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Whether you want an employee to participate more in meetings, or you want your

spouse to pitch in more around the house, you can't force someone to change

their behavior.

You can, however, have a strong influence over another individual. But, nagging, begging,

or threatening aren't effective ways to motivate others to change.

The best way to have a positive influence on someone is by asking a question that causes

another individual to examine their behavior closely.

The Question-Behavior Effect

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A study, published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, found the question-behavior effect

is the key to behavior change.

This psychological trick involves asking a question about the future to speed up an

individual's readiness for change.

For example, if you want your adult child to start investing in his 401(k), you might be

tempted to say something, "It's important to invest money for retirement at a young age."

But that statement isn't likely to evoke change.

Researchers found you're more likely to see behavior change when you ask a question like,

"Are you going to set aside money for retirement?"

Discomfort motivates people to change. And saying, "No," would likely create some slight

discomfort for a person who isn't saving any money.

The researchers involved in the study found that asking a question that reminded an

individual of their unhealthy choices was effective in motivating them to do something

different.

The study concluded that questioning effectively produces consistent and significant

change across a wide variety of behaviors. Direct questions influenced people to cheat less

and exercise, volunteer, and recycle more.

The key is to ask a question that forces individuals to choose a definitive yes or no answer

(as opposed to an open-ended question).

Researchers found the question-behavior effect was effective in person, but it was even

more effective when administered via a computer or a paper-and-pencil survey.

Why a Question Leads to Behavior Change

There are several theories about why the question-behavior effect motivates people to

change. It's likely that cognitive dissonance plays a role.

Cognitive dissonance is when your ideal self doesn't match up with your real self. So while

you may want to be a healthy person, you might not be behaving like a fit, healthy person.

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So, when someone asks if you are going to exercise regularly, saying no would create

discomfort.

To ease your discomfort in the moment, you're likely to answer a question in a way that

affirms your ideal self. Acknowledging your intention increases the likelihood that you'll

change your behavior.

Answering a yes or no question--especially on a computer or via pen and paper--doesn't

allow for clarification. And in this case, that's exactly what you want.

The person answering the question will likely want to excuse their choices with a statement

like, "I have too much going on this month to exercise," or "I want to pay off my car before

I start investing in a retirement plan." But, a good yes or no question won't allow room for

clarification.

How to Effectively Employ the Question-Behavior Effect

The question-behavior effect can be useful in a variety of circumstances. Here are a few

examples:

Influence your employees. If your employees have become a little too relaxed

about showing up to meetings late, send out an email survey that asks, "Are you

going to show up for this week's meeting on time?"

Motivate a family member. If your spouse has been bringing home piles of

paperwork from the office, ask, "Are you going to do several hours of work at

home every single night?" The key is to ask the question in a gentle, non-sarcastic

tone.

Use it in marketing. Advertisements that ask questions like, "Will this be the year

you finally reward yourself for your hard work?" can convince people to buy

certain products.

Public service campaigns. Most people already know the dangers and the benefits

of recycling or wearing a seat belt so lectures aren't effective. But asking questions

like, "Are you going to vote this year?" or, "Are you going to get your flu vaccine?"

makes people confront their beliefs and their behavior, which can lead to positive

change.

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Science Says This Is the Best Way to Motivate Other People to Change Their Behavior | Inc.com 6/2/23, 11:51

The next time you're tempted to lecture someone about what they should do differently,

try asking a yes or no question instead. You might find it's the simplest, yet most effective

way to inspire long-lasting behavior change.

MAY 14, 2018

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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companies on the 2022 list, 2,907 honorees have appeared more than once. But a

noteworthy group have multiple Inc. 5000 accolades to their names, with some making the

list as many as 16 times.

So, what are their secrets to sustaining above-average growth? Three of these leaders spoke

with Inc. about how they keep the top line expanding:

Sniff out evolving customer needs

Listening to customers--that is, really listening--can guide both the initial idea for your

company and its evolution, strengthening your reach and supporting future growth. Lucie

Voves--founder and CEO of the diploma and award frame manufacturer Church Hill

Classics in Monroe, Connecticut--started her company by selling framed artwork of her

alma mater, Dartmouth College. But as more customers started asking her to frame their

diplomas, she pivoted. Her company has now appeared on the Inc. 5000 list 12 times and

achieved annual revenue of $24 million.

