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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  

In this episode, we talk about how we tend to overstimate the likelihood of things we can easily imagine, overly assume that people who are good at one thing tend to be good at other things, underestimate the importance of things the further we think they will occur in the future, and wrongly allow 'sunk costs' to influence 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