Astrid Groenewegen

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

I’m writing this in southern Vietnam, where it’s a sweltering 34°C (93.2°F). I can’t complain, but it’s made me think about how heat affects our decision-making and behaviour. Truth be told, I feel like my brain is operating in slow motion. But what does science have to say about this?

Is there a link between heat and behaviour?

If you’ve ever snapped at someone during a heatwave or felt more irritable, you’re not alone. Heat does indeed affect our behaviour. I’ve found research that describes the “heat hypothesis”. The studies reveal that heat can intensify anger, aggression, and even lead to violence., which explains why crime peaks in summer.

In other words, when the heat is on, we tend to act more heated ourselves. Not only do we snap as people, but we also make snap judgments and decisions.

This could be why “overheated” discussions don’t have a positive reputation.

So, what can we do?

The most logical answer is to try and stay cool. And secondly. It helps to do some self-observation Be more attentive to your mental boiling point. If you start to notice yourself becoming more irritable, it’s time to cool down. You know the saying: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Thirdly, anger management is key. If you feel anger rising, try to refocus your attention on something positive. Behavioural science has taught us that where our focus is, our attention goes, along with the feelings that follow.

Lastly, behaviour doesn’t occur in isolation; it’s influenced by our surroundings. It’s important to understand what triggers your anger most and avoid those situations. For example, I can’t tolerate people who eat noisily, so I consciously steer clear of them.

I leave you with a question. As the planet warms, ACs may put too much strain on the energy grid, and people may become more irritable during the heat. Perhaps we need innovative ideas to keep our heads cool in the future.

The cold turns out to be fuel for innovation.

And positive side-effect? We don’t need to complain about cold weather anymore—how is that for a positive spin!

I’m going for a dip in the pool now. I’ll send you some moderate warmth from here!

Further reading:

Temperature and aggression: ubiquitous effects of heat on occurrence of human violence. Psychological Bulletin.
Homicide in São Paulo, Brazil: Assessing spatial-temporal and weather variations. Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Temperature and mental health: Evidence from the spectrum of mental health outcomes. Journal of Health Economics.

Interested in understanding the psychological forces that drive behaviour and discovering a method for creating behavioural interventions that lead to better decisions and desired behaviours? Join our two-day Fundamentals Course! You can download the brochure here NL and UK. The training is available in both Dutch and English, and can be tailored for individuals or teams.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Why Skills Are Sometimes Overrated

I listened to a fascinating podcast that touched upon the difference between skills and behaviour, which is especially insightful if you’re in a leadership role. The author argued that we tend to give more leeway to performance, but not to behaviour, as

Behaviour is a choice, not a skill.

As a new leader, everyone is watching not just what you do, but what you don’t do. If you fail to address issues that everyone else can see, your leadership reputation is already in jeopardy, as people might perceive you as oblivious, indecisive, or overly tolerant of poor behaviour.

This perspective is interesting in three ways. First, we might want to reconsider placing such heavy emphasis on skill assessment in hiring. Performance-based interview techniques that focus on past behaviour have long been used in the military, where people’s actions can have life-or-death consequences. However, we could all benefit from this approach to improve our hiring decisions.

Second, this insight isn’t just useful for leaders; it’s relevant for anyone within an organisation. In practice, people judge you by your actions, not by your CV.

And finally, on an organisational level, this is a vital insight as so much time and effort goes into building thriving company cultures, but ultimately, I believe a company’s culture is the sum of the behaviours of its people, particularly those when no one is watching.

Food for thought and more Behavioural Design!

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/heat-and-skills-vs-behaviour/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: Boosting Your Professional Impact and Getting Kids to Eat Veggies

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

Last week, I found a large dent in the driver’s side door of my car. I hadn’t even been in the car, so I can assure you it wasn’t my doing. I consider myself a decent driver, until I came across a study that made me question that self-assessment.

It talked about drivers’ perceptions of their own abilities. The study revealed some amusing yet insightful contrasts: when asked how many people are good drivers, participants said only 5%. Yet, when rating themselves, 50% believed they were good drivers. This phenomenon is known as overconfidence bias, where we tend to overrate our own abilities in completing tasks.

