science of Smell: How Retailers Can Use Scent Marketing to Influence Shoppers Good Smells are Good Marketing: How to Use Scent to Your Advantage Making Sense of the Hotel Guestroom The Impact of Ambient Scent on Evaluation, Attention, and Memory for Familiar and Unfamiliar Brands Smells Like Psychology The Smell of Commerce: How Companies Use Scents to Sell Their Products The Science of Sensory Marketing Productivity Hack Of The Week: Use Aromatherapy To Improve Your Work Inside the Invisible but Influential World of Scent Branding The Art of Scent Marketing

Did you know that the sense of sight has a huge impact on your business? About a quarter of our brains are involved in visual processing. This behavioral economics podcast is all about the sense of sight. I share the surprising truth about what percentage of the body’s sense receptors are in the eyes and why our subconscious is so visual and the impact that has on our businesses. This is the beginning of a series on the five senses – beginning with sight and moving through sound, touch, taste and smell (not necessarily in that order). I am starting with sight because it is the most powerful of our senses by far and the things I am going to share with you in this episode are going to just blow your mind. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [14:48] There is so much more to know thank you think about the sense of sight and how it absolutely impacts your business. [15:23] I'm beginning with sight, because it's the most impactful. About a quarter of our brains are involved with visual processing. [16:05] About 70% of the body's sense receptors are in our eyes. This is why our subconscious is so visual. [17:11] Is vision in your eyes or in your brain? [17:24] The sense of SIGHT takes place in the eyes. It is all the little bits of information coming into them. But Vision? Vision does not actually happen in your eyes. VISION is in your BRAIN and is much more complex than simple sight. [17:56] Vision is actually built on expectations in the brain based on past experience. [18:39] The sense of sight is bringing in a lot of stimuli it can’t actually interact with – light, color, contrast – in a big flood of information all the time. The process of INTERPRETING that information is a task for the brain. [20:30] When we present our product data for our business, people's brains will fill in the gaps and tie things together. [21:47] Inside the retina are photoreceptors – perhaps you have heard of the rods and cones in your eye. They are shaped differently (hence their different names) because they do different things: rods are sensitive to dark versus light and cones are sensitive to color. [22:57] Color Illusions can trick the brain into thinking that it sees a different color. [24:30] FOCUS Our eyes interpret information with the highest resolution in the middle. [26:19] Impressionistic paintings were styled because of diseases in the eye. Monet's early work was full of blues and purples that were absent in later work. Brush strokes became thicker, because he had cataracts. [28:07] Degas developed retinal disease at the age of 36, and he could not be in intense light. [28:38] When we see a Monet or a Degas you still know what the images are. Our brains piece together what they are looking at based on prior experience. [29:33] Our brains are actually conditioned to see and pick out faces. This can either be to see predators, or understand allies. [30:14] Being able to focus forward is what creates our depth perception. This is why optical illusions and a drawing on a flat sheet of paper can look three-dimensional to us. [31:47] Binocular disparity is this state of two eyes pointing in the same direction from slightly different spots (test it by looking at objects through different eyes and watch how they appear to move). [33:03] With 3D images one side is red and the other side is blue (cyan). With 3D glasses, one side takes in each color making things appear three-dimensional. [36:02] Our brains are constantly scanning and interpreting information. We scan the world around us three times every second. [37:02] This is why priming impacts behavior and ads have impact on people even though they say they don't watch them. [37:42] Our brains take things in but don't alert the conscious brain unless there's a reason to. [38:17] Remember vision is in our brains. We have evolved so we can focus on one thing while constantly scanning our environment. [38:45] Saccades are why things like flip books work – our brain weaves together a stream of basically still images and connects the missing pieces. [40:24] When the actor on camera is supposed to be watching something go from one side of the shot to another, they need to actually watch someone (or something) go from one side to the other so the camera doesn’t pick up their eyes darting all over the place. [41:52] Our brains need to deploy selective attention to only flag the conscious brain of what matters. [46:58] What is reality? Do we all live in the same reality? Or is my reality different from yours? [48:20] Miscommunications come up often because we are unwilling to believe that our way is not the only way and that multiple people and perspectives can still be right. [49:18] Our brains can often attach meaning to all sorts of things when they aren’t there. [51:26] Our brain mostly thinks in images and emotions and processes them constantly and basically instantaneously. [52:00] When it comes to your brand and business it is worth investing in great images. DO NOT use clip art or stretch out images to fit a size so that your logo or a person’s face is stretched out. The brain picks up on the discrepancy immediately and assumes you are amateur. [53:39] You can say MORE with a lot LESS if you have a strong and strategic image with a lot less WORDS. [54:58] Basically, everything has too much copy. We need to decide the ONE THING to focus on and then put everything into that effort. [56:51] Our life is a string of memories – including the way we interact with brands. Brands are memories. And because the memory is heavily composed of visuals and emotions – the visuals you choose to use will impact how people think of you, your business, and your brand. [59:26] Be intentional about what people see when you create a video or when they walk into your store or place of 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. Links and Resources: Estate Planning Mom on Instagram BizChix on Instagram Britt Joiner on Instagram The Knotted Wood @theBrainyBiz on Facebook Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment The Buying Brain The Science Behind the Dress Colour Illusion Optical Illusions Show How We See | Beau Lotto Seeing the World as it Isn't | Daniel Simons | TEDxUIUC Eye Diseases Changed Great Painters' Vision of Their Work Later in Their Lives How 3D Glasses Work How Does This Work? Stare at the Red Dot and See the Woman in Full Color on the Wall How Do Our Brains Reconstruct the Visual World? Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability How Vision Works Prefontaine Selective Attention Test The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us

Reciprocity is the perfect topic to talk about this time of year. Today’s behavioral economics podcast is another foundations episode, and it’s all about reciprocity. I explain how our brains process gift giving and why we often give reciprocal gifts of higher value than the original gift. I talk about how reciprocity can be used in your business and how it relates to generating leads. I also share insights into Sheldon's theory of reciprocity on one of my favorite shows The Big Bang Theory. I talk about how our subconscious really feels about gift giving, three ways to use reciprocity in your business, and more. Show Notes [10:07] Ways to use reciprocity in your business. [10:23] Reciprocity is what happens when someone gives you something (whether you wanted it or not, whether you really value it or not) and you feel obligated to give them something in return. [11:37] One thing I really appreciate about The Big Bang Theory (and Sheldon in general) is how they apply complex scientific concepts in ways that they are funny and relatable (although a little extreme of course) [12:22] Sheldon says, "I know you think you’re being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity. You haven’t given me a gift, you’ve given me an obligation." [13:22] In reality, our brains overestimate the value of the gifts we're given and overcompensate. [13:47] Tips go up when customers are given a mint with their check. The gift of kindness and a little effort goes a long way. [16:50] The subconscious feels obligated to pay back for gifts it receives and it often gives back more than it received. [17:10] Reciprocity presents itself in many ways. I'm going to talk about three main categories: the free gift, the small ask on the path to something bigger, and the big ask to get something more realistic. [17:22] The free gift is like mints or a lead magnet or the free content I put out on my blog and podcast. [19:15] The Brainy Business is about providing strategy to make messaging more effective and impactful. I've had many listeners reach out to me about partnering after listening to my show. If you’re interested, I’d love to hear from you too! [20:20] Free samples are also great for things that are a little obscure. Samples have another benefit of dopamine release with anticipation. [22:56] The free gift of a sample for something that people might be hesitant about trying (but you know is amazing) is a great double whammy of reciprocity and the dopamine release with anticipation. [23:06] Reciprocity and free gifts are often used when asking for donations. [25:35] Some other examples of “free gifts” are sales or discounts. Sales and discounts need to be offered strategically and not as a crutch. [28:02] I share a quick story of how giving out gum made my high school life a little bit easier. [29:46] My friend Nikki Rausch, Your Sales Maven, has written several books on relationship selling and she speaks on this around the country. One of her tips is to be of service to other people. [30:39] A small ask to get something bigger. Giving someone a button and a yard sign is more likely to influence them to vote for you then just asking for the vote. This is because of the escalation of commitment. [33:06] When asking for a donation cold turkey, there's a good chance they will say no. Asking someone like a store owner to put a small sign in the window will actually influence them to donate to you. [34:34] This is because of the “foot-in-the-door” technique which creates a small shift in the way a person thinks. [35:26] This is also why loss-leaders work in business. [37:19] You start with a BIG (and somewhat ridiculous or unreasonable) ask to make the thing you actually want to ask for seem more reasonable and appealing. [39:27] An example of using a big ask to get volunteers on a college campus. [42:41] One obvious place to use this is in negotiations of any kind. This concept of reciprocity is why you hear concepts like “give and take” or that people are expected to “meet halfway.” [43:46] An example from money coach Mikelann Valterra on how to pick a “resentment number” when pricing client work or bidding projects. [46:44] I have always been one to reward people who ask for things (my own version of reciprocity). It takes a little something extra to step away from the norm and ask for something outside the status quo. [48:52] So here is a GIFT FOR YOU: Anyone who commits to six strategy sessions before the end of the year, instead of $499 a piece, they will be $450 – so you will save almost $300. And you get priority space on my calendar, which fills up pretty fast these days. [49:23] If you commit by the end of the year to 12 strategy sessions in 2019, I will do them for $400 apiece. That means you will save almost $1200! That is two free strategy sessions plus some gravy cash in your pocket. Interested? Let’s chat. 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. Links and Resources: Jen Mueller Casey Gromer Episode 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Natalie Eckdahl A Fresh Wave of Marketing: An Intentional Approach to Marketing for Visionary CEOs Sweetening the Till: The Use of Candy to Increase Restaurant Tipping Poll Reveals Who Are the Best, Worst Tippers Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Nikki Rausch The power of yard signs II: Escalation of commitment Compliance Without Pressure: the Foot-in-the-door Technique Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Reciprocal Concessions Procedure for Inducing Compliance:The Door-in-the-Face Technique Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Need to Set Rates? Find Your “Resentment Number” Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults The Knotted Wood

