Katy Milkman
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
39K followers
500+ connections
About
Katy Milkman is the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of…
Articles by Katy
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To Combat Racism, We First Need to Understand Stereotypes
To Combat Racism, We First Need to Understand Stereotypes
Behavioral scientist Modupe Akinola explains how stereotypes affect our thoughts and choices. The Black Lives Matter…
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Why Feeling Close To The Finish Line Makes You Push Harder
Why Feeling Close To The Finish Line Makes You Push Harder
Behavioral scientist Oleg Urminsky explains a psychological phenomenon known as the goal gradient hypothesis. Everyone…
1 Comment -
How to Encourage COVID-19 Vaccinations
How to Encourage COVID-19 Vaccinations
If a vaccine for the coronavirus became available, would you get it? A recent poll found that only 49% of Americans…
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Anxiety is High Because of Coronavirus. Here's How You Can Feel Better.
Anxiety is High Because of Coronavirus. Here's How You Can Feel Better.
Laurie Santos, a professor of psychology at Yale University, says her stress levels have gotten so high she is…
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The Perils of 'Survivorship Bias'
The Perils of 'Survivorship Bias'
An aspiring entrepreneur could be forgiven for thinking that dropping out of college to start a company is the key to…
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A Smarter Way to Think About Willpower
A Smarter Way to Think About Willpower
Since World War II, obesity rates in the United States have skyrocketed, our net national savings rate has plummeted…
90 Comments -
A Light at the End of the Tunnel for Working Women
A Light at the End of the Tunnel for Working Women
For working women, the news is often demoralizing. We learn of case after case of gross workplace abuses brought to…
108 Comments -
Using Behavioral Science to Build an Exercise Habit
Using Behavioral Science to Build an Exercise Habit
Spring has finally sprung, which means bathing suit season is just around the corner. That ominous thought will lead…
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When Do Favors Expire?
When Do Favors Expire?
Life is full of trading favors. We assist a colleague who is racing to meet a looming work deadline, or we babysit for…
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How Facebook Can Be a Force for Good
How Facebook Can Be a Force for Good
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said he wants his children to believe “what their father built was good for the…
14 Comments
Activity
39K followers
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Katy Milkman shared thisI am celebrating 5 years since my book, HOW TO CHANGE, was first published! Translated into over 20 languages, named a best book of the year for healthy living by the The New York Times, featured on Mel Robbins, Freakonomics, Hidden Brain, The School of Greatness, NPR, and on hundreds of other podcasts, radio programs and TV shows... and you made it not only a national but an *international* bestseller. The experience of releasing HOW TO CHANGE into the world was dizzying, but by FAR the best part was hearing from readers -- getting emails from people who told me my book had changed their life or transformed their organization for the better. I've saved every last message and they remind me of why I do the work I do. Huge thanks to my editor Niki P. and Portfolio | Penguin Random House for bringing my book to life and to Rafe Sagalyn for being an amazing agent. If you're reading this post, you've probably already read my book, but just in case you haven't, you can always find a copy here: https://lnkd.in/e_hs95x
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Katy Milkman shared thisWhat is "the experience effect"? Prof. Ulrike Malmendier of University of California, Berkeley has shown that the economic conditions we experience (say, a stock market crash or period of hyperinflation) leave a lasting impact on our appetite for risk. Rather than taking the long view, we take a short view, impacted by what we've personally lived through. 🎧 On a new episode of #Choiceology, we dive into Ulrike's research on the experience effect and its implications: https://lnk.to/choiceology Happy listening! Charles Schwab | Sequel | The Wharton School | Behavior Change for Good Initiative
