Exploring COVID from a Behavioural Scientist’s perspective.As COVID continues to dominate our lives, there’s no shortage of information about the virus. But often it is presented from a national or global perspective. Yet, if you or someone close to you catches the virus, it’s a deeply personal experience. Given Behavioural Science is all about understanding things from the perspective of the end-user, is there something it can teach us about experiencing COVID?On this episode, Behavioural Scientist Robbie Tilleard helps me to think about COVID from the perspective of someone who has had it. Robbie recently contracted the virus and, after suffering symptoms, went for a test. That came back positive. As a result, he went into isolation. During that experience, he discovered that there was information he’d wished he had to help him during his recovery. So he documented them in a Twitter thread to help others. You can read that thread here: https://twitter.com/rtilleard/status/1348331850150907906What he had to say about the patient journey was really interesting. So I asked him onto the show to hear more. In our discussion, Robbie explores his COVID experience through the lens of Behavioural Science - what was it like and what information or support would it have been useful for him to have? In simple terms, how could we make the experience of someone having to manage the illness at home, easier? Robbie used to work at the Behavioural Insights Team, the UK governments Nudge Unit, so has experience thinking about how to engage large populations more effectively. He now works at Humu - a company that looks at improving employee effectiveness in the workplace. That’s something we also talk about later in our discussion. What emerges are some fascinating insights from someone who understands behaviour and the experience of having COVID.For more on Humu, visit -https://humu.com/To learn more about Robbie’s former employer, The Behavioural Insights Team, visit - https://www.bi.team/Other Human Risk podcasts on a COVID theme:Luca Dellanna with some early insights into COVID that turned out to be highly accurate and insightful - https://www.spreaker.com/episode/23229479Mark Heywood on how COVID impacted the Creative Industries - https://www.spreaker.com/episode/24201065Ricardo Pellafone on how COVID is impacting Ethics & Compliance -https://www.spreaker.com/episode/24677995Social Media Star Eggsy on going viral in a pandemic - https://www.spreaker.com/episode/25527513Pooj Morjaria on holding companies to account under COVID -https://www.spreaker.com/episode/26091563Professor Benjamin Van Rooij on Compliance under COVID - https://www.spreaker.com/episode/26091563Sexologist Jill McDevitt on how our experience in managing HIV, can inform our response to COVID: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/37619266

How do our senses impact our view of the world around us? Can we influence them to change how we perceive things? That's what my guest Professor Charles Spence is here to help me understand.Charles is the author of a new book called Sensehacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living. He's also Professor of Experimental Psychology at Oxford University, where he leads the Crossmodal Research Laboratory that explores how our senses work, so he's well qualified in this space.Charles was a guest on an earlier episode of the podcast (https://www.spreaker.com/episode/31722779) where he talked about gastrophysics. In our discussion, we explore Sensehacking: what does it mean, how does it work and what can we do to improve our lives by using it? As ever, he's a fascinating and insightful guest.For more on Charles' work:https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/crossmodal-research-laboratoryTo read more about his book Sensehacking:https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/308/308513/sensehacking/9780241361139.html

How can Compliance feel less burdensome & more aligned with the businesses it is there to protect? In this episode, I return to exploring how Compliance, a 'brand' I hate but forms a cornerstone of managing Human Risk, can be made more effective. To do that, I'm joined by Nick & Gio Gallo, thought-leaders in the Compliance space.Nick & Gio co-founded and are co-CEOs of a company called ComplianceLine (https://complianceline.com/) and hosts of the Ethics Experts podcast (https://theethicsexperts.simplecast.com/). Having both experienced Compliance on the front line of business, they think there's a better way for organisations to manage risk. I agree; which is why they're on the podcast. In our discussion, we explore why companies sometimes get Compliance badly wrong, and what they can do to get it right. Nick & Gio talk about the shift from Compliance 1.0 (a legal approach of 'keeping people out of jail'), via Compliance 2.0 ('efficiency') to Compliance 3.0 (designing it with humans in mind to maximise the potential for human capital). And they've got some fascinating thoughts about how to make things better.Whether you're in Compliance or are subject to its rules, Nick & Gio's insights are well worth hearing.

