The Human Risk Podcast

What can football teach us about human decision-making? That’s what ESPN commentator and expert on the German Bundesliga Derek Rae, helps me to explore on this episode.Even if you’re not a sports fan, what Derek has to share are some fascinating insights into how we see the world. Given his job involves observing other people doing theirs, he has an invaluable perspective on human decision-making.In our wide ranging discussion, we explore also how Derek, a Scotsman, became a fan of the German Bundesliga and why he is still so passionate about it. The answers are highly relevant to recent news concerning the proposal to develop European Super League. That which was announced after we recorded this episode, but we address many of the issues that led to the German Clubs not participating. What you’ll hear on this episode are the thoughts of a highly engaging expert in his field with fascinating insights to share.If you like this episode, do also check out other episodes featuring Raphael Honigstein:https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/raphael-honigstein-on-the-psychology-of-football/Ben Cohen on the Hot Hand https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/ben-cohen-on-the-hot-hand/In our discussion we talk about the German “50+1”Rule that restricts ownership of clubs. This video explains it clearly.https://youtu.be/GebbvzMod_4To see examples of Derek’s Back Garden Bundesligahttps://twitter.com/raecomm/status/1261443532721500160?lang=enhttps://twitter.com/RaeComm/status/1322161026184450050?s=20https://twitter.com/RaeComm/status/1264281157883043845?s=20

What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?The answer to that question, will tell you a lot about your own Risk Fingerprint. That’s the term that my guest Michele Wucker used to describe our individual approaches to risk. Michele is the author of the Gray Rhino and she’s just published s brand new book called “You Are What You Risk”, which explores this topic.In our discussion, we explore the Gray Rhino and then move into talk about how our perspective on risk, defines who we are. As ever, Michele has some fascinating insights.The artwork Michele and I discuss on the episode is called Real Rhinos Wear Pink by Chicago artist Matt Coglianese who works by the name of The Pig Shark. You can see it 👉https://www.thepigshark.com/escape-artists-2-series/real-rhinos-wear-pinkTo find out more about Michele, visit her website 👉https://www.wucker.com/For more on You Are What You Risk 👉https://www.wucker.com/writing/you-are-what-you-risk/For more on The Gray Rhino 👉https://www.wucker.com/writing/the-gray-rhino/

What makes some social movements successful and others not? That's what my guest on this episode Dr Gia Nardini, an Assistant Professor at Denver University, set out to find out when she examined the Black Lives Matter movement last summer. Gia specialises in consumer experience and last summer, She and her colleagues were planning to study how the Marriage Equality movement had been so successful. The idea being that many of the drivers behind consumer behaviour — in simple terms, what makes us buy things — are also of relevance when it comes to successful social justice movements.As Black Lives Matter protests broke out across the US and globally, Gia and her team shifted their approach - why study something that had happened, when you could study something that was happening? So they pivoted and began to look at a social justice movement in real-time. What emerged were some interesting insights into what makes social movements successful. Rather than just write a piece of research, what Gia and her team did was to author a guide that other social movements can use. The secret sauce that makes social justice movements successful — or not. I find this fascinating. Why do some campaigns succeed and others fail? And how does someone specialising in consumers, think of the idea of applying that to social movements? In our discussion, we explore the findings of her latest research and her earlier work on experiencing.For more on Gia 👉 https://daniels.du.edu/directory/gia-nardini/To read her research on Social Movements 👉 https://www.du.edu/news/research-why-was-black-lives-matter-so-successfulFor more on Experience vs Memory 👉https://www.headspace.com/blog/2015/08/19/remembering-vs-experiencing/