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Katy Milkman shared thisLearn what research from Prof. Cassie Holmes says about why a focus on time over money can boost your happiness: https://lnkd.in/eebBtMqn
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Katy Milkman shared thisI’m looking forward to this conversation and hope you’ll consider attending!GAABS (Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists)
GAABS (Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists)
Katy Milkman shared this🎙️ Ever wondered what goes into creating a world-class behavioural science podcast? Join us for an exclusive live webinar with Katy Milkman, host of Choiceology and GAABS Podcast Award winner, as we take you behind the scenes of one of the most influential podcasts in the field. In this interactive session, you’ll discover: ✨ What inspires each episode ✨ How real-world stories and cases are discovered ✨ The craft of turning behavioural science into powerful audio storytelling ✨ How behavioural science shapes the podcast from concept through to production 📅 Date: Thursday, 7 May 2026 ⏰ Time: 15:00 (UK/BST) 🔗 Registration link in comments! Spots are limited - secure yours today. #BehaviouralScience #Podcasting #Choiceology #KatyMilkman #GAABS #AudioStorytelling #DecisionMaking #Webinar #ContentCreation #LiveEvent Katy Milkman Deborah Braidic, MABC, MSc Torben Emmerling Steve Martin Melina Moleskis PhD MBA Shelley Hoppe Nuala Walsh Daniel Seyffardt Sebastian G. Fonzo, MSc, MBA. Kirra M. Sam Osys Rachel A. Wood MSc, GMBPsS Allison Zelkowitz -
Katy Milkman shared thisRankings feel objective. But as soon as something gets labeled #1, our minds start playing tricks on us. When Consumer Reports, U.S. News & World Report, TIME or any other source publishes a ranking of cars, colleges, influential people or anything else, we fixate on the order of the list rather than the underlying inputs to each ranking, which are what should truly draw our attention. The label "#1" weighs more on our choices than it should. On a fresh episode of Choiceology, I sit down with Prof. Richard Larrick of Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business to unpack how rank information biases our choices and why the label of #1 holds more power over us than it should. 🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/eauR2v_P 📄Read Rick's original research (with J.S. Chun) here: https://lnkd.in/eA4CYPaj Charles Schwab | Sequel | Behavior Change for Good Initiative | The Wharton School
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Katy Milkman shared thisThis is a great opportunity for the right corporate partner!Katy Milkman shared thisInterested in Team Dynamics, Creativity, and Performance? As a leader, are you often thinking of how to better build trust, rapport, or psychological safety with your teams? Two amazing colleagues of mine are studying exactly these questions and are offering an exciting opportunity to learn valuable insights that can help your teams to ‘level up.’ Yejin Park Roberts and Gavin Kilduff at the NYU Stern School of Business, in partnership with the ‘HabLab’ at Slalom Consulting (including Kevin Nunley and Natalie Richardson), are seeking interested corporate partners to study interventions that can elevate team dynamics, creativity and performance. Specifically, this study explores how brief, structured team activities influence team dynamics over time. Their initial data shows that their interventions can cause lasting increases in team psychological safety, boosting performance. To qualify, organizations will need to have at least twenty teams of 4 – 10 members (these can be hybrid OR virtual OR in-person teams) that meet at least once a week. These teams would then complete two brief activities as well as a couple of short surveys. The total time commitment is roughly 30 minutes. In return, Yejin and Gavin will provide detailed insights on your teams’ dynamics and optimization, based on their data, as well as access to their research-designed team activities for you to use in the future. All participating companies will be fully anonymized and will not be named in any publications, presentations, or related materials. In all external reporting, companies will be described using generic labels (e.g., “a large consulting firm,” “a nonprofit organization,” etc.). A kickoff meeting will be scheduled with interested organizations that will provide more information into the study context, research background, and logistics. Please email Yejin Park Roberts at yp2326@stern.nyu.edu with any questions or if interested!
