Cognitive Design

To make change stick you must over determine the outcome you want. That means applying many strategies and tools to the job rather than just one or a few. You need to find ways to tap intrinsic motivation, rewards, peer pressure and environmental factors if you want to change individual and group behaviors.

While this may seem like over kill to some, research supports the over determined approach to change.  For example, a Sloan Management Review article, How To Have Influence, found organizations that used 4 or more strategies to drive a change where 10x more likely to achieve the outcomes they wanted. For a more general argument about the need to over determine your change effort check out  Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change.

You see similar results in the personal behavior change space. For example, Baylor College of Medicine conducted a study that showed people that used more tools to lose weight achieved a greater loss.  It was not a 10X effect but it was a 5X effect varying from 4 pounds for zero tools (self directed) to 20 pounds for those using three tools (weight watchers program, apps, etc.).

So the questions is not so much what are you going to do to make your change work – but what 4 or 5 things working together will make you change stick?

Source of  Weight Loss Graph PR Newswire

In cognitive design we focus on how to translate scientific insights into how minds work into new products, services, process improvements, better work environments and other innovations.   One important insight with plenty of innovation potential is that our mental processes – thinking, learning, making decisions, self-control and the like, very much depend on how we use our bodies. That is, cognition is embodied.  For example, we think better when we walk and gesture freely with our arms.  So I am always on the lookout for new research into embodied cognition that could have practical implications.

For example, a recent study from Princeton University found that feeling weighed down by guilt is more than a metaphor:

“We found that recalling personal unethical acts led participants to report increased subjective body weight as compared to recalling ethical acts, unethical acts of others or no recall. We also found that this increased sense of weight was related to participants’ heightened feelings of guilt, and not other negative emotions, such as sadness or disgust.”

This finding may have practical consequences.  For example, related research suggests you may be able to regulate moral behavior by simulating the experience of being weighted down. Imagine for a moment if wearing a heavy backpack would actually decrease the chance of cheating on an exam or lying.

Interested to hear from readers that have seen other recent results from embodied cognition that could be useful to designers.

Image Source:  Richard Gunther on ChristArt.com

Bullying is a big problem in the US. It happens in schools, at work, on the internet, at home and in the community. Studies indicated that approximately 30% of US students are bullies or victims.

As the focus of cognitive design is to address deeply felt but unmet psychological needs, bullying is definitely a relevant challenge.   Not only to help victims cope and ultimately forgive but to help design interventions that have the best chance of  preventing bullying in the first place.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and to help celebrate it Routledge has publish some free articles into the nature of the problem that are full of insights for cognitive designers.

I hope readers of the Cognitive Design blog will take up the challenge.

The training magazine network is hosting a provocative ideas webinar that I am giving on using micro-learning techniques to change behavior and improve performance.  It will run for free on January 15 at 1 pm ET for an hour.  Hope to see you there.

Session Description:

Micro-learning is the tiny bursts of learning we do every day to solve problems, make decisions and improve performance. All training involves a micro-learning phase if the goal is behavior change and ROI. Trainers tend not to emphasize this last mile of learning because it is too personalized, short lived and entangled in work. Learn how new technologies and methodologies are changing that.

Discover a new method for including micro-learning in training which breaks learning content into its smallest relevant chunks called knowledge cards. Successful examples and demonstrations in leadership, innovation, teamwork and emotional intelligence will be presented.

“The entries came pouring in from every corner of the world—real-world case studies and bold hacks tackling the intersecting challenges of redistributing power and equipping and energizing people to lead even when they lack formal authority.”

Using Micro-Learning to Boost Influence Skills in Emergent Leaders