How can we mitigate human risk in a profession to ensure that practitioners engage in ethical practice and customers can rely on the people they engage? It's a challenge facing many new digital industries where the ethical and professional challenges are obvious, but regulation and control are clearly lacking. It's equally been a challenge for my chosen field of Applied Behavioural Science (BeSci). Like many rapidly growing fields, Applied BeSci is currently unregulated. Equally, there hasn’t historically been a professional body that directly serves the interests of both practitioners and those who buy BeSci services. This means there aren’t any professional standards, making it is hard for people buying BeSci consulting & training. After all, how can they know that they’re being advised by people who, to put it simply, know what they’re talking about and are operating on an ethical basis?Fortunately, things are now changing thanks to GAABS, the recently founded Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists. Not only am I fascinated by this as a case study for how we can think about protecting new industries from human risk, but as I recently became a Member of GAABS, I wanted to know more. So, on this episode, I'm joined by Araminta Naylor and Dr Nick Hobson, respectively a Founding Member and Board Member of GAABS. In our discussion, we explore the rationale for establishing GAABS. We also discuss the criteria for membership are and how the association will help practitioners and clients. Whether you work in Behavioural Science and are interested in joining GAABS, or a potential client of Applied Behavioural Science Firms like mine (👀👉www.human-risk.com), understanding how GAABS came about and what it aims to achieve, is required listening.If you're not either of those, what you'll hear are some fascinating insights into how we can manage human risk in an industry that isn't regulated. Whatever your reason for listening, do also stick around to hear Nick give some unintentionally terrible advice that you absolutely should NOT follow, and for me tell the story of how a conman tricked me. It goes without saying that neither story are things you should try at home.To find out more about GAABS, visit 👉https://gaabs.org/You can learn more about Nick by visiting 👉https://www.behaviorist.biz/ and Araminta by visiting 👉http://www.influenceatwork.co.uk/our-teamTo hear Nicks' "It's all just a bunch of BS" podcast 🎧 👉 https://www.behaviorist.biz/bspodcastThe previous episode of the Human Risk podcast that featured Nick is 🎧 👉 https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/dr-nick-hobson-on-bs/

When it comes to decision-making, there are few roles that have as much impact on everyone's lives as those taken by politicians. But what is it about politics, that brings out human risk? On this episode, I'm joined by Eliot Wilson. He's a former Clerk to the UK Parliament — a role that saw him working to help run the operations of what is affectionately referred to as 'The Mother of Parliaments'. Today Eliot helps companies to adapt their strategy and communications to meet the needs of the 21st century. As a result, he's perfectly placed to help us explore the human risk within Parliament and whether the structures that have enabled it to survive, are still fit for purpose.In our discussion, we explore politics from behind the scenes, how traditional parliamentary structures get the best — and the worst —out of politicians and whether we get the politicians we deserve.For more information on:The UK Parliament 👉https://www.parliament.uk/The House of Commons (lower chamber of parliament) 👉https://www.parliament.uk/business/commons/The House of Lords (upper chamber of parliament) 👉 https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/Select Committees 👉 https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/committees/select/Erskine May, the "parliamentary Bible" 👉 https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/The English Football Player, Marcus Rashford 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_RashfordFor more on Eliot's work 👉https://pivotpoint.group/To listen to the PivotPoint podcast which Eliot hosts 🎧 👉 https://www.podpage.com/the-pivot-point-podcast/

How can we be smarter about interpreting the data that is presented to us? On a daily basis, we’re bombarded with information — some of it well-intentioned, some of it deliberately misleading. Whether it’s figures about COVID, claims in advertisements, statistics in sports, data in a work context or facts we’re being told by our friends - we all have to compute information to understand the world around us.But how can we make sense of it to allow us to make better decisions and avoid human risk? That's where my guest, Tim Harford, can help us. Tim is an economist, journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of a recently published book called “How To Make the World Add Up” / “The Data Detective” that explores just that.He is also a senior columnist at the Financial Times, and the presenter of BBC Radio’s “More or Less”, “How To Vaccinate The World”, and “Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy”, as well as the podcast “Cautionary Tales”. As you'll know if you've heard him before, Tim is highly skilled at telling stories in an engaging way, that help make complex ideas simple. On the show, I describe him as an "Explainer" and "Fact Checker" and we explore both of these concepts. We also discuss the key messages in his book and what we can all do to be smarter about interpreting the information we're presented with.You can find out more about Tim's podcasts and books via the following links:How to vaccinate the world 🎧 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/m000py6sCautionary Tales 🎧 👉 https://timharford.com/etc/more-or-less/The Data Detective (🇺🇸/🇨🇦) 👀👉https://timharford.com/books/datadetective/How to make the world add up (ROW) 👀👉https://timharford.com/books/worldaddup/To sign up for Tim's newsletter and learn more about his other activities 👀👉https://timharford.com/

