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Masters of ScaleHow to rebuild yourself after a major life change (cognitive scientist Maya Shankar)
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CHAPTERS
Jump to publisher timestampsChapter summaries
The End of History Illusion and Intro to the Book
Maya Shankar opens with the end of history illusion, our belief that we're done changing. Jeff Berman then introduces her and her book, The Other Side of Change, which pairs personal stories with behavioral science.
- •People acknowledge past change but assume the present self is the finished product
- •Jeff Berman introduces Maya as a cognitive scientist and author
- •The book pairs stories of profound change with social science and actionable insights
- •Maya's book was a three-and-a-half year effort
The Violin Injury and Losing Her Identity
Maya describes being an aspiring concert violinist who studied at Juilliard until a career-ending injury at 15. She felt she had lost herself, not just an instrument.
- •Studied at Juilliard at nine and became a private student of Itzhak Perlman
- •Overstretched her pinky and doctors declared the injury career-ending at 15
- •The loss felt like losing who Maya was
- •Defining yourself by why you do something, not just what you do, can future-proof identity
- •Human connection was what she truly loved about the violin
Exploration Mode and Discovering Cognitive Science
Maya explains how her dad advised her to spend the summer before college exploring without an end goal. That exploration led her to Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct and a fascination with the mind.
- •She didn't think a replacement for the violin was possible after years of blinders
- •Her dad told her to enter exploration mode without an end goal in mind
- •Avoiding a premature major keeps options open
- •The Language Instinct lit up her imagination about the mind
The End of History Illusion and Auditing Yourself Through Change
Jeff raises the idea of the future self, and Maya explains the end of history illusion in depth. She argues big changes inspire lasting change within us, and recommends auditing yourself over time.
- •We believe the present reflects who we'll be for life
- •Interviewees weren't glad the change happened but were grateful for who they became
- •Ask whether your values are changing
- •Revisit beliefs that might be holding you back and adopt new perspectives
From Cold Email to the Obama White House
Maya tells how she nearly became a management consultant until her advisor shared the school lunch default-option story. She then cold-emailed Cass Sunstein and quickly landed a newly created White House role.
- •Her advisor told her about the school lunch program changed from opt-in to opt-out
- •The change put 12.5 million more kids in school lunches
- •Cass Sunstein replied to her cold email within five minutes
- •She pitched a dedicated behavioral scientist role and asked to be hired into it
Building a Lasting Behavioral Science Team in Government
Maya describes how she was advised to build things to last, institutionalizing her team in a bipartisan part of government. With no mandate or budget, she built a grassroots coalition and ran pilots like the Veterans Affairs email change.
- •Her boss compared government work to a sandcastle washed away by a wave
- •She built a team in a bipartisan part of government to survive leadership changes
- •She knocked on every door and engaged at all levels, including junior staff
- •Changing one word in a VA email to say veterans had earned the benefit led to a nine percent increase in access
- •Early proof-of-concept wins let the team take on thornier projects
Entrepreneurial Lessons for Big, Slow Organizations
Jeff asks what people in large, slow-moving companies can learn from her experience. Maya points to the policy entrepreneur mindset, the benefit of naiveté, and aligning incentives with partners' goals.
- •Her boss called teammates policy entrepreneurs and encouraged creative workarounds
- •Naiveté helped her keep pushing past barriers
- •Agency colleagues had little incentive to take risks with her
- •Framing her work as helping them meet their own goals unlocked collaborations
Why Change Stories Share a Common Toolkit
After Jeff notes Maya's move to Google and her podcast, she explains why the stories in her book and show overlap. People facing very different changes grapple with similar emotions, so she wanted to offer a science-based companion.
- •Maya is a senior director of behavioral economics at Google and hosts A Slight Change of Plans
- •Change brings shared feelings like unfairness, grief, nostalgia and identity questions
- •A cancer patient and a woman whose husband had an affair both face betrayal
- •The book is meant as a companion for those in, processing or anticipating change
What to Do the Day After a Layoff
Jeff asks what someone should do after waking up laid off. Maya recommends self-compassion and remembering that you keep your skills, knowledge and experiences.
- •Acknowledge the painful loss and give yourself compassion
- •Losing a job doesn't mean losing your skills, talents and wisdom
- •Look beyond CV bullet points to the places, people and vantage points that shaped you
Starting Small: Breaking Big Goals into Mini Milestones
Asked how to approach a major career change, Maya recommends starting very small. She shares stories of Dwayne and Christine and research on the middle problem and the peak-end rule.
- •One minute of writing a day makes you a writer and creates a virtuous cycle
- •Dwayne started writing poems daily in prison and later became a Yale Law graduate and MacArthur fellow
- •Christine rebuilt her cooking with small goals after going blind
- •Mini milestones can speed return to work and shorten the motivation-draining middle period
- •The peak-end rule suggests ending tough experiences on a pleasant note
Self-Affirmation and Gratitude After Loss
Jeff introduces the last chapter of Maya's book about her miscarriages and asks about gratitude and awe. Maya tells how her husband prompted a self-affirmation exercise after the second miscarriage and how it helped her feel more whole.
- •Self-affirmation means listing valued identities not threatened by the change
- •She initially resisted her husband's gratitude suggestion
- •Her list flowed easily and restored perspective on how rich her life was
- •She went to bed still sad but feeling more whole and intact
- •Jeff shares a Hoffman practice pairing three things you're grateful for with three things you appreciate about yourself
Awe and Moral Beauty as Tools for Change
Maya defines awe and explains how it shifts focus away from the self. She highlights moral beauty and moral elevation, using Dwayne's encounter with Bilal in prison to show how witnessing it expands our sense of possible selves.
- •Dacher Keltner defines awe as being in the presence of something vast that transcends our understanding
- •Awe dampens neural activity in regions associated with self-immersion
- •Moral elevation comes from witnessing kindness, courage or forgiveness
- •Dwayne's encounter with Bilal showed him he wasn't destined to be a certain kind of person
- •Moral beauty is available everywhere to keen observers
Closing Thoughts and Book Recommendation
Jeff thanks Maya and wraps the conversation. He closes with praise for The Other Side of Change and a pointer to her podcast.
- •The book is The Other Side of Change
- •Jeff says he devoured and hugged the book
- •Listeners are pointed to the podcast A Slight Change of Plans
- •Links will be in the show notes
Publisher timestamps
- 0:00Introducing Maya Shankar
- 1:08When Maya Shankar couldn't play the violin any longerRead this chapter
- 7:09Maya Shankar on "the end of history illusion"Read this chapter
- 9:30Inside Maya Shankar's time in the Obama White House
- 15:49Entrepreneurial lessons for navigating large organizations
- 20:30What to do when you've been laid offRead this chapter
- 22:15The power of breaking big goals into small steps
- 27:18Using gratitude and affirmation to navigate grief and change
