The Healthy Workplace Nudge

Chapter 10The Healthy Building Nudge: The Invisible Power of the Workplace

The messages encoded in architecture and systems can foster a sense of mastery or helplessness.

—Charles Montgomery¹

Ron Goetzel is the senior scientist and director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. When I interviewed him, he explained why most companies just cannot pull off the creation of a healthy culture:

It is very, very, very, very hard to change human behavior. The way to get there requires a combination of different activities…culture, physical design, incentive programs, communication dissemination, strategic thinking about how to do that and expertise in the science of behavior change.

All of those things are woven together, and most companies in America don't know how to do that. They don't have the expertise, they don't have the background, they don't have the knowledge. Many don't have the money.

So, how do you create a culture of happiness and health?

Let's get started on the answer by stepping into another interview. I have learned that when Al Lewis speaks, you really don't want to miss anything. So, when he recently summarized the best corporate approach to wellness, I leaned in and listened very intently: “If I led a company with a lot of employees, I would spend money on environment rather than spend money telling them to change their bad behaviors. It's not even a question. If someone's environment is ...