This behavioral economics podcast is building on the most recent foundations episodes to really dig into the power of habit. Last week I really went deep into what habits are and how they work. Today, I am going to share a bunch of examples of ways businesses use habits to their advantage (and how you can too!) I talk about how advent calendars can actually build anticipation and release dopamine. I also discuss clever ways that Starbucks keeps customers coming back. I talk about how 95% of purchases are habitual and how this habit formation can be combined with reciprocity and loss aversion. I give several examples from big companies and my personal life. Then I break it all down so you can apply the same principles to your business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [11:36] Last week on episode 21, you learned all about what makes habits so powerful and the best way to form a new habit (either for yourself or in business). [12:11] Advent calendars are a staple of the holiday season. [12:59] Some big manufacturers have found a way to boost their sales before the holidays (and probably increase the likelihood that their bigger toys will be the focus of the big day). [14:10] A LEGO City Advent Calendar will generate interest in Legos all the way up until the holiday. [14:35] The excitement about what is going to be inside, and getting to see the next one...building anticipation... That is where the real enjoyment is for the brain. Once it has opened the box? Dopamine release stops. [15:15] You are also creating a habit of opening a gift every day! The brain wants to keep getting those small toys for the dopamine. [15:55] Is there something your business could do to incorporate advent calendars with your clients or customers? [16:52] The Starbucks app helps create the habit of coming back. They have also Incorporated loss aversion and integrated the power of habit into their app. [18:05] Be careful what lines you cross when it comes to knowing your customer, you may be inadvertently offending some people (like their set up that I can only get bonus stars by buying items I am allergic to). [18:57] They've also done the same thing with their treat receipts. Where you can get a discount in the afternoon. [19:26] Scarcity can become a habit if it is ingrained in who you are. Costco shoppers have the ingrained mindset that they better buy now because the item won't be there the next time they visit.   [20:33] 95% of purchases are habitual. [21:15] Daily active users are important for apps. You get bonuses each day in a row that you play. This is a combination of reciprocity, loss aversion, and habit - and it works very well. Our brains love it. [22:53] The most common “problems” solved by habits (the reward in the brain) are STRESS and BOREDOM. [24:48] KIT KAT was having a sales slump. They paired Kit Kats in the consumers’ mind as something that goes along with their break. Tying in with coffee and breaks made it so when people think “coffee” they think “Kit Kat”. [26:42] Availability was also used in this campaign. [27:29] McDonald's hired a research team to increase milkshake sales. They discovered that people were hiring the milkshake to prevent their boredom on the way to work. [30:40] The research found out what was causing the habit and then made it really easy for more people to take up the habit. [31:06] You have to ask the right questions to get the right answers. [31:42] If you find people using your product in a way that you didn't intend, that creates a new opportunity to market. [32:17] The cycle of habits. You want to use the cue/reward part of the habit cycle, not the craving/response part. [33:14] “If you lived here, you’d be home by now,” is a genius marketing and a good way to break the habit cycle and try to form a new reward option. [34:23] Payment habits. Every time you pay the mortgage and don’t look for another provider, you are habitually rebuying that loan. [35:07] Breaking the payment into very regular, small amounts, makes it easier to keep paying and doesn’t flag the brain negatively. [36:50] You get a renewal notice and your premiums have gone up a little bit. Suddenly that large yearly payment is something that prompts you to shop around for more affordable services. [37:41] Being on auto pay is easy and becomes a habit. [39:10] If you work on appointments, you should encourage a regular day and time for people to come in. People like to feel like they are important. [41:16] A pre-scheduled appointment can become an EXPERIENCE that you will pay more for. [42:38] When you can make it a habit and preschedule for people, it makes it less likely that they will break that cycle. [44:09] “Be seen to the point people don’t remember the space without you.” Jen Mueller of Talk Sporty To Me [44:43] Many people including my friend Debbie Page say that the key to networking is showing up. [45:53] Engage with people on social media and selflessly share their content. This can make your name a cue for rewards. [46:51] Be consistent if you want to be part of people's habits. The human brain likes repetition and reliability. [48:47] I knew I had to have a weekly podcast in order to make it a habit. [50:53] Consistency is a huge key to habit and now you know why – your brain expects it and is looking for those cues. [EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!] How to Launch an Amazing Podcast (using behavioral economics) online course is coming soon! Want to be on the list (possibly even a beta tester)? Email me - melina@thebrainybusiness.com with the subject line “Podcast Course” for more details. 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. Links and Resources: Web Your Brand Carol Morgan Cox BizChix RESET Your Mindset: Silence Your Inner Mean Girl Natalie Eckdahl Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits LEGO City Advent Calendar Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make 21 great Advent calendar ideas for Christmas 2018 Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 14. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Revival and Growth of an Iconic Brand Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing Marketing, Milkshakes and Understanding Your Customers Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers Return of the weekly salon visit Episode 8. What is Value? Jen Mueller Debbie Page Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding

Habits are much more powerful than most of us realize. This behavioral economics podcast is about habits and habitual buying. It is another one of my behavioral economics foundations podcasts. When a lot of us think of habits, we focus on bad habits, but we actually have more good habits than bad. Our subconscious does about 99% of the brain’s processing and this applies to habits and buying habits. I am going to break this down for you to make sure it is super applicable for your business – including the different strategies you should use if you are the market leader versus someone trying to break in. They are very different! I also talk about how businesses make the mistake of focusing on what’s new instead of the habitual buying habits, and how you can use buying habits to improve your business and marketing. CLICK THE IMAGE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [09:00] The subconscious brain does about 99% of the brain’s processing. [09:41] If 99% of decisions are made using these automatic rules, based on the way things have been done in the past and what has worked…clearly a lot of the buying decisions you (and your customers) make must be done automatically. [11:01] Even with infrequent purchases, the place you go and look is based on habit. [11:50] An association in the brain that triggered an action (or a desire to take an action). That is essentially all a habit is. [12:17] The human brain essentially works on many, many associations. [13:29] Your brain sorts through tons of information and concepts – all the things it is NOT looking for until it finds what it is looking for. [14:49] In reality, 95% of all buying decisions are HABITUAL. Far too many companies and brands are focusing on the 5% - the “new” and “different” and “getting people to consciously make a decision and change” than working on being in the 95% of habitual purchases. [16:33] What is a habit? The official definition is “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up” [18:23] Maltz, a plastic surgeon in the 1950s noticed it took about 21 days for his patients to get used to their new noses. [18:48] His book Psycho-Cybernetics said, “These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.” [19:15] NOTE: He said a minimum of about 21 days. [20:28] Our brains have a habit of using the 21 days as a reference even though there's a mountain of evidence against it. [20:54] We have been attacking habits wrong. [21:55] A 2009 study from The European Journal of Social Psychology found the average number of days it took to form a habit (in their case it was eating fruit at lunch or running 15 minutes a day) was 66. [22:17] This is where framing can kill you. You hear an average and think great that's the number. [22:40] There are more questions that you need to ask. Such as what was the range of days when coming up with that average. The range for this study was 18 to 254 days. [24:57] Essentially, all habits are made up of four phases: Cue, Craving, Response, and Reward. [25:41] The human brain is driven by rewards. [26:24] A cue is a signal to the brain that there is a reward around. And that instantly leads to a craving. [26:50] Cravings can be hard to ignore. It can quickly become all your conscious brain can focus on. [27:03] When you give in to the craving and the brain gets the reward, you have a double whammy because you have just reinforced the original cue to make it even more powerful the next time. [27:42] The thing we have done WRONG in addressing habits in the past is to try and change the response. [27:59] If you want to change a habit or start a new one, the CUE and REWARD phases are where it’s at. [28:44] To help stop doing something you need to find the cues that encourage you to do it. [29:27] Cues have been found to fall into one of five categories: Location, Time, Emotional State, Other People, and An Immediately Preceding Action. [29:53] List the ques of each category by asking yourself questions. [31:00] We actually aren't craving the thing we think we are craving but the reward that it provides. [32:16] Ask what the reward is that your brain is seeking. [36:22] “No, I can’t drink soda…” Or, the very subtle difference of, “No, I don’t drink soda.” [37:38] “I can’t” is not your choice. It is instead a restriction. “I don’t” is empowering. This was your choice. It affirms the choice you made and makes you feel determined, full of willpower. [40:09] By turning off notifications and eliminating the cue, I can work longer and be more productive. [42:19] You don't want to mess with people who habitually buy your product. You can create cues with product placement. [44:04] It's possible to lose a habitual buyer by offering them more choices and triggering them to think about other brands. [45:47] Brand leaders shouldn't do too much to rock the boat. [46:36] Jones soda has a large cult following by being unique. They also interjected themselves during a cue like at a sports game. When you aren't the market leader you have to try harder and put in some hustle to break the buying cycle. [48:40] It's important to consider your customers habits when building out your strategies. [49:20] Next week is about the Power of Habit and how you can use it to your advantage 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 share what you liked about the show. Links and Resources: Episode 1. Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Three Purchase States How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Backed by Science) Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life How Are Habits Formed: Modelling Habit Formation in the Real World Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing How Long Does it Really Take to Break a Habit? The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones 5 Ways To Change A Habit Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding The Amazing Power of 'I Don't' vs. 'I Can't' Episode 20. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Defaults Listen and Subscribe on YouTube

This behavioral economics foundations podcast episode is about defaults.Today’s episode on defaults is going to absolutely blow your mind. You may think you know how defaults work, but you will not believe how they impact you, your business, and really everything. It’s amazing. You probably don’t realize it, but defaults are everywhere. Basically, every choice has a default. Think of the default as what happens if you do nothing – or if your customer does nothing. More often than not, when presented with a series of options people will go with the default. Listen in to learn how critical it is to consider the default option, complexities of choice architecture, and more. Show Notes [16:44] You probably think you already know all you need to know about defaults, but I'm going to blow your mind today. [17:26] Every choice has a default. Doing nothing is a default. People often go with the default, and this is connected to status quo bias. [18:32] People are more likely to keep things the way they are – maintaining the status quo and not take an action to change things. [18:56] In business when you are presenting options it is CRITICAL that you consider what is the default and what will be more likely to be chosen. [19:09] This is getting into Choice Architecture, which will be the focus of a series of episodes as it is very complex – I had a whole class dedicated to the topic of Choice Architecture in my master’s program. [19:37] Defaults are the way our brains really showcase just how lazy they are. This is where all the “should’s” of the world come to die. [20:41] An example of default retirement savings. Options 1 and 2 leave defaults that are consistent with past behavior instead of considering the future. [23:29] Option 3 is have people commit when they are in a cold state to commit some of their future earnings to retirement. This is an easy commitment for the brain to make because of time discounting. People are also less likely to opt out than they would be to opt in. [24:27] 78% of people opted to use this program when it was offered to them. [25:33] This is a really creative solution that could be applied in many other areas to help people to have better lives. [26:04] Too many programs and approaches are trying to get people to change their natural tendencies. [26:26] When push comes to shove the subconscious is the one making the decisions. [26:53] You can’t tell your subconscious to not be subject to defaults and status quo bias. [27:37] An example of defaults and how they impact you. This one comes from Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. [28:35] If you make a bet and come up wrong, but everyone else did too, you are much less likely to be ridiculed than if you went against the herd and made a losing bet no one else made? [31:15] If people make a choice and step away from the status quo (the doing nothing) and lose…they feel increased regret. [32:02] In your business, is it the default for your customers to do business with you? Or are you asking them to change their behavior to buy? [32:40] Consider subscription services to anything in the world. The act of turning off the auto-renewal or canceling the subscription would require taking an action. [34:37] Setting up automatic payments for mortgages, insurance and auto loans are defaults that benefit everyone. [35:20] Make it easy for people to opt out if they want to. [36:02] Most people will not put in the effort to cancel, but you want to make it so they don’t WANT to cancel. [36:17] What sort of service can you provide that includes a regular, automatic payment to you as the default? Is there a way to make buying from you the default? [37:58] Most people use the default settings on their computers. It's better to be able to go with the recommendations of the people who built the thing. They know how it works best and if anything doesn’t suit your style you can always change it, right? [42:18] A badly placed default can make people want to get out of everything and completely change their habits. [43:01] The ethics of choice and defaults. There is a lot of debate in behavioral economics about the right way to use defaults and choice architecture. [43:12] Is it our responsibility to help people with a well-placed default? [43:45] You want to make it so people still have a choice. Make sure people aren't harmed if they go with the default and give them the option to choose something else. [44:31] Add in some sensible defaults if you have a complicated product or service. Most people will choose a pre-selected option. [45:00] What is presented first is also more likely to be chosen. [45:19] People now need to make a choice to opt into overdraft protection. This goes against the status quo bias and most people won't do it even though it is in their best interest. [46:18] How do you choose what is best for most people? [46:57] 95% of people support organ donation but only 43% are signed up as donors. You have to opt-in to be a donor and that is why there is such a small sign up percentage. [47:27] Some states are thinking about switching to presumed consent. This would mean you would have to opt out. [48:31] For your business, remember that you have many defaults impacting your customers and how they interact with you. [50:51] When you look at your business, how can you use defaults to benefit your company and your customers? [52:22] Next week on episode 21 we are going to talk about one of the concepts I hinted at in this episode – habitual buying. 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. Links and Resources: Britt Joiner on Instagram @interacter on Twitter Episode 1. Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain @edxonline on Twitter Episode 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Memories Worth Telling Alice Kuder Real Estate Caffeinated Communications Studio First Class Life Solutions Why this not that? Understanding Consumer Behavior - with Melina Palmer Five Star Professional Laura Brodniak Amber Peterson on Instagram Flour & Girl on Instagram Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 7. Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Anomalies The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Save More Tomorrow: Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Thinking, Fast and Slow Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Organ Donation Statistics To Solve Organ Shortage, States Consider ‘opt-out’ Organ Donation Laws

