E44: How Behavioural Science Can Be Used to Change Behaviour -with Bob Cummins
Episode Sumary
In today's podcast, Sheila Lord has a fascinating conversation with Bob Cummins, Executive Director of Sodak, about how companies can create a safer, healthier, and more effective place of work through behavioural insights.
They also discuss the meaning of “behaviour” and Bob outlines the elements that influence other people's behaviour.
Bob believes in using behavioural science to improve organisations through the behaviours of their people. In 2013 he formed SODAK, with the express aim of helping people understand people.
Highlights
[02:07] Background – Bob explains how he came to work in the fields of behavioural science, behavioural safety, and behavioural engineering by recounting his path thus far.
[10:48] Practical Examples – Bob also shares an example of a change he made utilising behavioural science to achieve improved outcomes.
[15:20] Behaviour – Bob elaborates on what behaviour is and describes the factors that affect people's behaviour.
[22:19] Change – We examine how behavioural sciences can be used to alter people's behaviour when what they have always done is not necessarily the correct action.
[30:54] Psychology – Bob gives his opinions on workplace psychological health and safety.
[40:23] Summary – Bob beautifully summarises the entire topic, advising those responsible for managing people in an organisation to get the most out of people and achieve good results inside the business so that safety and productivity are the results.
About Bob Cummins:
Bob has spent the majority of his life working in construction.
Before attending college to study civil engineering, he worked for 18 months on a massive road construction project after leaving high school at age 16.
Bob then became active in health and safety, assuming safety manager positions and leading multiple safety departments throughout his career.
In 2008, Bob discovered a company utilising behavioural science to improve corporate performance, such as forecasts and efficiencies, and he spent the following five years researching the topic.
Bob started Sodak in 2013, intending to assist individuals in understanding one another, and he currently serves as the company's Executive Director.
Resources:
Connect with Bob:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bob-cummins-25165622/?originalSubdomain=uk
Mentioned in the episode:
Bringing Out the Best in People: goodreads.com/book/show/902892.Bringing_Out_the_Best_in_People?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=FqexPNSVxC&rank=1
Quotes:
Behaviour is an action, not tainted with any judgement or emotion. It's just the factual thing that the person is doing.
Following the process is not a behaviour;
People do what they do because that's what they did before
There's always a reason; behaviours never come out of nowhere. There's always a reason for every behaviour.
One of the biggest problems we've created in safety in construction is this push for individual responsibility