Loran Nordgren | Discovering the Human Element | Talks at Google

Organizational psychologist Loran Nordgren discusses his book "The Human Element: Overcoming the Resistance That Awaits New Ideas", co-authored by David Schonthal, which is a revolutionary new take on how, exactly, you can discover the Four Frictions-inertia, effort, emotion, and reactance-that operate against every innovative new idea, product, or service, and how to overcome them.
How do you get people to embrace a new idea? Most people assume that the best-and perhaps only-way to convince people to embrace change is to heighten the appeal of the idea itself. We instinctively believe that if we add enough value, people will say “yes.” We refer to this habit of the mind as a “fuel-based mindset.” Fuel is what incites our desire to change. By focusing on fuel to enhance attraction, innovators neglect the other half of the equation-the psychological frictions that oppose change, creating a drag on innovation. Though they are rarely considered, overcoming these frictions is essential for creating change, and it calls for a new approach to innovation.
​​Best-selling author Loran Nordgren is a Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management with a mission to use behavioral science to make leaders and organizations better. His research has been published in leading journals such as Science, and his ideas are regularly discussed in prominent forums such as the Harvard Business Review. In recognition of his work, Professor Nordgren has received the Theoretical Innovation Award in experimental psychology. A former Fulbright scholar, he has twice received Kellogg’s Management Teacher of the Year award and is a six-time recipient of Kellogg’s Teaching Impact award. Loran has also been recognized as one of Poets & Quants’ 40 under 40 business school professors. As a practitioner, Loran has worked with companies throughout the world on a wide-range of behavior change problems, a process he calls Behavioral Design.
For more information on Professor Nordgren, please visit www.lorannordg....
Get the book here: www.humaneleme....
Moderated by Jeremy Strickland.