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Writer's pictureCharles Umeh

Power of Psychology: Stories of Innovation and Transformation in the Workplace






One of the next big changes we would see in the changing workplace wouldn't be more new inventions even though we would still have so many of them they would have more psychological moonshoots.


Two stories to help this conversation and show the strong power of the human mind or in the words of the psychologist.


In 2008, Domino's Pizza faced a significant operational and customer service hurdle. Customers, growing impatient while waiting for their orders, would frequently call Domino's to inquire about the status of their pizzas.

This incessant back-and-forth not only disrupted the workflow but also prolonged the waiting time, exacerbating the situation. The pivotal question arose: What was driving these constant inquiries?

Trust and Transparency

When they tried other ways and failed, they knew the main issue was to answer the trust and transparency questions which was simply that the customers did not trust them. Customers wanted less uncertainty.

So the team created an in-house order management software known as the Domino Pizza tracker which shows customers exactly where their orders are the result was that the angry phone calls plummeted calls and customer retention skyrocketed and Domino Made hundreds and millions in the process.

This small psychological innovation changed the Domino Pizza business without much physical changes.

The popular taxi-hailing App known as Uber with the help of “Uber Labs” also solved this problem.

Which shows you where the map is on your phone when you hail a lab map on your phone when you book for a rise. emphasizing how close the car is to arriving at both pickup and destination. The power of working with a thinking team would birth these simple twists.

Second story

A child was said to be sluggish at school and slow in carrying out tasks his peers did better at.

The teacher tried asking the parents what probably was going wrong at home after much, the parents advised the teacher on a hack that seemed to have started working which was a reward chart.

For every task, the child was meant to do, there was a timer and reward for each completed task.

To make this more effective the teacher used a timer and placed a reward chart on the child's desk visible to everyone. For every task the child finished on time, there was a reward sticker while the parents were informed and a bigger reward awaited the child at home.

As simple as this tweak was, the child's response went from zero to ten in one week.

The first question was what was done differently?

The answer is clear, someone started thinking.

Rather than changing the rule book completely.

What we all need is a little bit of psychological moonshot to make a difference.

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Charles Umeh

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