Me: OK Mike, tell the Ladies & Gentlemen a little bit about yourself.
Mike: I’m an ex-advertising copywriter and creative director at The Do Lectures, who’s been trained in Behaviour Design by Stanford University Research Scientist BJ Fogg.
Me: Why is BJ Fogg’s work important to you?
Mike: I worked my whole life in creative companies and innovative businesses, yet nobody ever told me, (or perhaps even worse, never asked me), how human behaviour really worked. This was a pretty fundamental oversight if you work in the advertising and marketing industries. Even more so today, where a deep understanding of how to influence behaviour change is a core requirement for pretty much any enterprise.
It took a Teacher at Stanford to fill that gap in my education. And it changed everything for me.
Me: But surely, every kick-ass business and brand has already got the psychology thing all wrapped up with Behavioural Science people?
Mike: To some extent yes, Behavioural Science resources are important for any innovative organisation. But I think Behaviour Design, as distinct from BS, adds an exciting new dimension and dynamic.
I’d even go as far as using the same famous comparison Steve Jobs used to differentiate Apple and Microsoft, to describe my relationship between Behaviour Design and Behavioural Science: “It’s better to be a pirate than to join in the navy.”
Me: So what is Behaviour Design?
Mike: Behavior Design is a new and innovative system of models and methods that help us understand the fundamentals of human behaviour. And so inform the creative solutions we design for ~ which in turn influences human actions in positive and impactful ways.
The models are how to think clearly about Behaviour.
The methods are how to design for Behaviour change.
And at the heart of Behaviour Design is the Fogg Behavior Model.
Me: So what is the Fogg Behaviour Model?
Mike: According to the Fogg Behaviour Model, a Behavior only ever occurs when three things come together at the same time: the Motivation to do the behaviour, the Ability to do the behaviour, and a Prompt, the thing that says; ‘do this behaviour now’. And if any one of these elements is missing the behaviour will not happen.
The first time I heard that, it blew the doors off for me.
I was profoundly affected, in fact more than that; changed forever, as a creative, by the insight that all human behaviour regardless of ethnicity, culture, age, or economic standing can be understood, designed for and influenced by a simple but powerful two-sentence model: “Behavior happens when three things come together at the same moment; Motivation, Ability, and a Prompt. And if one of these elements is missing, the behaviour will not happen.”
aka: B=MAP.
Game. Changed. Mind. Blown. Off to the races.
Me: So what’s your aspiration, your pitch? The ladies & gentlemen reading this don’t have all day.
Mike: I’m looking to work with a really smart company who might want to explore behaviour design as a core competency throughout their business.
With the ultimate aspiration of introducing the models and methods to every nook and cranny of the company. Enabling you to see what others don’t, through the lens of BJ Fogg’s breakthrough work.
Where everyone from the design teams to the sales team, receptionist to C-Suite, PR to product teams have the ability to become experts in human behaviour. (Their own, their colleagues, their clients and their competitors.)
Me: What? Like give everybody in the company the potential to become an expert in human behaviour?
Mike: Potentially yes. Why not? Pretty much every employee learned to tie their shoelaces, drive a car, use a computer. Learning how human behaviour really works is simpler than any of those things. And quicker too. (Buckle up, there’s more.) I know from my own experience, that the best way to learn about changing anybody’s behaviour, is to start with your own.
So I’ve designed a coaching protocol that combines my training as a Tiny Habits coach with the skills BJ Fogg has imparted in me as a behaviour designer.
By dog-fooding behaviour design in my own life, I learned BJ’s models and methods up close and personal and I got the fundamentals nailed in about a week. (Though I did then spend the best part of the next 3 years being fully trained and mentored by him in the deep complex power of his on-the-face-it simple discoveries.)
Me: Why should they work with you in particular. What’s unique about you?
Mike: I’ve combined a lifelong appreciation and application of creativity, with a new career competence of understanding how behaviour really works. My system of coaching the Tiny Habits Method first and then showing how to quickly apply behaviour design in the day job is fast, simple and effective.
Me: Give us that as bullet-points Mike.
Mike:
- My work has been recognised in the D&AD annual a bunch of times and I was considered good enough to sit on the Copy Jury.
- I’ve been personally trained in Behaviour Design by the bloke behind it: BJ Fogg. And continue to be advised by him in the specific ways companies in my sector can apply his models and methods successfully.
- I’m certified to train people in the Tiny Habits Method of personal behaviour change.
- I’m (currently) the only career creative in the world qualified to take like-minded pro’s on the Tiny Habits+Behaviour Design journey in the service of personal development, team dynamics, company culture and professional excellence.
- It’s not just me who thinks Behaviour Design is kind of a big deal: BJ’s models and methods for understanding and influencing human behaviour have been adopted by some of the biggest success stories and progressive brands in Silicon Valley and beyond. Worldwide leaders in tech, healthcare, automotive, finance and retail, all apply his insights daily to millions of clients, customers and users.
Me: What are the details, the nuts and bolts of this pitch?
Mike:
- I’m looking to do a pilot project with a small team in a cool company.
- First I’ll teach the individual members, (as a group), how to apply the Tiny Habits Method in their own lives. The aspiration? To become the best version of themselves possible. Additionally, (brace yourself for a twofer here), as they learn more about behaviour change and how habits work in their own lives, they’re also discovering how all human behaviour works according to the Fogg Behaviour Model. And as a consequence, better understand the behaviour of colleagues, clients, customers and users too. (Not forgetting some valuable intel on their competitors’ psychology as well.)
- Second, moving beyond an individual understanding, we infuse and integrate these new models, methods and maxims to align the whole team. So they know how to effectively change together with an agreed vocabulary of change, plus a new way of thinking and designing for behaviour and influence.
- Depending on how well the pilot goes, might we then explore how the project could be rolled out to every corner of the business? Creating a company-wide, competitive advantage in your industry. Where every single person has the ability to be on their A-Game more of the time. And where every single person has the ability to understand human behaviour all of the time. Especially in every customer-facing opportunity they encounter. Finally, as you’d expect from a project completely influenced by BJ Fogg’s work, deployment across the entire org chart will be systematic, simple, speedy and iterative.
Me: How will this project materially benefit any business (smart enough :~} to sign-up for the pilot??
Mike: You get to be one of the few companies on the planet that applies Behaviour Design to every corner of the enterprise. (Remember when we used pitch people our USP? This is a heck of a usp you should consider applying asap.) Will this project put more money in your tin? Increase new business, boost brand equity, help you recruit the brightest and the best, encourage more employees to be actively engaged in their careers, the company and its culture? Think so, could do, that’s the general idea. But I can’t guarantee it. This is all new stuff.
There’s really only one way to find out.
Give it a shot.
My instinct is that this Behaviour Project could be kind of a big deal for innovative companies; but I’m not going to shill you. (Note to proof-reader, that’s shill.).
Hopefully my work will thrill you, (and your CFO), but shill you? No.
Me: Is that it?
Mike: For now yes: That’s my product and my pitch for a pilot project in behaviour design with you.
BJ Fogg trained me in both his powerful models of Behaviour Design for enhancing products & services, and also his Tiny Habits® Method for enhanced employee well-being, health and happiness.
I want to help you show your staff how to apply both in their personal lives and professional careers.
I hope the above is a demonstration of my desire to get this out in the world, be part of something really cool, and the basis for a further chat?
