A LOAD OF BS ON SPORT

Steve Martin is a behaviorial science practitioner and a leading member of Dr Robert Cialdini's consultancy Influence at Work, where he heads up the UK practice. Steve is a Royal Society nominated author and a co-author with Bob Cialdini on a number of books, including their most recent tome, alongside Dr Noah Goldstein, Messengers, Who We Listen to, Who We Don’t and Why. This is a timely exploration of why some people in society are listened to and why others are ignored regardless of the truth or wisdom of their message; a subject we address today. In all, Steve's books have sold in excess of 1.5 million copies.Show notesThe work and influence of Bob Cialdini over nearly 50 yearsWhat leads us to say “Yes” to a requestWhat came before Bob, codifying social psychology for everyone and making it accessibleImmunisation of influence techniquesHow a waiter/waitress can increase their tips through reciprocitySmall Bigs: creating big impacts with small changesWhat makes some people better communicators than others?Why are self-confident ignoramuses so often believed and why are thoughtful experts ignored?In an increasingly information overloaded world, the messenger has become the messageHard (perceived status and dominance) and soft (making connection with others) messengersHow truth and trust work together. How can you trust someone who lies to you?How do we use influence techniques for good in a world of disinformation?Influence and sports management: history is important, but recency keeps the scoreWhat Steve has learnt from co-authorshipSubscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Returning from the Summer, this week I'm talking to Sir Michael Barber, the man who Tony Blair appointed to create and then run his Delivery Unit at No. 10.While not overt, there's lots of behavioural science going on here: creating repeatable routines, fear of and resistance to change, influencing and persuading intransigent individuals. A great part of Michael's work after all is understanding people, with all their biases and preconceptions, and then reorganising them.Show notesWhat Scafell Pike walk teaches you about problem solvingWhy did Tony Blair ask Michael to set up his Delivery Unit?What was the civil service doing before the introduction of the Delivery Unit?Changing real people’s lives in a very visible, meaningful wayHow boring and radical government must hang togetherWhy delivery is like a soap opera as well as a documentaryThe importance of a guiding coalition in government to make policy happenGovernment by routine vs. by spasmBuy-in is overrated, or why you don’t need it at the beginningReaching irreversibilityHow intrusive press blurs the line between transparency and privacyExcuses that ministers throw up to resist changeWhat Michael advised Boris Johnson in 2019The next frontier in Delivery – using real-time dataSubscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bri Williams is one of the foremost behavioural scientists in Australia. She’s obsessed with application rather than theory, and I buy that approach 100%. She majored in accounting and psychology (a rare but actually quite sensible combination), built a corporate career in product design and marketing, the BS switch was flicked in 2008 when she read Dan Ariely’s ‘Predictably Irrational’; a book that would change her life.It crystallised why she had been experiencing a nagging irritation throughout her 15 year corporate career. And it started to address questions like why people get frustrated with their colleagues, why campaigns fail and why products flop.She realised ‘we've been doing it wrong’. Our assumptions about why and how to influence behaviour had been wrong. That book inspired Bri to start People Patterns, one of Australia's first consultancies to apply behavioural economics to everyday business and personal effectiveness, to write books on the topic and work with businesses to make their lives easier.Show notesBri’s funny hats, visual devices and other beh sci propsHow do I use beh sci in my podcast to get the most out of my guests?The story of my podcast theme tune and the tone it setsBri’s background: precision and creativityInfluence of Dan Ariely’s writingThe 3 barriers to action: Bri’s BS modelMarginal gains and the problems Bri loves solvingWhat the best communicators do? Feelings rather than facts, audience vs. egoThe simplicity paradoxEscaping an elephant in BotswanaSubscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scientist and writer David Robson has written the definitive book on expectation effects. We're going to talk about his fascinating book The Expectation Effect and how our brain plays clever games with us.David graduated with a degree in maths from Cambridge University then worked as a features editor at New Scientist before moving to the BBC. His writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Atlantic, Men’s Health amongst other. Show notesThe