Herding is the topic of today’s behavioral economics podcast foundations episode. This concept is similar to the way animals herd and for many of the same reasons. For safety, being in the center of the herd offers protection from predators. There is also an assumption that if everyone is running in the same direction they must know where they are going. My husband and I just got back from a trip to London, where I observed examples of herding, the subconscious versus conscious brain, and how a nudge can remind us to do what we need to. (I will talk expand on nudges in my upcoming foundations of choice architecture series). During this episode I will give examples of how to use herding to your advantage in business, and how herding can go terribly wrong.   Show Notes: [06:23] Crossing the street in London is an example of the subconscious brain versus the conscious. Cars come from you on the right. London gives tourists a nudge by painting “look right” and “look left” at the intersections. [08:10] In behavioral economics we expect people to make errors, there's just too much going on for the brain at one time. A little nudge can help us when we anticipate an error. [18:19] Humans herd in the same way as other species – including wasps and schools of guppies – for much of the same reasons. [18:43] It's beneficial to be as close to the center of the herd as you can. [19:30] running the same way as everyone else is another concept of herding. A great example of this is watching groups of people cross the street at a busy intersection. [22:01] One of the reasons our species has adopted herding is because it helps us learn by observation. [23:26] The childhood discomfort of not doing what everyone else is doing is fueled by our basic instinct of herding. [24:29] In addition to safety, herding is a key way that we learn. Learning by observation is critical to our survival and growth. [25:48] Choosing a full restaurant as opposed to one that is completely empty is an example of herding. [26:55] Seeding a tip jar with money is another example of herding. [27:35] Museums in London had giant jars of cash encouraging people to donate. [29:09] Herding mentality is more likely to come out when people feel vulnerable or unsure of themselves. [30:58] Herding behavior can come into play with finances and when your reputation is on the line. [33:02] Studies have shown that up to 75% of participants will give an answer they KNOW IS WRONG to go with the group. [33:27] It takes strong will and conscious focus to be willing to go against the group and it is even more difficult when those people are like you. [34:45] Herding is one reason that things go viral. [35:57] In finances, people being afraid to go against the cumulative advice of the herd is one reason why markets crash and bubbles burst. [37:46] Crypto is absolutely impacted by the herd mentality – we see people make millions and feel more optimistic we can have that same fate if we act fast! This is also incorporating the concept of availability. [39:08] Don't let herd mentality force you into making a bad decision. Turn on your conscious brain when you feel the anxiety building. [39:44] An example how you could use herding and the power of numbers to get hotel guests to reuse their towels. [41:52] People like to be part of the group. This is increased when the people are comparable and more similar to you. [42:54] Any time you can provide reassurance through numbers, it will increase the chances of people buying. [43:39] Herding and the ice bucket challenge. People participated because it was less painful to do it than to be ridiculed for not doing so. [45:20] Being in a group makes us feel safe and happy because of this release of oxytocin. [45:57] Helping leaders build a following. Recognize the power of existing affinities. Encourage the formation of new affinities. Fight the herd instinct in yourself. [48:55] Derek Severs How to Start a Movement is one of my favorite Ted Talks. [51:38] Social media is rife with herd mentality. Most people do not want to stand out by leaving a comment. [53:53] The feeling of getting comments and shares on social media can release oxytocin. [54:37] You can use herd mentality as an advantage in business by being generous with your social likes and shares - an example of a challenge I am currently participating in.   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.   Links and Resources: Dramatic Incompetence and the True Story of an NFL Tie The Making of Harry Potter Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Episode 1. Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness Debbie Page Business Bros Podcast Human Herding: How People are Like Guppies The Unwisdom of Crowds Herding, social influence and economic decision-making: socio-psychological and neuroscientific analyses Herd behavior in consumers' adoption of online reviews Which restaurant should I choose? Herd behavior in the restaurant industry Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers Watch These Awkward Elevator Rides From an Old Episode of Candid Camera Herding Behavior in Social Media Networks in China Herd Instinct Warren Buffett explains one thing people still don't understand about bitcoin Herding behavior in cryptocurrency markets Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Science Of Persuasion Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Oxytocin The Brain and the Herd Mentality How to Start a Movement Derek Sivers Debbie Page Instagram Debbie Page FacebookLynn Reifert InstagramLynn Reifert Facebook Six-Word Lessons to Take the Fear out of Mortgages Debby Mycroft InstagramDebby Mycroft Facebook Nicole Bandes Instagram Nicole Bandes Facebook Jennifer Findlay InstagramJennifer Findlay Facebook

Our brains can be primed to lean toward a thought or word or number. Today’s behavioral economics podcast is another foundations episode, and it is all about priming. I share examples of how easy it is to trick the brain into thinking and answering something wrong with just a little priming. When primed, your subconscious remembers it recently heard a number, or a statistic or something and that influences the next assumptions it makes – even if they are not even remotely related. I share examples of priming, research and studies related to priming, and examples of how you can use this concept to grow your business and profits. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [09:28] I share a rhyme and a question that shows an example of priming. Rhyming can be one way to prime the brain. [11:11] Our brains will hear a number and then adjust up or down from there. This is another example of priming. Especially, when done intentionally like the examples I gave in Episode 11. [11:34] Our brains are lazy and incredibly busy, so they take shortcuts all the time. [11:48] Our subconscious brains need to make snap decisions. When primed, our brain will make assumptions based on the previous word or number that it has heard. [12:18] I was giving a presentation to a group of female entrepreneurs (something I do a lot!). I asked everyone to think of the last 2 digits of their social security number. Then assign a value to the necklace I was wearing. Those with lower number socials assigned lower values, and higher numbers assigned higher values. This is the power of priming, the root of anchoring and adjustment. [14:10] A priming example, where sales of Snicker bars were increased just by using the number 18. [14:39] Limiting the number of cans of soup that someone can buy actually primes them to buy more. [14:57] Priming can also be done with words. A priming example where students primed with words about elderly people actually took longer to walk to the elevator. [17:30] They also did a study with rude and polite words. People primed with the rude words were much more impatient and likely to interrupt. [19:17] A stereotyping example of priming. Priming people with words from a certain stereotype can actually affect the results on a math test. [21:19] Prime yourself for success. If you doubt visualization, think how easily the brain can be primed. [21:55] The power of visualization. There is a reason why Olympians train their brains as well as their bodies. [22:48] Mental training may be even more important than physical training. [22:59] The steps the visualization. [23:01] 1. Know what you want. Ask yourself what you would like to see if nothing was holding you back? [23:15] 2. Describe your vision in detail. [23:28] 3. Start visualizing and create the emotions. [23:41] 4. Take daily actions. [23:58] 5. Have grit and persevere. [24:27] Priming with physical objects. Participants in a study were asked to hold a cup of either hot or cold coffee. People who held the iced coffee actually rated the person in the story as being much “colder” than the hot coffee participants rated them. [26:03] Participants in another study were more likely to clean up crumbs after a snack when there is a faint hint of cleaning products in the air. [27:09] Several studies have been done where certain objects or smells will affect people's behavior. [27:48] The takeaway from all of these studies is that everything we do and say matters. Whatever was said or done right before we do or say something also matters. [28:34] You can't control everything, but it is worth looking into the things that you can control. [29:25] Remember, what comes first matters much more than the price itself. [30:25] With these priming examples, small things and a few simple words can make a huge difference. [30:54] If you find people are always rude when they talk with you. Or treat you like you are cold and distant. It could be a bad prime. [31:25] A study where participants were shown a flash of a logo for an imperceptible 30 milliseconds. Participants shown the Apple logo were more creative than participants shown the IBM logo. [32:15] Participants shown a Disney logo were much more honest than participants who saw the logo for E! [32:23] Have you ever heard people say you become like the people you spend the most time with? Or that you should dress for the job you want? Or that you should “fake it till you make it”? [32:36] It seems there really is some truth to that. You are priming your brain to take on the traits of those outside influences. [32:55] Prime your brain in a way that you want to be approaching your day in your life and business. [33:14] Notice how quickly a brand is noticed. Ask what the traits of your brand are? [34:21] These things may not register on a conscious level, but they have an impact, even if people don't realize it. [35:03] Marketing and advertising takes dedication and focus; consistent presence and messaging to break through the clutter. [36:51] Book your strategy session for a free consultation call now. [37:52] On episode 19, I am going to dig into the foundations of herding – so get ready for some more amazing studies. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 4 Questions or Answers Business Bros Podcast Tax Tribe Podcast The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know and How to Apply Them Episode 11 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions Automaticity of Social Behavior: Direct Effects of Trait Construct and Stereotype Activation on Action Stereotype Susceptibility: Identity Salience and Shifts in Quantitative Performance “Math is Hard!” the Effect of Gender Priming on Women’s Attitudes New To Visualization? Here Are 5 Steps To Get You Started Here's The Trick Olympic Athletes Use To Achieve Their Goals Who’s Minding the Mind? Material priming: The influence of mundane physical objects on situational construal and competitive behavioral choice Apple's Logo Makes You More Creative Than IBM's

I take framing one step further and talk about the power of numbers in today’s episode. This behavioral economics podcast will be a break from our foundation episodes. I get in to some of my most frequently asked questions (including ending prices in 99 or 97). I also talk about pricing strategies like using random or “interesting” numbers. I share research, examples, and how you can apply framing using numbers in your business.   Before I dig in, I want to thank Justin from 52 Card Media, Jesse from Cinematic Syndicate, and Jennifer of Jennifer Findlay Portraits for making the website look so awesome. I have also transitioned to a new YouTube Channel and all the full episodes of this podcast are on it. Feel free to subscribe and share it with your friends.   Show Notes [09:17] Last week was all about the concept of framing. Today, we take that concept one step further by unlocking the power of numbers in your business. [09:45] The way you say something is often more important than what you're actually saying. This ties back to loss aversion (which was the focus of episode 9) - remember framing something as a loss makes people twice as likely to take action than when it is framed as a gain. [11:21] I talked a little bit about pricing and Episode 5. All of the things leading up to the price matter more than the number itself.[12:16] Is it really better to end something in 99 than rounding up to the nearest dollar? Should my prices end in 99 or 97? Should I have a random, but interesting number like 456.78?[12:55] It's (generally) better to round down in the 99 versus one dollar question. This works because you're bringing down the first whole digit number. 599 looks better than 600. [14:24] Consistency is key. If you list your prices and have them one on top of the next, and they say, 399, 499, 999 and 2500 it is just weird. [16:27] The great debate of 99 versus 97 (or even 95). Any of them are typically better than the rounded 0 because of the first digit difference. [18:21] The LAST question on pricing is about using totally random and sometimes “interesting” numbers. This would mean instead of pricing something for $4,600 or 4,599 you would price it at $4,567.89 (so when you look at it the number reads 456789.) [19:09] Making someone stop and say “what?” can be good if you're trying to disrupt the buying cycle. [20:50] Journal of Consumer Research study called “This Number Just Feels Right” states that luxury pricing or other things bought on emotion (like a bottle of champagne) sold better when it was priced at $40.00 instead of $39.72 or $40.28. [22:01] In another study on the pricing of a camera, participants favored the rounded prices (leisure/luxury/emotional purchase) and the non-rounded prices when they thought it was for a class project (function or looking for a deal). [22:32] Bringing it back to FRAMING: the mindset that someone is in when they are going to buy from you matters. [23:26] Confidence helps you sell and encourages people to buy. [24:08] Statistics and numbers can be very persuasive when presented properly. They can also be negatively persuasive when presented wrong. [25:16] Numbers help your brain value things and make comparisons. Which helps it to make a decision without flagging your conscious brain. [26:22] Look for numbers in your business. People like to be part of the group and that is a big reason why framing in numbers matters. [27:51] We make assumptions based on the numbers we see. [28:49] Statistics like this work because people want to be like everyone else. [29:39] To know what works best, you need to try different types of numbers. [30:18] Four out of five has a better context in the brain than 78%. [32:24] “Most” sounds better than 50%. You can also try to flip the framing the other way. [33:42] Find a number in your business and look at all the different ways to present it. Let me know what works best for you. [40:30] Episode 18, is back to behavioral economics foundations – when we will talk about priming. You won’t want to miss it! BE thoughtful. 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. Links and Resources: 52 Card Media Cinematic Syndicate Jennifer Findlay Portraits Katie Goulet Website Design on Instagram Sagar Jadhav on Instagram Episode 4 Questions or Answers Episode 9 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing The Psychological Difference Between $12.00 and $11.67 The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind This Number Just Feels Right Episode 16 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 8 What is Value? Episode 13 Adjusting Your Mindset Episode 12 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Find Me Gluten Free Biz Chix Episode 10 On Air Strategy Planning Session with Mariel Court CoastHills Credit Union

