A snapshot from earlier in the year of books published by colleagues in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. There has been a psychology department since 1964 and it merged with the behavioural science group in 2016 to form the current department. I have been working a bit on what came before the 1964 Department in terms of pre-cursors and I hope to give a couple of lectures on this in 2026.
Former Colombian president and Nobel peace prize winner Juan Manuel Santos spoke at LSE this week as part of the new Global School of Sustainability event series. It was an interesting and wide ranging discussion on the Colombian peace process and the future of armed conflicts and democracy. It is available here.
Dilip Soman on why behavioural scientists should be more like cartographers.
I enjoyed listening to Emma Pinchbeck, head of the UK Climate Change Committee on the rest is politics podcast. She is an effective communicator and spoke clearly about several issues facing UK energy policy in the next few years. Towards the end, she touches on the role behavioural science work plays in a world that is quite dominated by engineers and economists, and speaks favourably in particular about the role of citizen assemblies. I have been part of the Irish climate change advisory council for the last 18 months or, and it has been fascinating to work through the behavioural dimensions of a wide range of issues relating to climate adaptation and mitigation.
Excellent blogpost by Leonhard Lades, Malte Dold, Kate Laffan, Paul Lohmann, Andriy Ivchenko, and Manu Savani summarising the recent International Behavioural Public Policy conference.
Michael Inzlicht on whether a small amount of drinking is a good thing in academia. I am glad he wrote the article even at risk of annoying people. Whether you agree with him or not, people talk about this type of stuff offline and we should start to reclaim this type of discussion online as well. Floating this with various people, the reactions ranged from very high disagreement and a sense that moving far away from academic drinking cultures was a good thing to people who felt very strongly that he was voicing something important, and that we are losing a lot in the decline in social drinking in academia.I am anti-social bordering on hermetic at the moment due to the (hopefully temporary) mis-anthropism that comes with running a Department. I have also not drank alcohol for a few years largely due to a desire to reset default options that were prevalent in the environment when I was entering adulthood. But that wasn't always the case and I have had some fun beers with a variety of people from around the world over the years. So if I had a vote, it would be to keep it somewhere in the mix but not as the norm and not pushed too much. Walking tours I have always found to be a good way of bringing people together and if some of them want to find a pub after so be it.
Some prompts from classes that I will never get bored of discussing with students. Our courses like most other involve a lot of theory and detailed methodological work. Setting these in historical, ethical, multi-disciplinary, & institutional context is hopefully stimulating. This term I am teaching PB300, Advances in Psychological and Behavioural Science to our undergraduates. This includes a policy simulation exercise that unfolds over the course of the year and PB405, the MSc Foundations in Behavioural Science module that also includes a set of extension lectures called "Behavioural Science and the Wider World" that includes guest lectures, debates, and conceptual discussions about institutional applications.
i) An outline of the evolution of the relationships between economics and psychology over the centuries (full details, recorded lecture, and readings here)
ii) The legendary Behavioural Change Wheel of Susan Michie and colleagues, something that allows for incredibly rich discussions of the nature and purpose of behavioural science
iii) The FORGOOD ethics framework that we have evolved from these classes as a now widely used professional reflection tool to prompt pragmatic discussion of the ethical dimensions of behavioural policy. Some readings and links to OECD checklists etc., linked here
I regularly deliver talks, workshops, and executive sessions for organizations and institutions interested in applying behavioral science to real-world challenges. My sessions draw on over two decades of work at the intersection of economics, psychology, and public policy, and have been delivered to audiences across finance, technology, health, government, and academia.
If you are interested in arranging a workshop, keynote, or advisory session, please get in touch via email or connect with me directly on LinkedIn.
Alongside my collaborators Bishin Ho and Annabel Gillard, I co-developed the FORGOOD Framework initiative — a practical tool for embedding ethics into behavioral science projects across sectors such as finance, technology, and public policy.
The framework builds on the original FORGOOD ethics framework, which I co-developed with Leonhard Lades. It is featured in OECD guidance on integrating ethics into applied behavioral science and has been used in executive education, policy design, and academic teaching.
Those specifically interested in exploring the ethical dimensions of behavioral science — including organizational governance, the ethics of influence, and responsible innovation — can find more information and opportunities to collaborate at forgoodframework.com.
I have delivered this workshop to a wide range of executive audiences across finance, pharma, technology, and government, helping leaders and teams apply insights from behavioral economics and psychology to improve decision-making in complex environments.
The session introduces key ideas from behavioral science and demonstrates how they can be used to refine strategy, communication, and policy design. Participants learn to recognize and manage judgment biases, understand practical frameworks such as MINDSPACE and EAST, and strengthen organizational decision-making processes.
Key topics include:
How people actually make decisions — and the implications for leaders and policymakers
Tools and frameworks for applying behavioral insights
Improving executive and team decision processes by reducing “noise”
Lessons from global applications, including OECD case studies
Participants receive curated resources from leading thinkers along with optional readings for further exploration.
I have delivered this workshop to executives and professionals across finance, regulation, and consumer policy, exploring how behavioral economics can help explain and improve decision-making in financial markets.
The session examines how consumers make choices about complex products such as mortgages, credit cards, and pensions — and why traditional economic assumptions often fail to capture real behavior. Using insights from psychology and experimental economics, participants learn to identify key biases that shape financial decisions and to consider how behavioral insights can inform product design, communication, and regulatory strategy.
Key topics include:
How people make financial decisions under uncertainty
Heuristics and biases: anchoring, availability, representativeness, framing, and intertemporal choice
Behaviorally informed approaches to mortgage, credit, and savings markets
Lessons from regulatory and policy applications (including detailed case studies from across industry and regulation)
Implications for innovation and responsible consumer engagement
This workshop provides participants with a clear understanding of how behavioral economics is reshaping the landscape of modern financial services — from customer experience to compliance — and why it matters for the future of the sector.
