In this episode, we spoke with Michael Ahearne PhD, a professor and researcher at the University of Houston. Mike is an expert in sales incentives, so we talked about the behavioral issues that come to light with – mostly – bad incentive design. Mike’s work with Tom Steenburgh, PhD at the University of Virginia’s Darden School has introduced a new way of thinking about salespeople. This was highlighted in a Harvard Business Review article from July-August 2012 called "What Really Works." These two researchers coined the use of the terms Stars, Core and Laggards to describe salespeople on their performance journey. One of the things we took away from our conversation with Mike was that the emphasis on Stars and Laggards is overshadowing the Core performers – those in the middle 60%. We touched on some big mistakes common to sales incentive design and the importance of measurement. We also talked about the Baseball Hall of Fame, General Colin Powell, and automobile sales.
In our Grooving Session, Kurt and I wondered into talking about outdoor concert experiences and want to encourage everyone who loves music to check out Milwaukee's Summerfest. It's a high-quality festival with lots of good music.
Turning Anxiety into Assurance | Dr. Julia DiGangi
Grooving on: Starting a Movement
Grooving on: Side Projects
...Ridiculous Ep. 5: The Future
...Ridiculous Ep. 4: Behavioral Economics Goes Mainstream
...Ridiculous Ep. 3: Children of Unlikely Parents
...Ridiculous Ep. 2: Importing Psychology
...Ridiculous Ep. 1: Beyond Anomalies
Make Great Decisions | Elspeth Kirkman
Trailer: They Thought We Were Ridiculous
Unlocking Intimacy: The Power of Questions | Topaz Adizes
The Key to Boosting Retirement Savings | John Beshears
Decoding Behavior Change | Bri Williams [Republish]
Mapping Out Our Minds | Linnea Gandhi
Adapt, Recover, Grow: Mastering Resilience | Dr. Jonathan DePierro
Cracking the Communication Code | Ben Guttmann
Groove Through 2023: A Year in Review with Kurt and Tim
Grooving with Knowledge: Kurt and Tim’s Best Behavioral Science Books of 2023
Balancing Work Friction and Fatigue | Huggy Rao
The Eight Superpowers of Confidence | Lisa Sun
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Poetry of Science
Hidden Brain
Something You Should Know
EverydaySpy Podcast
Proxy with Yowei Shaw