Framing is one of my favorite behavioral economics podcast topics. In the past few weeks, I have covered foundational topics like loss aversion, anchoring & adjustment, relativity, scarcity, and availability. Today, I talk about one of my favorite concepts which is framing. Before digging in, I’d like to give a shout out to Lara Currie who left a stellar Apple podcast review and invited me to be on her podcast Difficult Happens. Our subconscious brain evaluates everything very quickly and uses assumptions to make decisions. If you think of this in the context of framing, this is the reason an inexpensive print will look expensive in a nice frame and cheap when taped to the wall. Framing also works hand-in-hand with the concept of loss of version. If you frame something as a loss someone is more likely to take action on it than if it were framed as a gain. In this episode, I dive into how our brains interpret framing and how these concepts can be applied to your business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [12:21] An easy way to think about framing is thinking about how a beautiful frame impacts a picture compared to no frame at all, or a cheap looking frame. [13:53] Think about a poster on your wall stuck up with tape as compared to a nice print in a beautiful frame. [14:44] Why does the frame matter? It's because our brain processes everything very quickly and uses assumptions to make decisions. A well-placed aesthetic means it must be a high quality piece. [16:24] Children's artwork put in a frame looks like amazing beautiful art. [16:52] To our brains, what we say is not as important as how we say it. [17:18] Our brains process nonverbal communication. All of this other stuff makes a huge difference. [17:40] The nail salon example from episode two was an example of being too literal. They had an outdated sign that sent a negative message to our subconscious brains. They were able to turn this negative into a positive just by changing the wording. [21:34] Framing is at the heart of the concept of loss aversion, which was the focus of episode 9. [21:48] Framing something as a loss is more likely to get someone to take an action than framing it as a gain. [21:59] The motivation of a loss is twice as powerful as the motivation of a gain. This is also called Prospect Theory. [22:58] Examples of framing coming into play. A food labeled as 90% fat free is more attractive than one labeled as 10% fat. [23:22] This is actually saying the same thing, but the way it is framed or what we hear makes one option sound better than the other. [24:09] Last week, I talked about the US open. Saying “Serena lost” has a different connotation than saying “Osaka won.” [24:52] The frame of our story and our experiences shapes the world that we live in. Framing is about what we say and who we say it to. [25:47] When talking to clients, I focus on “considering the ripples.” [27:36] Tversky did a test on his colleagues at Harvard medical school, having them read statistics about two treatment options for lung cancer – surgery or radiation. [28:35] People choose options that are framed in a positive light. [29:26] One other fantastic example of framing from Tversky and Kahneman is called the “Asian disease problem.” [31:42] The principal in this story is called OPTIMISM BIAS, and it will be a topic of a future podcast. [32:22] The three different categories of framing: Risky choice, attribute framing, and goal framing. [34:18] . Have you ever heard commercials for Chevron with Techron? We assume that Techron is something valuable, but it's actually a name that Chevron made up. [35:33] Think back to episode 11 on Anchoring and Adjustment, when I asked you if there are more or less than 10,000 emperor penguins in Antarctica. The same way your subconscious assumes I must know something about populations, your brain assumes brands must know something more about gas. [36:56] Ford calls itself "America's best-selling brand". That's actually an empty claim that sounds good. Yet, it means something to your brain. [38:06] An example about “AVG DAY CARE”. Is this a good name? [41:21] Next week I'm going to dig into the science of choosing the right numbers and how to use statistics in your messaging. [41:48] If your toothpaste is recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists, does that mean 1 in 5 dentists don't recommend that toothpaste? [42:56] Some of the most misleading terms in real estate and what they mean. Cozy mean small. Charming means old. Convenient location means loud. Etc. [44:25] This is also getting into the concept of PRIMING – which is going to be the topic of episode 18. [44:41] The way you explain something sets an expectation and can impact the way someone feels about the whole experience. [46:05] All the adjectives included into a description could be considered the frame. [49:08] When I worked at the credit union our biggest competitor claimed they were “a member owned, not for profit credit union” even though, that is basically the definition of a credit union. [55:26] Next week, episode 17, is taking framing a step further, into the best ways to display numbers, when you should use each one, and more. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 9 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 11 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 12 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 14 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Scarcity Episode 15 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Difficult Happens Episode 29 Why your subconscious is the Real Boss with Melina Palmer Cinematic Syndicate 52 Card Media Jennifer Findlay Portraits The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them) Episode 8 What is Value? Episode 2 The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk Thinking Fast and Slow Episode 7 Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) All Frames Are Not Created Equal: A Typology and Critical Analysis of Framing Effects 10 Tips Gas Stations Don't Want You to Know America’s best-selling car brand is not American ‘Cozy’ or Tiny? How to Decode Real Estate Ads

Today’s behavioral economics podcast is about availability. This is another foundational episode that ties in to last week’s episode about scarcity. Similar to the bond between anchoring & adjustment and relativity, scarcity and availability can often be found together. There is also a free worksheet available for download that will help you apply today’s concept in your business. What do sharks, cows, toilets, buckets, and air fresheners have in common? They are part of the interesting concept of availability. Our brains get lazy and decide the likeness of something happening is based on how easily we can think of an example of it happening before, or how much we have heard about it. Listen on to hear how these random things work together, and for more interesting examples of this concept and how you can apply them in your business. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [06:05] Availability is about how easily something comes to our mind. [06:38] What comes to mind when I say the word shark? [07:32] What comes to mind when I say the word cow? [08:05] Even though, most people are afraid of sharks. There is less than one shark-related death in the US per year, but there are 22 deaths by cow. [09:41] We fear sharks more than other things that actually cause more harm or deaths because of availability. [10:18] The only time we hear about sharks are when they are attacking people. These examples are easy for our brain to remember, and we assume they happen more often than they do. [11:12] Our brains categorize cows as less dangerous. In spite of the actual statistics. [12:07] Daniel Kahneman dedicated chapter 12 of his book to the concept of availability. [13:52] With availability, our brain swaps out questions at hand with questions that we would be more likely able to answer quickly. [14:32] With availability it's about how easily examples come to mind. [15:31] Personal experiences and examples are more available than statistics. [16:16] Our subconscious brains love stories. [17:56] Your social media strategies should support what you are doing in your business. Use social media to gain a following in other things, not in the platform. [18:37] Do you know what movie increased tourism in Norway in 2014? [19:22] Norway had to cut their tourism budget, because they were overflowing with visitors. [20:49] In 1997, the sales of Mars Bars went up significantly (even though they did not change their advertising at all). This was because of the Mars rover. These are examples of how our brains associate things with each other. [21:47] When it comes to availability in your business, you need to associate your business with things that are going on around you. [22:57] In last week's episode, I gave examples of scarce items that flew off the shelf (from Starbucks, Disney and more). They were associated with things that were already popular at the time like the color rose gold. [26:10] Currently, a lot of people are talking about Nike and the Kaepernick Campaign. [28:16] In episode 4, I talk about one of my favorite books called A More Beautiful Question. I reference combinatorial thinking, which helps you get more ideas by combining things together that others may not think goes together. Instead of connecting A and B try to connect A and Z (or better yet, A and 26). [29:41] HARO is a website that connects reporters with potential sources. I reach out and respond with my unique perspective (sometimes it might seem random, but that is often better!) and I have been quoted in some articles. [32:38] Last week, I promised to revisit the story of how diamonds became the powerhouse that they are today. Diamonds actually aren't that rare. Diamond engagement rings didn't become popular until the 1940s. [35:42] De Beers had to create an illusion that diamonds were forever. [38:24] Young men had to view diamonds as an expression of love. They then used movies and magazines to reinforce this perception about diamonds. They also stressed the size of the diamonds. [40:22] By 1941, the advertising agency was able to increase the sale of diamonds by 55%. The sale was based on an idea of the eternal value of a diamond. [42:53] De Beers and diamonds is the original availability case study. They changed the face of the entire world forever. [43:23] Diamonds became a piece of our culture without us even realizing it. [44:37] They also did solid research into the mindset of the consumer and found new ways to get their message out. [45:23] Watch conversations and look for the right time to interject yourself. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 4 Questions or Answers Episode 11 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 12 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them) Copy That Pops Cows Are Deadlier Than You Ever Knew Human Shark Bait In the War Between Sharks and People, Humans Are Killing It Thinking, Fast and Slow Why ‘Success’ on YouTube Still Means a Life of Poverty Frozen Has Massively Increased Tourism to Norway Contagious: Why Things Catch On Rose gold: The fashion trend that just won't go away A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas HARO Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond? The 'Oprah effect:' Does everything she touch turn to gold?