We as humans all have some hard-wired beliefs that affect our perceptions, evaluations, and judgments. This brings me to an important point I want to discuss.

Lately, I think we’ve been overly focused on behaviour.

This might sound odd coming from someone who founded SUE Behavioural Design, but it’s a crucial insight. Groundbreaking work in behavioural sciences, like that recognized by the Nobel Prize, were not predominantly on behaviour but gave us insights on how we as humans come to decisions. And yes, the outcome of these decisions can absolutely be behaviour.

But it could also very well be that the outcome is that we decide to change our minds, shift our beliefs, or see things in a new light. Which is also a very important outcome, vital for buy-in, cooperation, or maintaining good reputations.

Sometimes, understanding the root of someone’s strong beliefs is more important than trying to change their behaviour. If they have entrenched beliefs, introducing new behaviours might be futile.

By grasping how decisions are made, we can see why people sometimes make illogical choices. This not only helps explain why your partner insists they are a great driver (when you know the truth might be different), but also addresses larger issues, like why people fail to save for retirement, exercise, or recycle.

For example, optimism bias leads us to underestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes and overestimate positive ones. Believing that the future will be better can deter immediate action. Most solutions don’t consider this bias, but if we do, we can design interventions to help people overcome it.

I am a firm believer that insight into decision-making is the most critical wisdom that behavioural sciences can offer.

The ability to understand and influence decisions is key to success for every professional, not just for behavioural experts or behaviour units.

Recognizing and harnessing this skill will add a missing layer to your expertise and make you a more impactful professional as you gain better control over outcomes.

 PS. I really didn’t dent the car, Scout’s honor!

Further reading:

Study on driver’s overconfidence
Optimism Bias

We offer two one-day team workshops, available in both English and Dutch, that focus on understanding biases affecting decision-making and exploring strategies to counteract them. One workshop, ‘Biases in Marketing,’ delves into marketing-specific biases. The other, ‘13 Biases in the Boardroom,’ addresses biases encountered in executive settings. Contact us (NL or EN) if you would like some more information or book the workshop(s).

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Do you have kids and have you ever heard yourself say, ‘If you don’t eat your vegetables, you don’t get dessert‘?

Well, did you know there’s a more effective way to get your kids to eat fruit and vegetables? German researchers have found that extending family meals by approximately 10 minutes can help. When families spent more time at the table, children took seven additional bites of fruits and vegetables.

So, perhaps the key to healthier eating habits for children is about spending more quality time together at meals. Next time, consider lingering a little longer at the dinner table; it might just make a world of difference for your child’s diet.

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/professional-impact-kids-veggies/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: Fighting Unproductive Meetings and The Kahneman Spiral Effect

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

Have you ever had a week where most of your schedule was filled with meetings? Imagine if your company announced that all regular meetings with more than two people were canceled. Shopify did exactly that a while ago, putting the whole company on a ‘meeting diet.’

My first reaction was, “Wow, that would free up a lot of space.” However, from a behavioural psychology standpoint, this isn’t just a gentle nudge; it’s a strict limitation.

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with restrictions. Behavioural psychology explains this through reactance theory, which suggests that when our freedom is limited, it negatively affects us psychologically. Often, we might ignore the rules or even do the opposite, similar to how we’re tempted to pick the forbidden fruit.

Yet, the issue of meeting fatigue is real and widespread. So, I started thinking. Could other research from behavioural science help us address this problem?

First, we need to understand the problem correctly. It’s not that we have meetings; it’s that we have ineffective meetings. They are often unprepared, focus too much on trivial details, or include people who don’t contribute.

Looking at it from a ‘job-to-be-done’ perspective, meetings have much more potential. They can inspire us, spark collaboration, and help us make progress.

