Fact: Our brain is the most advanced piece of software that we will ever possess and probably never fully understand.
Think about it.
We have a better understanding of how our phones work than the organic powerhouse in our heads. The process of understanding our brain, or what I often call our operating system, never ends.
Nearly a decade ago, I attended a conference where the key topics focused on neuroscience, neurology and how we engage with content.
Here’s what I learnt and how this will help you launch products that people rave about.
Now, this might not sound like a sexy topic.
Yet, it’s pretty fundamental in understanding how we are wired, how we connect with each other and the world around us.
Why people decide to use your product
In L&D, we are more familiar with a push strategy in getting audiences to take action rather than the desired pull effect.
[Side note: For the uninitiated, what I’m referring to is the common push/pull engagement system. Push = constantly sharing materials to get audiences engaged with products, Pull = they excitedly request the content and know its value.]
Despite our industry being heavily seen as design based, we still need to convince our audience why the products and experiences we build are worth their time.
It’s the same in your personal life.
You wouldn’t see a random film or purchase a video game without knowing what’s in it for you. Time is precious, and we must respect that in how we position products.
One thing I always said to my teams back in the day: You didn’t think your job ended once you completed your product, did you?
So, you need to know:
- How to cut through the noise of work
- Demonstrate ‘what the user gets’ in exchange for time
- Tap into the survival mechanisms of our brains
Let’s explore these ↓
The caveman conundrum
A lot has changed, and not a lot has changed since our caveman days.
Despite the world around us being unrecognisable, our brains have stayed pretty much the same. Where sabre tooth tigers were once the most fear inducing experience we avoided, today, you could say, we have much more to contend with.
The problem is our brains can’t tell the difference between a sabre tooth tiger and that awful conversation you’re avoiding with your manager.
Going back to my neuroscience conference experience.
One presentation, from a neuroscientist working in the L&D world (which is pretty rare), has stayed with me for a decade.
It was titled “Wired for Survival, not Knowledge”.
I think about the insights from this talk every few weeks. It’s significant in how I view crafting learning experiences, sharing content on LinkedIn, and even how I write this newsletter.
Here’s the best insights and how you can use these in your work:
1/ The brain is wired for survival, not knowledge
The headline insight.
You might not think it but the brain gives no shits about our first-world problems. That includes no one liking your Instagram photos. All it cares about is pro-creating and staying away from sabre tooth tigers.
This is our information processing structure.
Yes, a very fancy string of words. Allow me to unpack for you: Our brain’s architecture is organised by natural selection to solve adaptive problems tied to our survival.
So, when you send out that yearly compliance model that no one wants to do, the explanation is simple.
→ It is not linked to the survival of that individual, not in their mind, anyway.
This is not about life or death choices, btw.
In the context of the workplace, survival can be tied to loss of a job, pay, benefits and social standing.
With compliance, the survival demands are clear for a business.
If they don’t comply with ‘x’ that can result in loss of earnings and brand reputation. This falls into the survival column for the business. They need to do this to survive.
For the individual, that’s not so clear-cut.
In sum: We care about tasks when there’s a clear link to how it impacts our survival at work. Your average user cares not for yearly security compliance, but they will if they know it could impact their individual ‘business survival’.
[📝 Another note: I class ‘business survival’ as things that affect pay, promotions and social standing at work. My view, not backed by science, just so we’re clear.]
🔗 Resources: For my fellow nerds. This research report titled “The Psychological Foundations of Culture” expands on these ideas.
2/ We remember things when we feel them
For whatever reason, society has only woken up to the importance of our emotions in the last 50-ish years.
Across many industries, we hail digital data as the holy grail to make informed decisions.
But, we don’t treat our internal form of data in the same way. Emotions are our human form of data. They help us make sense of and navigate the world. Now, we can’t always trust them (like any data) entirely, yet we can’t deny how they propel us across the crazy ride of life.
As an example:
Remember that time when a partner told you, it’s not me, it’s you and you felt that inner black hole of hurt inside you?
Bad news on that one.