Fall is a favorite season of mine and probably a favorite season to many of you. It’s also the time of year that my favorite honeycrisp apples are available. Like cotton candy grapes, these apples benefit from scarcity. Today, I break down what scarcity is and how you can apply this concept to your business. Scarcity is another concept in my lessons on behavioral economics foundations. Traditionally, scarcity is when an item is limited, but there is unlimited desire for that item. When we see something as scarce, we perceive that it has higher value. In today’s behavioral economics podcast, I will share stories and examples of how scarcity affects perceived value and how it relates with other foundational concepts like loss aversion. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes [02:27] I love the fall, baking, and apple season. [03:12] My favorite apples, honeycrisp, are only available around certain times of the year. These apples have the benefit of scarcity, and that is what this episode is all about. [03:36] In today's episode, I break down what scarcity is and what happens in our brain when we perceive that something is scarce. I also give a lot of examples on how to implement this tactic in a business like yours. [06:00] Scarcity occurs when an item has limited availability, but unlimited demand. This includes resources like oil and water or more abstract resources like time. [06:22] We see things as more valuable when they are less readily available. [06:52] With a watch advertisement, people were actually willing to pay 50% more when they thought that the watch was scarce. [08:01] The most valuable stamp in the world, the British Guiana is valued at $11.5 million! [08:23] The first silver dollar printed and issued by the US government (called the flowing hair) sold for $10 million at auction. [09:32] Scarcity and value are closely tied together and for some reason our crazy brains think less is more. [09:38] Scarcity also triggers loss aversion. When something is scarce, we don't want to miss out on the opportunity to get it. [10:48] Examples of big brands using scarcity that you can use to apply in your own business. [10:51] Costco: People stock up when shopping at Costco, because they know that the great deal they find won't be there when they go back. Costco also has a great return policy to eliminate people's fear of making these purchases. [13:01] Starbucks: Right now it is time for the pumpkin spice latte. A drink made famous by Starbucks. Scarce items take on a life of their own. @theRealPSL even has its own Twitter account. [15:19] Scarcity can create cult followings which means other people do the marketing for you. [17:45] From rose gold Starbucks tumblers to rose gold Minnie Mouse ears, scarcity encourages items to sell. [18:40] These examples are a combination of scarcity and availability which will be the topic of next week's episode. [20:22] Real estate: Scarcity is implied. You can use words to trigger scarcity, such as limited time, extended, custom, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind, and close out. [21:21] There is value with holding firmly to specific hours. When you are booked you are booked. [21:52] When enforcing your hours, you need to say it with confidence. I talked about this in last week's episode about mindset. [22:51] If you aren't selling a product yourself, you can still you scarcity by putting on a contest. [24:07] The holidays are full of examples of scarcity. There are limited holiday treats, black Friday sales, and usually a big toy of the season. [25:26] When using scarcity think exclusivity instead of cheesy tactics. [25:50] Diamond engagement rings. Diamonds actually aren't that rare, and large diamond engagement rings weren't that popular until the 1940s. The concepts of scarcity and availability work together to make diamonds what they are today. [30:29] The diamond example is fascinating, and next week I will talk a lot more about it. Basically, they used scarcity to create perceived value. [32:49] You can book a strategy session with me for 10% off if you book by September 30. That 10% discount also applies to the workshop in Seattle on October 24. [34:08] I will be giving my Consumers Are Weird talk at the Arkansas Bankers Association Mega Conference in Little Rock next week - will you be there? [34:38] I will also be in Portland, Maine in a couple of weeks. Email melina@thebrainybusiness.com if you would like to connect. 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. Links and Resources: TheBrainyBiz on Instagram Episode 2 The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them)What is 'Scarcity' Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition) Narcissists as consumers: The effects of perceived scarcity on processing of product information Episode 8 What is Value? The Top 10 Most Expensive Stamps In The World The Five Most Expensive Coins Ever Sold at Auction Episode 9 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Costco Business Model and Their Strategy @TheRealPSL on Twitter Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing Want a Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino? Too bad. Most stores sold out Starbucks Coffee Rose Gold Pink Sequin 24oz Venti Tumbler Cold Cup The Rarest and Best Disney Mickey and Minnie Mouse Ears How ‘Tickle Me Elmo’ Caused Holiday Hysteria Back In 1996 Have You Ever Tried to Sell a Diamond?  

Mindset is something that everyone struggles with from time to time. Whether you are experiencing a lack of confidence or stuck with an “imposter syndrome” mentality, you have the power to change your mindset. Offering a new service, raising your prices, or entering a new market can all be triggers that can set off mindset issues. Today, I talk about how behavioral economics plays in, and how you can adjust your mindset by overcoming a couple of aspects where your brain is contributing to mindset problems. I talk about vicious/virtuous cycles, the confidence/competence loop, and how to shift your outlook. Of course, this episode features research and real life examples to help cement the concepts of this behavioral economics podcast. Show Notes [03:16] Everyone struggles with mindset issues occasionally. [03:32] Imposter syndrome is when you feel like a fraud. Experts estimate that 70% of people have felt this from time to time. [04:05] You could also have a lack of confidence around pricing or your offering. [04:23] I'm going to help you create a simple shift to break out of mindset problems. [04:39] A vicious cycle is where you get stuck in a downward cycle. Your brain fixates on small problems and makes them seem bigger. [04:58] There is also a virtuous cycle. This is good piling upon good. [05:15] The confidence/competence loop is a great example of this. [05:28] Confidence matters when it comes to sales. Being confident is what closes deals. [05:49] As you get more confident - you gain competence. [06:16] A real-life example of this virtuous cycle is when you increase your pricing and get so comfortable sharing that increased price that you are saying it like you are saying the weather. [06:49] Practice in the mirror and say it out loud until you really begin to own that price. [07:05] You need to do this because your buyers subconscious brain will pick up on the slightest hesitation. [08:03] I talked a lot about mindset in episode 10. I shared a story where I was hired as a reservation agent at Alaska Airlines when I was 18 years old. [08:42] My training was extensive. This job prepared me for the future. When you quote someone a price it doesn't matter what that price is. And it doesn't matter whether you would be willing to pay that price or not. [11:00] You need to sound confident and say that price as if it was nothing. My confidence could greatly impact the close rate for the airline. [12:04] A price is a price. I would read my script over and over all day. [12:29] Say it with a smile and wait as long as it takes. I was outwardly confident and calm. [13:22] At my first agency job, I learned how to quote high hourly rates. Always remember that you are worth your hourly rate. It was chosen for you for a reason and never doubt your worth. [16:22] You need to feel like you are worth it whenever you walk into a pricing situation. [16:43] The behavioral economics of mindset specifically around anchoring & adjustment and relativity. [17:32] Do not set the wrong anchor. We are exposed to more content in the social media world. [17:56] Don't think you can't launch until you meet some minimum standard. [18:22] Don't set your anchor against people who have been in business for a long time and have a giant team of people. [18:41] People who have the money to create a lot of content also have the money to create a lot of ads. This is why you are constantly seeing their information. [19:24] Reset your anchor and adjust down to a level that you and your clients can accept. [19:59] What are you presenting to the world while you are waiting for perfection? [20:31] The small steps approach applies to mindset, as well. [20:46] It's better to take one small step today than to sit and dwell on the big picture. [21:44] If you are taking small steps, relative to yesterday or the day before you are doing awesome. [22:52] I want to help you adjust your anchor to be on the reality of what you are doing instead of on what other people are doing. [23:33] When in doubt look to Dr. Seuss. [25:02] I love helping clients, and working with an expert can be the jumpstart you need to get unstuck. Remember - 10% off virtual strategy sessions and the October Workshop are only available through the end of the month. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 12 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity Episode 11 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Yes, Impostor Syndrome Is Real. Here's How to Deal With It Cognition and Performance: the Relation to Neural Mechanisms of Consequence, Confidence, and Competence Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing Episode 10 On Air Strategy Planning Session with Mariel Court 37 Dr. Seuss Quotes That Can Change the World

Our brains use relativity to make comparisons when assigning value. Relativity is one of my favorite concepts and part of the behavioral economics foundations. Today’s show builds upon last week’s behavioral economics podcast on anchoring and adjustment, because these two concepts are closely aligned. Relativity is all about value. In this episode, I dig deep into relativity to make sure you really understand what it is. Then I get into all the examples for varying industries and circumstances, so that you can apply this concept in your business. I also talk about how to increase sales by creating three offerings.   Show Notes [07:00] Last week we talked about anchoring and adjustment. I also mentioned relativity several times in the behavioral economics podcast, because the two concepts are very much aligned. [09:59] In behavioral economics, relativity is about value. [10:50] How relativity applies to value. Our brains make comparisons to assign value to things. [11:54] When it comes to value everything is relative. Just like in the grilled cheese example (episode 8), we know that $200 is a high price for a sandwich because we can compare it to other things. [12:11] Our brains are constantly making comparisons between items. Even though, those comparisons aren’t always the most logical. [12:25] A simple example on how relative values can shift. [13:49] The will to save $15 depends on the item it is attached to. The difference between saving $15 on a dollar item and a $500 item is relative (but it shouldn’t be). [14:45] How people will drive across town to save on gas. Even though, the savings may not compensate for the time and expense of driving across town to purchase that cheaper gas. [16:58] An example of how silver medalists aren't happy with coming in second. [18:40] How to incorporate relativity in a retail shop. [18:59] Anchoring and adjustment works together with relativity. An example where seeing a $99 t-shirt when walking in a store makes the real price of the shirts seem much lower even though it may be higher than last year's price. [20:28] The purpose of the $99 shirt is to make other prices look low. [21:44] An example of how setting an expensive espresso machine next to another one will help it sell. The high anchor makes the other pricing look more affordable. [23:22] Three option pricing advice. Offer a best thing, something similar but worse, and something completely different. [23:50] I share how this worked in my online strategy session in Episode 10 On Air Strategy Planning Session with Mariel Court. [24:30] In the earring comparison example, find a favorite color or birthstone to create a comparison example. Have a slightly more expensive pair that is more than double in size. This uses relativity to show the better value. Also include a completely different pair that is at least the price of the best pair. [26:07] When given three choices most people will pick the middle choice. [26:09] A furniture store example. Start with the most expensive option and work your way down. You want to set a high anchor not a low anchor. [28:10] A real estate example by Dan Ariely. [29:09] We like to make decisions based upon comparisons. Even if those decisions aren't rational. [30:10] Including a decoy will help create a point of comparison. [30:52] An example of the value of relativity from The Economist. Using relativity to sell subscriptions. [32:29] How removing an option that no one buys makes sales go down. This is the power of relativity in action. [33:46] When setting prices consider the decoy. If you are offering a service, look at the packages you are offering. Have a great value and a worse value and then a completely different product. Your brain wants to feel like it completed the due diligence to make the best decision. [35:58] An example of how a high priced bundle actually made another high-priced offering seem affordable. [37:22] A diet example that compares calories burned to calories consumed. You have to run 50 minutes to burn off one can of soda. Finding the right point of relativity can help encourage healthy behavior. [39:43] Hopefully you can see ways to incorporate relativity into your business. [42:19] Be sure to tune in next week for one simple mindset adjustment that will change your life and business forever. 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. Links and Resources: Stacking Your Team Episode 11 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them) or text BRAINY to 345345 Einstein's Theory of General Relativity Episode 8 What is Value? Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing There is no silver lining: The hilarious pouts of the Olympians who went for the gold - but wound up in second place The Relativity Mind Trap: How Comparisons Can Lead Us Astray Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Thinking, Fast and Slow Episode 10 On Air Strategy Planning Session with Mariel Court Clicksuasion Podcast Reality Check: To Burn Off A Soda, You'll Have To Run 50 Minutes