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Katy Milkman shared thisI'm very excited to be co-organizing this online workshop that I hope you'll consider attending, which is being put on by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine! 📅 April 23-24: Come talk about how we can enhance scientific integrity in the social and behavioral sciences. It's free & open to the public and featuring an incredible set of events. I'm particularly excited about the April 24th schedule, which I'll be kicking off (details below!). Register to get your Zoom link: https://lnkd.in/euJj4Xqs APRIL 24th PROGRAM: 9 am - 9:10 am - Welcome Remarks from me and Pamela Davis-Kean 9:10 am - 9:35 am - Uri Simonsohn “Small Solutions to Big Problems: AsCollected & ClinicalTrials.gov's Mini-Form” 9:35 to 10:35 - Panel 1: Fraud Detection & Prevention (Ivan Oransky, Elisabeth Bik, and Leif Nelson; moderated by Jeremy Freese) 10:35 - 10:50 am - BREAK 10:50 am - 11:15 am - Simine Vazire "Lessons from Psychology’s Replication Crisis" 11:15 to 12:15 - Panel 2: Perspectives from Journals, Editors and Publishers (Stavroula Kousta, Magdalena Skipper, Lars Vilhuber, and Renee Hoch; moderated by Pamela Davis-Kean) 12:15 to 1:00 - LUNCH BREAK 1:00 pm - 1:40 pm - Fireside Chat with Andrew Gelman (interviewed by Uri Simonsohn) 1:40 pm - 2:05 pm - Katie Corker “How Timely Open Research Communication and Open Evaluation Bolster Research Integrity” 2:05 am - 2:30 am - Arthur Lupia "It's Up to Us: Ethics, Incentives, and the Public Value of Science" 2:30 to 3:00 - BREAK 3:00 to 3:45 pm - Fireside Chat with Jay Bhattacharya (interviewed by Emily Oster) 3:45 to 4:45 pm - Panel 3: Incentives, Structural Barriers and Ethics (Michael R Dougherty, Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Michelle N. Meyer; moderated by Steve Smith) 4:45 to 5:15- Synthesis & Looking Ahead (Pamela Davis-Kean)
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Katy Milkman shared thisI’m very grateful that Sana Rafiq joined my MBA class at The Wharton School today to share insights from her experience leading the North American Behavioral Science Lab at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Key Takeaways: 1️⃣ There is still strong demand for behavioral science insights in government, and in particular, there is a great deal of appetite for establishing new nudge units in the Middle East. 🌍 2️⃣ Behavioral science can play a key role in organizations undergoing transformative change. One particularly important use case is helping employees feel heard and empowered. 🧭 3️⃣ There are big opportunities to employ behavioral insights to increase trust in and adoption of algorithms. 💻 4️⃣ While not every organization is willing to run randomized controlled trials, those that do often see substantial returns from testing what works in their unique context. 🧪 Huge thanks to Sana for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit us in Philadelphia!
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Katy Milkman shared thisWhat is the sunk cost fallacy, and how might it muck with your ability to make wise choices? I talked with the great Prof. Richard Thaler, winner of The Nobel Prize, about his original research on this important bias and how it's covered in his terrific new book THE WINNER'S CURSE (co-authored w/ Alex Imas: https://lnkd.in/e4X8REBD). To hear our full conversation, check out the fresh episode of #Choiceology that just dropped. You can listen here or anywhere you get your podcasts: https://lnk.to/choiceology P.S. Extra credit goes to anyone who catches my grammar error at the top of the podcast episode and posts about it in the comments. I'm hoping to get that goof fixed before my mom listens (!) ✈️ Sequel | The Wharton School | The University of Chicago Booth School of Business | Roman Family Center for Decision Research | Behavior Change for Good Initiative | Charles Schwab
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Katy Milkman liked thisI am grateful to win the 2026 Jim Nolen Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching from my faculty colleagues and the 2026 Best Elective Faculty Award from my MBA students. I feel fortunate to have learned from such outstanding students, supportive faculty colleagues, and dedicated teaching assistants over the past four years! *Pictures courtesy of Dean Lillian Mills, Senior Associate Dean Ethan Burris and Senior Assistant Dean Tina Mabley.