What is Unconscious Bias? It's a term we've been hearing a lot recently and you might even have been sent on training to help you understand and manage it. That's what I began exploring with Dr Magda Osman at the end of Episode 92 of the podcast. Both Magda & I felt we had some unfinished business, so she kindly agreed to come back to finish the discussion. So on this episode, we explore both aspects of Unconscious Bias - the Unconscious & Biases.Find out more about Magda & her research here: http://www.magdaosmanresearch.co.uk/The previous episode she featured in (#92) is here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/42313571

What can Compliance learn from Art & Design? They're not normally things we associate together. But my guest on this episode, Andra Popa has a background in art. She then became a Lawyer and finally a Compliance Officer. That path has informed how she looks at Compliance. What's even more remarkable, is that she does it in an industry where compliance failures are literally a matter of life and death; healthcare.In our discussion, we explore how Andra came to be a Compliance Officer an how she goes about approaching the challenges of inflcuneing human behaviour. She's got some fascinating insights and ideas to share.To find out more about Andra's work visit her website: https://designandcompliance.com/You can also read an interview with her here:https://www.slideshare.net/AndraMPopa/an-interview-about-design-complianceI also mention The Table of Eleven. You can read about that here: https://www.oecd.org/env/outreach/33962815.pdf

What is Prosilience, and how can organisations ensure their people provide it? That’s where the discussion between my guests on this episode, Gerald Ashley and Rory Sutherland, begins. Where it goes from there, is a joyous adventure in which two great thinkers explore a range of Human Risk related topics. * Listener Warning: the episode contains adult language * This episode is the 100th in the Human Risk podcast series and is a continuation of a discussion which began in the 99th episode. I recommend listening to that first before exploring this one.You'll find my earlier discussion with Rory here: https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/rory-sutherland-on-compliance/and Gerald here: https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/gerald-ashley-on-uncertainty/As with the previous episode, I’m providing more detailed show notes given the breadth and depth of issues covered. 05:18 Rory refers to Seeing Like A State by James C Scott. More on that here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State05:54 Gerald talks about the metrics used to measure Soviet bicycle manufacturing. This article doesn’t feature bicycles, but covers the idea and features a wonderful cartoon from a Soviet magazine: https://econlife.com/2015/08/the-incentives-that-metrics-create/09:32 Rory talks about his appearance on Bloomberg TV. You can watch that here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-03-25/advertisers-becoming-too-obsessed-with-tech-sutherland11:50 Rory mentions Rod Liddell in the context of a story about the BBC’s travel policy. To learn more about Rod: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Liddle12:34 Gerald mentions Peter Turchin, who Rory explains is a Cliodynamicist. You’ll find Peter’s website here: http://peterturchin.com/ and a guide to Cliodynamics one that website here: http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamics/14:10 A rare intervention by me to mention David Graber’s book Bullshit Jobs - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs14:30 Rory refers to 14th Century Middle Eastern Historian Ibn Khaldoun - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ibn-Khaldun15:04 Gerald talks about The Great Wave by David Hackett Fischer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_(book)18:25 Rory talks about Daniel Kahneman’s research into risk appetites of CEOs and division heads. You can read more about that in this HBR article: https://hbr.org/2020/03/your-company-is-too-risk-averse19:40 Gerald talks about the Lockheed Martin Skunkworks. You can read about the history of that unit here https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/history/skunk-works.html and its current role here: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks.html22:59 Gerald talks about Nudgestock, the annual Behavioural Science festival hosted by Rory. You can read about that here: https://www.nudgestock.co.uk/The presentation he refers to is by Jules Goddard called The Fatal Bias and can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNlzl37GLdA 24:46 Rory highlights the story of mathematician’s Abraham Wald intervention in the Second World War. It is explained in this excerpt from Jordan Ellenberg’s excellent How Not To Be Wrong: https://medium.com/@penguinpress/an-excerpt-from-how-not-to-be-wrong-by-jordan-ellenberg-664e708cfc3d25:56 Rory talks about IBM’s Thomas Watson and his desire to have Wild Geese. In actual fact, Watson talked about Wild Ducks (https://www.mbiconcepts.com/watson-sr-and-wild-ducks.html). Interestingly, the Duck story actually comes from an original fable by Søren Kierkegaard about a Wild Goose. For some reason Watson preferred Ducks! You can read the Kierkegaard story here: https://www.maxelon.co.uk/2015/01/domestic-geese/26:18 Rory refers to James C Scott’s idea of an Anarchist’s Squint. You can read more about that in his collection of essays called Two Cheers for Anarchism: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/james-c-scott-two-cheers-for-anarchism32:33 Gerald talks about how the British government sold Rolls Royce engines to the Russian government. You can read about that here: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/how-british-turbojet-allowed-russias-mig-15-fight-the-air-2638532:50 Rory explains how penicillin was passed by America to supposedly neutral countries during World War Two, against British instructions. It ended up saving Adolf Hitler’s life after a bomb plot on 20th July 1940. More on the research behind that here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/154-1.17501840:05 Rory references British supergroup The Travelling Wilburys. Find out who they are here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_Wilburys. You can hear them on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2hO4YtXUFJiUYS2uYFvHNK?si=eqMFhifpSIai03kZPFHOVQ

