How to harness evolution to influence people

The power of inside jokes

Want to create a more cohesive culture at work, at home, or in your friend group?

Turns out, there’s a powerful evolutionary case to be made for inside jokes and idiosyncratic lingo.

Tribalism gets a bad rap, but our tribal instincts are based in evolutionary psychology that can actually be quite healthy. Our capacity for cooperation and communication is the superpower of the species. Slogans and lingo can tap into that superpower effectively.

Here are a few terms my team and I use:

1. Squirrel: An unhelpful distraction. (Derivation: The Pixar movie Up, where the talking dogs get distracted by passing varmints.)

2. Blubber: Creative content that can be used in more than just one place. (Derivation: random nonsense that I made up, and which my team hates but uses nonetheless.)

3. Never worry alone: Don’t be isolated in your anxiety. (Derivation: psychiatrist Dr. Edward Hallowell)

I discuss lingo and other ways to constructively harness tribal instincts at work on my podcast today with the Columbia Business School Professor Michael Morris.

Listen to or watch the full episode for much more.

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