What if we prioritized these human needs? For example, what if part of the company culture was to hold shorter meetings? This would change the social norm. Making it much more encouraging for employees to come up with ways to implement this themselves. This could activate the Ikea Effect: if you invest effort in creating something yourself, you’re more likely to appreciate and follow through with it.

Perhaps we could also make the desired behaviour easier, rather than mandatory. I appreciate how, when you schedule a meeting using Calendly, the default meeting time is set to 30 minutes. You can change it, but the default encourages shorter meetings.

Consider Jeff Bezos’ ‘six-pager memo’ approach at Amazon, which transformed the way meetings are conducted. These memos establish a new standard for presenting ideas and facilitate deeper, more informed discussions on complex topics. Each meeting begins with a 30-minute period dedicated to reviewing the memo, ensuring all attendees are well-prepared and aligned. This setup leads to focused discussions, with time for thorough questions, analysis, and debate.

We at SUE, have decided not to share any to-dos in meetings, but to only discuss where we need help from other team members. This has made our meetings much shorter but foremost much more valuable.

Further reading:

McGregor, J. This company is canceling all meetings with more than two employees to free up workers’ time.

Reactance Theory

The Ikea Effect

Jeff Bezos Six Pager Memo.

Wish to learn more about how our brain works and how behaviour is shaped: download the brochure of our Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course here.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

I can’t help but remember Daniel Kahneman again. I read a wonderful article featuring 30 short reminiscences from some of those closest to him. One memory was from Danny Lovello. He was frustrated because Kahneman often changed his mind, sometimes returning to where his thinking had started. Kahneman’s response (quoting the article), which I loved, was:

“Dan, that’s when I learn the most.” Then, using his finger, he drew a circle in the air. “I don’t just go around and around a problem. It might seem like it, but I am actually going deeper and deeper.” He added, “I’m more like a spiral than a circle.”

I have named it the Kahneman Spiral Effect. Let’s all try to spiral a bit more sometimes to deepen our thinking. Who knows where we might end up.

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/meetings-and-spiral-effect/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1.5 Minutes on Influence: The Effect of Sound and Charlie Munger

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

Do you like the sound of this?

As I am typing this, I am listening to some techno on my Apple AirPods. I haven’t turned on noise cancellation, though, because I always feel awkward shutting myself off completely in public. Silence can be very uncomfortable.

But coincidentally, as I was listening and browsing, I came across an article about the effect of sound on our brain and how it influences our health, buying decisions and learning capabilities.

With noise pollution becoming a more frequent issue, I was curious if there are behaviours that can help us cope. Here’s what I learned:

Several studies have shown a correlation between noise and health. Overexposure to noise can induce stress and anxiety.

An even more shocking study was conducted on children in noisy school environments, showing that they had lower reading levels and speech problems. The upside is, once noise was reduced, the children’s performance returned to average.

But there’s is more. Did you know that the type of music we hear in shops shape our buying decisions? An experiment at a supermarket showed that playing French or German music influenced customers to buy wines from the respective countries. On days when French music was played, 77 percent of the wine purchased was French, whereas on days when German music played, customers predominantly bought German wine.

So, what’s happening here?

Our brain is wired to pick up sound very easily, but this blocks other cognitive abilities. It can only focus on so much at the same time. So, that is a plea for silence. However, silence can also be uncomfortable.

But there’s an upside.

You can use sounds to foster more positive behaviours.

Listening to classical music, audiobooks, birds chirping, or podcasts can have a positive effect. For instance, listening to classical music can help you absorb new information better.

And if you want to improve your thinking? Silence is golden; it helps you process and focus. So, next time someone asks you a question, make sure to pause for a moment and embrace the silence. It will help you come up with better answers.

I immediately started organizing my Spotify playlists in a “job-to-be-done” manner. I now have playlists called #writingtunes, #cookingtunes, and, truth be told, #esgehtlos techno tunes. My advice is to experiment which sounds work for you and when.

I can just hope you like this item, otherwise I have to skip my techno when writing and that would honestly hurt.

