Dr. Maya Shankar: The Science of Decision Making | E126

Young and Profiting with Hala Taha

YAP Media Network | Hala Taha

Entrepreneurship, Business, Marketing

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 August 2021

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Want to make better decisions? In this episode, we are talking with Dr Maya Shankar, behavioural scientist and podcast host. Maya is currently the Senior Director of Behavioral Economics at Google and is the Creator, Host, and Executive Producer of “A Slight Change of Plans”, a podcast with Pushkin Industries. Maya previously served as a Senior Advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and served as Chair of the White House's Behavioral Science Team — a team of scientists charged with improving public policy using research insights about human behaviour. In 2016, Maya served as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations. Maya completed a post-doctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience at Stanford, after receiving a PhD from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship and a B.A. from Yale in cognitive science. She has been profiled by the New Yorker and has been featured in the New York Times, Scientific American, Forbes, and on NPR's All Things Considered, Freakonomics, and Hidden Brain. Today’s episode discusses Maya’s childhood as a violin prodigy, how she became a student at Juilliard’s pre-college program, and her career journey. We’ll also talk about Maya’s job at the White House, some common behavioural scientist concepts like the Sunk Cost Fallacy and Nudging, and how we, as humans, can make more realistic decisions. Sponsored by - Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll at gusto.com/YAP The Jordan Harbinger Show. Listen to the show here jordanharbinger.com/start Social Media: Follow YAP on IG: www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting Reach out to Hala directly at Hala@YoungandProfiting.com Follow Hala on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Follow Hala on Instagram: www.instagram.com/yapwithhala Follow Hala on Clubhouse: @halataha Check out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.youngandprofiting.com Timestamps: 02:44 - Maya's Childhood and Hand injury. 05:41 - How Maya got into Julliard 08;29 - Maya's lessons as a pro violinist. 11:19 - What is Behavioural and Cognitive Science. 22:35 - The Suncoast Fallacy. 25:50 - When is it time to move on? 27:21 - Maya's Journey in Obama's White House. 35:02 - Being Creative and Optimistic in every situation. 37;39 - What is Nudging? 44:02 - Why is it hard to change people's minds? 46:29 - Nudging in business and professional life. 50:27 - How to make realistic decisions? 53:30 - The Peak End Rule. 54:05 - The IKEA Effect 54:32 - Maya's Podcast. 59;48 - Maya's Secret to Profiting in Life Mentioned In The Episode: Maya’s Podcast, A Slight Change of Plans: https://mayashankar.com/podcast Maya’s Website: https://mayashankar.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Slack. With Slack, you can bring all your people and
0:05.9	tools together in one place. It's your digital HQ where you can increase productivity,
0:11.1	enable flexibility and automate workflows. Plus, Slack is full of game-changing features,
0:16.9	like huddles for quick check-ins, or Slack Connect, which helps you connect with partners
0:20.9	inside and outside of your company. Slack, where the future works. Get started at
0:26.9	Slack.com slash DHQ.
0:30.9	You're listening to YAP, Young and Profiting Podcast, a place where you can listen, learn,
0:38.9	and profit. Welcome to the show. I'm your host, Halla Taha, and on Young and Profiting
0:44.6	Podcast, we investigate a new topic each week and interview some of the brightest minds
0:49.8	in the world. My goal is to turn their wisdom into actionable advice that you can use in
0:55.7	your everyday life, no matter your age, profession, or industry. There's no fluff on this podcast,
1:02.2	and that's on purpose. I'm here to uncover value from my guests by doing the proper research
1:07.7	and asking the right questions. If you're new to the show, we've chatted with the likes
1:12.1	of XFBI agents, real estate moguls, self-made billionaires, CEOs, and bestselling authors.
1:19.0	Our subject matter ranges from enhancing productivity, had to gain influence, the art
1:23.5	of entrepreneurship, and more. If you're smart and like to continually improve yourself,
1:29.2	hit the subscribe button, because you'll love it here at Young and Profiting Podcast.
1:34.3	This week on YAP, we're chatting with Dr. Maya Shancar, behavioral scientist and podcast
1:39.5	host. Maya is currently the senior director of Behavioral Economics at Google and is the
1:44.9	host and executive producer of a slight change of plans, a podcast with pushkin industries.
1:51.0	Maya previously served as a senior advisor in the Obama White House as the chair of the
1:55.8	White House Behavioral Science Team and was charged with improving public policy using
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from YAP Media Network | Hala Taha, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of YAP Media Network | Hala Taha and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.