Today’s behavioral economics podcast is another foundational episode focusing on anchoring and adjustment. My last foundational episode was Episode 9 - Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion and even though it has only been out about a week, it has been one of my most popular episodes to date. You listeners know one of my all time favorite studies features anchoring and adjustment, and it is also one of the main concepts in my signature talk Consumers Are Weird. In business, anchoring and adjustment can be used to help influence the subconscious brain to lean toward a certain number. Skillfully using this concept to persuade someone to agree to a higher or lower number or quantity can close sales, increase conversions, and help in all kinds of negotiations. In today’s episode, I give business examples in several scenarios including a jewelry store, furniture store, real estate, car sales, multi-level marketing, service companies, non profits, and more. Show Notes [05:58] This is the second behavioral economics foundation's episode. The first one was about LOSS AVERSION, and it was super popular. [07:14] Today's foundational topic is ANCHORING AND ADJUSTMENT. [10:21] One of my all-time favorite studies is on anchoring and adjustment. This is one of the main concepts in my signature talk Consumers Are Weird. [11:06] When your subconscious brain doesn't know the answer to something that takes a guess. [11:24] As our brain processes at 11 million bits per second, it is using these judgement calls a LOT to guide you through your day and life. [11:50] Our brains are all about shortcuts.When we are given an anchor number, it will influence our guesses.   [15:00] I share a story of having listeners at a presentation I was giving think about the last two digits of their social security number and then estimate the value of my necklace. The results demonstrate how anchoring and adjustment work. [16:56] These anchors only work if they are entered into your mind right before the question is asked. This is called priming (a focus for a future foundations episode). [17:14] My favorite study selling Snickers bars. The sales were increased by 38% when the number 18 was used instead of the word them. This was anchoring and adjustment at work. [19:46] Limits also affect the amount purchased. A limit of 12 doubled the amount purchased. [21:11] I was featured in a back to school shopping article on highya.com and warned about watching out for quantity discounts. [21:28] Seeing an expensive item when you walk into a store can anchor your brain to think that the same items for less money, even though they are still expensive, are a good deal. [23:09] How to apply anchoring and adjustment in your business messaging. [23:29] JEWELRY STORE In a jewelry store. Using too low of an anchor can be a mistake. If you give a low starting number, it will become the anchor. [25:26] Instead, start with the most expensive item, then what the average customer spends and then say there are many options under a certain number. [26:37] REAL ESTATE With big-ticket items like homes, you're already working with a number that is unrealistic and often too low. This is what someone wants to spend. [27:08] The buyer needs to disconnect from that number in their mind to be realistic with the current prices. [27:15] When comparison shopping, start with the most expensive house on the list. [28:17] If you are driving with the client, drive through the most expensive neighborhoods. What you show them (or what their subconscious sees and notices) and what you say matters. [29:13] FURNITURE OR OTHER STORE You can use the same tactics if you work in a store. Be mindful what you walk the customers past. [30:34] CAR SALES Selling something with a lot of options and features. You can 1) present a baseline model and all of the additional options to choose from or 2) present them with the top of the line vehicle and let them add or delete features. People will buy more expensive vehicles and packages when presented with the second option. [32:14] MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING Present the most expensive item first and work your way down. Incorporate bundles and give people the option to remove what they don't want. [33:37] SERVICE-BASED BUSINESSES I had two different people in service-based businesses recently implement my advice and have amazing results. [34:32] Using anchoring and adjustment changed Dawn's business. She created a $20,000 bundle (at no cost to her) and now her $10,000 products are flying out the door. [35:58] These simple brain tricks can help women entrepreneurs (and everyone else) make more money without really doing any additional work. [37:45] INSIDE A COMPANY Big numbers being thrown out can impact you. Mentioning an anchor number even if it is not the number that is going to be used will influence the value of the final decided upon number.   [42:33] LOW ANCHOR These low anchors can be helpful, but you need to be absolutely sure the claim is true. And I mean, all the time. Because if it isn’t, you are at a huge risk of the “bait and switch” brain reaction. [43:31] An example of promising how long it takes to learn a language. Be careful with low anchors because brains don't like being lied to. [43:54] NON PROFIT I have served on several boards, and we would discuss what numbers to suggest during fundraising. We thought a number that was too high would turn people off. This was before my extensive research and work in behavioral economics. If I was having that conversation now, I would know exactly what to say: “GO HIGH!” [46:37] With anchoring start with the highest number and work your way down for live auctions. [50:47] I will be in Little Rock, Arkansas in September and Portland, Maine in October for speaking engagements. If you are in those areas, or close enough to get there, send an email to Melina@theBrainyBusiness.com to talk about scheduling an in person session without the travel expenses! 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. Links and Resources: Selling With Soul Podcast Dr. Robert Cialdini Episode 3 Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Episode 9 Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 1 Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain Episode 2 The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them) Free Download or text BRAINY to 345345 Episode 6 How To Sell From The Stage Episode 10 On Air Strategy Planning Session with Mariel Court Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions Seven Tips for Better Back-to-School Shopping Melina@theBrainyBusiness.com

In this behavioral economics podcast it is time to apply what I have been talking about in the first 9 episodes through this very first on air strategy session, featuring my guest Mariel Court. Mariel is someone I met in the BizChix Coop (which is Natalie Eckdahl’s Facebook group). We started a conversation when Mariel posted about rebranding her business. I have a background in branding and wanted to be a resource for her, so we became accountability buddies. Today, we showcase what incorporating behavioral economics into your business looks like. We ask questions to get at the core of what Mariel really wants. This is a real conversation in the form of a virtual strategy session. Mariel is the owner of Gypsy Moon Piercing (a body piercing and fine jewelry studio in Medford, Oregon). Today, Mariel shares her two biggest issues which are changing her name and talking about pricing. We focus on pricing and I provide recommendations incorporating behavioral to frame the issue. You can find Mariel Court here: Gypsy Moon Piercing Facebook PageGypsy Moon Piercing on Instagram@gmpiercing on Twitter Show Notes [05:48] Melina wanted to be a resource for Mariel, plus she was going through her own rebrand. [06:18] An on air strategy session showcases what incorporating behavioral economics into your business can look like. [07:15] We ask questions to find out what Mariel really wants. [07:36] This is a real process with no boxed solutions. [08:23] When someone books a virtual strategy session with me, it is conducted via a recorded video chat, which I provide to the client after the call for added value. [08:44] Mariel Court is the owner of Gypsy Moon Piercing, a body piercing and fine jewelry studio in Medford, Oregon. [09:03] Mariel's two biggest issues are the name change for her business and talking to people about pricing. [09:22] Sometimes Mariel feels that she is apologetic when explaining pricing to people, but it is also expensive to run her business. [09:56] She charges a $35 fee plus the cost of jewelry. Gold starts at $70 per piece. [11:34] Gold is handcrafted and a lot more can be done with it. [11:56] When buying gold jewelry, it will probably be more in the $150 to $200 range. [12:06] In the world of anchoring and adjustment when people hear “starting at $70” they will think the price should be $70 (or less). [13:29] Mariel feels she loses about three quarters of the phone calls that are about pricing. [14:45] Getting the caller to answer personal questions may be a better approach than talking about pricing right off the bat. [17:05] After finding out what the caller wants, recommend something more affordable like silver colored jewelry to keep the cost down. [17:57] Parents want to know that someone is going to take care of their kids. Put the parents and the kids at ease. [18:58] Use the person's name and pick out some jewelry that they may like. [21:56] We had a key turn in the conversation. Mariel's concern was talking about pricing, but it became clear that it was more of a mindset issue about how she approaches the pricing discussion. People ask about pricing because they don't know what else to ask. That is relativity which I talked about in episode 5. [22:38] The subtle shift of talking about value instead of price (covered in episode 8). [24:41] The value Mariel provides is with her impeccable taste in jewelry and her experience and how much she cares about people. Her reviews show this. [25:51] If you say the price apologetically, people will think you're overcharging them. [29:35] People buy on emotion. You want them to fall in love with the product before you ever talk about pricing. [31:23] Piercing could be a special day for moms and their daughters and become a really important memory. [33:55] Mariel does more jewelry sales than she does piercings. [34:21] She has an active Facebook group even though it's only three months old. [35:38] Choosing whether to focus on kids or adults and building an experience around that focus (pick a niche/avatar). [37:44] KEY POINT: Selling the experience as opposed to selling the price of the jewelry. [39:50] There are things that Mariel can do to make her customers feel special, like having a stuffed animal for the kids which would be included in a “princess package.” [41:14] The subconscious relies on emotion. Find the things that make them want to come in before they even visit the shop. [43:33] Once people have committed to a certain package, Mariel can show them upgrades, and they will feel like they are only paying the difference. [43:59] I would love to hear what you moms in the audience think about the suggestions we talked about. Would you pay more for the “princess” experience? Let me know in the comments. [44:35] KEY POINT: Incorporating behavioral economics into your business doesn't have to cost a lot. There are small things that can make a big difference. [44:47] Look at the brain's natural decision-making process and find the right way to incorporate your business with that. [45:04] The queen package I mentioned is a high anchor with relativity to make the princess package look more attractive. Listen to episode 5 for more on that. [46:37] BONUS! Because this is episode 10, I want to do a 10% off special for all my listeners! This can be applied to a virtual strategy session or the workshop I have coming up in Seattle on October 24th. [46:46] If you want to take advantage of 10% off a virtual strategy session, schedule a 15 minute consult call (which is free) by September 30, and if we end up working together, I will apply that 10% to whatever we deem is the best solution for you. 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. Links and Resources: 6 Marketing Podcasts You Should Be Listening To Amy Porterfield BizChix Episode 4 Questions or Answers Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing Episode 8 What is Value? The Brainy Business Event (To take advantage of the 10% discount simply use the code BRAINY and book your ticket by September 30.)

Because this is a behavioral economics podcast, it is time to build our behavioral economics foundations. This is the first in a series of episodes where I dig deep into one concept at a time. Previous episodes have been about problems and concepts in business. Such as The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make and The Truth About Pricing. Today’s concept is loss aversion. When speaking about behavioral economics loss aversion is usually the first concept I introduce, and it is a great starting point for this podcast. In this episode, I share a cool study of how loss aversion works and then highlight the concept with several examples. These include examples from financial institutions, businesses coaches, interior designers, accountants and more. I also share how these examples can be used in your business. Show Notes [06:08] Building the foundations of behavioral economics. This series will have a lot of concepts. [06:30] There will also be more problem statement episodes mixed in along with a new exciting format that I'm introducing. [06:50] Loss aversion. The first concept I bring up is always loss aversion. [07:12] This is a very simple concept to grasp and understand. [07:22] This is one of the truest foundations of behavioral economics itself. [07:50] People hate to lose things. [09:10] Our subconscious brain is basically a two-year-old throwing a tantrum. [09:45] In business, we have taken this concept and done things backwards. We try to give people all kinds of things. [10:04] Humans are more easily driven by avoiding a loss than gaining something. [10:52] The difference between how you feel when you find a $20 bill and lose a $20 bill. [13:10] The studies of Kahneman and Tversky have found there is a science to this. We hate losses compared to the joy we feel from getting new things. [13:21] Research shows it takes about DOUBLE the joy felt by a gain to equal the pain felt by a loss. [13:44] Switching from gains to losses. [15:23] What if a FINANCIAL INSTITUTION said, “We have put $50 in your account, if you use your card 20 times this month, you get to keep it.” [17:02] Being able to see it is a big key when triggering loss aversion. [17:43] A BUSINESS COACH example. How to use loss aversion to keep your client motivated to do their tasks and reach their goals. [21:30] An ACCOUNTANT example. People are more likely to ask for help if they expect to owe as opposed to ask for help to get more back. [22:23] When messaging around tax time focus on reducing what is owed or being audited and the fear of having to pay or get in trouble. [23:52] An example for FURNITURE sales, interior DESIGN, REAL ESTATE, or any PHYSICAL PRODUCT. Perceived ownership is vital for physical products. [24:34] Getting people to touch the product or walk through a staged home that the buyer could see themselves living in. [25:11] Make the experience as real as possible for the buyer. An example using the show Fixer Upper. [27:18] Loss aversion, the fear of regret and WEDDING dresses. [28:00] How the brain is struggling with the weight of all the decisions it has to make, and knowing once it commits, all the other choices are gone. [28:06] What if questions and fear. [28:22] Triggering loss aversion, so that they know they got a good deal and will feel positive about buying from you. [29:54] An ONLINE SALES example that is the most ridiculous and over the top example of loss aversion that I've seen. [30:25] Clicking yes or no type options to close out a pop up box. Upping the ante using loss aversion. “No thanks, I’m not interested in quickly obtaining my dream body. I understand…” [33:08] A more subtle approach could be more effective. Getting too extreme could go in the opposite direction. [00:37:15] Next week, we have the very first on air strategy session. There will also be an awesome giveaway. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 2 The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing Episode 8 What is Value? Episode 3 Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Econometrica What Is Loss Aversion? What Is Loss Aversion? Losses attract more attention than comparable gains. Loss aversion Episode 6 How To Sell From The Stage These Are the People Who Are Most Likely to Get Audited Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com

