By Kurt Nelson, Ph.D. & Ben Granlund
Overall, organizations communicate poorly. There, we said it.
Whether it’s too much, too little, bad messaging, or something else – corporations struggle to communicate impactfully with their employees.
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I’m a behavioral scientist at heart. I look at the numbers and the data and think about how people respond. Right now, I don’t think a lot of people are responding very well.
In the past few days, I’ve seen Facebook posts talking about how overblown and hyped up the coronavirus pandemic is.
By Kurt Nelson, Ph.D. & Ben Granlund
Would being able to understand the underlying reasons why you and others “do the things you do” be helpful to you in your job? Is there value in having the knowledge to be able to predict and understand people’s responses to your requests or changes? How about being able to anticipate how people will most likely respond in a given situation or environment? Would the ability to make more rational and sound decisions help you in moving your business forward?
For most people, that answer is “yes.”
Most of us work in an environment that involves some level of involvement and interaction with other people. Whether it be coworkers, bosses, employees, vendors, or customers – at some point in your workday, there is likely a human involved.
How you interact with those humans can change how they respond.
We need to be able to work effectively with those humans. If we can understand and empathize with their underlying drives, decipher how they are interpreting our words and actions, and anticipate how they will respond to what we do, our interactions with them will be significantly improved.
By Kurt Nelson, Ph.D. & Ben Granlund
Imagine getting the chance to earn $2 for doing absolutely nothing. Would you turn this down? Most people say no, yet study after study shows that people often refuse the $2 payout, sometimes more.
You’re probably wondering, “why?”
This strange behavior comes down to how we perceive fairness and retribution and can be observed in a simulation behavioral scientists call “the Ultimatum Game.”
Halloween is scary. All sorts of creatures are running wild – ghouls and ghosts, witches and goblins, werewolves and vampires…biases and heuristics.
That’s right, biases and heuristics can be scary too! They can cause us undue harm if we are not careful, but understanding the power that they have over our behaviors can help.
Fall 2019 Update: We recorded an in depth podcast with AMGA Ski Guide and Avalanche expert Chris Brown on this same subject – check it out here!
An exploration into the human factors and heuristics that lead to avalanche incidents and our recommendations on: (1) how to overcome them and (2) how to improve how avalanche education courses teach them.
The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) Avalanche courses are designed to train backcountry users (skiers, snowboarders, hikers, snowmobilers, etc.) in avalanche awareness to help them make more educated decisions in backcountry and high-risk winter alpine environments.
Curious about improving your own habits & routines? Send your questions here.
Habit and routine, we often use the two words interchangeably, for example, “It was his habit to wake up at six every morning” is easily replaced with “It was his routine to wake up at six every morning.” For purposes of this article, however, each term has a specific meaning. Habit is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.” Whereas they define routine as “a regular course of procedure.” The distinction is important.
Got a cool story about applying behavioral science in a unique setting? Send it to us here!
Earlier this year I completed my PADI dive certification in San Diego, CA. Becoming dive certified has been a goal of mine for many years, one that had been consistently pushed off by either alternate priorities or due to time, financial, or geographic limitations.
Note: we posted this blog a few years ago. In this version, we have updated it with new insights and research findings. Reach out here for advice on developing your own motivational hacks.
Each of us has a unique self-identity that both “drives” what we do and is “influenced” by what we do. This dual component is one of the unique aspects of self-identity that we can tap into to help drive and sustain change.
Message us here or email us at behavior@lanterngoup.com for help to optimize your reward program communications & impact.
The New Year is rapidly approaching. If you are in the IC world, the pressure is on you to formulate and calculate budgets for next year’s incentive and rewards programs.
Like most, you need to balance: rewarding top performers, targeting the right motivators, harmonizing cash and non-cash incentives, and staying aligned with your corporate philosophy. All the while, fitting these factors into your overarching financial budgets.