Explore every episode of the podcast Unlocking Behaviour Change

In the previous episode, Robert castigated economics and economists' concept of 'utility' as fundamentally flawed, leading to models whose predictions keep being wrong. This week, Robert sketches out a way of thinking about utility that could improve economic modelling, yield more accurate predictions, and provide a more rational basis for macro-economic policy. A bold claim ... but this is a podcast, not an academic paper!

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com 

Robert has a bone to pick with economic theory . . . In fact, he wants to pick its bones clean and start over with a much better theory for everyone! Join the duo as they discuss what economic theory gets wrong and how it might be put right . . .  

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com  

Derisory amounts of money paid for a piece of work called an 'honorarium' seem ok when if they were a 'fee', it would be insulting! Robert and Jamie discuss how we react differently to the same things when they are classified and labelled differently. This includes clinical diagnoses, where receiving a 'diagnosis' can be a huge relief to sufferers but can also carry stigma.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com  

Robert and Jamie discuss the crucial question of how we classify and label things: one of the most basic things that we do in our mental and social world. But in an infinitely complex universe, putting things into boxes is fraught with difficulties, and classifications lie at the heart of important disputes.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com  

Robert and Jamie pay tribute to Dolly Parton - and Jamie plugs his video on her which can be found here - and then discuss how our intuitions about probability can be seriously misleading - leading to disastrous decisions. Robert explains why decision-makers must understand numerical probability. Robert claims that 'stats beat experience every time (almost)'! If we can estimate probability based on evidence, we should always do that. If we can't work out the probability confidently, then trying to do so tells us something important about our ignorance.

After this episode was recorded, it was widely reported that an AI insider estimated the probability of AI killing all humans within 10 years was 10 per cent! So it is being claimed that there is a 1 in 10 chance that human life will be obliterated by AI in the next 10 years. And Geoffrey Hinton (often acclaimed as the godfather of AI) said that that was not an unreasonable figure.  But when asked about what scenarios could this involve, he struggled. He should have said something like 'We cannot estimate a numerical probability for this outcome but we should act on the possibility that it could happen.' So, while we should always try to work out numerical probabilities, if there is no sound basis for doing so we should express likelihoods in non-numeric terms.

Robert and Jamie discuss various ways in which we understand probability, including a tendency to 'overchunk' probabilities ('possible', 'likely'), and how these can lead to disastrous decisions.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange 

Robert makes the bold claim that 'probability' underlies all knowledge and that behavioural scientist should always be thinking about knowledge and claims we make in terms of 'priors' (their judgement of the likelihood that something is true before gathering some evidence) and their 'posterior probabilities' (their judgement of the likelihood that it is true after having gathered some evidence), and should never be 100% certain about anything!

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert and Jamie discuss the ubiquitous phenomenon, illustrated by one of the episodes in The Odyssey, that the first priority of our motivational system is not necessarily our best interests, or even what we most enjoy - it's something else. Because humans kind of know this, we are sometimes willing to put in place regulation and barriers on our own and others' behaviour to counter this. When it comes to AI, we face a very dangerous situation in which the speed of progress is so fast that we may be overtaken by events so that we don't get a chance to learn from our mistakes when it comes to regulation or lack of it.

And Robert uses the opportunity to plug his short scripts for comedy radio plays called 'The Turing Test' which you can find here. Turns out the Turing Test is a low bar because humans are not very good at judging it! Here's an excerpt:

**********************

John: Have you ever been delirious?

Ailsa: Absolutely. One time my programmer forgot to put an end condition in a ‘do loop’. I couldn’t stop laughing. He had to turn me off then on again.

**********************

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com 

In the second half of a two-parter, Robert explains the limitations of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and how the COM-B model addresses these. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is EXTREMELY widely used and increasingly so despite its age. Among the limitations of the TPB that COM-B addresses are: 1) TPB focuses on beliefs and intentions when emotions, drives, desires, habit, instinct, physical and psychological capabilities and our social and physical environment clearly play a crucial role in behaviour. 2) It doesn't address the intention-action gap. 3) It uses between-person variation to suggest what might be a good target for an intervention, when behaviour change requires a very different kind of analysis. The COM-B model aims to bring in these crucial factors in a relatively simple framework that can be used by researchers, policy-makers and practitioners.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com 

The COM-B model of behaviour was put forward in 2011 as a comprehensive model of behaviour, capturing influences that lay within individuals (capability and motivation) as well as the outside world (opportunity). It has become popular, with some 17,000 citations to the original paper, but nothing like as popular as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, whose primary reference, published in 1991, currently has 186,000 citations! In 2025 alone, the COM-B paper was cited almost 3,000 times, but the TPB was cited almost 22,000 times! 