Can gender diversity on Boards reduce misconduct? That's what my guest on this episode, Barbara Casu of The Business School in London, explored in recent research into the banking sector. Barbara is a Professor of Banking and Finance and she's also Director of Centre for Banking Research. In a paper published in December, Barbara and her colleague Dr Angela Gallo showed that banks with a strong female presence on the board of directors incurred fewer financial penalties for wrongdoing.The study, titled Gender Diversity and Bank Misconduct, uncovered data suggesting that banks with strong diversity at the top were more compliant, and tended to avoid the same level of financial punishment compared to those with male-dominated boardrooms, with significant equivalent savings of $7.48 million per year.On the episode, we explore the impetus behind the research, what they discovered and what the implications are for the industry going forward. Barbara's insights are fascinating and illustrate that if we want to mitigate Human Risk, a focus on diversity and inclusion is critical.For more on the Centre for Banking Research 👉https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/faculties-and-research/centres/cbrTo read more about the research 👉https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2019/december/gender-diverse-boardrooms-reduce-bank-misconduct-penalties-by-748m-per-year-study-findsYou can download the paper 👉https://www.cass.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/510975/Arnaboldi_et_al_2020.pdf

How can we make it easier for people to do the right thing? My guest on this episode, Maarten Hoekstra, is fascinated by this challenge of "making the good, doable". Maarten is Co-Chair of the Behaviour & Culture Roundtable of the Dutch Asociation of Compliance Officers (VCO). For more on that (🇳🇱) 👉https://www.vco.nl/kennistafels/gedrag-cultuurI've known Maarten for a few years and he is one of the most innovative and thought-provoking people I've come across dealing with Human Risk-related matters. In our discussion, we explore what 'doing the right thing' means and how we can build frameworks that empower people to do that, rather than try to force rules on them that might not be applicable or might have unintended consequences.During our discussion we explore:The 🇳🇱tradition of Zwarte Piet, or 'Black Pete' which is explained in this National Geographic article 👉https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/black-pete-christmas-zwarte-piet-dutchThe ethics of autonomous vehicles which is explored in this Nature article 👉https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07135-0The episode of this podcast featuring Dr Roger Dooley on Friction 👉https://www.spreaker.com/episode/21190498To watch Maarten's video exploring his Broccoli Method, which I reference in the introduction 👉 https://youtu.be/DVnihb9iOiM

How has COVID facilitated Pink Collar Crime? That's what my guest on this episode, Kelly Paxton, is here to explain. This is her second appearance on the show (you'll find the first here 👉https://www.podpage.com/the-human-risk-podcast/kelly-paxton-on-pink-collar-crime/). If you missed that, then you may be wondering what Pink Collar Crime is. The answer is that its a form of Human Risk that Kelly specialises in helping people to avoid and resolve. More specifically, Pink Collar Crime are embezzlement-type crimes like bookkeeping fraud that have historically been perpetrated more by women than men. That, of course, isn’t because men don’t commit this type of crime. But rather because there are more women doing the types of role that permit it. As Kelly emphasises on the show, men are just as capable of committing pink collar crime as women.In our discussion, we explore how COVID has made Pink Collar Crime more prevalent and what the warning signs are. We also talk about her new book and podcast and hear some of the stories about Pink Collar Crime incidents she's investigated.As ever with Kelly, it's gripping and highly informative content, presented with her customary sense of humour.To find out more about Kelly, Pink Collar Crime and her podcast, visit her website: https://kellypaxton.com/You can read about her new book here: https://pinkcollarcrime.com/new-book-1

What can we do to reduce the spread of misinformation on social media?That was the challenge facing my guests on this episode and, having succeeded, they came onto the show to talk about what they'd learned. Evelyn Gosnell and Lindsay Juarez work for Irrational Labs, a Behavioural Science consultancy. On a recent project, they worked with social media platform TikTok, to reduce the spread of misinformation on the platform. By encouraging users to think before sharing certain types of content, they were able to reduce the spread of unverified information. In the episode, we explore how they went about this, what they learned from the experience and where they see the future of preventing the spread of misinformation. What they share are fascinating insights into a 21st-century human risk problem, that behavioural science can help to resolve.For more on my guests, Evelyn & LindsayEvelyn 👉 https://irrationallabs.com/our-team/?view=evelyn-gosnellLindsay 👉 https://irrationallabs.com/our-team/?view=lindsay-juarezFor more on Irrational Labs and the work they do: 👉https://irrationallabs.com/For more on the broader topic, I recommend this piece co-authored by Evelyn and her colleagues: 👉 https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/17/reducing-the-spread-of-misinformation-on-social-media-what-would-a-do-over-look-like/?guccounter=1To read press coverage of their work:👉https://cheddar.com/media/tiktok-prompts-users-when-content-is-flagged-as-misleading👉https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/tiktok-warn-users-about-sharing-misleading-content-n1256668