I’ll be talking about the meaning of value on today’s behavioral economics podcast. The past three episodes have been dedicated to the “it’s not about the cookie” framework. Which shows that the experience leading up to the sale matters more than what is actually being sold or the price. I’ll talk about the difference between value, price and worth and the perceived worth created by the endowment effect. Then I really dive into every aspect of value and how it can relate to sales and persuasion. I talk about how value is often based in our minds and how much we love something. I share the importance of being realistic about price, worth and value when selling things. I touch on the the way that herding, perceived value, and loss aversion work together in things like bidding wars and more on this episode. Show Notes [03:29] Value, price, and worth are used interchangeably, but they are not the same. [04:57] Price is what someone is willing to pay for a good or service. [05:30] Opportunity costs means something can only be used once. [06:04] Worth is the expected selling price of something. Things have worth even if they are not being sold. [06:53] The endowment effect is the phenomena in our brains where simply owning something causes us to find more worth in it. [07:22] I share an example where people were given a lottery ticket and then refused to trade the ticket for two dollars, because once they were endowed with the ticket they could see value in its potential. [08:50] Value is the usefulness or desirability of a good or service. [09:16] Value is based on how much we love something. It's in our minds and it's personal. [11:54] How in real estate people often overvalue their homes because of the sentimental attachment. [12:32] How getting people to be realistic about the worth, price and value is very important when you are trying to convince them to sell something. [12:46] Herding is the brain's desire to be part of the crowd. [14:02] Our brains are trained to assume that the collective consciousness of the group knows more than our brains on their own. [14:22] Herding, perceived value, and loss aversion work together in things like bidding wars. Watch out when you throw scarcity into the mix. [14:43] An example of someone buying William Shatner's kidney stone. [17:23] The ripple effect of price as it makes its way through the herd. As in two billionaires in a bidding war for rare artwork. [19:12] I talk about the Basquiat painting that sold for $110 million dollars and the man who bought it. The purchaser wanted the painting because he was struck with excitement and gratitude for his love of art. [21:15] The power of brands and how they give companies value. [24:21] How our brains get what they expect and a quote from Dan Ariely the author of Predictably Irrational. [27:06] The value of a $200 grilled cheese sandwich. [28:00] Creating brand value with exclusivity and scarcity. [32:34] How brands tell a story about who we are, and our brains love stories. [33:02] Tahitian black pearls and creating value out of thin air. [35:47] With the pearl example, the price tag set an anchor. The Winston name added exclusivity and scarcity, and the glossy advertisement instilled confidence in the herd. [36:14] Our brains believe what they are told until they are told otherwise. [39:03] The placebo effect and how people actually think they get more value when they pay more. [40:02] How price and perceived value are linked in the human brain. [40:14] Measuring sticks for value like currency. [41:48] Value is subjective, in our heads, and it changes. 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. Links and Resources: Cost vs Price vs Worth vs Value Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing Episode 7 Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Anomalies The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Human Herding: How People are Like Guppies Brother, Can You Spare An Organ? Basquiat painting smashes record with $110m sale Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions People Try World's Most Expensive Grilled Cheese Episode 2 The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make How Your Brain Keeps You Believing Crap That Isn’t True

The past two weeks have been dedicated to my “it’s not about the cookie” framework, which shows how the experience and all the things leading up to the sale matter much more than whatever is being sold itself. This week, I am extending this framework to one more application – change management. Think of this as any time you are trying to get someone to buy in and make a commitment where money is not exchanged. In this behavioral economics podcast, I talk about what change management actually means and how the “it’s not about the cookie” framework ties into change management. I talk about how using perceived ownership, the endowment effect, and loss aversion to your advantage in the beginning will pay off in the end. I also talk about how framing is not what you say but how you say it and how to overcome status quo bias. This is the most complex episode of the cookie framework, but it will give you proven tools to implement change. Show Notes [03:38] What the concept of change management actually means. [04:59] Change management or leading through change is something that a lot of people are talking about these days. [05:18] Change and getting people to change is all about selling them on your perspective and getting them to buy in and commit. [05:48] An example of trying to get your significant other or child to do something. [07:48] Ways to get the child to buy in may be making it fun, leading by example, and using distraction. [08:32] I often compare our subconscious brain to a small child. Much of our decision-making is still that on this level. [09:22] A small detail can hang people up when making positive changes. [10:30] How what the person selling the concept thinks is important may not align with what the person buying the concept may think is important. [10:52] Consider the ripples. One small word can have a different impact on different people. [11:21] An example from my credit union days. [12:51] When it comes to credit cards there will be several different groups affected. The messaging needs to be focused for the individual groups that matter. Keep the overall brand message consistent. [14:36] I'm not getting into habitual buying in this episode, but it is really fascinating and I will dedicate an episode to it soon. [15:17] It's important to think about what the specific people need to hear and where they are coming from before applying your messaging. [15:34] Thinking about the group as a whole instead of considering the individuals. [15:55] Office Space, Milton and the red stapler. [17:19] How our brains are very good at dwelling on small items. [17:42] When trying to sell change get ready for loss aversion to rear its head. The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias [18:21] The endowment effect as the anomaly that our brains favor things they own over other things. [20:10] We go all in with things that we already have. [20:24] Loss aversion. People hate to lose things. It takes double the joy of a gain to outweigh the pain of a loss. [22:35] Status quo bias. When given the choice people tend to go with the status quo and favor it heavily. Be wary of giving people too many choices. [23:13] How all of this ties into change management. Using these concepts to your advantage is the best approach. [23:45] The five components of “it's not about the cookie.” The scent of the cookie, free sample, perceived ownership, today only, and buy three get one free. [24:26] The prep is critical for change management. [24:46] How the smell of the cookies breaks through your subconscious clutter. [26:33] How rumors about the upcoming change are like the smell of burnt popcorn. [28:04] Be thoughtful of how the meeting is framed. Avoid being too vague. [29:14] People need time to process. Share and be transparent. [29:32] Reciprocity - sharing information makes the recipient more likely to have an open conversation. [30:43] Perceived ownership is where people work harder for ideas that they came to on their own. Outline the information you present, so that the recipient will perceive ownership. [31:12] Do your homework when proposing a big change. [34:07] The importance of having advocates and thinking long-term when any change is implemented. [35:10] Using scarcity is optional in change management conversations. Use with caution. [36:45] Knowing what matters to each person helps facilitate the conversation with the desk moving example. [38:28] The problem with unintended ripples using the scarcity approach. [39:10] Framing is everything when it comes to change management. It's not what you say it's how you say it. [40:03] Decide what the one thing is that you want this person to do. Get the person invested in the outcome. [40:37] Frame your offer properly by pointing out the benefits. [44:07] If you thought this was the most complex of the scenarios in the “it’s not about the cookie” scenario, you’re right. There is a reason it was the final installment. [46:11] Change is all around us, and being able to lead people through it is important in any business. Turning naysayers into advocates is critical to your success. [47:28] Don't forget to tune in next week to Episode 8 What is Value? This episode will make it clear why the cookie framework is effective. 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. Links and Resources: Episode 5 The Truth About Pricing Episode 6 How to Sell from the Stage Episode 7 Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Get The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them) and join my mailing list at The Brainy Business Episode 1 Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias Episode 3 Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com Downsizings, mergers, and acquisitions: Perspectives of human resource development practitioners People management in mergers and acquisitions in Sri Lanka: Employee perceptions

Last week, I talked about The Truth About Pricing, you might want to listen to that episode before we dive into today’s episode about how to sell from the stage. Both are built on the same foundation. In the truth about pricing “it’s not about the cookie,” there were five components that I talked about. I have always loved being on stage from acting as a child to singing and improv classes. I don’t think I would be where I am today without this background. When it comes to selling from the stage, the same five components apply. I’ll be talking about these components of the scent of the cookie, free samples, perceived ownership, today only, and buy three and get one free as they apply to selling on the stage. Show Notes [02:28] Thanks to all of my new listeners and downloads. [03:18] I love being on stage and grew up acting and dancing. I was also a vocalist and even competed in Opera. I am also in the Screen Actor's Guild and sang with a country band in Seattle. I also sang the National Anthem for the Seattle Mariners. [06:30] I know how to be on stage and work with an audience. [07:24] Being on stage is no different than selling. [07:45] A quick recap of last week. [07:58] How an expert at selling can get a customer drooling like Pavlov's dog where an amateur may not even be able to sell the same product. [08:15] It's all in the delivery and in the right order. I unlocked this method in episode 5. [11:02] How the scent of the cookies forces your conscious brain to do what the subconscious wants it to do. [11:52] You want to build your pricing on this foundation. Even if you are selling on stage. [12:32] Conversations are based on this concept as well. Buying and selling is not always about exchanging money. [12:56] Next week, I will extend this scenario to change management and non-monetary conversations. [13:29] The five components were the scent of the cookies, the free sample, perceived ownership, today only, and buy three get one free. [14:07] A master of selling can get the audience excited about anything that they want to sell. [15:08] The smell of the cookie flags your conscious brain. If you are a speaker, the audience is focused on you. [16:16] Using the 80/20 rule when speaking. 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your audience. [17:40] The scent of the cookies is the title and description of your conference. [20:55] Have an interesting title that is different and makes people want to learn more. [23:42] Incorporating questions into your titles and descriptions. This engages the mind differently. Use questions that will make people say yes. [27:00] The free sample phase of public speaking is when you give your customers a taste of what it would be like to work with you. [28:12] Perceived ownership or reminding the audience of things that are important. [31:34] There is a delicate balance between selling and sprinkling in what it would be like to work with you. [33:19] Today only or a special offer if you act now. This is the concept of scarcity. Watch infomercials for an example of this. They work, because they speak to the subconscious part of the brain. [37:01] The average of people who ask for refunds is about 5%. [37:30] Money back guarantees encourage buying and spending more. [38:44] Buy three get one free. The brain likes things that sound better. The way you frame the message impacts with the brain hears. [40:01] FRAMING is everything – and just as with pricing, it isn’t what you say…it is how you say it. [40:57] Two types of public speaking. The hard pitch uses the tactics of relativity, anchoring, and adjustment. [41:58] The informational pitch is more of a long term strategy and it is about 80% of presentations. This is the tactic I take. [42:43] Sprinkling in additional resources that can further learning go way beyond the presentation. [43:24] Offer the one thing that you would want your audience to do. [44:41] In most public speaking the sale is actually a freebie that gets people into your family or on your list. [46:35] This method in these formulas work. You can use the free worksheet to implement this strategy. 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. Links and Resources: The Truth About Pricing The 80/20 Rule And How It Can Change Your Life The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make Questions or Answers Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind The mind's mirror Good For You, Better For Them: The Truth About Retailer Guarantees Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One?