With that in mind, Robert thought it would be interesting to compare the two models. In the first part of this two-parter, Robert explains the origins of the TPB and covers its main strengths and limitations as well as how it has evolved over the years. In the next episode, he will describe how the COM-B model differs and what that means for using these models to develop behaviour-change interventions.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Ask a question at: https://www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com/contact-us

Last but not least in our miniseries on decision fails we have 'I didn't ask'. Even when we think we know it all, we should often ask for another opinion or perspective. And we should always reflect on our own limitations and be willing to consult experts for important decisions that require technical expertise. And even when we might not have asked for it, we should be prepared to listen to advice. 

But there is a catch! How do we know when someone really is an expert, and is giving a knowledgeable and expert opinion? Jamie and Robert delve into this thorny topic and come up with some rules of thumb.

What to comment or suggest a topic? Go to the Contact Us page on the UBC website.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

In the mini-series on decision fails - common things that we fail to do that result in mistakes when making decisions - this episode covers our failures of imagination. Robert thinks this plays a large part in the well-known phenomenon of 'temporal discounting' - failing adequately to concern ourselves about things the further in the future they may occur. But failing to imagine goes far beyond this, which is why we often go to great lengths to make the possible outcomes of decisions vividly real for people to help ensure they take them seriously.  

Want to contact us, for example to suggest topics to cover? Go to the contact page on the UBC website.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange 

Continuing on the ‘Top 5 Decision Fails’, Robert and Jamie discuss: ‘I didn’t think’. Why don’t leaders appear to think through the consequences of starting wars? When will the AI bubble burst?

Thinking things through comes in three main flavours: depth of analysis, breadth of analysis, and choice of 'decision rule'. Depth in the sense of tracing the possible consequences and their consequences far enough ahead, and breadth in terms of thinking about the whole 'system' that is affected by the decision. The 'decision rule' is about what criteria you are going to use to make the choice.

Feel free to suggest future topics via the contact page in the Unlocking Behaviour Change Website.

All this and more in today’s episode . . . 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

In this mini-series on the top five decision fails, Robert and Jamie discuss five important things we fail to do, or do properly, that lead to mistakes in decision-making. We don't claim that this is the be-all and end-all, but we put them forward as ones that are probably really worth paying attention to in order to improve the way we make decisions.

This episode covers 'I didn't check'. We have information that is relevant to the decision, or think we have, but we don't take the time or make the effort to check that the information is correct. Of course, we can take checking too far, but mostly we should probably dial checking up rather than down ... If something doesn't look right - check!

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

In this new mini-series, Robert and Jamie go through candidates for the five biggest decision-making mistakes and how to avoid them - maybe. The first one is ‘I didn’t look’ . . . Sounds obvious - but there are important nuances.

Robert and Jamie also discuss psychologists trying to make people look stupid ... 

And in the podcast, Robert refers to a questionnaire he developed in the 1990s called 'The Decision-Making Questionnaire (DMQ)' which he developed with colleagues to help discover what makes one person more likely to have a car crash than someone else. Here is a link to the main article on this. And here is a link to a website where you can get the questionnaire. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange 

The Behaviour Change Wheel is geared towards behaviour change interventions that might be delivered by governments, comms agencies, service providers, companies or teams whose role is to influence the behaviour of whole populations, subpopulations, groups or individuals. But what about the everyday behaviour change among families and friends? What can we say about how to influence behaviour in these cases?

At the request of a colleague at a recent conference, Robert and Jamie focus on the informal behaviour change in families and peer groups. 

Robert has also been updating the www.unlockingbehaviourchange.com website and foolishly, or bravely, agrees in this podcast to consider requests for topics which you can post using the email address on the website. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert and Jamie delve into a class of Behaviour Change Techniques called 'Advise specific behaviour BCTs' in the BCT Ontology. Some are a bit weird, but among them is advising on practice. They discuss what’s the best way to practice a new skill, like a musical instrument. Should you have a beer in the middle of a run? What’s it like driving with your dad before a driving test? Find out all this and more in today’s episode!  

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

What if you had a list of everything you could possibly do to change behaviour? Well, today Robert talks about such a list: The Behaviour Change Technique Ontology and also how you can see it and use it yourself! Robert and Jamie then take a deeper dive into one of the categories of behaviour change technique: 'Advise how to change emotions BCT' and its sub-categories.

