The Human Risk Podcast

How can we stop people from engaging in anti-social behaviour?That's not usually a question you'd ask someone from a marketing agency. But it's precisely the kind of problem that Benoît de Fleurian, my guest on this episode, likes helping his clients to solve.Benoît is the Head of the Behavioural Science for Ogilvy Consulting in Paris. He's worked on campaigns to tackle childhood obesity, gambling and many other social challenges. I came across Benoît because of this video he produced for Ogilvy's Nudgestock Behavioural Science Festival: https://youtu.be/ORWSq36qFkQ?t=3468In that, he explored how BeSci can help prevent public urination. The creative way he approached that problem is an excellent example of how BeSci can be used for Compliance purposes. So obviously we talked about that.We also went on to explore some of the other BeSci projects he's been involved in, including work with the Gates Foundation and on helping children to eat more healthily.In our discussion, Benoît talks about the movie that helped inspire his interest in BeSci. The French original is called État de Siège (in English State of Siege). You can watch the trailer here: https://bit.ly/2WVoQp0For more on Benoît's work visit the Ogilvy France website: https://www.ogilvyredconseil.com/eng/leaders/benoit-de-fleurian/If you liked this episode, I also recommend listening to his Ogilvy colleague Rory Sutherland on an earlier episode of this podcast: kite.link/rory.In my conclusion, I mention various Human Risk outputs, including:The Human Risk newsletter: https://human-risk.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=48e65a30c09bfed289b6f25a5&id=a604cc998dandThe Human Risk YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7n9Gnti31VU2ZRaG9b0r1g?

How can Behavioural Science help get better healthcare outcomes? That's the topic I'm exploring with my guest Aline Holzwarth. She's a Behavioral Scientist working in digital healthcare. Aline is also the founder of Behavior Shop, a consultancy, as well as being a Principal at Dan Ariely's Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University.In our discussion, as well as looking at health more broadly, we also explore what we can learn from COVID-19; how have the techniques being deployed to change people's behaviors worked? And what can we learn from them? Not just for healthcare, but in other fields.Aline is also a writer for Forbes magazine and we explore that aspect of her career as well.You can find Aline on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alineholzwarth?A link to her Forbes articles are here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alineholzwarth/#44964e6c797f

What is Privilege? It's a word that's being used very frequently, but what is it, why is it undesirable and what can we do about it? All questions that my guest on this episode, Grace Lordan, helps me answer. We also explore Cognitive Diversity: what is it and why does it matter?Grace is an Associate Professor in Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Hger research is focused on understanding why some individuals succeed over others because of factors beyond their control. In this regard, she has expertise on the effects of unconscious bias, discrimination and technology changes. Grace is also interested in using the techniques of behavioural science to design interventions for firms to promote good conduct, diversity and inclusion and curb biases that creep into high stakes decision making.She was my guest on a previous episode where we discussed Diversity: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/28887361You can read more about Grace's work here: http://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/Dr-Grace-Lordan

What happens when a global organization has policies & procedures that clash with local customs & norms? The answer is that you risk non-compliance. Which is where Cultural Compliance comes in and it's the topic of my conversation with my guest Michael Kuckein.Michael is a Compliance Officer working for a global firm and based in Istanbul, Turkey. His experience representing a Western company in a culture where the norms are somewhat different, reveals much about the challenges of ensuring consistency across a global organisation. Michael has some really innovative ideas about how to manage this challenge; it's a discussion that's relevant to anyone operating in a global sphere.

On this episode, I speak to Matt Edwards an expert in marketing. Matt has over 25 years of experience in the industry, having begun his career as a graduate at Saatchi & Saatchi and then becoming CEO of Creative Agency WCRS. He now advises clients on getting a better return for their marketing investment. Matt's website is https://mattedwardsconsulting.com/ and you can find him here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattedwardsconsulting/

