Sure, in theory. We say we do. Why wouldn't we? Why wouldn't I care if 65 year old Nate has enough $$ for retirement.

Ask anyone if they want to ensure their future self has enough money for their later stages of life and you won't find a single no amongst the crowd but the research says otherwise. It's surprising.

You see time is weird. Our perception of ourselves across time is even more weird. As we imagine our future self our perception of ourself changes in a way that disconnects us from who we'll be in 10, 20, 30 years.

Let me explain...

When you think of yourself today, you think of yourself in first person. When you think of your future self the orientation changes. We move from first person (I/we) to third person (he/him/they). It may seem trivial but there's a key insight here.

Because of this shift, research suggests that the third person orientation we view as a stranger. No different than a random person you pass on the street. Would you care if someone you never met or will never see again has enough $$ for retirement? Doubtful.

And that's how we view our future selves. As a stranger. It's no longer me, it's now them. And we can say all we want that our future self is no stranger, that we care deeply about that person but we can't quite get there. We view this future version as a stranger. And if we didn't, wouldn't we all do the things today that ensured a healthy and prosperous future version of ourselves? In theory yes but in practice...

Unfortunately no.

Struggling to get company buy-in for BeSci?

"Just sprinkle in a little behavioral science!"

If only it were that easy. Adding loss aversion and defaults to everything is not behavioral science... or at least good (decent?) behavioral science.

I've spoken with a number of folks who are the first BeSci hire at a company and are trying to find their way.

I don't have all the answers but I do have a few insights having worked with Fortune 50 companies who were brand new to the BeSci world.

If you're a recent behavioral science hire (especially the first one in this role perhaps) at a big corp, here are 3 key things to keep in mind to increase your success.

1) Go on tour

No, not a music tour. Well you could if you want but I mean a tour through each department giving the team a BeSci 101 and it's applications.

Hold lunch and learn sessions explaining what BeSci is and how it can be applied in marketing, sales, product, etc. Make sure to anchor on concrete vs abstract. Present a theory and then show 3-4 real world examples of the bias in the real world.

I've made the costly mistake of using tons of abstract jargon and folks look at me as if I am speaking another language. Real world examples (screenshots of existing products) do wonders to make this vodoo stuff tangible.

2) Set expectations

Behavioral science is not a silver bullet and won't solve all your problems. Often companies hire a BeSci person hoping it will. I have often found that behavioral science is part of the solution, but not the solution. There are larger underlying issues that often need to be addressed and BeSci won't solve all these. It's important to align on this so you don't set yourself up for failure.

3) Find the quick wins

Your north star should be to show impact as soon as possible and unfortunately, this means that your best ideas may need to take a back seat. Identify where you can make a tangible (measured) impact the quickest and focus there.

Show your work... works and then move on to larger projects. Easiest place to show impact? Emails. I know, it's not earth shattering but it's relatively easy to split test via email and there is a clear outcome variable to measure.

If you're ready to integrate behavioral science into your customer experience reply this to email and let’s chat. I’ll provide 3 concrete recommendations (on the house) you can implement right away.

Best,

Nate

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