Maja Niksic, Program Manager at Harvard’s Behavioral Insights Group, and Jaclyn Lefkowitz, Co-President of Harvard’s Behavioral Insights Student Group.

Maja Niksic and Jaclyn Lefkowitz are our first duo interview! Maja’s perspective as program director of Harvard’s Behavioral Insights Group and Jackie’s perspective as co-president of Harvard’s Behavioral Insights Student Group combine perfectly for our discussion about careers and community. Maja and Jackie discuss different BI career pathways as well as resources and advice for the journey. They also share how valuable it has been to develop and participate in a BI community to learn with and from, especially when we’re all learning and working virtually.

Rishad Habib, PhD student in UBC Sauder’s Marketing and Behavioural Science Division.

Rishad Habib is an all-star Marketing and Behavioural Science PhD student in her 5th year at UBC Sauder School of Business. In sharing her experiences as a former MSc student and current PhD student, Rishad emphasizes the importance of research in both types of programs. We also discuss the challenges and rewards of conducting research as a graduate student, including both lab studies and field studies with partner organizations.

Michael Buttazzoni, Scrum Master with the Information Management Branch serving the BC government’s natural resource ministries.

As one of the founding members of the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG), Michael Buttazzoni has a number of BI projects under his belt. Michael shares some of the ups and downs of client management, with a particular focus on challenges and strategies for collaborating on BI projects across ministries or divisions. Since Michael has recently moved onto a new role in a different ministry, we also discuss ways to integrate BI knowledge and the BI skillset into roles that are not primarily “BI jobs”.

Heather Devine, Head of the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG).

Heather Devine returns to the podcast to talk about how BC BIG approaches scaling and reporting. Recognizing that scaling is a nuanced decision for clients, Heather offers tips for what factors to consider and how to encourage scaling from project start to project end. Heather also talks about the importance of good, well-tailored communication. In particular, we discuss how storytelling can help share results, build a culture of experimentation, and even encourage scaling.

Sasha Tregebov, Director of BIT Canada.

Sasha Tregebov comes back on the podcast to talk about what happens once the results of a BI project are in. Sasha shares recommendations for how to increase the likelihood that learnings from a BI project are implemented, whether that means scaling up a given solution to a wider population, replicating the solution in a similar context, or helping the client use their experiences to inform the next project they tackle. We also discuss strategies and tips for communicating project results effectively to different audiences.

Jeremy Douglas, Executive Vice President of External Relations at Ocean Wise.

Jeremy Douglas weaves together his experiences in the non-profit and media sectors to highlight the need to scale BI findings for impact, the importance of approaching projects with humility, and the danger of unintended consequences. Together we discuss how consultation and measurement can help with each of these challenges and create a bright future for BI.

Kaylyn Kretschmer, Market Leader at Technical Safety BC.

Over the last few years, Kaylyn Kretschmer has been a strong champion for BI at Technical Safety BC. Together we chat about how even technical systems rely on human decisions and human behaviours, an insight Technical Safety BC used to begin their BI journey. Kaylyn also shares her tips for socializing BI with folks from different backgrounds and the value of the local BI community for individuals and organizations new to BI.

Monica Soliman, Senior Research and Innovation Advisor at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

Monica Soliman has worked in a number of BI roles in government, including roles at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada. In chatting about the growing variety of BI roles in the public sector, Monica shares her experiences working on projects that use BI to improve existing programs as well as projects that incorporate BI into the design of new programs.

Piyush Tantia, Chief Innovation Officer at ideas42.

Piyush Tantia is the Chief Innovation Officer at ideas42, one of the first and best applied behavioural science consulting organizations in the world with over 250 projects completed and 28 million lives improved. Piyush shares ideas42’s journey, a few of his favourite recent projects, and insights about how the field has grown over the last decade.

Jiaying Zhao, Associate Professor of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability.

For our final episode of the semester, I’m joined by Jiaying Zhao, who is a co-founding member of UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS) and an amazingly productive researcher at the forefront of applying BI to pressing societal challenges. In sharing some of her favourite projects, Jiaying tells us about the importance of combining lab and field research, the challenges and rewards of working with partner organizations, and tips for encouraging organizations to scale successful results.