The Voltage Effect

Part One

CAN YOUR IDEA SCALE?

1

Dupers and False Positives

On September 14, 1986, First Lady Nancy Reagan appeared on national television to address the nation from the West Sitting Hall of the White House. She sat on a sofa next to her husband, President Ronald Reagan, and gazed into the camera. Today there s a drug and alcohol abuse epidemic in this country and no one is safe from it, she said. Not you, not me, and certainly not our children.

This broadcast was the culmination of all the traveling the First Lady had done over the preceding five years to raise awareness among American youth about the dangers of drug use. She had become the public face of the preventative side of President Reagan s War on Drugs, and her message hinged on a catchphrase that millions of people still remember, which she employed once again that evening on television. Not long ago, in Oakland, California, Nancy Reagan told viewers, I was asked by a group of children what to do if they were offered drugs. And I answered, Just say no.

Although there are different accounts of where this infamous slogan originated with an academic study, an advertising agency, or the First Lady herself its stickiness, to use the parlance of marketing, was undeniable. The phrase appeared on billboards, in pop songs, and on television shows; school clubs took it as a name. And in the popular imagination it became inseparable from what government and law enforcement officials saw as the crown jewel of the Reagan-era drug prevention campaign: Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E.

In 1983, Los Angeles chief of police Daryl Gates announced a shift in his department s approach to the War on Drugs: instead of busting kids in possession of illegal substances, the new focus would be on preventing those drugs from getting into their hands in the first place. This was how D.A.R.E., with its iconic logo of red letters set against a black background, was born.

D.A.R.E. was an

John A. List is the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. He has served on the Council of Economic Advisers and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Kenneth Galbraith Award. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, NPR, Slate, NBC, Bloomberg, and The Washington Post. List has authored over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, several academic books, and, with Uri Gneezy, the international bestseller The Why Axis.

List is far too thoughtful to write something gimmicky or simple. . . . An entertaining and clear writer. His book is chock-full of compelling stories of businesses that failed and others that went big. The Wall Street Journal

Skillfully done . . . Careful, comprehensive, and fun, The Voltage Effect excels in turning a seemingly boring niche topic into a fascinating book that s relevant to all, from CEOs and policymakers to naturally curious people with a taste for learning how economics shapes our lives in the real world. ZME Science

If you ve ever wondered why so many promising solutions fail to achieve their desired impact, look no further. . . . A master class in how the quirks of human irrationality can make or break our ideas in the real world. Steven D. Levitt, professor of economics, University of Chicago, and co-author of Freakonomics

Brilliant, practical, and grounded in the very latest research, this is by far the best book I ve ever read on the how and why of scaling. If you care about changing the world, or just want to make better decisions in your own life, The Voltage Effect is for you. Angela Duckworth, CEO of Character Lab and New York Times bestselling author of Grit

How many books are funny and wise, practical and profound? John List is a scientist, but he s also a magician, and he s changing the world. The Voltage Effect shows how. This is one of the best economics books I have ever read and an instant classic in behavioral economics. Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University, and New York Times bestselling co-author of Nudge

The Voltage Effect is the tool kit for the ambitious. Packed with proven principles and pro tips made real through behind-the-scenes stories in settings ranging from Silicon Valley to African NGOs, it fills the gap between startup books and management books to show how any idea can achieve its full potential.