That time when Dan Ariely was our currency.

We learned about the complexities of an economy in the workplace.

A photo of the actual currency, now probably worth more than the USD.

We called it the DABs economy.

Dan Ariely is a professor and scientist with some interesting takes in the realm of behavioral science. During the early years of the startup I worked at, in which there were only a handful of employees, he was popular on the internet and we often discussed his videos and books.

One co-worker reminded us that he had actually (kind of) met Ariely at a bar somewhere. It became a bit of a running joke that we’d have to hear that story any time we referenced Ariely or his ideas.

At one point, I went to the whiteboard in the office and drew eight blank squares.

“This is your Dan Areiely bank,” I jokingly told my co-worker. “You only get to reference the guy eight times a week.”

After a few weeks of that, I realized that Ariely references had a kind of currency. I watched as my co-worker made a conscious decision on how he’d use his available name-dropping options.