Very often, when we're trying to solve a problem, we can find the answer in a previous one. So as we try to get people to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID, what might we learn from the techniques used to prevent the spread of HIV?On this episode, I'm speaking to Dr Jill McDevitt who is a sexologist. She has three degrees in human sexology so is well qualified to help explore what is an unusual topic, but highly relevant ot the podcast. As the subject matter covers adult themes, listener discretion is advised. Jill came to my attention because of this post on Facebook in which she compared the challenges of getting people to wear masks with the campaign to get people to practise safer sex: https://bit.ly/3fdOkVGThat link is also where you'll find the picture of Jill wearing a particular mask that I also reference on the show.It's a perfect Human Risk case study and I wanted to know more. In this episode, we talk about Jill's career as a sexologist and then go through her list of learnings. Not only was it a lot of fun to record, but its a very 2020 episode!You can find out more about Jill's work from her website: https://www.thesexologist.org/She's also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sexologistjill

On this episode, I speak with Professor Anu Bradford of Columbia Law School about the subject of her new book, The Brussels Effect. This is the idea that the EU wields far more influence on global affairs than might first seem the case.In our discussion, we talk about how this happens, why it isn't obvious to people and what it means for all of us; whether you're living in Brexited Britain or in a country that seems so distant from the EU, that they can't possibly be influencing your life. Or can they? Spoiler alert: they really can. We also look at whether that's intended.We then explore her new area of research, regulating the Internet.If you're thinking, this doesn't sound much like a Human Risk topic, think again. This is about how our perception of something (in this case the influence of the EU) can be completely wrong. Often when we make poor decisions, it is because we've misunderstood what's going on.You can find out more about Anu's research here: https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/anu-bradford and explore her book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-brussels-effect-9780190088583?cc=gb&lang=en&

On this episode, I speak to Dr Sarah Eaton, an Assistant Professor at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary. She specialises in educational leadership, academic integrity, language learning and educational technology.In our discussion, we talk about ethical issues that include Exam Cheating, Research Ethics and how these are being impacted by COVID-19. Whether you're in education, have kids in it or your last exam was many years ago, this is a fascinating exploration of the challenges facing a sector that is critical in society. Sarah's webpage with links to her research is here: https://werklund.ucalgary.ca/sarah-eaton

Have you ever found yourself 'on fire' — not literally (I hope!) — but in terms of being on good form? On this episode, I speak to Ben Cohen, the author of "The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks". Ben is a sports reporter for the Wall St Journal, who was inspired by a basketball game, to explore a phenomenon that is well understood in the sport.In our discussion, we talk about the incident that got Ben interested in the phenomenon and the other cases of it that he explores in his book. We also look at the broader psychology of sport and what we can learn from it. And we explore one of Ben's reports that has absolutely nothing to do with sport.To find out more about Ben's book: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062820723/the-hot-hand/The article we refer to in our discussion: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-joys-of-watching-a-bridge-shave-the-tops-off-trucks-1452045185

On this episode, I'm speaking to Gerald Ashley who specialises in Business Risk and Decision Making. His work concentrates on trying to understand decision making, risk-taking and human behaviour, in the face of uncertainty.“In the slippery world of Risk, Uncertainty, Change and Complexity –hard and fast rules can be rare, and sometimes a trap.” as he puts it.Prior to concentrating on decision making analysis, Gerald had a 25-year career in international finance, having worked for Baring Brothers in London and Hong Kong, and the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland. He remains involved in finance as an independent non-exec director of the London based fund managers Equitile (www.equitile.com)Gerald is Managing Director of St. Mawgan & Co (www.stmawgan.com) which he co-founded in 2001, a London based consultancy specialising in risk management, strategy consulting, and behavioural finance modelling in business decision making and risk-taking.He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Visiting Fellow at Newcastle Business School. His strong interest in financial history has also led him to become an interviewer for an Oral History Project about The City and finance. ( www.centreforfinancialhistory.org/oral-histories/) You can find Gerald's blog here: www.geraldashley.blog and his website here: www.geraldashley.comIn our discussion, he refers to a book by Paul Ormerod (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Positive-Linking-Networks-Revolutionise-World/dp/057127921X) and also mentions Frank Knight & Knightian Uncertainty which you can read more about here: http://news.mit.edu/2010/explained-knightian-0602Gerald has written three books:Two Speed World - https://www.harriman-house.com/two-speed-worldThe Tangled World, a mini e-book that built on Two Speed World - https://www.harriman-house.com/the-tangled-world Financial Speculation, a markets book about behavioural finance - https://www.harriman-house.com/financial-speculationYou can see Gerald present at Nudgestock, a BeSci festival here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NjSHZe1tRM