The Behavioural Science Briefing

Is your most expensive problem the gap between what people say and what they mean? The gap between what people say and what they mean isn't an intentional dishonesty, it's one of the most studied phenomenon of human nature and its residual impact is woven within every artifact your business runs on. For the first time there is a way around it. Good morning! This week’s featured article dips into the uncomfortable truth that the 'truth' shared by customers, clients, and teams that inform...

Are you building a faster organization, or a better one? AI has given leaders a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign how people work together. Most will use it to solve for speed and coordination, but those who use it to solve for something much harder—the human promise of work itself—will build the workforce of the future. Good morning! This week’s featured article is a practitioner manifesto from Jack Dorsey on how Block is redesigning its organizational model around AI. It is worth...

Does AI break the rules of cognitive dissonance? Your people aren't divided into AI believers and sceptics. They're the same person, holding both sentiments at the same time. As the science of the mind catches up to the reality of life alongside AI, the leaders who rethink how they understand their people—and their relationship with AI—will be the ones to build resilient organizations. Good morning! This week’s featured article is the largest qualitative study ever conducted on how humans...

Are the good time AI vibes making us too fragile for the real world? Our consumption of all-appeasing AI loops is weakening our ability to handle the bumps that come with sharing space with others. Leaders who design against it now will be the ones who build the teams that last. Good morning! This week’s featured article explores the concept of emotional solip, sism, the rise of relational fragility in the wake of interaction with placative AI. We discuss what this means for navigating our...

Are you seeing a world that is there, or just a version of it that you can tolerate? Sustained uncertainty distorts what you're able to see and erodes your ability to decide. Understanding that dynamic both within yourself and your teams is one of the most underleveraged advantages a leader has right now. Good morning! When did you last make a decision without a background hum of unease? Not the ordinary ambiguity of day-to-day life but the low-grade dissonance of navigating a world that...

Good morning! Last week we looked at how AI’s default confidence is reshaping how we move through the world. This week we go one layer deeper into what repeated AI use is doing to the brain itself, measured in real time.This week’s featured article uses brain connectivity measures to see what happens neurologically, linguistically, and behaviourally when people outsource thinking to AI, coining the term ‘cognitive debt’ for what they found. The findings 🧠 The more you outsource deliberative...

Has the AI confidence contagion caught you? Model confidence is blurring the lines between what we know we know, and what we think we know. Closing that gap is now a core leadership skill. Good morning! This week’s featured article spotlights the quiet collision between the confidence we rely on to form our view of the world and the default communication style of AI outputs. The implications the authors raise are worth paying attention to. The findings 🧠 Confidence conveys the weight and...

Can framing-based strategies ease the burden of inflationary price rises? Perceptions are the name of the game when handling inflation-based price changes, so frame your increases wisely. Good morning! This week’s featured article spotlights the quiet collision between the confidence we rely on to form our view of the world and the default communication style of AI outputs. The implications the authors raise are worth paying attention to. Good morning! This week’s featured article is a...

Is it time that we embrass the mess? A brief (but important!) lecture by Rory Sutherland on innovation, change, and embracing the new. Good morning! As I am out for my honeymoon this week, I thought it wise to give you an inspired talk to play during your morning cup of joe rather than dig deep into our usual routine. For those of you in Canada, happy long weekend! Sit back and enjoy while Rory Sutherland encourages to you embrace the mess. See you next week! M 👋🏻 for those of you who are new...

Can behavioural models be moulded to enhance your predictive power? Leveraging existing behavioural models can establish a foundational structure on which to engineer your data, test your assumptions, and fine tune your strategy. Good morning! This week’s featured article spotlights the quiet collision between the confidence we rely on to form our view of the world and the default communication style of AI outputs. The implications the authors raise are worth paying attention to. Good...