The biggest misconception about behavioural science?

That it’s discretionary.

I’ve heard it over the years - people telling me they couldn’t get funding for our project because it was deemed a discretionary expense.

That’s my fault.

I should have been more explicit.

Because what can be more essential than correctly influencing behaviour? 

If you look at the inefficiencies in any organisation, the reasons for frustration and burnout, there’s one common problem.

👉 It’s dealing with peop...

At the start of the year, I asked ChatGPT what the 5 top emerging issues were for business.

Thing is, they're not emerging at all. Rather than burning issues, they seem, well, blah.

1. Financial management
2. Future planning
3. Economic shifts and inflation
4. Employee communication
5. Staff retention

To my way of thinking, these issues fail to get to the heart of why running a small business (or leading a team) is so challenging.

That's what I reveal in this video, including what to do instead....

Three issues people are grappling with as we try to make decisions:

• Velocity - the speed at which information comes at us.
• Volume - the amount we are confronted by.
• Veracity - the truthfulness and accuracy of what is shared.

These three factors increase reliance on cognitive biases (ingrained mental short-cuts) and heuristics (rules of thumb), which means a couple of things for you and your business.

First, designing for ease and immediacy is crucial. Not just for your customers - it...

I like wine. It’s Friday night. 

One wine? Why not?

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday night.

One wine. Why not?

Hey, I only drink at night. 

Well I mostly drink at night and I never drink alone.

Well I sometimes drink alone, when there’s no-one home.

And there’s no-one home. I don’t share my house.

Who are you to judge me Willis? What you talkin’ ‘bout?

...

These are the lyrics of Clare Bowditch’s song, Modern Day Addiction, which so beautifully encapsulates the stream of rationalisations ...

Should you include a human in your social media post or will it turn your customers off?

Including humans in your social media photos is a great way to engage your audience. However, it can also mean they pay more attention to the people than your product. For that reason, researchers⁽¹⁾ wanted to work out whether there’s a middle ground, where human presence is implied rather than explicit.

I call it the “Goldilooks effect”.

Humans good, faces bad

Humans are wired to pay attention to...

I forgot to add a teaspoon of baking powder to a cake once.

What a mistake.

The cake failed to rise and had to be thrown out.

It’s remarkable that missing one tiny ingredient can make a huge difference to the outcome.

For over 15 years I was working in corporate roles without the ingredient I didn’t realise I needed. 

Behavioural science.

All those years, me and those around me were wasting time on initiatives that fell flat.

Because we didn’t properly understand human behaviour. 

We ...

A weird thing happens when the hour mark gets close. We try harder.

And when prices change by as little as 1 cent? That impacts us, too.

In this video, I share secret thresholds that change behaviour, including how we exercise and what we spend. 

You'll find more on pricing psychology in my Just Do This program for small business.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

Very few are doing it well.

You see, reviewing the work of others is something I do a lot. 

When clients share with me their website, marketing, proposals and internal comms, I get to see what’s happening ‘out there’, across all industries, functions and sizes of organisation. 

I have a front row seat to people’s best work.

And here’s what’s disappointing.

The intent is there. People want to do great work. They may even think they are.

But fo...

If a messy desk symbolises a messy mind, what does an empty desk symbolise?

It’s a quip attributed to Einstein, though there’s no proof he said it.

It’s a favourite of mine because my father was (is!) notorious for having a messy desk.

Regardless, I believe the state of my physical deskspace has an impact on my psychology.

So, as simple as the tips that follow may seem, they might just help you like they do me.

Feeling overwhelmed? Clear your physical desk space. Seeing a clear surface w...

Is it better to direct your customers to call you or type a response?

While customers may have a preferred method of communicating with you, that should not be your only concern.

👉 It turns out that how they engage with you, via text or voice, may impact their satisfaction with your services.  

Matching method to product type

It’s rare these days to visit a website that doesn’t have a chatbot.

While most of these conversational agents are text-based, improvements in voice recognition tec...