Here is a link to the Behaviour Change Technique Ontology (BCTO) as part of the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO).

For the academics among you, here is a link to the scientific paper introducing the BCTO.

And while we are at it, here is a link to the Theory and Techniques Tool that links behaviour change techniques to 'mechanisms of action' for behaviour change. And finally, here is a link to the CACTIS tool that links COM-B targets to behaviour change techniques.

Listen out for the sound check at the end ... 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

What is a ‘behaviour change technique’ (BCT)? How does the way you deliver a technique affect the outcome? What is the difference between a thought and a behaviour? Join Robert and Jamie as they introduce this highly useful and widely applicable concept.

Robert makes reference to the Behaviour Change Technique Ontology (BCTO) which is part of the Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO). Here is a link to the BCIO home page. But if you want to go straight to the full list of BCTs here is a link. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange

AI - curse or cure, or both or neither? Most behavioural researchers are using AI in some aspects of their work. But are the benefits outweighing the costs? How can we do it most productively, and what are the pitfalls to look out for? Robert uses it a lot but also recognises the limitations and the need for new skills to interact effectively with this new technology.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert and Jamie ask the deepest questions imaginable . . . At least according to AI chatbots. Where do our values and moral intuitions come from and what do we do with them? Why are ideas that seem ‘obvious’ to us not universally accepted? Are today’s morals better than those of the past? 

Want more? Check out this lot:  

Book: Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

Book: React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Substack: Unlocking Behaviour Change https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

YouTube channel: Unlocking Behaviour Change https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Is stealing always bad? Are we all hypocrites? What do we do when our morals conflict with our own self-interest? Join Robert and Jamie as they discuss values, ethics and judgements, exploring ideas from a Substack article Robert has written drawing together key writings of psychologists and others on values. Here is a link to the article.

An important point that Robert brings out is that values such as kindness and understanding always operate within our personal spheres of affiliation - who we identify with and feel some attachment to.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Our sense of justice plays a huge role in our moral judgements and our behaviour. But there are many different versions of justice - what is justice for one person is gross unfairness for another.

In their journey through things we like and dislike, Robert and Jamie delve into this thorny topic and what it means for behavioural scientists.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange

Robert and Jamie continue to explore sources of likes and dislikes (in the broadest sense) and in this episode move on to 'power' and how that relates to leadership. Robert reflects on the idea that often people don;t just want power for themselves, but for groups with whom they identify - and this is an extremely important source of conflict. 

Here is a link to the Substack article containing the pretty comprehensive list of sources of likes and dislikes.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Humans appear to need some kind of purpose to our existence. It might be directed at spiritual enlightenment, furthering the well-being of the species, personal growth, getting good at something, or even just collecting stamps. Robert and Jamie discuss this as part of their examination of things that act as sources of wants and needs.

They also delve briefly into the related topic of 'transcendence' - the sense of there being something beyond the physical world.

Like other sources of wants and needs, these can be extremely pervasive and powerful influences on our behaviour and need to be considered when examining why people do things and how we can influence what they do.

The full list of things we like and dislike can be found in this substack article.

Before they get into the nitty-gritty of the topic, Robert raves about a new musical phenomenon, Angine do Poitrine. For anyone interested, here is a link to one of the very rapidly growing list of YouTube videos.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

What are cravings and what causes them? Craving is weird. You'd think that the more we enjoy something the more we would crave it. Not so. We crave things we don’t even like! As part of the series on what people do and do not like, Robert is on to one of his favourite topics.  

Here is a link to the Substack article setting out all the various things people tend to like and dislike.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

What would life be like without entertainment? Is beauty integral to a good life? Is all art subjective? As part of their wide-ranging look at what people do and do not like, Robert and Jamie explore the world of aesthetic pleasure and displeasure . . .  Here is a link to the Substack article that they are drawing on.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Staying alive is terribly important to us . . . under certain circumstances. Why do we behave in ways that actually damage our bodies and shorten our lifespan? Robert and Jamie discuss what is going on and how life and death fit in with and compete with other motives. 

Here is a link to the Substack article with quite a comprehensive list of our sources of motivation. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert continues to explore the different factors that act as sources of liking and disliking and has asked his AI friend Claude to review his list and suggest how these could be usefully grouped. One crucial grouping concerns being in control of ourselves, other people and events, and understanding the world around us.