How do networks influence our decision-making?As the Human Risk podcast approached its 100th episode, I thought I’d invite back two guests whose previous appearances have been amongst the most downloaded. And I’m glad I did. Because what Rory Sutherland and Gerald Ashley delivered, wasn’t worthy of a single episode - it was worthy of two!So on this, the 99th episode of the podcast, I’m sharing Part I of their conversation. In it, they explore a subject they’ve both written about - networks. We all naturally like to make connections between things - sometimes that can be extremely useful, but it can also lead to flawed decision-making.As many of my listeners will be familiar with Rory and Gerald, I haven’t included introductions. You can find those, if you need them, on their previous appearances on the show.Gerald’s first appearance is here: https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/gerald-ashley-on-uncertainty/Rory first appearance is here: https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/rory-sutherland-on-compliance/What makes both such fantastic guests, is that they have lots of stories to tell; in doing so, they often make references that might not be as obvious to listeners not based in the UK. For that reason, I’ve included much more detailed show notes than usual. If you come across something you’re unfamiliar with, then the timestamps below will hopefully help.When you’ve listened to this, look out for Part II of their discussion, available wherever you found this shortly after the initial release.5:35 Rory references a joke involving sheep. He explains it here: - https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-wiki-man-11-september-20105:41 Rory mentions disgraced former children’s TV presenter Jimmy Saville. Read his story here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Savile_sexual_abuse_scandal6:18 Rory talks about the Tube map. Londoners refer to their subway as “The Tube”, and the map of it is “the Tube Map”. You can read about its history and see it here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_map10:00 Rory highlights the Danish Mask Study, which emanated from Denmark, and showed that mask-wearing was ineffective. However, that relied on a particular (wrong!) interpretation of the data. This Twitter thread by Nassim Taleb (https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1331639626101104642?lang=en) and this British Medical Journal article explain why - https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m458610:36 Rory talks about the tragic case of Sally Clark, a solicitor. You can read her story here - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/mar/17/childrensservices.uknews12:01 Gerald mentions advertiser Maurice Saatchi, who ate an egg only diet. His wife Nigella Lawson, a chef, revealed some details - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1063289/Nigellas-husband-cracks-obesity-thanks-egg-diet.html13:30 Rory highlighted how we have persisted with stemmed wine glasses, inspire of them being somewhat ludicrous. Here's an article he wrote about it - https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-ludicrousness-of-stemmed-wine-glasses15:52 Gerald says he’s not sure what MiniDisc or Blu-Ray are. Here’s what he can read to find out more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDisc and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray16:48 Rory talks about Geoffrey Miller’s research into evolution. You can read that here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235362665_The_Mating_Mind_How_Sexual_Choice_Shaped_the_Evolution_of_Human_Nature and his website is here: https://www.primalpoly.com/19:38 Rory mentions two UK crime series Waking The Dead and Inspector Morse. More on those here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waking_the_Dead_(TV_series) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspector_Morse_(TV_series)22:10 Gerald mentions the Rabbit phone which Rory used to own. Read about that here - https://londonist.com/london/technology/remember-phone-zones-the-mobile-experiment-that-ended-in-disaster22:49 In his story about the Rabbit phone, Rory talks about the Happy Eater on A40 at Burford. Happy Eater was a chain of roadside restaurants (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Eater), and you’ll find the story of the Burford one here: https://littlechef.fandom.com/wiki/Burford23:45 Rory highlights Harris Tweed as an under-appreciated invention. Find out more about that here: https://www.harristweed.org/24:35 Gerald talks about the BBC Microcomputer (what he calls the “Acorn Computer”) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro. Here’s the story from The BBC about it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-1596906525:09 Gerald talks about the Domesday Project, a modern version of the Domesday book (an 11th Century Census of England). It is often cited as a great example of technological obsolesce in action: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Domesday_Project26:38 Rory highlights Nassim Taleb’s Minority Rules idea, which is explained by Taleb here: https://medium.com/incerto/the-most-intolerant-wins-the-dictatorship-of-the-small-minority-3f1f83ce4e1528:34 Rory mentions Pimms, which is an alcoholic drink, typically drunk in summer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimm%27s28:56 The French Complexity Scientist Rory mentions is Serge Galam. Read more about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Galam29:49 Rory highlights KFC Australia’s Build Your Own Bucket invention - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=233689124330218830:08 Rory uses the term “Lindy”. It was coined by Nassim Taleb, and he explains it here: https://medium.com/incerto/an-expert-called-lindy-fdb30f146eaf30:58 Rory talks about the NHS - the UK’s National Health Service, which is free at the point of delivery. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Health_ServiceYou can read more about their reliance on fax machines here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-4649752631:04 Gerald talks about Marmite, a yeast-based spread. Read about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite and then see how they use the idea of loving it or hating it here: 33:56 Rory mentions The Wason Test, a problem-solving test, which you can explore here: https://www.indy100.com/discover/the-simple-test-that-shows-how-logical-you-are-730260133:57 He then highlights Cosmides & Toobey’s version of The Wason Test - https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-imprinted-brain/201205/making-sense-wason36:36 Gerald talks about Squadcast, which is the recording software I use to record this podcast - https://app.squadcast.fm/37:47 Gerald talks about China’s Social Credit System. More on that in this article - https://www.wired.co.uk/article/china-social-credit-system-explained38:45 Rory talks about the transport links in Kent, a county in the South East of the UK. Read more about it here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent43:14 Gerald and Rory highlight some older video technologies; VHS, Betamax & Video 2000. More on those here:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betamax, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_2000. You can read about the video format wars here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videotape_format_war43:54 Rory talks about how adult entertainment impacts technology. Read more about that here - https://thenextweb.com/hard-core-high-tech/2016/08/30/porn-pioneers-adult-entertainment-boosts-technology/