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Katy Milkman liked thisOperations and Information Management Department | Wisconsin School of Business
Operations and Information Management Department | Wisconsin School of Business
Katy Milkman liked thisHessam Bavafa has been promoted to Full Professor at the Wisconsin School of Business!!! 🎉🎉🎉 His promotion takes effect this August. Hessam’s research advances how healthcare delivery systems are designed and managed — showing, for example, that fatigue doesn’t just slow healthcare workers down but fundamentally reshapes performance variability, that telemedicine and e-visits change care delivery in ways that go beyond simple substitution, and that quality regulations can create spillover effects well beyond their intended targets. His work combines econometric analysis, large-scale field data, and stochastic modeling to produce insights that matter for both theory and practice. He is a prolific contributor to the top journals in operations management, and his work has received numerous awards, including the Management Science Best Paper Award in Operations Management, the POMS Best Paper Award in Healthcare Operations Management, and the Jack Meredith Best Paper Award from the Journal of Operations Management. Check out his work! https://lnkd.in/gQYRkdJX Hessam is also a tremendous teacher and citizen of the department, school, and profession. He has taught core Business Analytics (GB306) to over 5,000 undergraduates since helping launch it in 2015. His editorial leadership includes serving as Department Editor for Decision Sciences as well as Associate/Senior Editor for Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production & Operations Management, and Health Care Management Science. He led a comprehensive redesign of our PhD program, and serves as a moderator for the Creative Destruction Lab's Health & Wellness stream, working with seed-stage healthcare startups. Well-deserved, Hessam — congratulations! 👏 -
Katy Milkman liked thisKaty Milkman liked thisIt’s our book club's 5th birthday! 🥳 📚 I’ve been leading a free book club since April 2021. Over that time, we've read 25 books. But the number is not important. What's most important is the quality of attention we bring to each book. We aim to read slowly and deeply. We read with the intent to extract important nuggets that we can put into practice. Questions drive us. We search the pages for answers. Answers that will help us to be better leaders (and people). In a world obsessed with growth, this club is not. We are obsessed with learning. It is the incredible conversations driven by curiosity, and grounded in our real experiences, that lead to real connections between us. One of the highlights over the years has been the chance to have wonderful authors join our meetings, including: • Leidy Klotz — on the importance of subtraction • Mary Murphy— on extending fixed and growth mindsets to cultures I’m deeply grateful to all the authors whose books have shaped our discussions and thinking over the past five years. Here is a list of the books we've read 👇 I’ve read every one of these 25 books at least twice, and I wholeheartedly recommend them all. Likeable badass by the likeable badass herself, Alison Fragale How to change by Katy Milkman Subtract by Leidy Klotz (lookout for Leidy's new book!) The medici effect by Frans Johansson The coming wave by Mustafa Suleyman Cultures of growth by Mary Murphy The end of average by Todd Rose How will you measure your life by Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth & Karen Dillon Crossing the chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore What’s your problem by Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg Tiny habits by BJ Fogg, PhD Right kind of wrong by Amy Edmondson Little bets by Peter Sims Dual transformation by Scott D. Anthony, Clark Gilbert, & Mark W. Johnson Atomic habits by James Clear Playing to win by AG Lafley and Roger Martin Seeing around corners by Rita McGrath The secret lives of customers by David Duncan Eat, sleep, innovate by Scott D. Anthony, Paul Cobban, Natalie Painchaud and Andy Parker Jobs to be done playbook by Jim Kalbach When coffee and kale compete by Alan Klement Think again by Adam Grant The catalyst by Jonah Berger Pirates in the navy by Tendayi Viki The little black book of innovation by Scott D. Anthony If you're interested in the club, you can find out more here: https://lnkd.in/gyDCN7qf
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Katy Milkman liked thisKaty Milkman liked thisI’ll be on tour for my new book, Inside the Box, this month. I’d love to see you as I speak with friends and colleagues. Link below for more details. https://lnkd.in/eweHRkXp
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Katy Milkman liked thisKaty Milkman liked thisIt’s such a treat to be in Stockholm at the Nordic Happiness Summit sharing tips from research and experience on how to spend time to feel happier! The best part is seeing fellow happiness-focused research friends and getting to make new ones! Nora Hansson Bittár Dr Tim Lomas Paul Dolan Stephanie Rossouw Talita Greyling August Nilsson Oscar Kjell Micael Dahlen John Karsberg
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Katy Milkman liked thisKaty Milkman liked thisWe now have over 10,000 subscribers! This is the size of city in many places. Imagine a city full of people who want to dig deeper to understand what divides people—and how we can create healthier forms of collaboration and disagreement. It means lots of people are hungry for work that is grounded in science but written for the real world. When we started this newsletter, the goal was not just to build an audience or share the lessons from our book. It was to build a place where we could think more clearly about some of the hardest questions in modern society: -Why are people so divided? -Why do groups cooperate well in some moments and fall apart in others? -How do identity, norms, and institutions shape the way we think? -What would it take to build a stronger sense of “us”? This also means our newsletter is no longer a side project. We are planning to take our newsletter to the next level with a new wave of articles, interviews, live events, and perks! You can read our newsletter to learn more + tell us what you want to see more of. We are grateful to everyone who has subscribed, read, shared, replied, disagreed, forwarded an essay to a friend, or brought these ideas into your classrooms, workplaces, and conversations. https://lnkd.in/ebQkuE9vWe Crossed 10,000 Subscribers—Now We’re Upgrading the NewsletterWe Crossed 10,000 Subscribers—Now We’re Upgrading the Newsletter
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How To Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Portfolio | Penguin Random House
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Cassandra Williams
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Scott Dawson
AACSB’s reflection on societal impact captures an important shift in how business schools think about their role in the world. Impact is no longer defined only by publications or rankings, but by the real changes our work helps create in communities, policy, and society. At CU Denver Business School, this understanding resonates deeply. We teach and develop inclusive, forward-thinking leadership, and we connect principle, purpose, and progress in ways that shape how we approach learning, research, and partnership. Our recent Sustainability Impact Challenge (more info here: https://lnkd.in/gpitATJP) reflects this commitment and underscores a shared responsibility to ensure business education matters beyond the classroom. This is the work ahead for all of us in business education, and one worth continuing together!
