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In 19 forty one, horhays dimestra was taking his dog for a walk through the woods. Upon returning omdmestro noticed that the dog was covered in burs. And it inspired him so much that he would spend the next 14 years attempting to duplicate what he saw under the microscope before introducing velcro to the worldin 19 55.

Innovation doesn’t always require inventing new solutions to problems; chances are that evolution has already solved the issue with a unique design. This simple notion of looking to the natural world for design inspiration is called biomimicry. Guest, Sam Tatam uses biomimicry in his creative application of behavioral science.

Friend of the show, Sam Tatam is the author of a fantastic new book called Evolutionary Ideas: Unlocking ancient innovation to solve tomorrow’s challenges. Sam is the Global Principal and Head of Behavioural Science at Ogilvy Growth & Innovation. From New York to Nairobi, Sam has led behavior change projects across virtually every category and continent. Today, he leads a global team of talented psychologists and behavioral economists to develop interventions and shape the communications of some of the world’s most influential brands and organizations.

Listen in to our conversation with Sam to learn about biomimicry, The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and the Goal Gradient theory. But our conversation isn't all "sciency", we also have a light hearted chat about the musical artist Sam went to Italy with, and about the differences in pubs between London and Sydney.

If you are a regular listener to Behavioral Grooves, please consider donating to our work through Patreon. We also absolutely love reading your reviews on the podcast, which help others find our content.

Topics

(4:59) Welcome and speed round questions.

(13:23) What is biomimicry?

(18:20) TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) and evolutionary thinking.

(25:32) How language can be a liberator for innovation.

(29:28) Categorizing biases into patterns.

(34:58) What is the Goal Gradient Theory and why isn’t it applied more often?

(39:14) Five psychological contradictions.

(47:26) What music would Sam take to a desert island?

(51:03) Kurt and Tim discussing Sam’s Evolutionary Ideas.

Links

Sam Tatam's Book: "Evolutionary Ideas: Unlocking ancient innovation to solve tomorrow’s challenges": https://amzn.to/3I6ANwX