From Curiosity to Action: How Behavioural Science is Being Put to Work

When we first launched the  Behavioural Science in Practice programme, many participants came with a simple curiosity: “What is behavioural science?” Today, that question has evolved. Executives are now joining us with a sharper focus: “How can I apply behavioural science to solve the challenges I’m facing in my organisation?”

And that shift is exactly what makes this programme so powerful.

Whether it’s aligning teams around a new strategy, improving customer engagement, or embedding cultural change, leaders are increasingly turning to behavioural science as a practical toolkit for driving results.

Here’s a glimpse into the kinds of challenges executives are bringing to the programme — and the roles they’re coming from:

1. Executive Directors of large organisations, who want to increase the engagement of their employees, including around their organisations' values and culture. This is especially relevant for any organisation that is going through a period of change - such as a merger or acquisition, or a change in strategic direction. 
2. Marketing Leaders of companies who want to learn new tools and techniques for encouraging their customers to engage in content and take action. These individuals are often also interested in finding out how to test these insights in practice, in order to find out what methods are most effective (and which don't seem to be working quite so well).
3. Product and Innovation Heads, who want to encourage the users to engage more with their products and adopt new behaviours that drive retention and growth. These participants are often interested in the overlap between behavioural insights and design-driven methodologies, such as usability testing, and how they can be combined. 
4. HR and People Leaders who want to improve employee engagement. Often these participants are also interested in very practical questions, such as how to encourage employees to respond to staff surveys or how to start using a new performance development framework. 
5. Operations Executives or Directors, who are looking for new ways to encourage their staff to follow new procedures. We are finding that there is a particular interest in industries such as financial services or pharmaceuticals, where compliance is lower than it needs to be with certain requirements they might have to ensure everyone is up to speed with (e.g. mandatory training courses). 
6. Insights and Strategy Leads who want to learn new methodologies for understanding their customers, users or employees. This might include, for example how to understand what's stopping an individual from engaging in a particular action (i.e. the behavioural barriers); or methods for running a randomised trial to measure the efficacy of a new campaign before it is fully rolled out. 

What unites these leaders is a shared recognition: behavioural science isn’t just interesting, it is actionable. It offers a set of tools that can be applied immediately to real-world challenges, with measurable impact.

 

Why this programme?

In partnership with CogCo, we’ve designed Behavioural Science in Practice as a high-impact, executive-level experience. Over the past eight years, it has become one of our most sought after offerings — equipping senior leaders with the frameworks, tools, and confidence to apply behavioural insights in their own organisations.

The continued demand for the programme is a testament to its relevance, rigour, and the calibre of participants it attracts.

Ready to explore?

 

• Join Ed Gardiner, Course Director and co-creator of the programme, for a Lightning Talk on 15 July. This webinar will be a quick, insightful introduction to the power of behavioural science in action.
• Get in touch to discuss how the programme could support your goals.
• Register for the next intake of Behavioural Science in Practice and start applying behavioural insights to your most pressing challenges.

 

Discover our full portfolio of Executive Education programmes or contact our team to learn more.