brain as prediction machine: how the brain uses experiences to predict our future outcomes and adapt our physiologySeeing Jesus in a slice of toastWhy does the brain play games with us?Expectation effects vs mindfulness and positive thinkingThe consequences of the brain’s inner pharmacyNew research on ‘open label’ placebosNocebo effect: the evil twin of placeboHow emotions and mindsets affect our healthEthical dilemmas of using placebosHysterical strength: releasing the brakes on our physical resourcesGender bias and entrenched expectations How food labelling affects eating experiences Subscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jenny Kleeman is a broadcaster, journalist and author of the book Sex Robots & Vegan Meat: Adventures at the frontier of Birth, Sex and Death.She is an award winning narrator of true stories across print, audio and TV and writes regularly in the Guardian, the Times, the New Statesman and Tortoise. She's reported for BBC One's Panorama, HBO's Vice News Tonight and Channel 4's Dispatches, as well as making films for Channel 4’s Unreported World. On radio, she launched Weekend Breakfast on Times Radio.Jenny has some amazing insights and experiences to share on the human condition, how we relate to one another and what the frontier of technology means for our futures. My converstaion with her is hilarious, spooky, jaw-dropping and crazy in equal measure.Show notes4 new inventions that are about to challenge what it means to be humanSexUnintended consequences of sex robots – can they really solve happiness?Robots, lack of human contact, echo chambers and the future of human relationshipsBBC News website vs online porn consumptionSex dolls, male control and female disempowermentBirthManmade amniotic sacks – experiments in lamb foetusesImproving premature birth outcomesGrowing a baby outside of the human bodyFetishizing pregnancy vs reproductive equalityDefinitions of abortion – redefining the journey and viability of birthWho will natural pregnancy be for in future? A 2nd class endeavourMeatHow to grow real meat in a lab?Eating meat forever without caring about animal welfare: kosher bacon, ethical foie grasHow does a manmade chicken nugget taste?Cowschwitz and the implications for the future of agricultureDeathMotivations of death capsule inventorsGiving people the right to die, but shielding vulnerable peopleControl, dignity and insurance policiesBaby Boomers who are used to getting what they wantMasculine desire to dominate and controlWomen will feel the effects of these four technologies more than menSubscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm talking with Paul Dolan, Head of BS at the LSE. Paul knows what makes us feel good. It's all about what we pay attention to. He wants us to choose to spend our time doing things that bring us pleasure or give us purpose… and ideally both. He will tell us how we can redesign our lives to be happier. He will also explain why we care so much about what other people do, and how we can learn to listen more to those that disagree with us. Show notesBalance between happiness and misery in a world of polarised opinionDoes division make us happier?Flaws in the happiness/self-help literary genreThe pleasure/purpose principle & the definition of happinessSocial narratives: how you feel rather than how you think you should feelThe relative importance of memories, the present moment and future projection in designing happinessHow we think about holidays: the anticipation, the experience and the memoriesThe opportunity cost of attentionWhy do we continue to make mistakes: self-sabotage and happiness?Salience and getting lost in the experience and the flowTrade-offs and moral licensing (credits and debts)The Reaching, Responsible and Related social narrativesThe dangerous social narrative about having kidsSelfishness and greed about wanting to live foreverHaving perspective is cheap talkOur productivity obsessionSubscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on TwitterAt the LSE, Paul's main research interests are human behaviour and happiness, and the relationships between them, particularly as they apply to policy. He is author of the bestselling books Happiness by Design and Happy Ever After. He is also host of the Duck / Rabbit podcast about the polarisation problem in our society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I'm talking with another titan, the inspiring Bill Browder. If all Bill had achieved was hedge fund success, he would be regarded, as the most significant foreign private investor in Russia, as standout.But it's Bill work as a human rights activist over the last decade that marks him out as a man of great courage and conviction; for he has fought Russian corruption, and by proxy Vladimir Putin, in the name of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was brutally tortured and murdered for standing up against the regime. Now, the international Magnitsky Act