Convincing your company to invest in you

Hi [Their Name],

I was recently accepted into a behavioral science and design thinking course here. This six-week course focuses on applied behavior change that I can apply to [company pain point or priority]. Specifically, I’ll be practicing ways to design new motivation systems and reward loops based on relevant research and recent case studies. This will help me [make X change to my work setup].

The weekly time commitment is only a few hours, so it won’t interfere with my work schedule. While the certificate of completion is nice to have, I’m excited to share the templates and frameworks with my colleagues so our [department / team / unit / function] can make a longer-lasting impact on [clients / prospects / users / employees / patients / population].

This behavior-based approach isn’t very common, but it has some great results. The course designers have increased savings rates by 18.8%, increased user engagement with an employee wellness program by 30x, and increased active users by 100% one month after signup. By investing in the course, we can get a return on our time and money by improving our strategy and tactics for increasing [Y metric that matters to our company/the recipient of this message].

Here's a link to a page with more details.

The full course cost is $1,499, with no travel, accommodation, or other fees. [With my early-bird/group/waitlist discount, the price is $X.]  In the future, the creators may not teach it and the price may increase significantly.

Should we coordinate this together? If not, can you direct me to the right person to speak to about our [learning/education/professional development] policy?

Thank you very much for considering.
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[Your Name]

Hi [their name],

I was recently accepted into a behavioral science and design thinking course here. This six-week course focuses on applied behavior change that I can apply to [company pain point or priority]. Specifically, I’ll be practicing ways to design new motivation systems and reward loops based on relevant research and recent case studies. This will help me [make X change to my work setup].

The weekly time commitment is only a few hours, so it won’t interfere with my work schedule. While the certificate of completion is nice to have, I’m excited to share the templates and frameworks with my colleagues so our [department / team / unit / function] can make a longer-lasting impact on [clients / prospects / users / employees / patients / population].

This behavior-based approach isn’t very common, but it has some great results. The course designers have increased savings rates by 18.8%, increased user engagement with an employee wellness program by 30x, and increased active users by 100% one month after signup. By investing in the course, we can get a return on our time and money by increasing [Y metric that matters to our company / the recipient of this message].

This is the course outline:

Week 1: Deconstructing motivation with self-determination theory (SDT)

• Tactics related to SDT used in hospital recovery units, at-home workout experiences from Peloton, and streaming apps like Twitch
• A behavior design template used for deconstructing motivation across a longer-term intervention or customer journey
• Hand-picked book, video, article, and podcast recommendations to go deeper on SDT and designing for behavior change

Week 2: Designing with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards

• Myths and facts around what works and doesn't, and ways to use multiple rewards with different impacts and time horizons
• An instructive example of when extrinsic rewards "crowded out" internal motivation in a Dan Ariely study, and another one where they didn't in a leading healthcare app
• A cheat sheet for which types of rewards to use and when

Week 3: Mastering reward loop architecture

• Why the "cue → behavior → reward" framework isn't useful, and which frameworks to use instead
• Some inspiring reward loop examples from LinkedIn, Donor's Choose, Omada, Pear Therapeutics, and MasterClass. Plus, a crazy study where psychologists implanted false memories to influence long-term eating behavior
• A decision tree to help diagnose which parts of the loop might be broken, and what to do about it

Week 4: Motivational communication

• A few key modifications to our favorite persuasion frameworks, like motivational interviewing, that broaden their utility and maximize their impact
• Some clever examples of motivational copy in voter turnout campaigns, medication management interventions, and viral waitlist sign-up forms from successful startups
• A few scripts to make it really easy to optimize your copy and conversations for maximum motivation

Week 5: Case study intensive

• A collection of our favorite, evidence-based approaches to motivation and reward from startups, lab studies, policy, and business. Focusing on more complex examples that blend the ideas from prior weeks together in ways that will inspire you in your work

Week 6: Behavioral strategy beyond motivation & reward loops

• A strategy-oriented session on how motivation and reward fit into a broader behavioral approach, plus an inside look at how we approached intervention and behavior design in projects with strong, peer-reviewed results and/or coverage in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes

Here's a link to a page with more details.

The full course cost is $1499, with no travel, accommodation, or other fees. [With my early-bird/group/waitlist discount, the price is $X.] In the future, the creators may not teach it and the price may increase significantly.

Should we coordinate this together? If not, can you direct me to the right person to speak to about our [learning/education/professional development] policy?

Thanks!

[Your Name]