On the face of it, the creative industry ought to be very good at adapting it's thinking. After all, people who can think creatively, ought to be able to adapt the way they do things. But, as we've seen during the pandemic, the creative industries are facing similar problems to other businesses: a lack of diversity, business models that are heavily reliant on particular income streams and in some cases, a real existential threat. What is happening and what can the arts do to recover? And what might business learn from the arts and vice versa? That's what I explore with my guest on this episode, Mark Heywood. In March 2019, Mark joined me on the podcast to explore how COVID was impacting the creative industries. There's a link to that episode below. Given so much has happened since then, I thought I'd get him back for an update and to explore how the pandemic has highlighted some of the Human Risk dynamics inherent in the creative industries. In our discussion, we catch up on what Mark's been up to since we last spoke and explore the challenges an industry that has often survived without always adapting to the changes in society. As ever, his insights into an industry he cares passionately about, are fascinating. Both generally, but also from a Human Risk perspective. On the episode, Mark mentioned a number of things, details for which are below:- His show at London's biggest arts festival that was due to tour: https://vaultfestival.com/whats-on/rhubarb-ghetto/- Online Theatre producers The Show Must Go Online: https://robmyles.co.uk/theshowmustgoonline/- The National Theatre At Home: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntathome- Chris Rock's opening monologue at the 2016 Oscars: https://youtu.be/kqhVNZgZGqQThe two podcasts Mark is involved with are:- Behind The Spine: https://www.behindthespine.co.uk/- End Of The Line: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-z7pk5-e30e3d?You can hear Mark's previous appearance on the Human Risk podcast here: https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/mark-heywood-on-how-the-coronavirus-is-impacting-the-creative-industries/