Further reading:

• Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom.
• World Health Organization: WHO. (2011, March 30). New evidence from WHO on health effects of traffic-related noise in Europe.
• McMillan, B. T. M., & Saffran, J. R. (2016). Learning in complex environments: The effects of background speech on early word learning. Child Development.

Wish to learn more about how our brain works and how behaviour is shaped: download the brochure of our Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course here.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

I want to wrap up this week with a book recommendation: “Poor Charlie’s Almanack.” It compiles the worldly wisdom of the late, brilliant, and utterly witty Charlie Munger. For years, it was out of print but has now been republished and is an absolute gem. Just to share two brilliant quotes from Munger already:

“If you don’t adapt, you’re like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”

“A great business at a fair price is superior to a fair business at a great price.”

Here you can get your copy: English edition.

Want to share this week’s newsletter on your website, on social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/the-effect-of-sound-charlie-munger/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1,5 Minutes on Influence: Forget Benefits and Knowing Which Books to Read

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

I wanted to share a thought that hit me while looking back at all the problems we’ve solved at SUE and studying other projects in behavioural design.

We often think the best way to persuade people is to show them the good things they’ll get if they change their behaviour. We do this by highlighting the benefits or pointing out the unique selling points.

However, I’ve realized that influencing people effectively goes beyond just showcasing the benefits. It’s crucial to remove the barriers to change.

Let me explain with an example from our work. During the Covid pandemic, a local health service sought our help to increase flu vaccination rates among healthcare workers. They were worried about a Covid surge happening at the same time as the flu season, and they wanted healthcare workers to be as protected as possible (to be clear, this initiative was about protection, not obligation or coercion).

When we talked to the healthcare workers, Most healthcare workers understood the flu vaccination’s benefits. They even said it would help them keep working, which was their main goal during the tough Covid times. They wanted to stay healthy for their patients and colleagues, who were all under a lot of stress.

However, the very motivation to be a stable contributor to the workforce faced a significant barrier— an obstacle that hindered the desired behaviour of getting a flu shot, which needed to be addressed.

The obstacle to vaccination wasn’t doubt about the flu vaccine’s benefits, but the inconvenience of accessing it. Many healthcare workers hesitated to leave their busy workplaces and colleagues to get vaccinated.

We tripled the number of healthcare workers getting the flu shot by directly addressing this barrier: introducing mobile vaccination teams to their workplaces. This straightforward and effective strategy eliminated the hassle of getting vaccinated,

This experience underscored a crucial lesson:  before you start talking about the good things that come with a behaviour change, first think about what might be stopping people from making that change.

With this insight, what steps can you take on your own? To boost your success in behavioural change, reflect on these four categories of potential obstacles in your projects:

·  Barriers from within: These are internal anxieties such as a lack of self-confidence, misalignment with one’s self-image or beliefs, feelings of insecurity, or simply not seeing oneself as the type of person who engages in the desired behaviour.

·  Barriers from others: This category includes anxieties about what others will think, the perception that the majority are not engaging in the behaviour, or that it contradicts what one has been taught by others.

·  Barriers from you: Anxieties can also stem from a lack of trust in the person or organization advocating for the change, not liking them, or not knowing them well enough.

·  Barriers from the desired behaviour itself: Doubts about one’s ability to perform the new behaviour, previous failures, disbelief in its effectiveness, or concerns about affordability are also significant sources of anxiety

Remember, making things easy for people is often more effective than trying to boost their motivation. Capability to change eats willingness to change for breakfast!

Further learning:

More about identifying and removing obstacles to change in my book ‘The Art of Designing Behaviour’ or ‘De Kunst van Gedrag Ontwerpen‘.

Are you interested in mastering the skill of pinpointing psychological barriers to change and selecting the right interventions to effectively overcome them? Join our two-day Behavioural Design Fundamentals Course and we will teach you (Dutch and English editions).

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Do you also have so many books you still want to read? But don’t find the time to do it? I read this great insight from Thoreau about books that really resonated with me that will get you reading but also will help you select the books worth reading.