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Shital Desai
Excited to be part of this upcoming CIFAL York short course, delivered in collaboration with AASHE: “Back on Track for 2030: Embedding SDGs into Higher Education Curriculum – From Awareness to Assessment.” I’ll be joining the interdisciplinary faculty panel on March 25, alongside colleagues from across institutions, to share practical approaches to embedding the Sustainable Development Goals into teaching and learning. I’ll be speaking about how experiential learning and the reflexive process can be integrated into the SDG curriculum, and how we can assess that work in meaningful, actionable ways. I am grateful to contribute to this important conversation and to the CIFAL York and AASHE teams for bringing it together. If you're working in higher education and considering how to translate SDG awareness into real classroom impact, this is a great opportunity to learn and connect. #HigherEducation #Sustainability #SDGs #CurriculumDesign #AASHE #CIFAL #EducationForSustainability
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Ajoy K. Dey
Is management research losing its relevance in a fast-paced world? For too long, the most "transformational" ideas in management have faced a dilemma: wait years for publication in legacy journals or remain hidden behind expensive paywalls. I’m excited to share a platform that is changing this narrative: Transformational Management Review (TMR) by IILM. TMR is not just another journal; it is an ecosystem designed for the modern academic and practitioner. Its positioning—"Bridging Theory and Practice while Reimagining Management"—is exactly what our industry needs right now. Why I believe TMR is a game-changer for authors: Ø Diamond Open Access: No APCs (Article Processing Charges). No paywalls. Your research is free to publish and free for the world to read. Ø Speed to Impact: An agile, online-only format that respects the urgency of your ideas. Ø Review to Improve: A constructive peer-review philosophy that focuses on developmental feedback rather than gatekeeping. Ø A Home for Teaching Cases: We provide the scholarly rigour and visibility that high-quality teaching cases deserve. If you are working on a research that challenges the status quo or a teaching case that brings the "changing world" into the classroom, TMR is your platform. Let’s stop just "studying" management and start reimagining it. Explore the first issue and submission guidelines here: Link in the first comment Submit your article: See the link in the comment Dr. Amrendra Pandey Rajan Shah Deepika Upadhyay Rahul K. Mishra Dr. Rajni Kant Rajhans Sivakumar A Dr Swati Agrawal Dr Ruchika Jeswal Bikramjit Rishi, Ph.D. John Walsh #TransformationalManagementReview #TMR #Management #Research #OpenAccess #HigherEducation #TeachingCases #Leadership #BusinessSchools
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Lea Patterson
I absolutely agree with Albert Fraval comments about data in Higher Ed - "Fragmented data slows down innovation and can lead to strategic misalignment between space, experience, and educational delivery" and "Universities that master data integration will be best positioned to thrive." Having been in the data game for 27 years and in Higher Ed for around 20 years, there are fundamental problems with siloed source data systems, that can be solved, and even more important in this age of AI. The foundation of excellent AI systems is high quality and integrated data! https://lnkd.in/g-i8rV-M
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