After all, the projects I’ve led only exist
because someone has decided the present state of affairs is no longer
acceptable…..so what aspects of whose
behaviour are we talking about? And what is it that is most likely to make
target groups change their behaviour?
·
Simple instructions?
·
Threats? Incentives?
·
Explanations and understanding?
·
Moral exhortation?
The
“behavioural turn” - Tools in the change process
Focus of attention |
Example of tool |
Relevant Tool |
1.
Understanding |
Training Campaigns Functional review |
Rational persuasion images Factual analysis |
2. Commitment |
Leadership Communications Training |
Legitimisation;
inspiration Pride |
3. Maximising
Personal Benefit |
Pay increase and bonus Promotion (including political office) Good publicity Winning an award |
Monetary calculation ambition Reputation; Psychological Status |
4. Minimising
Personal Cost |
Named as poor performer Demotion Report cards |
Psychological (Shame) Monetary Pride |
5. Obligation |
Law Action plan Family ties |
Courts Managerial authority Social pressure |
6. Peer
influence |
Bribery Quality circles |
Pressure Support |
7. Social
influence |
Opinion surveys |
Feedback from public about service quality |
The Nudge book certainly inspired the Cameron government some 7 years later to set up a Nudge Unit in the Cabinet but the British government had been exploring this issue in its The Use of sanctions and rewards in the public sector (NAO 2008) accompanied by a literature review drafted by Deloitte. Even the House of Lords was not to be outdone – with the voluminous evidence of its Behaviour Change in 2011. And the voluntary sector put down an early marker with its Common Case – the case for working with our cultural values (2010)– which showed more familiarity with the marketing approach than did the economistic and rationalistic assumptions which were embedded in the early British attempts. So the World Bank was rather lagging behind when its Annual Development Report got round to dealing with the issue - in its Mind, Society and Behaviour (2015)
Government normally set up for Failure
Government systems are best known for their failures – and we certainly make the most of it when they happen, whether we are journalists, academics or mere citizens and voters. Books with titles such as “Great Planning Disasters” (1980) or “The Blunders of our Governments” (2013) line our shelves; and reports, post-mortems and articles on specific instances of breakdown and failure are legion. For some reason, the same interest isn’t shown in government success. One reviewer of the second book explained why –
In our anti-politics culture it may be thought that governments never do anything else but blunder. That is not actually true: a serious academic work could be written examining the things governments got right and lessons learnt there from—but who would buy a book entitled ”The Successes of Our Governments”? Change the title to The Blunders of Our Governments and the readers are there
There was a period – in the 1970s – when some
interest was shown in positive government outcomes. I remember, in particular,
“Change, Choice and Conflict in Social Policy” by Hall, Land, Parker and Webb
(1975) with 6 case studies including the struggle for Clean Air, establishment
of the Open University and of Health Centres. The authors suggested 3 important
perquisites for such success which I have never forgotten - legitimacy, feasibility and support viz
that policies require
·
clear and indisputable claims to authority ,
·
a good chance of achieving a successful outcome
· indications of extensive support
But the endeavours of government fell out of
favour in the 1980s – at least in anglo-saxon territories – with austerity programmes
caused by the bailing out of the banks in 2008 being a final challenge for even
successful governments.
It’s only the perseverance of people like Mark Moore and Paul t’Hart which has brought us positive stories of government efforts – with Alan McConnell’s Understanding Policy Success (2010) being an early and important milestone in what is now a burgeoning field
Useful Further Reading
Reports and Books
Personal
Responsibility and changing behaviour – the state of knowledge and its
implications for public policy (UK Cabinet Office 2004
Changing
Behaviour – a public policy perspective (Australian Government 2007)
Nudge: Improving Decisions
about Health, Wealth, and Happiness; Thaler and Cass (2008).
The Use of sanctions and
rewards in the public sector (NAO 2008) accompanied by
a literature review drafted by
Deloitte
Common
Case – the case for working with our cultural values (2010)
Behaviour
Change (House of Lords
(2011)
Finding Frames – new ways
to engage the UK public in global poverty (2011)
Nudge,
nudge, think, think;by Peter
John, Smith and Gerry Stoker (2011)
A
Practitioner’s Guide to Nudging; Rotman 2013
Mind,
Society and Behaviour (World
Development Report; World Bank 2015
Sanctions,
Rewards and Learning (IDEA
2016)
Governance and the Law (World Development Report; World Bank 2017)
Influencing
Behaviours and Practices to tackle poverty and injustice (Oxfam 2018)
Articles
“Finding
the appropriate policy tools” (RG Young 2008)
Wicked Problems and clumsy
solutions – the role of leadership; Keith Grint (2008)
“Nudge, nudge, think, think”; article by John, Smith and Stoker (2009)
The Rational Paradox of Nudge in a world of bounded rationality; Martin Lodge and Kai Wegrich (2016). A quite excellent critique
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