Robert and Jamie delve into this and reflect on the importance, when teaching people of all ages, of avoiding the unpleasant feeling that comes from not understanding.

Here is a list of the current version of Robert's list of things we tend to like and dislike:

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert has been busy making a list of things we like and things we dislike... Or do we? One person’s meat is another person’s poison. The duo also discuss drinking culture, life and death, and wanting to feel less bored... and make a passing reference to the wonderful Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for no very good reason... 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

So much of what we do stems from anticipated comfort, pleasure or satisfaction, or relief from pain or discomfort.  So a really important target when trying to change behaviour is creating these anticipated feelings. We do this in lots of different ways, from rewarding and punishing behaviours, through prompting them to vividly imagine what may happen if they do the behaviour. Robert and Jamie continue their exploration of the updated COM-B model and the CACTIS tool to help create effective behaviour change interventions.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

As part of their exploration into the updated COM-B and the CACTIS tool, Robert and Jamie discuss one of the big reasons for changing behaviour: because people think it's a good idea! But there is so much to unpack here when it comes to how we can provoke behaviour change. Do we improve their capability by helping them truly understand the benefits of changing over the costs, or try to persuade them about the merits of change when they already know the facts? Or something else. And how do lotteries exploit the way we view likelihoods ...?

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

How can we make practical use of the COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation - Behaviour) Model when developing behaviour change interventions? The answer is the CACTIS (COM-B Assessment To Intervention Strategy) tool! It was CACTISS with 'Spreadsheet' at the end, but since the podcast, a decision has been made to drop the last S because although the original version was a spreadsheet, the new improved version (watch this space) will be a more interactive website.

Here's a link to the spreadsheet version of CACTIS (which is being updated): https://www.com-b.org/tools

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert has been wondering whether the updated COM-B is enough of an advance to merit the label COM-B 2.0! But more importantly, Robert and Jamie drill down on the concept of 'intention' and explore the intention-action gap. This leads to evidence-based tips for increasing the chances that we will do what we intend to do using the COM-B model.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

This week Jamie has been playing Animal Crossing and Robert has been trying not to eat chocolate biscuits. Also, Robert offers tips on making marginal but meaningful changes to behaviour as the duo delves deeper into COM-B.  Robert talks about how identity and imagination are important in turning 'should' into 'want' ... and how 'want' becomes 'should'!

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Why does Robert keep hitting tennis drop shots into the net? How does ‘Atomic/Individual COM-B’ relate to ‘Aggregate/Population COM-B’? Robert continues his preview of COM-B 2.0 while Jamie wonders if England’s cricketers will ever learn how to make the right decisions ‘in the moment’ . . . Oh yes and they make a start, looking at the granular COM-B targets of: awareness of the behaviour and stuff to do with social norms and rule. Robert brings up the CACTIS Tool for which a video on the first version can be found here. The new, improved version should be with you soon - bookmark the https://com-b.org website for news.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

An updated version of the COM-B model is nearly ready to roll. It clarifies some things and expands others. It is 'backwardly compatible' with 'classic COM-B'. This episode is the first of several discussing what's new in COM-B 2.0 covering: 1) distinguishing 'individual' and 'population' level COM-B, 2) expanding the specification of 'behaviour', and 3) making a start on covering the more specific features of capability, opportunity and motivation. This episode covers the 'individual' versus 'population' COM-B distinction. Bookmark the COM-B website to stay up to date with developments.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

You can do it! Or . . . can you? When does believing in your own abilities help you achieve your goals? In this episode, Robert and Jamie explore how the different elements of the COM-B model interact. They clear up a bit of confusion about whether self-efficacy sits better with capability or motivation, and why the capability factor 'understanding the costs and benefits of doing something' primarily exerts its influence through motivation ...  Even seasoned COM-B aficionados should find something of interest in this episode.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Having finished their series on decision-making, Robert and Jamie start a new series that delves into a widely used model of human behaviour, designed to guide interventions that influence behaviour. Many podcast listeners will be very familiar with this model, and many won't. Either way, Robert and Jamie try to bring the model to life in a way that is accessible to specialists and non-specialists alike. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

It’s the last episode of the season! Robert and Jamie go on a whistle-stop tour through the FACET framework for understanding real-world decision-making: (Framing, Assessing, Comparing, Enacting and Time). They offer some of their favourite decision-making tips from the last season. These include: the importance of getting the decision 'frame right' as this conditions everything that follows; getting the right decision rule when choosing between options, taking account of our attitude to risk; the role of emotion in decision making, both in how we feel about the possible outcomes but also in how they influence the way we go about the process of decision-making; the concept of 'deciding about deciding' - making sure we reflect on how we are going about the process of decision-making and not just going with the flow; the distinction between willingness and desire and knowing when to sacrifice desire for willingness so we don't end up with the worst of all worlds; and ultimately to judge decision making on how we go about it rather than just the outcomes, which are often out of our control.

