The Human Risk Podcast

How can Behavioural Science help us to better plan for the future? That's the subject of a new book by Dr Grace Lordan, who is my guest on this episode. In Think Big: Take Small Steps and Build the Future You Want, she explores how Behavioural Science can get us closer to to the life we’d like to live. Whether you fantasise about changing industry, landing a big promotion, writing a screenplay, se...

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...

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 Gra...

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...

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)...

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'...

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...

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 fe...

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-cultuur I've known Maarten for a few years and he is one o...

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 Kel...

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 misi...

What do Magic, Money & The Mind have in common? They're all things that interest my guest on this episode, Paul Craven. As he explains, the tricks our minds play on us is what allows magic tricks to amaze us and drives many of our financial decisions. Paul is an expert in behavioural science, decision making, investment and psychology, applying the inner operations of the mind to the economic worl...

What's the biggest challenge facing humanity? While the impact of COVID has been severe, an even bigger crisis awaits us if we don't take action. That crisis is the Climate Emergency and it's the subject of this episode. As the effects of climate change become more obvious, and the need to take action ever more urgent, I wanted to speak to someone at the forefront of trying to change human behavio...

How do differences in context, impact behaviour? That’s what my guest on this episode, Behavioural Scientist Elina Halonen, has been exploring as part of her work on behavioural change projects. As she explains, much of the study of behavioural science has been driven by research and the experience of people in so-called WEIRD - that’s Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic - count...

Conversations are a key part of how we communicate - but how do they actually work & what might go wrong? That's what my guest on this episode, Professor Elizabeth Stokoe, helps me to understand in...a conversation! Liz is the Professor of Social Interaction at Loughborough University in the UK. Her research analyses conversations in a wide range of settings. In our discussion, we explore some of...

How can we best manage remote teams? What skills can we develop & techniques can we deploy, to be more effective when we're not face to face. It's a question that doesn't just apply to Line Managers - it's also relevant to those managing human risk. If we want to get the best out of employees, then we need to understand how best to engage with them in a virtual environment. That's what my guest on...

How can making people accountable change their behaviour and mitigate human risk? Given recent history, can enforcing accountability in the banking industry, drive behaviour change? That's what my guest on this episode Professor Elizabeth Sheedy, helps me to explore. She has been researching rules recently implemented by Financial Services regulators to ensure senior management are held accountabl...

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...

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 t...

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 Compliance...

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 aspe...

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 de...

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 Hu...

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 P...

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...