When things go wrong in companies, it's usually accompanied by a sense of surprise on the part of senior management. Given we know that employing people will result in some form of Human Risk, wouldn't it be better if we could find a way to ensure there were no surprises? At least, not in areas where controls exist to mitigate the risk. That's what my guest Jim Oates explores with me on this episode. He's spent his career working in audit in Financial Services, so he's seen plenty of examples of the aftermath of things not going according to plan. His experience as an auditor led him to adopt a strategy of "No Surprises"; working to ensure the Board of Directors of the company aren't surprised by a significant loss or damage to the firm's reputation, due to an unexpected control failure. In our discussion, we explore some of the events that shaped Jim's career and what he learned from them. The insights he shares about human decision-making and how audit can help to mitigate the risks it poses are fascinating and very timely. Jim also played an important part in furthering my thinking about Human Risk. He was my boss at UBS when I evolved the idea of "Bringing Behavioural Science to Compliance" and supported me in pursuing the idea. As one of of the early sponsors of the ideas behind it, it's very fitting to have him as a guest on the podcast. To find out more about Jim and his work, visit his website: https://www.eventumrisk.com/During our discussion, Jim refers to:- CDOs: https://www.thebalance.com/cdos-collateralized-debt-obligations-3305822- LIBOR: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19199683- Kweku Adoboli: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19660659

How can we prevent poor decision-making at a time of stress, when human action can make a real difference? That's what my guest on this episode, Trisha Ferguson, helps to deliver. She's the CEO of Interaction Research Company (IRC), a firm that advises airlines on passenger safety. And more importantly, from my perspective, designs and produces passenger safety cards.I'm interested in the cards because they effortlessly combine artistic design with a high degree of functionality. Not only are they an amazing piece of Compliance design, they’re also a critical tool for mitigating Human Risk. Which is why they’re a regulatory requirement. If a plane doesn’t have safety cards on board, then it’s not allowed to take off. That’s because one of the biggest risks, when there’s an incident on an aircraft, is human - how we react, makes all the difference. So if you were looking for something iconic that neatly summarised Human Risk and my mission to bring behavioural science to compliance, then the airline safety card is probably it. Which is why I wanted to find out more about how the cards are created and approved for use.In our discussion, we explore the history of IRC and how Trisha came to own the company. She explains the complexities involved in making the cards and the factors that need to be considered. We explore the psychology behind the design and the process they go through to get them into planes. Airline Safety Cards are also the inspiration for the soon-to-relaunch www.human-risk.com which will have an airline safety card theme. For more on IRC visit - https://ircprint.com/ and http://safetycards.com/#aboutFor Trisha's blog visit - https://ircprint.com/2020/06/30/intro-crisis/