Covid-19 Crisis: Kaveh Yasdifard on Uniting Innovators from Tehran

Kaveh Yazdifard is the Chief Innovation Officer at Sahab Pardaz located in Tehran, Iran. He is also the Director of Urban Innovation for the city and COO of Avatech Accelerator, a firm focused on empowering business startups through a values-driven culture.  While much of Kaveh’s work is focused on collaborating and creating value through Innovation, we were particularly interested in speaking with him about the way he applies Cognitive Psychology and Data Science to his work.  And at this writing, Kaveh and his teams are developing initiatives in Iran to help individuals and businesses survive the uncertainty and ambiguity of the crisis. And we found this particularly interesting. Of all of the business ideas that were exchanged, we landed on a particularly provocative comment: Happiness is overrated. During this time, it caused us to stop and ponder a bit. Maybe you will, too. Links Connect with Kurt and Tim:  Kurt Nelson, PhD: @WhatMotivates  e-mail: [email protected]  Tim Houlihan: @THoulihan  e-mail: [email protected]  Lantern Group: http://lanterngroup.com/ BehaviorAlchemy: https://www.behavioralchemy.com/ Behavioral Grooves: https://behavioralgrooves.com/ Weekly Grooves: https://weeklygrooves.podbean.com/ Common Biases & Heuristics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XHpBr0VFcaT8wIUpr-9zMIb79dFMgOVFRxIZRybiftI/edit# Patreon Site for Behavioral Grooves: https://www.patreon.com/behavioralgrooves   General Coronavirus Info:  Daily Newsletter Summarizing data from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security: http://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/newsroom/newsletters/e-newsletter-sign-up.html CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html Great videos on the science behind this by Dr. Peter Attia – this is the first in a series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNVhLyAlfA4 What is herd immunity?: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/615375/what-is-herd-immunity-and-can-it-stop-the-coronavirus/ A list curated by [email protected]  https://docs.google.com/document/d/11GLhX7hLf64Bxkdpv5hvYHqOjS1imlcMQFjJBJ-9oUM/edit   Coronavirus & Behavioral Science:  Selected Links: The Behavioral Sice of Coronavirus: https://behavioralscientist.org/selected-links-the-behavioral-science-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19/ Why no one is reading your coronavirus email: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/13/opinions/coronavirus-emails-effective-messaging-rogers/index.html Handwashing can stop a virus, so why don’t we do it?: https://behavioralscientist.org/handwashing-can-stop-a-virus-so-why-dont-we-do-it-coronavirus-covid-19/ The behavioral science of handwashing: https://think.ing.com/articles/the-behavioural-science-of-hand-washing/  Ideas 42: The Behavioral Side of COVID-19 here: https://ideas42.org/covid19/  Greater Good: https://twitter.com/GreaterGoodSC   How We Can Cope During This Crisis:  Tip Sheet from HUMU: https://humu.com/remote-nudges/ Resources for learning at home: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/resources-learning-home-during-covid-19-school-closures?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=etcetera   General Behavioral Science Links:  Common Biases and Heuristics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XHpBr0VFcaT8wIUpr-9zMIb79dFMgOVFRxIZRybiftI/edit# Jonathan Haidt – 5 Moral Foundations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_foundations_theory Annie Duke’s “How To Decide”: https://www.amazon.com/How-Decide-Simple-Making-Choices/dp/0593084608 “16 Ways To Promote Hand Washing With Behavioral Science” article by Aline Holzwarth: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alineholzwarth/2020/03/25/handwashing-with-behavioral-science/#261b4b9f768d Aline Holzwarth’s Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0H5fsQRrqslGdBhhx8d4Aw?si=0jra0rU1Qu2vQNtqjbRvZA Deontological and Consequential Moralities: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/#DeoTheKan Difference between descriptive and injunctive norms: https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/6193/whats-the-difference-between-injunctive-norms-and-descriptive-norms Emotion Research from FinalMile: http://finalmile.in/research/ Pandemic Playbook from FinalMile: https://www.playbookforpandemic.com/