I’ve interviewed hundreds of Behavioural Scientists over the years. In this short blog, I wish to talk about one key factor that truly differentiates exceptional candidates from the rest. This one thing, I’ve realised is more important than a relevant graduate degree or having read a huge number of Behavioural Science books.
It’s Practice. When you talk to someone in this field, it very much shows.
Whilst the theory is undeniably important to build a strong foundation, and reading Behavioural science books is addictively fun, unless you actually try out a lot of behavioural science interventions, you can just never get there. Just like any other skill, the more you practice it, the better you get at it.
Why is this so important?
Building Intuition: The more you observe your surroundings and apply behavioural science principles in real-world situations, the better you get at recognising patterns and predicting outcomes. Bluntly spotting heuristics and biases, is not the same as understanding wholistic behaviour.
Looks great on your CV: Real projects showcase your skills much better than certifications and diploma. “Increased sales by 35%”, “Used XYZ to reduce my alcohol consumption from an average of 210ml a week to 90ml a week” - these are powerful! Employers like me LOVE seeing such metrics!
How can you practice Behavioural Science?
Be aware of your surroundings: Look for Behavioural Science in the wild! Try and decode why people pick sub-optimal choices. Find joy in identifying behavioural principles at play. Ask, look, listen and learn! Keep proactively doing this until it becomes a very natural intuitive habit.
Experiment on yourself: Over the last decade, I tried out every principle out there on myself to built and break so many habits (I'll talk about my learnings and screw ups here in another blog soon)! This is the easiest place to start practicing - you know yourself pretty well, your goal is clear, the strengths and weaknesses are obvious. PS. If you fail here, reconsider your career-choice :) I’ve always been skeptical hiring Behavioural Science folks who claim they want to do something they’ve terribly failed at (all those gym-membership holders who don’t go to the gym, I’m talking to you here). If you couldn’t change your own behaviour, why do you think you can change other peoples’?
Experiment on your friends and family: Fix your friends’ finances. Help your greedy diabetic uncle cut down on sugar intake. Try negotiating your salary strategically. Use psychology to get a better price for that old TV you’re selling. Test things out on others!
Do pro-bono projects: Only idiots say no to free labour. So, convince small businesses around you to test out behavioural science using your free consultation to improve their metrics and processes. Aim for NGOs and charitable organisations if businesses don’t work out. Don’t be embarrassed to ask your friends and family for possible clients (I learnt this way too late when it was no longer useful! Don’t let your pride and I-wanna-make-it-on-my-own-attitude hinder your growth)
Conduct research: Do small research projects on areas you’re passionate about. Small experiments, or analysing behaviour using secondary data - it’s quite easy to get started! Fight me - but academia and the current landscape of research journals is really shitty. You can ditch them if you’re willing to be a rebel and publish your data and findings open-source on your own page. But, if you wish to stick to the mainstream “finding a gap in literature” - “poking your data until you get something statistically significant”, who am I to judge!
Note of caution: While integrating Behavioural Science in your every day life, learn when to turn your behavioural science brain on and off. Try not to overanalyse people close to you, especially if you’re naturally an over-thinker. Also, make sure you’re staying clear of unethical applications of Behavioural Science.
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