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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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 [email protected]  [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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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: [email protected] The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube 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"][email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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