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As your company grows, more opportunities could arise to help you better serve

customers--and if you are listening, you can capitalize on them. At the Hackensack, New

Jersey-based language service provider CQ Fluency, one of the company's health insurance

clients said they needed faster translations on a particularly time-sensitive type of letter.

The CQ Fluency team solved the issue and then reached out to their other health

insurance clients to see if they could benefit from a similar solution. In doing so, they

discovered a wider need.

CEO Elisabete Miranda says CQ Fluency's business with health insurance clients increased

40 percent between 2021 and 2022 after improving this service and offering it widely to

the client base.

The key lesson, she says, is to stay "customer obsessed." If you don't take the opportunity to

listen, you might miss the opportunity to grow. "Making sure you are talking to your

clients and finding solutions that are out of the box--that pays off," Miranda says. This year,

CQ Fluency is forecasting $75 million in revenue. After landing on the Inc. 5000 list nine

consecutive times, it's aiming for double digits.

Pay attention to personalities

No company is complete without a strong team, but the leaders who spoke with Inc. say

that CEOs should take a hands-on role in building a culture that supports continuous

growth. At CQ Fluency, for instance, Miranda personally interviews every employee the

company hires to ensure that they are a fit.

For Teddy Fong, CEO of the children's furniture business Million Dollar Baby Co., culture

is a more intentional focus than even the business strategy. He attributes the company's

growth to this attention--appearing on the Inc. 5000 list nine times and achieving $189

million in revenue last year.

One way Million Dollar Baby achieves this focus: For the past five years, the company has

required that every employee take a DiSC Personality Test, and Fong says that breaking

down those results with the team helps promote more productive conversations and

working relationships. In addition, the company conducts an anonymous engagement

survey twice every year, following up on those results with team meetings and actionable

takeaways.

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Fong also recommends that leaders pay close attention to Glassdoor reviews--and where

employee and leadership understandings may differ--to constantly improve company

culture. "I think too often, CEOs give too much credit to themselves about this brilliant

strategy or this vision that they had, but at the end of the day, it's this environment," Fong

says.

Narrow your focus on the best opportunities

Prioritizing your top goals is crucial to keep growing, according to the leaders. "We've been

most successful when we had the clearest and most directed objectives," Voves says. For

instance, during the pandemic, Voves and her team added a second shift to keep people at a

safer social distance. This required more training resources that could have been used

elsewhere, but Voves said it paid off to ensure safety of the workforce and continued

output--two crucial priorities for that time.

Aligning with these clear objectives can sometimes lead to some difficult choices, but ones

that can pay off, as Fong experienced. Five years ago, he felt pressured to move Million

Dollar Baby toward direct-to-consumer offerings to take advantage of a higher-margin

business. Instead, he decided to keep the company focused on its strengths as a wholesaler

to ensure it executed to its fullest capacity.

"One of the things that we always tell our teams is: 'You're going to have 10 opportunities

all the time. How do you not move those 10 an inch, but instead focus on three and do

them all the way?'" Fong says.

Never lose that entrepreneurial spirit

Despite the best-laid plans, your company may still face daunting challenges. In these

moments, it's crucial to embrace what Voves calls your company's "entrepreneurial spirit."

At least three times, Voves says her company needed to take a major pivot--the Great

Recession and the pandemic being two memorable examples.

But she says innovating out of these challenges and thinking like a founder helped her

figure out how to head in a new direction, and even compete against larger outfits. "I think

that our entrepreneurial spark and the flexibility of our management team has been an

important part of why the company's been able to continue to grow over such a long

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period of time," Voves says.

For instance, during Covid, Church Hill Classics changed its marketing approach to reach

those college seniors who would not be graduating on campus. Church Hill Classics started

new initiatives, partnering with a cap-and-gown company to pitch virtual graduation

marketing ideas to colleges and universities--focusing on the emotional aspect to celebrate

senior class members. It also created a social media road map for college bookstores to

help them share the products online. Meanwhile, DTC business skyrocketed with the

company's own marketing initiatives.

During the 18-month period after the onset of the pandemic, Voves said business increased

50 percent.

Fostering this entrepreneurial spirit means being flexible and feeding the instinct to

innovate, Voves says: "What worked yesterday or five years ago is not what works today."

MAY 9, 2023

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