How To Get People To Do Stuff

Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.@thebrainladysusan@theteamw.com

1. The Power of Stories

2. Tricks of the Mind

17 x 24 = ?

Most mental processing is unconscious

In a lake there is a patch of lily pads. Every day the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake?

24 days or 47 days?

In a lake there is a patch of lily pads. Every day the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire lake, how long would it take for the patch to cover half of the lake?

24 days or 47 days?

Sale on Soup

Limit of 10 cans per person

Sale on Soup

No limit per person

Sale on Soup

Limit of 10 cans per person

Sale on Soup

No limit per person

Platinum: $55.95Gold: $35.95Silver: $15.95

Silver: $15.95Gold: $35.95Platinum: $55.95

3. Instincts

60% stopped to

taste

40% stopped to

taste

40% stopped to taste30% of them purchased100 people = 12 sales

60% stopped to taste3% of them purchased100 people = 2 sales

40% stopped to taste30% of them purchased100 people = 12 sales

60% stopped to taste3% of them purchased100 people = 2 sales

Iyengar, Sheena S. and Mark R. Lepper. 2000. When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 79: 995-1006.

7 + or - 2

7 + or - 2is a

MYTH

Baddeley, A. D. (1994). The magical number seven: Still magic after all these years? Psychological Review, 101, 353-356.

Broadbent, D. (1975). The magic number seven after fifteen years. In: Studies in long-term memory, ed. A. Kennedy & A. Wilkes. Wiley.

Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87-185.

People Can Remember/Deal with 3-4 Things at a Time

Choice = Control = Survival

We are more motivated by fear of loss than by anticipation of gain

4. Carrots and Sticks

Behavior Reinforcement More behavior

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

“A” on report card $5 More “A’s”

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Behavior Reinforcement More behavior

“A” on report card $5 More “A’s”

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Behavior Reinforcement More behavior

Push button Win money Push

button

Report on time Praise More reports on time

5. The Need to Belong

6. Habits

Pavlov’s Classical ConditioningStimulus

Response

Pavlov’s Classical ConditioningStimulus

ResponseMeat Salivate

Pavlov’s Classical ConditioningStimulus

Response

Meat + Bell

Salivate

Meat Salivate

Pavlov’s Classical ConditioningStimulus

Response

Meat + Bell

SalivateBell Salivate

Meat Salivate

Habits

Stimulus

ResponseCue Response

Habits

Stimulus

ResponseCue ResponseWake up Brush teeth

To Create a NEW Habit

Cue ResponseWake up Brush teeth

Existing response becomes the new cue:

Brush teeth

Take vitamins

B.J. Fogg: tinyhabits.com

7. The Desire for Mastery

How To Get People To Do

Stuff1. The Power of Stories2. Tricks of the Mind3. Instincts4. Carrots and Sticks5. The Need to Belong6. Habits7. The Desire for Mastery

“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.”

...Dwight D. Eisenhower

THANK YOU!

Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.@thebrainladysusan@theteamw.comwww.theteamw.com