So what?
Grappling with some of the big questions leads me to write about them. Writing helps me formulate my thoughts, take the time to think deeply, and consider the possible.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about the world, whether through my own writing on Medium, articles written for publications or interviews in the media.
H2H Redux: The Human Experience Revolution
Imagine trying to understand the ocean by counting drops of water. That's exactly how we're approaching customer experience – meticulously measuring, while completely missing the point.
The playbook to effectively adopting true human experience strategies, not just CX data
Why Authentic Brands Dance in the Kitchen at Midnight
Brands, when done right, aren’t just hawking wares. They’re provocateurs. They’re rallying cries for better futures. They’re promises that tap into something that runs deeper than the surface wants and needs of a population. And the kicker? Brands don’t change people. People change people – through stories, shared identities, and that deep-seated human impulse to belong and make sense of the chaos around us.
Nudge, Sludge, Budge, and Fudge
There’s a common misconception that nudges are covert manipulations, a way to trick people into making certain decisions. But as Thaler and Sunstein argue, nudging is about helping people make choices that align with their own goals. It’s about creating environments where the path of least resistance leads to beneficial outcomes.
Here I explore 2 known, 1 lesser known term and 1 entirely made up behavioural convention to motivation.
The Butterfly Effect in Action: How Your Coffee Cup Sparks Global Change
In the vast ocean of consumerism, each choice we make is a drop that can either ripple out to support a tsunami of change or merely evaporate into the sea of the status quo.
Behavioural science shows us that small nudges can lead to big shifts. The ‘Piano Staircase’ initiative encouraged more people to take the stairs simply by making it fun. Imagine applying this thinking to environmental behaviours. It’s not just about making the sustainable choice easier but making it more appealing, by innovating and disrupting the norm with a creativity-led approach.
The Inner Child in the Boardroom: Unmasking the Subconscious Drivers of Decision-Making
Much of strategy is built on the premise that decision-makers are well-informed, rational adults. But scratch the surface, and you’ll find a scared kid not wanting to get in trouble or just dying to be seen as smart and special by the bigger kids.
Understanding the influence of our inner child can be a game-changer. It’s about acknowledging these subconscious drivers and learning to cater to them in a healthy, constructive way. That way, we can make decisions that are not only strategically sound but also emotionally intelligent.
Lessons to learn beyond the game: The psychological genius of Super Bowl advertising
Super Bowl ads are not just a marketing marvel; they’re a masterclass in psychological engagement, storytelling, and cultural commentary.
By understanding the underlying principles that make these ads so powerful, leaders and communicators can find innovative ways to connect, engage, and inspire in everyday contexts.
The Arcane Dance Of Creativity & Neuroscience: A New Symphony For Behavioural Change
Strap in as we tango with neuroscience and cha-cha with creativity to rewrite the playbook on impactful behavioural change. We explore how the interplay between brain prediction theory and creative stimuli drives real, meaningful, behavioural change.
How will you cope if the other side wins the election?
An interview by Region Media
Synergy Group offers advice to Australian governments of all levels and is taking to ‘The Pitch’ segment on the ABC’s popular Gruen Nation show this week with a plan to unite each and every Australian, no matter the outcome of the election on 21 May.
The Synergy Group pitch focuses on finding that human element to every issue because, from there, we can begin to feel empathy.
When Creativity, Science and Possums fall in love
A Neuro-Strategic Approach to Culture and Behavioural Change. If the previous decade has taught us anything, it’s that the convergence of creativity and scientific understanding can revolutionise our approach to people, culture, and behavioural change. The irony is palpable, given that just a few decades ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find science and creativity sitting in the same sentence, let alone at the same conference table.
It STILL takes a village to beat COVID-19
As appeared in TheMandarin.com.au
While the term “unprecedented times” became all the more memefied for its overuse and buzz-wordiness through 2020 and 2021, these were, wholly unprecedented times. We certainly have a stronger understanding pandemics, virology, and communications.
While these elements were not new, never have we had a viral pandemic in the midst of an infodemic of misinformation, mistrust, and division in a globally interconnected, and interdependent world.
There is a range of things to focus on when it comes to shifting behaviours or priming community cultures in times of crisis; but there are three key elements that are part of the fundamentals of trust-building, engagement, and connection.
It takes a village to beat COVID-19
As featured in TheMandarin.com.au
This pandemic taught us all how to cope with true uncertainty. In our well ordered and largely predictable lives it is usually only personal misfortune that brings chaos to that structure. Today, globally, nationally, and personally the structured patterns of all our lives were shattered.
In the context of COVID-19, we were looking to make profound and rapid changes to community behaviour. This meant we will needed to work with fabric of community attitudes, norms and behaviours that were already in place. These moments are not a time for approaches that tinker at the margins of behavioural change
The Quantum Leap of Strategy: Why Right-Brain Thinking Holds the Quill That Scripts Tomorrow’s Triumphs
In the arid landscapes of corporate boardrooms and government policy hives, the term “strategy” often echoes like a Pythonesque hymn confined to the scope of quantifiable metrics, data-driven insights, and over worshipped models. It’s as if Apollo, the God of Reason, has dominated the conversation, muting his twin Artemis, the Goddess of Intuition and Creativity. If art, culture, and humanity as taught us anything it’s that these 2 cannot exist without each other.
You want to change my behaviour? Get the message right
As featured in TheMandarin.com.au
In crisis, it is often the case that in designing and delivering strategy we rarely consider the need to change behaviour. We tend to lead with ‘facts’, instructions, and direction. This is necessary but alone it is not enough. Facts alone are not convincing and rarely have been.
COVID-19 was a major disruption to all our lives. New patterns of behaviour are required to contain the virus, and there is little doubt the greater portions of our daily lives will continue to be affected for some time to come. However, if we want behaviour to change, then we need to work at it in structured and persistent way
Canberra creative agency Zoo Group launches Vegemite ad to secure ‘Yes’ votes
An interview by The Canberra Times
“Instead of just sticking a rainbow flag on our logo, we wanted to actually change behaviour – that’s what advertising boils down to anyway. Understanding human behaviour, psychology and our day to day lives are vital ingredients to how we design.”
The Facebook graphic, cleverly-written and using the Vegemite brand colour palette, has so far reached more than 20,000 people online.
“The whole concept came from my wanting to actually do something for the debate,” Perelson said.