Television productions understood a simple truth when creating sitcoms – the need to use canned laughter to seed the humor.

If you’ve watched Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert lately, you’ve noticed the lack of audience laughter makes their jokes a bit less funny.

The reason herds work, is because animals look for cues on how to behave.

Tipping a musician, standing ovations, looters, how to act on a Zoom meeting – these are a four behaviors that start with a seed, a cue.

That’s bartenders seed the tip jar. That’s why hotels leave little notes about reusing the towels. That’s why looters don’t act in isolation.

What cues are you creating?

Cues create change. Cues influence behavior.