The ‘what to read’ selection is basically quite simple. Sometimes you have books that might as well could have transferred the main ideas into a blog post. So, ask yourself why delve into hundreds of pages when a brief article could summarize the book’s main ideas?

However, there are books out there that are more than mere conveyors of information; they are tools for thinking with new ideas. And yes, it may strike some as a drag the time it takes to engage with the ideas that are put forward. But hold on, it makes sense to do so. To paraphrase Thoreau,

“Every tool has its challenges: The time given to working through new ideas, adopting and adapting, developing or discarding, changes our minds, changes us. This process of thinking, changing our minds, or even saying no to some ideas, really helps us grow. The true worth isn’t just in what we learn, but in the understanding we grow by thinking deeply about these ideas.”

This really opened my eyes to which books I own and actually want to read. I hope it does the same for you.

Further reading:
My book ‘The Art of Designing Behaviour’ was meant to be a tool for you. To kickstart your growth in Behavioural Design you can download the first part here for free (scroll down a bit on the page). Dutch or English.

Want to share this week’s newsletter via social media or email? Just copy and paste this link: https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/forget-benefits-what-books-to-read/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1,5 Minutes on Influence: Kahneman and Achieving Your Goals

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

This week, our 1 minute is dedicated to Prof. Daniel Kahneman, who we sadly lost yesterday. A titan in the field of behavioural economics, Kahneman’s work has profoundly influenced us at SUE. Often hailed as the ‘grandfather’ of behavioural economics, he was actually the grandfather figure I would have wished to have.

These are 5 reasons why he was so special:

1.     The Simplicity of His Groundbreaking Theory
Kahneman showed us that human thinking could be divided into two systems: fast, intuitive thinking (System 1) and slow, logical thinking (System 2). This elegantly simple idea revolutionized our understanding of decision-making. Dr. Kahneman discovered that people often rely on mental shortcuts, leading to decisions that go against their own best interests. This know-how helps us make better decisions and understand how we can shape behaviours for the better.

2.     The Wit of His Quotes
Kahneman had a way with words that captured complex ideas in a nutshell. Consider these gems:

“Human beings are to thinking as cats are to swimming.
They can do it, but they prefer not to.”

or

“We’re blind to our blindness. We have very little idea of how little we know. We’re not designed to know how little we know.”

3.     The Creative Genius of His Experiments
Kahneman’s experiments, a fusion of intelligence and curiosity, explored the unique aspects of the human mind. Take his revealing study on colonoscopies, for instance: he found that if the discomfort decreased towards the procedure’s end, people remembered the entire experience more favorably, even if it lasted longer. This insight into the selective way we remember things sheds light on the intricate workings of human psychology, highlighting how our final impressions can profoundly shape our memories.

4.     His Special Work Relationship with Amos Tversky
Kahneman and Tversky’s partnership was nothing short of legendary. They shared a typewriter and would toss a coin to decide whose name would be listed first on their collaborative papers, as their ideas had become indistinguishably intertwined.

5.     The Range of Domains He Influenced
From the military to helping baseball scouts to evaluate talent, from governments making better public policies to leadership teams to become less leaderless, the impact of his work was widespread.

Daniel Kahneman’s legacy is a testament to the transformative power of curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.

Let us all strive to embody these three powerful ‘C’s in our daily lives.

At SUE, we will continue to build on the foundation he laid,
Forever mindful of his profound impact on our understanding,
of the human mind and behaviour. He will be missed.

Further reading, watching and learning:

Kahneman fast and slow thinking explained
System 1 and 2 quick guide
The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds
Daniel Kahneman | Talks at Google
Learn yourself how to apply Kahneman’s thinking

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

With spring blossoming around us, it’s the perfect moment for a fresh start. Did you know that the start of a new week, month, or even a birthday can dramatically boost your motivation to achieve your goals?

This phenomenon, known as the ‘Fresh Start Effect’, is a psychological boost that empowers us to pursue our goals with renewed vigor. Here’s a little guide on how to make it work for you:

1.     Spot Your New Beginning: Keep an eye out for those dates that naturally feel like a fresh start. It could be the coming of spring, the beginning of a new school term, or just any Monday.

