#155 - Just knowledge doesn't change behavior
Just understanding doesn't motivate
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably consistently late with your tax investment declarations or your reimbursement proof submissions. I ignore reminders, breeze past deadlines, and am generally notorious with these things.
I get by by being nice to my friends in payroll (= asking for extensions). But I know there are more like me in the Tardy Bunch who are a pain for payroll.
Now imagine the situation were reversed and I switched roles with a friend in payroll (seems like a punishment to me but let’s look beyond that). What would I do? How would I survive chasing repeat offenders like me? It would be cruel and unfair for sure but I can think of two things to bring some order to my life:
1️⃣Set the goal of the exercise as not submitting documents or even saving your hard-earned money. Set the goal as helping out a colleague. Non-compliant folks would not be missing a deadline; they would be leaving a colleague (someone from payroll whose job it is to compile all declarations) in the lurch. Humanizing the goal would involve making this hapless colleague come alive and sharing details of their less-than-acceptable life to drive home the point.
Knowingly making life difficult for a colleague is far less acceptable to the average employee than missing a deadline.
2️⃣Share data on compliance rates. Assuming that most people file their stuff on time, showing non-compliance as a minority activity (example: 83% of employees submitted their investment proofs before the deadline!) would make the truants more aware that they are flouting social norms by their behavior. It would show them as a bit of a black sheep of the group—not a description people like for themselves.
Both tactics are powerful because we’re social animals. We want to be seen as part of our tribe and hate to be singled out as the ones causing distress to our fellow tribe members.
It is possible to think of more interventions, such as highlighting best practices for compliance or making the submission portal easy to use, that help with behavior change. I have picked out steps that, to my knowledge, demand the least effort and promise the best return.
Let’s zoom out. What’s the problem we’re trying to solve in the described situation? Bring about change in behavior.
Behavior change needs a combination of an understanding of what to do and motivation to do it. Understanding is not an issue here—everyone knows why they should file their returns on time. The snag is motivation—people don’t feel energized for paperwork even if it means money. So, all efforts are best directed at making investment declarations a compeling prospect.
Sometimes, our efforts can be misguided. For instance, we could have the motivation but not know exactly what to do. This happens with more complex things like change initiatives at the firm. There are a hundred things that could be done and everyone has an idea of what to do, but where to start?
Even simple advice like “eat healthy” can be unhelpful. Good advice but you’re confused. What are you supposed to do? Read the back of every pack of food and work out what to eat, what to throw?
In both cases, more motivation is more frustration. There’s enough of it already. What is needed is clear direction. A simple plan to remove ambiguity: Of the hundred things that can be done, do these three. Sometimes, motivation is missing; sometimes, it’s understanding and direction. To make lasting change, it’s best to know what is what.
You may think I know what I’m talking about but last year after I had run a decision-making community for months and wondered why my dear community members weren’t putting in more effort or excitedly changing their lives up with what they had learned in the sessions, it dawned on me: Knowledge does not change behavior. Understanding does not motivate by itself.
As Dan and Chip Heath say in their book Switch, your rational side can continue to goad your emotional side but if both are not in sync, what seems like laziness to the eye can be exhaustion.
Back to my thought experiment. Let’s imagine my tactics to revamp payroll operations see success and someone high up has the bright idea of promoting me up the chain of payroll operations. Again, looking past the pain of that appointment, what would I do? I would make a basic understanding of behavioral science a non-negotiable skill for recruits. If your job involves getting people to comply, it helps if you know how to persuade them. That said, I’m not a stickler for rules. I would be willing to look past any missing credentials if you can persuade me to hire you during the interview.
Of course, I haven’t mustered up the courage to share these tactics with my friends in payroll.
👋Hi, I’m Satyajit. Wecome to my newsletter. Here I study human behavior with the goal of unpacking the patterns of thought underneath it for a better career and a better life.