Articles on cognitive biases at work, change management, employee happiness, and organisational behaviour from a behavioural science perspective.
32 articlesThe most important cognitive biases that influence decisions, collaboration and leadership in the workplace.
The first number, offer or idea you encounter disproportionately shapes every subsequent judgement. How anchoring distorts decisions at work.
We judge probability by how easily examples come to mind. Recent events, dramatic stories and vivid anecdotes systematically skew risk assessments.
People adopt behaviours and beliefs because others do. How the bandwagon effect shapes team dynamics and organisational culture.
You unconsciously seek information that confirms what you already believe. How confirmation bias sabotages hiring, strategy and team decisions.
When your actions contradict your beliefs, something has to give. How cognitive dissonance drives resistance to change and rationalisation.
Losses hurt roughly twice as much as equivalent gains feel good. How loss aversion blocks innovation, change and smart risk-taking.
One positive trait colours your judgement of everything else. How the halo effect distorts performance reviews, hiring and leadership perception.
Adding a strategically inferior option makes another option look more attractive. How the decoy effect steers choices in pricing, proposals and negotiations.
People overvalue what they already own. How the endowment effect creates resistance to reorganisation, process change and letting go of legacy systems.
The same information leads to different decisions depending on how it is presented. How framing shapes negotiations, feedback and strategic choices.
Those who know least are often the most confident. How the Dunning-Kruger effect undermines team performance and decision quality.
We systematically overestimate positive outcomes and underestimate risks. How optimism bias derails project timelines, budgets and strategic planning.
People prefer things to stay as they are, even when change would make them better off. The hidden force behind failed transformations.
We keep investing in failing projects because of what we already spent. How the sunk cost fallacy traps organisations in bad decisions.
We overvalue immediate rewards and discount future benefits. How present bias sabotages long-term goals, savings behaviour and strategic planning.
The quality of decisions deteriorates after a long series of choices. How decision fatigue affects managers, recruiters and knowledge workers.
After an event, we believe we knew it all along. How hindsight bias distorts evaluations, accountability and learning from mistakes.
Negative experiences carry more weight than positive ones. How negativity bias shapes feedback, team morale and change communication.
Once you know something, you cannot imagine not knowing it. How the curse of knowledge derails communication, onboarding and leadership.
Employee happiness is not about ping-pong tables. It is about autonomy, mastery and meaning. How to design it using behavioural science.
Most happiness programmes fail because they address the wrong things. Three common misconceptions and what actually works.
Flow is not luck, it is a designable state. How to create the conditions for deep focus and peak performance in your organisation.
70% of change initiatives fail. Not because the strategy is wrong, but because people do not change their behaviour.
Organisations invest millions in change programmes that never deliver. The behavioural reasons behind failed transformations.
Engagement surveys go up, but behaviour does not change. Why most engagement programmes miss the point entirely.
Change only sticks when people feel ownership. How to build genuine support for change using behavioural design principles.
Town halls and newsletters do not create engagement. How to involve people in a way that shifts behaviour, not just opinion.
Resistance is not the enemy of change. It is a signal. How to diagnose and reduce resistance using behavioural science.
The technology works. The people do not use it. Why most digital transformations fail and what behavioural science offers instead.
You rolled out the tool, ran the training, sent the emails. Six months later, 40% of users are back to spreadsheets.
AI tools are available, but people do not use them. How behavioural barriers block adoption and what actually drives it.