You walk into IKEA for a $20 lamp. Ninety minutes later, you are dragging a flat-pack sofa, a pack of quirky mugs, and a bag of those strangely addictive meatballs to your car. We have all been there – planning for $20 and ending up spending $200.

That’s not a shopping spree gone wrong – it’s design at work. IKEA’s winding layout, cosy room sets, and bargain hot dogs are all nudges – small prompts that guide our behaviour without us realising it. By the time you hit the checkout, you have seen more than you planned to, made choices you had not expected, and somehow feel good about it.

It’s funny when it happens in a store. But the same principles shape what our employees do every day – and that’s where things get interesting for leaders.

Nudges are hiding in plain sight

Once you notice them, nudges are everywhere. Netflix auto-plays the next episode before you can find the remote. Uber drivers get reminders: “You’re just $10 away from your target.” Banks automatically enrol people in pension schemes, knowing most will not opt out.

These aren’t tricks. They’re deliberate design choices, and they work because they meet people where they are — distracted, time-poor, busy — and make the right choice a little easier.

And if nudges can change how we shop, save, or watch TV, imagine what they can do in the workplace.

Why should you, a leader, care about this?

Every executive knows this — writing a strategy is the easy bit. Can knock one out over one weekend. The hard part is what happens on Monday morning.

Does a sales rep follow up with that warm lead, or leave it for another day? Does a service agent close the last ticket on their list, or push it to tomorrow? Does a manager take time to coach, or just updates the dashboard and sends generic feedback to their team?

Targets are missed or met in those small choices. But motivation fades, priorities clash, and teams drift. Nudges can help bridge that gap — not by forcing behaviour, but by gently shaping it.

I’ve seen it first hand. A timely reminder nudges a rep to call their prospect while interest is still hot. A dashboard prompt nudges a manager to check in with their team before morale dips. A congratulatory message nudges a service agent to push through the last stretch of a tough shift.

None of these are big interventions, but they add up fast.

Do nudges move the needle?

The evidence says yes. At a Fortune 100 insurer, nudging salespeople towards higher-value leads, lifted conversion rates by double digits. A healthcare provider I worked with, cut prescription drop-offs dramatically — by nudging patients at the right moments. Even in tech firms, nudges that encouraged employees to block focus time, boosted output significantly.

What strikes me is, not so much the results, but how they were achieved. These changes did not require massive system overhauls or new incentive schemes. They came from understanding human behaviour and making small, well-timed, interventions.

Digital transformation without behaviour is incomplete

Every boardroom today has a digital transformation agenda — cloud migrations, AI pilots, new platforms. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: technology doesn’t change outcomes on its own. People do.

We have all seen it: CRMs rolled out with fanfare, only to find sales reps keeping notes on spreadsheets. Collaboration tools launched, but adoption stalls after the first month. AI systems generate insights, but frontline teams do not act on them.

The missing link is behaviour.

That’s why nudges matter. They bridge the last mile of transformation by making adoption stick. A CRM only drives ROI if data is logged consistently. An AI recommendation only matters if someone follows through. Nudges make those behaviours easier, natural, and repeatable — turning digital investments into business results.

Scaling nudges beyond IKEA

It’s one thing to design a store, so millions of shoppers follow a path. It’s another to personalise nudges for 10,000 employees, each with distinct roles, goals, and motivations.

That’s the real challenge for leaders: as one person thrives on competition, while another needs encouragement. A one-size-fits-all email blast will not do it.

That’s where technology helps. Worxogo built the AI Nudge Coach to make this practical at scale. It learns patterns – about when a person is focused or when they are at the risk of dropping off, – and sends nudges tailored to that individual.

It might tell a service agent: “You’re just two tickets away from today’s goal.” It might remind a manager: “Engagement spiked after last week’s 1:1 – schedule another.” It’s not about micromanaging. It’s about giving the right prompt at the right moment, so behaviour aligns with strategy.

A global insurer using this approach saw call-centre efficiency rise by 20%. Another, cut onboarding time for new hires by a quarter. Those results did not come from more dashboards or pressure — they came from small, human-centred nudges, delivered consistently.

In Conclusion: A question for leaders

Nudges already shape how we eat, shop, save, and binge-watch among other things. The question then, for leaders is — how are you using them to help your people succeed?

Because strategy doesn’t fail in the boardroom — it fails in the everyday when teams lose focus or momentum. A small prompt, contextual, well-timed, and personalized can be the difference between a goal missed and a goal exceeded.

So next time you’re cursing the IKEA lamp, remember — you didn’t just buy a lamp, you bought into a system designed to guide you. Your teams deserve the same.

Note: This is a Guest post from Mrityunjay Sawant, a strategy and growth advisor with 25+ years’ experience helping firms reposition for new markets and scalable growth, including senior leadership roles at Accenture and Wipro. As founder of Scalintis Advisory, he helps leaders and investors unlock alpha through operational transformation, sharp GTM plays, and ecosystem-led growth strategies.

Photo by Virender Singh on Unsplash