stands in Sergei's name.Show notesCommunists, academics and family rebellionThe story of the Magnitsky Act & Putin’s Achilles HealPutin and the Trump familyHow we behave under duress: moral valour vs. physical painStanding up to Russian corruption and the consequencesPutin the skilled psychologist and psychopathUnder threat of Russian arrest and coping strategiesTrump, Robert Mueller, Putin and the fateful press conferenceTime to stop dealing with countries committing human rights abusesBefore you go, please leave me a review. I love hearing from you and your support makes all the difference to A Load of BS. Thank you!Subscribe for more hereClick here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I like to take the odd risk with my guests. I like to stretch beyond the realms of the beh sci academics and veer into business, sport, perhaps politics.This pod is a little different in its genre is that it is striving to get to the heart of human motivation. Why do we do the things that we do?Martin Sorrell is one of the titan's of global capitalism over the last 40 years and that's Sir Martin Sorrell, who made his name building the WPP advertising empire before departing acrimoniously 5 years ago, only to start his next venture S4 Capital barely having slid off the treadmill. Now 77, he shows no signs of slowing down.We talk about what he loves about his work, power and relevance, self-doubt and ending his news day diet by going to bed with Emily Maitlis. Well, if only. Martin is a polished, tough nut to crack but stick around and you'll get some very personal family anecdotes which go some way to explain the man.Show notesWhat Martin loves about what he doesKeeping physically and mentally fitNews day concluding by going to bed with Emily Maitlis Choose your Chairmen carefullyLove of power and need for relevanceSelf-doubtPutting money where your mouth isGetting people to do what you want them to doManaging incentives: Group vs. local levelArt vs science in advertisingCampaign magazine biasWhat makes Martin happy?Meaning of Judaism to MartinBefore you go, please leave me a review. I love hearing from you and your support makes all the difference to A Load of BS. Thank you!Subscribe for more here.Click here to access rewards to power your brainFollow me on Twitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're revisiting what creativity is, how to express it and find it, with a legend of the advertising industry Dave Trott. Just as John Cleese wrote brilliant sitcom and sketches, Dave created brilliant advertising over a career in which he founded five agencies including Gold Greenlees Trott, Bainsfair Sharkey Trott and Chick Smith Trott.What I think you're going to love about this conversation is Dave's to the point, sharp witted, no BS worldview. David Ogilvy’s greatest creation is David Ogilvy he says while his real heroes are Bill Bernbach, John Webster and Edward de Bono.We talk about the conditions for creative outcomes, serendipity and mistakes, the nonsense of ad awards, getting upstream of problems and selling tampons to lorry drivers. I think you're going to enjoy this one.Subscribe for more here.Follow me on Twitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm excited to welcome Dilip Soman and Nina Mažar to the podcast to talk about their new book 'Behavioural Science in the Wild' which is hitting the virtual and physical shelves on May 15th.Dilip Soman is a Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Science and Economics, and serves as a Director of the Behavioural Economics in Action Research Centre at Rotman [BEAR]. As well as his imminent release, he is also the author of 'The Last Mile' and 'The Behaviourally Informed Organisation'. He teaches the MOOC (massive open online course) Behavioural Economics in Action and, as I was delighted to learn, Dilip is a big cricket nut.Nina is a behaviorial scientist focusing on topics ranging from ethics to social & environmental impact with multiple strings to her bow. She sits on the board of Irrational Labs, which is dedicated to designing products that make people happier, healthier and wealthier. She's also part of a team of scientists of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative at Wharton.  She helped establish the World Bank’s Behavioral Insights Initiative (eMBeD) to use behavioral science to make development interventions more effective and, with Dilip, co-directed BEAR at Rotman.She also co-founded BEworks, one of the first commercial consulting companies dedicated to the application of Behaviorial Economics to real-world challenges. There she remains Chief Scientific Advisor.In my conversation with the pair, we talk about BS in the wild - translating behavioural science from the academic laboratory to messy, real world environments; and all the challenges and benefits that this work brings.SUBSCRIBE to all my podcasts and articles here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.