The internet is functionally about 35 years old. Advertising is about 200 years old. Nature is at least 14 billion years old. It knows a thing or two. The natural processes that created the universe, life itself, and of course us, are the state of the art when it comes to test and learn. What principles can we "borrow" from nature to give brands a shortcut to reaching the top of the marketing food chain? What are nature's "best practices"? How did our brain evolve from an amoeba in a puddle to the most complex computer in the universe? Get ready for a very provocative session.

1. NATURE’S TESTING ENGINE

2. HEURISTIC
S ARE THE
ENEMY OF
GOOD
DATA

3. WHEN
HEURISTIC
S WORK

4. WHEN
THEY
DON’T

6. A FEW FORMS OF BIAS THAT SCREW WITH A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH
think in certain ways that can lead to systematic deviations from a standard of rationality or good judgment, and are often studied in psych
Mental shortcuts, called HEURISTICS, are what the brain uses to produce decisions or judgements.
AUTOMATION BIAS: The tendency to depend excessively on automated systems.
BACKFIRE EFFECT: The reaction to disconfirming evidence by strengthening one’s previous beliefs.
BANDWAGON EFFECT: Groupthink and herd behavior.
CONFIRMATION BIAS: The tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions.
ILLUSORY CORRELATION: Inaccurately perceiving a relationship between two unrelated events.
LAW OF THE INSTRUMENT: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
REACTIVE DEVALUATION: Devaluing proposals originated with an adversary.
SEMMELWEIS REFLEX: The tendency to reject new evidence that contradicts a paradigm.
THIRD-PERSON EFFECT: Belief that mass communicated media messages have greater effect on others than on themselves.
EGOCENTRIC BIAS: Remembering one’s exam grades as being better than they were.
HINDSIGHT BIAS: “I-knew-it-all-along” effect.

7. DO MORE
EXPERIMENTS
(A LOT MORE)
If you double the number of experiments you do per year you’re going to double
your inventiveness
- JEFF BEZOS
”
“

8. A CULTURE THAT
ENCOURAGES
FAILURE
“If you decide you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re
going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table”
- JEFF BEZOS
”
“

9. DATA VS. POLITICS
The great thing about fact-based decisions is that they overrule the hierarchy
- JEFF BEZOS
”
“

10. “NATURAL INNOVATION”
VS.
“UNNATURAL INNOVATION”

11. THE BIG IDEA EVOLVES THROUGH
MANY SMALL PRACTICAL CHANGES

12. The “big idea” is
really a million little
ideas that are each
valuable in their own
right, though not
“perfect.”

13. THE LONG GAME
IT’S NOT ABOUT ADAPTING
IT’S ABOUT ADAPTABILITY

14. THE
“FITNESS”
EQUATION
VS.
ALPHA
PREDATOR

15. STORYTELLIN
G
WRITING

16. 1ST PARTY DATA:
DON’T GIVE AWAY YOUR
DNA

17. DNA:
THE
PERFECT
DMP

18. CULTURE IS NOT AS PRECISE AS
DATA

19. EVEN NATURE HAS
PROBLEMS WITH
ATTRIBUTION

20. ANIMALS EXHIBIT
“SUPERSTITIOUS”
BEHAVIOR

21. SO DO
HUMANS

22. GENETICS
&
CULTURE

23. DATA
MAKES
PEOPLE
BRAVER

24. “SELECTIVE”
FACTS CAN KILL
YOUR COMPANY
(A TRUE STORY …)

25. NATURE’S PLAYBOOK
1
4
7
The best way to manage
your biases is to become
aware of them.
Do a lot more
experiments. No, not that
many, a lot more.
Protect against false
attribution, commonly
called ‘superstition'.
2
5
8
Don't just adapt, become
adaptable -- the alpha
predator is the most
vulnerable to change.
Protect your first party
data -- your DMP is your
DNA.
Selective facts can kill
you -- truth is painful, but
generally survivable.
3
6
Innovate in small steps,
with each providing
value in its own right.
Evolve from a verbal
storytelling culture to
written, rules-based one.
9 When you fight nature,
nature wins.