2.     Define What You Want to Achieve: Use these moments as opportunities to set clear, achievable goals. Whether you’re embarking on a fitness journey, learning a new skill, or improving daily habits, clear goals are crucial.

3.     Embrace Your Clean Slate: Fresh start moments offer you a psychological break from your past, including any missteps or setbacks. Treat it as a clean slate, a chance to start anew without the burden of yesterday.

4.     Map Out Your Path: Plan the steps you’ll take towards your goals. A detailed plan transforms your aspirations from wishes into actionable objectives.

So, here’s your takeaway:
Don’t wait for a new year for a fresh start. Every day presents a new opportunity. Let’s use the Fresh Start Effect to kickstart our goals 🌱.

Further reading:

The Fresh-Start Effect: Motivational Boosts Beyond New Years’ Resolutions
The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior

Want to share this week’s newsletter via social media or email? Just copy and paste this link:
https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/kahneman-achieving-goals/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Co-Founder of SUE | Behavioural Design Academy

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1,5 Minutes on Influence: Negotiation and Getting What You Want

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

I want to show you how our work for a Belgian town, negotiating with a German chemical company, is a prime example of how communication, based on the psychology of influence, can lead to impactful outcomes.

The situation:
This chemical company sent his heavy trucks right through the town centre. The town had been trying for 10 years to get them to use a different road around the city instead. The company’s CEO always dismissed the request using technical procedures. That’s when we came in:

We managed a breakthrough by applying 4 influence principles that you can also start using in negotiations:

1. We showed the real problem:
We used simple, emotional words and metaphors,
To surpass the technicalities,
Making the CEO feel the problem and the urgency.

“Whenever a truck passes through our city centre, it leaves parents terrified you’ll hit their children, and it causes our school windows to tremble as you pass by, disturbing the children’s concentration.”

2. We changed the focus:
Instead of arguing over minor details,
We talked about how the town and the company,
Could live and work together peacefully.
We explained it’s essential for everyone,
Including their workers and their families who live in the city,
To have a safe place to live without big trucks everywhere.

3. We made the choice clear:
We told the company they could keep fighting in court,
Or help the community and be seen as heroes.
This choice made them think about what’s important:
Looking good by helping out or caring about their own business.

But what was the killer principle?

4. We asked a different question:
That shifted the perspective from focusing solely on rerouting a road,
To considering a personal, positive impact on the community,
Encouraging the CEO to see the value,
Of him contributing to the town’s welfare.

“Do you want to be known only as a German factory CEO, or do you want to be remembered as a respected leader who enriches the community?”

The result:
The town and the company started working together,
And the CEO even asked if he could co-host,
The press conference launching the new road.

Never underestimate the power of personal and emotional jobs-to-be-done and understanding how the psychology of influence works!

Further learning:
Contact us if you want us to train your team with a one-day workshop in framing. We can help you find the words and frames to positively change minds or reputations, both in Dutch and English.

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

As we kind of surpassed our one-minute time slot. Here just a link to a video we think you should see: negotiation 101 by a kid

Want to share this week’s newsletter via social media or email? Just copy and paste this link:
https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/negotiation-and-…ng-what-you-want/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Co-Founder of SUE | Behavioural Design Academy

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email 👇 and join over 15.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1,5 Minutes on How to Influence Curiosity and Employee Wellbeing

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

In July 2023 the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST),
Discovered the most distant active supermassive black hole to date,
Which existed just over 570 million years after the Big Bang.
For you Star Wars fans out there:
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”

But even though JWTS researches experiences in the distant past
It is very relevant to us in the here and now.
The driving force of the JWTS was curiosity.
The unstoppable desire to explore, learn and discover.

And even though, most of us probably aren’t astronomers,
There is a link between the James Webb Telescope,
And how it can inspire us to create a workplace,
In which innovation, collaboration and communication thrive,
Leveraging the so-called ‘curiosity effect’ in behavioural science.

