Over the years Dan Pink has been a bit of a hero of mine so when I had the chance to join him for Breakfast at Soho House on one of his trips to London there was no hesitation.
I asked Dan whether he felt that, in order to drive behavior change, it
was important to change the intrinsic beliefs of the individual to ensure the change was
embedded?
He was quick to sketch out a 4 box matrix (because we consultants do
love a 4 box matrix) to accompany his example about University students being asked
to donate food to charity.
For a more exact version of this story see p141 of To Sell Is Human, however
the gist of his answer was that students were grouped into two types; most
likely to donate and least likely to.
Half of each group was sent a generic letter to say that there was a
food drive taking place and that donations would be welcome. The other half of
each group received a specific letter: addressed to them by name, specifying
the ideal foods to donate such as pasta and tinned food and included a map of
exactly where food could be dropped off on campus.
The students in the least likely group, who received the generic letter
donated (and I quote) “a whopping 0%”. The most likely students who received
the generic letter donated only 8%. So
this proved that people who are not naturally charitable were entirely
unpersuaded by the letter and that only 8% of those likely to donate did.
However of the students who received the specific letter which was
addressed to them, gave clear instructions and guidance on what to buy and
where and when to drop it, those who were most likely to, donated an impressive
44%. The least likely students in receipt of the specific letter donated 25%.
The large increase from the naturally charitable group was impressive
but the jump from 0% to 25% of the group deemed unlikely to donate is the most
surprising. A Quarter of this group were so motivated by the personalised
letter with the required detail that they changed their behavior from their
natural uncharitable state and went out of their way to buy and donate food.
The point here is that the least likely to donate students did not
suddenly become charitable, develop a social conscience or experience any other
overall shift in their beliefs. What happened was that by being specific the
students were provided with a clear path of action – it was made so easy for
them to change their behavior that they simply did.
After the breakfast, I kept that slightly crumpled, hand drawn 4 box matrix and it now hangs at my desk to remind me that although I still think belief is important in embedding behavior change, it’s worth remembering that sometimes, the truth is - all you really need to do is make it easy for people to change.
*http://www.danpink.com
After the breakfast, I kept that slightly crumpled, hand drawn 4 box matrix and it now hangs at my desk to remind me that although I still think belief is important in embedding behavior change, it’s worth remembering that sometimes, the truth is - all you really need to do is make it easy for people to change.
*http://www.danpink.com