500 Words a Week - Nudge
The book “Nudge” by Thaler and Sunstein discusses the many ways we can create better choices being made through good choice architecture. The first mantra associated with nudging is to make it easy to take the desired action. Thaler and Sunstein state how a good complement to this advice is to make the desired activity fun. They reference Tom Sawyer as an example.
In Mark Twain’s novel, Tom has to paint his Aunt’s fence as punishment for his misbehaviour. As expected, Tom would much rather be off playing with his friends and dreads having to paint the fence. When one of his friends’ approaches, he paints with such care and relish that his friend is soon convinced that painting the fence is a privilege and enjoyable experience. His friend gives Tom his apple for a go at painting the fence. By the end of the afternoon, the fence has been painted three times by many of Tom’s friends.
Twain said “work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.”
How do we go about this in S&C? We can look at some of Tony Holler’s work with his athletics group. Tony is discusses for the major exercise’s you do or are looking to improve and drive intensity in, you “record, rank and publish” the outcomes of the exercise. The competition makes doing the task more fun, which in turns increases an athlete’s willingness to partake in the task. Like above, we are trying to make it easy to take the desired action. Making exercise’s we deem important to improve speed, power or strength more fun and competitive, make the decision easier on the athlete about whether to do them or not. It also drives the intensity higher in the exercise that if it weren’t measured. Sometimes, it might not even have to be measured, just by organizing your session in a way that’s more competitive and places athletes posing similar physical characteristics against each other to drive intent.
Embracing the “record, rank, and publish” method for certain exercises also helps with another aspect of good choice architecture, giving feedback. “Well-designed systems tell people when they are doing well and when they are making mistakes”. Through recording and publishing, athletes can gauge for themselves if they are improving or not. In real time, it may also help athletes under more efficient technique, if you have told them about a certain thing to think about during a sprint or a jump and their result has improved.
To conclude; “Whenever we can make some activity seem like play, pique our curiosity, or build excitement or anticipation, we will find that people are not only willing to undertake the activity; they even may be willing to pay for the opportunity!”
Can we look for more ways to make the work we do seem like play, pique those we work with’s curiosity, and build excitement around what we do?
