Coffee Choices and the Decoy Effect. Have you every bought a coffee and been ‘bedazzled’ into getting a bigger or frothier one than you’d planned? “It just seemed sooooohhh much better value to have the Maximo Grande Frothiata…”. Basically you’ve had your behaviour ‘modified’ by the retailer using a process called Decoy Pricing or the […]
Why isn’t the Retail Sector doing more ‘Nudging’ of Hand Sanitisation?
Is anyone else thinking about Behavioural Nudges and Hand Sanitisation? If you’ve ventured to the supermarket since COVID-19 you’ve probably experienced some version of the ‘Hand Sanitiser Station’. The good, the bad and the ugly. My experiences have ranged from the pathetic – empty bottles of disinfectant spray lurking behind the crisps – through to […]
Going Blind on a Spacewalk. Can Simulation Training Help?
Imagine you’ve made it to the International Space Station (ISS), left the ship on your spacewalk, then you go blind. What do you do? This is a guest post from my friend Sam Williams (@SamW112358 on Twitter). It’s Sam’s first post and is a prelude to him launching his own blog. Hopefully you enjoy it, […]
If You Can’t Sign it, Don’t Ship it.
Owning what you create. There’s a lot to be said for feeling real sense of ‘ownership’ of the things you build, manufacture, write, create or the service you provide. Ultimately it’s all about quality. If you care about what you are doing you should be prepared to put your name to it. By ‘signing’ whatever […]
Do Epidemiologists Play COVID-19 Computer Games After Work?
I’m guessing that during a pandemic most Epidemiologists will barely have time to sleep, so time in-front of the X-Box will be limited. But this is a serious question. Nobody will be surprised to hear that a bundle of COVID-19 related computer games have emerged in the last few months. Most of them ‘shovelware’. But […]
The Atomic Theory of Meetings. Atoms and Meetings are made of mostly NOTHING.
Atoms and meetings are surprisingly similar. Just like in science, where atoms are the basic building blocks, for organisations meetings seem to fulfill a similar purpose. Organisations wouldn’t exist without them (apparently). Unfortunately many meetings aren’t as remotely useful (or interesting) as atoms, but there are startling similarities. Let me explain. Basically there are 3 […]
What do Amazon’s Business Model and a COVID-19 Rapid Learning Engine have in common?
This is not as tenuous as it sounds. Have a glance at the image above and ponder on this. It was originally drawn in the early 2000’s by Jeff Bezos, on a paper napkin. Described as the ‘virtuous cycle’ its been at the heart of Amazon’s approach, and part of them becoming one of the […]
Is anyone deploying ‘Innovation and Learning’ people alongside COVID-19 Response Teams?
This is a genuine question. I only ask because there’s something from Dave Snowden rattling around my head that seems particularly relevant at the moment. “In a crisis, you should always deploy an innovation team alongside the business recovery teams…to capture the novel practice” The point of this statement (for me) is that during a […]
Florence and Semmelweis knew it over 150 years ago. “Wash yer hands you Filthy Animal” #COVID-19
Public Handwashing Facilities. I have an idea… How about we make handwashing a very public activity. Put the wash-basins, water, soap and drying facilities in a very public space, so that everyone can see what’s going on? There’s the obvious impact of peer pressure that might come into play here, but I can also see […]
COVID-19. Will Lady Macbeth style Hand-Washing at Sports Stadiums become the long term ‘norm’?
Now wash your hands, please. Forming an orderly queue at the rugby/football stadium toilets to wash your hands has become quite a thing. Well, according to Twitter, where it’s being mentioned a fair bit at the moment. From a personal viewpoint I’ve attended rugby based ‘mass gatherings’ at stadiums for many years, and I can […]
