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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

While I was recently in College Station visiting the Human Behavior Lab, I had the joy of meeting Dr. Maddock when he came by to chat with us for a bit. I hadn’t met him before, but in learning about his work and research it was clear that we had to do an interview. Thankfully, I had my equipment with me and he had some spare time to talk about some of the incredibly cool stuff he and his team are doing.  Dr. Maddock is a professor in the department of environmental and occupational health at the school of public health at Texas A&M University and is also the co-director of the Center for Health and Nature. He serves on the Brazos County Board of Health. Not to mention he is editor in chief of the Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living. He has authored more than 130 scientific articles which have been cited more than 5000 times, plus his research has been featured on/in The Today Show, BBC, CNN, Eating Well, Prevention and Good Housekeeping and he has given lectures around the world. This isn’t even all of his bio, but I wanted to let you know a little bit about this awesomeness before you hear about the cool stuff he is doing. Listen in to hear all about the connection between nature and our health. It is really amazing! Show Notes: [01:16] Dr. Maddock is a professor in the department of environmental and occupational health at the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University and is also the co-director of the Center for Health and Nature. [03:47] Jay shares about his background and what he does. [05:16] They are really looking at how natural environments change health. Spending time in nature really changes your health. [05:59] They are now trying to understand what is the perfect dose of nature and how they can use some of the models to get more people into nature. [07:46] Virtual reality lets us break the senses up. They can do a study experimenting with only one sense.  [08:40] They are trying to figure out the essential pieces of nature that we need for healthy benefits. [09:47] People like different types of nature.  [10:49] The more that we feel we are in the environment, the more effect it has on our physiology.  [11:29] There are so many questions we can answer in virtual reality that would be difficult to do in person.   [12:48] Making environments immersive and interesting is important for people. Being in real nature is always best for us, but since that isn’t always possible, it will be great to have other options.  [14:49] How we can integrate nature into our surrounding and environment is important.  [15:55] They have been looking at the effect of travel and nature. So many times when we go on vacation we want to go to some beautiful natural spot, but we also have an effect on the environment.  [17:34] The ability to virtually tour places that are untouched would be really cool.  [18:11] The biggest thing with health and nature is it doesn’t work without conservation.  [18:45] One of the other things they have been working on is looking at some of the behavioral theories that we use and how we adopt these to increase people’s time in nature.  [21:27] Melina shares her closing thoughts.  [23:53] If you enjoy the experience I’ve provided here for you, will you share about it? That could mean leaving a rating/review or sharing the episode with a friend (or 10!) Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  I hope you love everything recommended via The Brainy Business! Everything was independently reviewed and selected by me, Melina Palmer. So you know, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. That means if you decide to shop from the links on this page (via Amazon or others), The Brainy Business may collect a share of sales or other compensation. Let’s connect: Melina@TheBrainyBusiness.com The Brainy Business® on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on LinkedIn Melina on LinkedIn The Brainy Business on Youtube Join the BE Thoughtful Revolution – our free behavioral economics community, and keep the conversation going! More from The Brainy Business: 🎉🎉🎉 Buy Melina’s award-winning book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You on Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, and Booktopia 🎉🎉🎉 Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode: The Behaviour Business, by Richard Chataway Never Go With Your Gut, by Gleb Tsipursky What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, by Melina Palmer Evolutionary Ideas, by Sam Tatam How to Change, by Katy Milkman Connect with Jay:  Texas A&M University School of Public Health Jay on Twitter Jay on LinkedIn Top Recommended Next Episode: Checking in with Dr. Marco Palma (episode 202) Already Heard That One? Try These:  Inside the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab (episode 33) Announcing! 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