1. Promote Exploration:
Like the James Webb Telescope’s journey,
foster a workspace where trying new things is welcomed.
Innovation labs or hackathons can be great for this,
Letting employees experiment and learn
Without fear of making mistakes.

2. Support Continuous Learning:
Reflect the scientific world’s commitment to discovery,
by offering varied learning chances for staff.
Workshops on both job skills and wider curiosity-sparking subjects,
Can broaden perspectives, much like how the James Webb Telescope’s,
discoveries expand our knowledge of the universe.

3. Encourage Questioning:
Inspired by the JWST’s explorative spirit,
Allow employees to question processes, products, and strategies. Establish forums like brainstorming sessions for sharing ideas,
Emulating the telescope’s mission-driven inquiry,
To enhance collective curiosity and problem-solving.

4. Teamwork Power:
The JWST’s creation by NASA, ESA, and CSA highlights,
Teamwork’s role in achieving significant, complex goals.
This collaboration shows how diverse expertise and perspectives,
can drive innovation, emphasizing that a collective approach,
in professional settings can accomplish what individuals alone cannot.

Like the psychologist Herbert Simon once said,
Humans innate urge to discover the unknown,
Is ‘The Cat that curiosity could not kill’.

Let’s embrace curiosity to propel us forward,
And may the force be with us!

Further reading:

NASA – James Webb Space Telescope
Our courses on Learning the Psychology of Influence

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

The crucial team member you probably weren’t aware of

A recent research asked employees if they would,
Rather getting a raise or a benefit,
79% of the employees preferred a benefit,
High up on this list are extra paid days off,
And perks like childcare and healthcare assistance.

Perks are closely related to motivation,
Whereas money has to do with extrinsic motivation,
Perks are boosters of intrinsic motivation,
Which influences well-being and engagement.

And one of the perks that (quite literally) perk people up?
Good quality coffee!
Research shows that coffee not only offers a momentary break,
It also boosts intellectual and relational performance.

Employees often perceive the availability of good coffee,
As a sign of their employer’s appreciation,
Which can lead to improved mood and job satisfaction.

So, make your next hire a good coffee machine.
It may very well turn out to be a crucial team member.

Source:Coffee in the Workplace: A Social Break or a Performance Enhancer?

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https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/curiosity-and-coffee/

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Co-Founder of SUE | Behavioural Design Academy

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email here and join over 10.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1,5 Minutes on How to Influence Motivation to Act and Living
to 100.

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Astrid

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

Our 7-year-old daughter is a notorious vegetable sceptic.
When it is green, it is regarded with disdain.
So, eating broccoli (our desired behaviour),
Is not high on her to-do list.

But when we turned broccoli into something else,
Explaining, they are actually little trees that build muscles,
It became something she wanted,
As she had a climbing and hanging from everything phase.

This is what Charles Duhigg once called:
Doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

People do not want to buy toothpaste,
They buy a minty fresh breath for a date (or meeting).

This underlying motivation to act,
Is what Clayton Christensen coined as the job-to-be-done.
It is vital in getting people to act.

The questions to ask to influence behaviour become,
What is the progress people want to make?
And how can our offering help them get there?

Want to design sustainable behaviour,
And get people to buy solar panels?
A job-to-be-done of someone could be,
No longer being dependent on the power grid.

Want to design team behaviour,
And get people to the office twice a week?
A job-to-be-done can be getting recognition from your manager,
Who actually can notice you when you are in the office.

By the way, jobs- to-be-done can change over time.

The broccoli muscle approach doesn’t work anymore on our daughter.
Now she loves to join us in travelling.
And abroad, well, she needs to eat different foods.
So, now she is willing to taste them,
No green vegetable will stand in her way to see the world.

In conclusion, if you want to motivate people to do something,
Don’t start with your product, service, or policy.
Start with what they can help people achieve better in their lives,
Something they want or need.

Just remember to ask yourself:
How do I ‘sell’ the broccoli?