Pricing is a top concern for most business owners, service people, and sales people. Today, I’m going to tell you the truth about pricing. The dirty little secret people don’t want you to know. It may seem like I’m taking awhile to get to that point, but I want to build the foundations that will create those ah-ha moments for you. I recently returned from the eWomenNetwork conference for female entrepreneurs in Dallas, Texas. I was so inspired by the conference, that I wrote the first draft of this show while flying home on the plane. Price isn’t always what matters most to your potential customer. It is how you phrase the price and whether you get your customer excited. Today, I talk about the subconscious, using the senses, having three price points, and how to combine these tactics to increase sales. Show Notes [04:13] One thing I love to watch at conferences is how people position their offers or services. [04:32] It's fascinating to watch the true masters when they sell from stage. [05:30] Next week's episode digs into using behavioral economics to become a better presenter. The concepts are all built on pricing which I demystify for you in this episode. [06:11] Molina is constantly questioning the world around her. Everything is a learning opportunity. [07:21] When I'm consciously examining an advertisement, I'm not really aware of what my subconscious is taking in. [07:43] 99% of our brains processing is subconscious. [09:08] The joy in our brain happens in the anticipation phase not when we get the item. [09:34] The smell of chocolate chip cookies will get your subconscious brain very excited. By the time you arrive to store, you may not be able to resist the temptation of the cookies. [10:45] The importance of the order in which things happen. [12:28] How your conscious brain will unwittingly give in to the will of the subconscious. [12:49] This cookie example is an example of an expert and a novice selling technique. Even if the cookies were expensive, you had already bought them in your mind before you walked in the door. [14:10] Masters of selling will get you excited about selling anything in any medium. [14:44] Melina considered a membership site before deciding on a podcast. [15:59] You want to hear in my campus next piece of information. If you are solving a real problem for your customers in a way that they can understand, they will find a way to pay for it. [16:39] You just need to draw them in with your own take of fresh baked cookies. [16:57] People need to understand the importance of behavioral economics before they care enough to take any step that will cost them money. [18:33] The scent of the cookies needs to come first. Like the information broke down into a free podcast. [18:43] What is your item that gets people to stop and want more? This is the top of your funnel the podcast, the billboard the Facebook or Instagram post. [19:46] If you start out with price people will already tune you out and move on. [19:59] What will draw your clients subconscious in to flag their conscious to be interested in your product? [21:01] Make sure whatever tactic you choose is on point with your brand and your offer. [21:24] How can you incorporate one of the five senses into your business to make it stand out? [22:18] What is your lead magnet? If it's a food item, give your customer a free sample. [23:14] Loss aversion and perceived ownership. [23:31] Our brains are hardwired to latch onto things and not want to lose them. Our brains claim ownership incredibly quickly and do not want to give things up. This is greatly increased with the power of touch. That's why with the furniture example it's good to give them something to touch. [24:06] The overnight test drive is a great example of this. [25:27] Involving the senses can help stimulate the brain's ownership response. How can you do this with your business? [26:22] The concept of scarcity. FOMO or fear of missing out caught on for a reason. Notice the countdown clock next time you buy something. Can you fill your anxiety spiked? [27:59] These countdown clocks trigger something in your subconscious brain. [29:20] Studies show that phrases or offers that rhyme or sound good are more convincing. [31:09] Framing is everything. It's not about what you say it's how you say it. It's not about what you sell it's about how you sell that. [31:22] All of the stuff that leads up to the offer and the pricing matters more than the numbers themselves. [31:43] How to present the item price. [32:22] A study done with grocery store end cap displays. Buy 18 Snickers resulted in a 38% sales increase. The number stands out to your subconscious brain. [34:28] When asking people for money, start with a high number first. [35:17] The concept of relativity. [38:15] Provide three options when setting prices. Take your best offer and list out the value comparisons. Build a decoy item. This should be very similar to your best offer, but with an obviously worse value. Incorporate a third item to provide balance. [41:42] To be a master of selling, you need to understand how these principles work together and which ones to use in your particular situation. [42:20] This is where I can help you. Using these tools, you will see benefits when you start to incorporate even one or two of them into your strategy. [42:27] I also offer a free worksheet to help you build these out yourself. I would also like to help you. Please check out my Product Sales Sheet. [44:28]  If you click on work with me on my website, I also offer a free 15 minute consultation. 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. Links and Resources: eWomenNetwork 1. Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain 4. Questions or Answers 2. The Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make When Silence Is Golden: Effects of Silence on Consumer Ad Response 3. Do Lead Magnets Work and Do You Need One? The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership The mind's mirror Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com Ticketmaster Rent the Runway Product Sales Sheet

I am so excited about today’s episode. Why? Because I love questions. I love asking them, being asked them, evaluating them, and looking for new ones. Innovative approaches are all about asking questions. As a “what if” personality type, questions are my jam. I also have an awesome freebie to go along with this. I talk about my ENTP personality type. My favorite book A More Beautiful Question, and how actionable questions can be used in business. I talk about the right approach to questioning and going from “why” to “what if” to “how.” I talk about questionstorming and how this can help you find innovative questions that lead to innovative answers in your business. Questions are a great tool to think outside the box and come up with business changing answers. Show Notes [01:48] I am an ENTP which means I'm extroverted, intuitive, thinking, and perceiving. Stats say that between 1% and 3% of the female population is this personality type. [02:26] In MBTI, all of the types have a title to help describe them. The ENTP is known as "the visionary" or "the inventor." [02:33] My strength is understanding the world around me almost immediately, absorbing ideas, and turning possibilities into ideas. [02:48] ENTPs are great at solving problems in unique ways and asking "what if." [03:09] I also have a love of finding the right answer, and I've always been a straight-A student. [03:26] When it comes to brain training what is better? Questions or answers? and Why? [03:33] A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger is my favorite book. [04:54] A beautiful question is an ambitious yet actionable question that shifts the way we think about something. [06:09] Innovations that came out of beautiful questions include Airbnb, the Cheetah prosthetic leg, Kodak film, Wite-Out, and microwaves. [06:15] The right approach to questioning is to go from Why? to What if? to How? [06:33] Why questions are your big overarching questions. This is where you start from. This is passion and the core of what you do. [07:20] Why do we have to wait for the picture? Is a question that was asked by the daughter of Kodak's founder. [08:09] People who asked these questions change the world. And you can to with a little bit of brain training. [08:20] Our brains are built on habits and rules of thumb which the subconscious uses to make decisions. [08:53] The more habits you let your subconscious brain get used to, the less reason it has to stop and give your conscious brain something to work on – allowing it to be more and more complacent. [09:18] I'm going to ask you a few questions about your morning routine… [10:07] These questions refer to places where your subconscious brain has taken over the process. [10:19] Train your questioning muscle with these simple tasks of putting your makeup on with your nondominant hand or taking a different route to work. Change things up and force your brain to pay attention. [11:26] How our brains store and retrieve information. [11:39] The Political Mind: A Cognitive Scientist's Guide to Your Brain and Its Politics and the blue square example. [14:19] What does this have to do with business? [14:57] Brainstorming is taking ideas off the surface but not really digging in. [15:14] To help clients approach problems and think about things from different angles, I recommend the activities from Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques. [15:39] Questionstorming is an easy thing to try. The goal is to ask as many questions as possible. [16:37] An example of questionstorming. [18:28] Asking “what if” questions and taking the problem on as your own to shift your thinking. [18:37] Pandora asked “what if” we could map the DNA of music? [18:44] The brainy business “why” question is: Why is behavioral economics a best-kept secret? [18:49] What if I show people why it matters? What if I tell people how it works? [20:31] Becoming a better questioner and linking distant connections. [20:52] The final piece is the “how” question. Keep asking “how” until you get to the final piece that sticks. The trick is to fail and fail often. [22:00] Solving problems means knowing what questions to ask. [23:33] Don't let your fear of finding the perfect question keep you from getting to the right answer. [23:50] It takes many questions to find the path to an answer. Start asking as many questions as you can. [25:14] Helping organizations to ask better questions and look at things in a new way is probably my favorite thing to do.   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. Links and Resources: A More Beautiful Question Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain Filene Research Institute The Political Mind: A Cognitive Scientist's Guide to Your Brain and Its Politics Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques E.E. Cummings John Tukey Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com   Send an email to Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com and reference episode 4 Questions and Answers to be one of the first three people to get a free strategy session.

All over the place these days – they offer you something for free, you fill out a form and get onto their list. So What Makes a Good Lead Magnet? So many kinds – checklist, template, white paper, video tip – I have my ebook, The 10 Behavioral Economics Concepts You Need To Know (And How To Apply Them), which I do invite you to download if you haven’t already. Links and Resources Sweetening the Till: The Use of Candy to Increase Restaurant Tipping Giving Your Donors a Gift—Wait! Research Suggests The power of yard signs II: Escalation of commitment What Makes a Good Lead Magnet? (69 examples from Opt In Monster) Customer Avatar Unique Value Proposition   Tap for full show notes

This episode discusses the Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make — a highly requested topic when I did a survey on The Brainy Business Facebook page, which, if you do not already like that page I encourage you to check it out. There is a great discussion there, and I share different content including a lot of tips and you can connect directly with me and others who love behavioral economics. I’ve broken the Top 5 Wording Mistakes down into five categories: too literal, too boring, too much, too vague, and too confusing.  Show Notes: [01:37] Today’s episode is all about the Top 5 Wording Mistakes Businesses Make. [03:37] If you have made any of these mistakes, it is important to know that you are not alone and you are in good company. The wording mistakes are easy to change and fix.  [05:12] I’ve broken the Top 5 Wording Mistakes down into five categories: too literal, too boring, too much, too vague, and too confusing. [05:30] An example from the too literal category about a top-notch local nail salon.  [09:25] People need to have the message properly framed for their brain.   [10:49] Thinking, “it is still true and it was a good thing then so it can’t hurt now” is not true. Keeping that old sign up is damaging your reputation now.  [12:04] Finding a new way to frame the old literal message will help you stand out and be more effective.  [13:41] Another example in Too Literal is talking about features instead of benefits. [16:23] Features and literal translations rarely break through the clutter and don’t get remembered. When you are too literal, it is just noise. Use interesting, catchy wording to break through the clutter. [16:55] The next mistake is being Too Boring.  [19:21] With a boring name, it will not stand out and you’re not going to talk about it even if it is your favorite.  [22:48] Let’s talk about Cotton Candy grapes. Would we have come to the place of thinking they taste like cotton candy without the prompt? [23:55] In this situation, we have all been primed with the concept of cotton candy. Very likely we wouldn’t have all said it tastes like cotton candy but now we did. [24:32] The other concept that comes up, in this case, is the concept of expectation.  [25:58] When we believe beforehand that something will be good it generally will be good and when we think it will be bad it will be bad.  [27:32] You probably know that dopamine is responsible for enjoyment in the brain and it drives a lot of our behavior, but studies have shown that anticipation is where the dopamine is released versus the treat itself. [30:31] The lesson here is to be interesting to get attention. [31:45] The next wording mistake businesses make is including too much.  [32:13] Our brains get overwhelmed easily, way quicker than you would think. This wording mistake is the most common offense. [34:33] When your conscious brain is too bogged down with information for it to be easily remembering, it can’t block and help with your making good decisions.  [36:14] The point of marketing is to get people interested enough to go to your website, pick up the phone, or come in person. The thing that you are trying to get them to do is take the next action.  [37:56] It is more effective to have one message you are trying to get across to get someone interested enough to learn more.  [38:36] The 4th wording mistake is being too vague. Melina shares a study from a grocery store.  [42:06] Our brain will latch onto an anchor even if it is arbitrary. Look for times when you can get to something specific that is not tied to something literal.  [43:45] Understanding how these concepts work together is important if you are trying to implement some of these.  A lot of this work together to help you be more effective.  [44:25] The last wording mistake I see businesses make is being too confusing.  [45:20] What is it that I want my ideal client to do and how can I make it easy for them to understand what it is and take the next step? Our brains are busy and quick to move on if what is there is confusing.  [46:51] Having one task for everything that you put out there so that it is not confusing for them and it is really clear is key.  [50:30] What is your interesting and not so literal and not vague way of messaging that isn’t confusing? [51:19] 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.com 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! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s new book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Past Episodes & Other Important Links: The Cotton Candy Grape: A Sweet Spin On Designer Fruit Priming Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Shopping, Dopamine, and Anticipation Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making An Anchoring and Adjustment Model of Purchase Quantity Decisions Episode 16: Framing: How You Say Things Matter More Than What You’re Saying: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 18: Priming: Why You Should Never Have A Difficult Conversation With Someone Holding An Iced Coffee: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 11: Anchoring & Adjustment: The 1 Word That Increased Sales 38%: A Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Episode 32: The Overwhelmed Brain and Its Impact on Decision Making Episode 123: Get Your D.O.S.E. of Brain Chemicals, a Behavioral Economics Foundations Episode Get Melina’s book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia

This episode is called Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain. And, in many ways, that is what the entire Brainy Business podcast will be dedicated to. That is what behavioral economics is all about. And it is what I am so passionate about. In this episode, I am going to talk about three things: Why you should care about behavioral economics and the impact it has on your business. A little bit about how the brain actually works to give you a foundation to start from. A little about my background and why I am qualified to share this information with you! Links and Resources The Golden Age of Neuroscience has Arrived 52 Card Media Thinking, Fast and Slow The Buying Brain Filene Research Institute Duke University’s Center for Advanced Hindsight The Chicago School of Professional Psychology   Tap here for full show notes