Thanks to all our listeners, and we will see you next week for something completely/somewhat different . . .  

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

How do you spot a ‘dubious’ expert? What signs should you look out for? What counts as reliable evidence? And ultimately . . . who can you trust? Robert and Jamie offer tips and advice on navigating the information that bombards us every day.   

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

This is the first of a two-part episode on how best to use advice and information from so-called 'experts'. When and how much should we trust them? What does healthy scepticism look like? Robert reflects on his time in SPI-B advising the UK government and discusses the importance of behavioural science in helping shape and understand behaviour. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

How do democracies work? Can there ever be a perfect voting system? What is the difference between desire and willingness? Deep dive with Robert and Jamie into the often murky and fraught world of democratic decision-making.  

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

In this episode Robert gets it the wrong way round, citing the Cuban Missile Crisis as an example of how groupthink brought the West to the brink of nuclear war when in fact it was previous decisions such as authorising the failed invasion of Cuba that had exhibited groupthink and President Kennedy learned the lessons from this and set up decision-making processes that addressed this particular bias. For more info see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352178533_Rethinking_Group_Dynamics_The_Cuban_Missile_Crisis_Revisited

Anyway ...  

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Crucial decisions that affect our lives are made in 'groups', which technically can range from two or more people, as in the flight crew of a commercial jet, to the voting population of a country. This episode begins to examine how group decisions are made. Robert and Jamie analyse the ebb and flow of discussions and the art of skilful chairing. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange

Robert was fed up with asking for a flat white and getting heaven knows what, so with the help of his AI friend, Claude, he created an 'ontology' of milk-containing coffee drinks! Claude and Robert got carried away and ended up writing a Substack article about the power of ontologies as a way of clarifying meaning - something that is sorely needed in behavioural and social sciences. https://robertwest100.substack.com/p/a-flat-white-by-any-other-name

This episode of the Unlocking Behaviour Change podcast may seem a bit technical at first but we hope it gives listeners a glimpse into what can be achieved when we use ontologies as a way for humans and computers to share knowledge and understanding - to take HI (human intelligence) and AI to the next level.

Robert mentions a few links in the podcast, so here they are:

The Behaviour Change Intervention Ontology (BCIO): https://www.bciontology.org/

This has lots of resources and tools to help you understand ontologies and their uses.

The Smoking Cessation Intervention Prediction Tool: https://www.humanbehaviourchange.org/prediction

This demonstrates what can be achieved when we use ontologies to capture features of studies evaluating behaviour change interventions, their target population and settings, and use machine learning to predict outcomes in never-before-seen interventions.

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Robert argues that we should assume people pretty much always believe things because we want or need to believe them. Some of us value evidence and truth and so want to believe things based on evidence, but clearly that is only one source of desire. So when we hear someone espousing a belief, it is worth asking 'Why does this person want or need to believe this?' And then Robert and Jamie discuss the potential adaptive advantages of unjustified beliefs ...

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Jamie has been watching Celebrity Traitors while Robert has been learning about Cicero. In this episode, the duo talk about why it can be stressful to explain your decisions to others, the pros and cons of focusing on ‘optics’, and how the simple 'lose-change/win-stay' heuristic can lead to bad decisions. 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

Decisions can be stressful – sometimes so stressful that we procrastinate or even avoid making them at all. In this episode, Robert and Jamie explore how to use our emotions to clarify rather than cloud our judgements. They also reveal the honest truth about how they feel receiving feedback . . . 

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange  

What role do emotions play in our decision-making? In this episode in the series discussing 'real-world' decision-making, we talk about threats, opportunities and tasks, the Yerkes-Dodson Law, advertising, horses and riders, tunnel vision, headless chickens, and not being too comfortable on stage. And Jamie develops his radio voice ...

Want more? Check out our latest books:  

Energise: The Secrets Of Motivation: https://shorturl.at/bbA7y 

React: Harness Your Animal Brain: https://shorturl.at/yiFQ9  

Sign up to Robert’s Substack: https://robertwest100.substack.com/  

Subscribe to the UBC YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@unlockingbehaviourchange