You’re going to remember that for a while as your feelings got all up on that and left an imprint on you. When you reflect on that moment, the same feelings come crashing back.
And this is owed to our pursuit of actively seeking these core emotions:
- Joy
- Fear
- Sadness
- Anger
- Disgust
Think of a time you’ve not done something where one of these emotions hasn’t been a key driver – it’s tough, right?
It’s like when I go running off to find a jar of cashew butter.
I’m driven by the joy of that caramel-tasting goodness in my mouth, and most likely, a great deal of fear-induced stress from my emails.
You can anchor how you felt to a variety of life moments.
Like the reason I remember the neuroscience talk from a decade ago that I’m still sharing today. I have an emotional moment coded to that experience. Its easy for me to recall because I remember the feeling associated with it.
This is ‘Ross science’ though, not real science.
Remember, not a neuroscientist, just my observations as a fellow human.
The ultimate human decision-making framework
Here’s the most valuable insight you can take away today:
We are (mostly) driven by these 2 questions in decision-making:
- How will this make me look?
- What are other people doing?
Think about your daily routines and see if these don’t come up.
I know that these swirl around in my head regularly. They form the basis of whether I will do something.
So, how does this all relate to engaging people with your learning products?
Simple. If you don’t know the baseline of how we think, it’s super hard to position your products for success.
I’ve seen great learning products fail too often.
This happened because their builders failed to understand what motivates people to take action. Your job doesn’t end with design. To truly succeed you need an audience to engage with your message, content, conversation or whatever it is.
The mind is super powerful (much more than AI btw).
Understanding a little more about how it works can enhance a lot of the work we do.
It’s all around you
The biggest companies in the world know this and they use it on us every day.
From mass media headlines to those ridiculous hooks on LinkedIn. They’re rooted in what we’re naturally built to pay attention to.
There’s a reason sensational and FOMO-driven headlines grab your attention. They’re activating your survival instincts.
The problem we have is these entities abuse this knowledge.
That’s not what you should do. I’m not endorsing using this in nefarious ways to terrify people to complete a compliance module.
Instead, get clear on the game you’re playing in. You cannot help people if you don’t understand how we’re wired.
Give your tech a chance to succeed
As this newsletter is all about maximising tech in learning and performance, let’s put what we’ve learnt into context.
99% of failed tech implementations I’ve seen ignored what I shared above.
I don’t doubt, you’ve seen the same in your career. It’s no different to how we choose to engage with different digital technology out of work.
We used Facebook (at the time) because it was the popular place to be, and if you weren’t on it people thought that was weird. That then moved over to Instagram and now today’s ‘hot thing’ is TikTok.
The majority didn’t join these spaces because they had ‘x’ features.
They took part because they saw other people doing the same and didn’t want to be left out.
Survival mechanics with social standing at its best.
How to apply this
I’m not expecting you to translate the FOMO success of social media apps to a learning tech platform. But, we can learn something from these.
We don’t care about the features, we care about the benefits.
And in this case, those benefits can be:
- Will this get me promoted?
- Can I earn more money if I use this?
- Will this give me an advantage in my team?
I’m sure you don’t often consider this with tech launches.
However, that’s what your audience is thinking. I’ve been in so many company’s where people don’t use L&D products because Karen in the engineering team said it was crap, or Rodrigo in Product is disgusted by it’s user experience.
Despite all the sexy and shiny tech that litters our industry, we ultimately watch what others do and listen to what they say before we make a decision.
We learn from people, we buy from people, and we care what other people think of using L&D products.
Social proof gets the brain excited.
Final Thoughts
The term L&D is feared in so many workplaces.
That means people miss out on lots of great stuff to amplify not only their careers but themselves as better-functioning humans.
Keep in mind:
- Your inner caveman just wants to survive
- How can you craft an emotional connection to the importance of your product for your audience?
- The 2 question human decision-making framework
Before you go… 👋
If you like my writing and think “Hey, I’d like to hear more of what this guy has to say” then you’re in luck.
You can join me every Tuesday morning for more tools, templates and insights for the modern L&D pro in my weekly newsletter.
