“The system that’s safe only if people don’t make mistakes is not a system made for humans.”
I read this line in a behavioral science course from Irrational Labs, and I loved it so much!
Because it reminded me that’s how many of us treat our systems, goals, and habits, ourselves, what we want to do more or less of - in this inhuman way!
We expect ourselves to get better. We expect ourselves to get perfect.
When a more realistic, and ultimately more effective, approach is to accept humans as we are and build systems that work with our nature, not against it.
That’s what the Netherlands did with the Vision Zero project.
By redesigning roads for human error, not by persuading people to get better with another "shaming campaign" - they cut road deaths from 3,300 in 1971 to about 582 in 2021 (even more so now), even with a 300% increase in traffic.
It’s the same principle that helped me coach over 100 leaders to change their habits - speaking, eating, sleeping, thinking, prioritizing, finding more time for things that matter - and finally get results after years of struggle.
When we design systems that assume people will get tired, distracted, or lose motivation, the outcomes improve by a lot!
That's why I so love applied behavioral science, which doesn’t try to make us superhuman. It helps us make a change as we are.
I love this phrase from Yu-Kai Chou (world-known gamification guru):
“Function-Focused Design assumes people have motivation and optimizes for efficiency.
Human-Focused Design assumes they don’t, and creates motivation every step of the way.”
When I work with clients (and myself), I never assume we’ll suddenly become perfect.
Instead, I ask:
“Hey, given the probability that you’ll get tired, will forget things, and there will never be enough time - how can we design our approach so that even then you succeed?”
The results of this approach are just keep getting better.
Setting yourself up for success means accepting your imperfect humanity.
Do you?