Further reading:

The SUE Influence Framework Explained
Know your customers jobs-to-be-done
Our courses on Learning the Psychology of Influence

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Live to a 100

I recently watched the Netflix documentary on Blue Zones,
Communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives,

Absolutely fascinating.
But especially the last episode is worth watching,
It is pure Behavioural Design.

Interventions that added 3 years in life expectancy.

The key message:

If you cannot change people’s beliefs,
You must change their context.

– Eat wisely: Make healthy foods more accessible.
– Move naturally: Design ways for movement, like build walking lanes.
– Connect: Initiate social clubs in which people share and care.
– Outcome: Give people meaning, for example, help them volunteer.

So, check it out,
And venture out to add those 3 healthy years to your life.

Source:
Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones

Want to share this week’s newsletter via social media or email? Just copy and paste this link:
https://suebehaviouraldesign.cominfluence-motivation-and-live-to-100

Until next week,

Astrid Groenewegen

Co-Founder of SUE | Behavioural Design Academy

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email here and join over 10.000 other forward-thinking professionals.

1,5 Minutes on How to Influence Choice and Behaviour
in Negotiation and Happiness.

Happy 1,5 Minutes on Influence!

Here is your weekly dose of applying the psychology of influence
to positively impact choices and behaviours.

Looking forward to sharing insights with you!

Warm regards,

Tom

1 MINUTE:
INSIGHT OF THE WEEK

How Job-to-be-Done Thinking
Led to a Historic Peace Deal

On September 17, 1978, something incredible happened at Camp David.
President Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Begin of Israel
signed a peace deal that changed the Middle East.
This wasn’t just any agreement—
it was the result of thinking differently about a tough situation.

For a long time, the talks were stuck.
Egypt wanted the Sinai Desert back,
which Israel had controlled since 1967,
but Israel was worried about its security
and didn’t want to give it up.

The breakthrough came when an American negotiator
asked a new kind of question:
“What do you really want beyond the land?”
It turned out Egypt wanted to be recognized as its own boss—sovereignty.
Israel, on the other hand, wanted to feel safe from threats.

Once everyone understood these deeper needs,
they found a creative solution.
Egypt would get the Sinai Desert back,
but it would be a demilitarized zone.
This way, both countries got what they needed,
and they could tell their people they won.

The big lesson here is simple:
When you’re stuck, try to see what the other person really needs.

It’s not just about the thing you’re fighting over,
like a piece of land or a car.

It’s about understanding
what’s behind that need and finding a way to meet it.
This is how thinking differently
can turn a dead-end into a success story.

Want to take a deeper dive into this?

More on the Camp David negotiations
Download the Job-to-be-Done Cheat Sheet
Our courses: Master the Psychology of Influence

0,5 MINUTE:
NOT TO BE MISSED THIS WEEK

Carefully design your social context

In the book “Thinking in Bets”,
world class poker player Annie Duke once wrote

“You are the average of the five people you hang around with the most“.

It’s such a simple and powerful idea.
Our behaviour is heavily shaped by the context we operate in.

Bad people trigger the worst in us.
Great people inspire us to become better.

In a summary of 20 wisdoms by Naval Ravikant,
an investor and philosopher you have to discover, he wrote:

“Choose The Right Partners.
Never partner with cynics and pessimists.
Their beliefs are self-fulfilling failures.
Instead, align yourself with optimistic rationalists.
Have a few deep connections over many shallow ones”.

Source:

Navals famous 38 thoughts on How to get Rich (without getting lucky)
Our blog: Six Rules for Designing Your Happiness

Want to share this week’s newsletter via social media or email? Just copy and paste this link:
https://suebehaviouraldesign.com/influence-negotiation-happiness/

Until next week,

Tom De Bruyne

Co-Founder of SUE | Behavioural Design Academy

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in our popular email newsletter ‘1,5 Minutes on Influence’. Every Thursday, we share 1,5 minutes of insights to explore compelling questions and uncover strategies to positively impact decision-making by applying Behavioural Design. Enter your email here and join over 10.000 other forward-thinking professionals.