Behavioral Insights (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

I devoured this book over the course of two days, taking copious notes and highlighting major swaths throughout the book. I've spent years studying behavioral science I'm always excited when a book or paper provides me with new information or when I am able to think about things from a new perspective - this book provided me with both new perspectives and new ideas on behavioral science.We like to believe that our decisions and behaviors are mostly driven by rational, cost-benefit analysis that weighs the pros and the cons of our actions...what this book highlights is that this belief is often mistaken. As the authors state, "much of our behavior is nonconscious, habitual, and driven by cues in the environment or the way in which choices are presented." And while lots of books have been written about the "irrational" way in which be behave, Behavioral Insights provides a lens in which we can view our actions and leverage both our rational and the automatic thinking systems. They bring in some very practical ways that we can apply this lens to our world to improve our outcomes - in work and policy.I also very much appreciated the emphasis on where the field of Behavioral Science is going and the ethical concerns that we need to think about as practitioners and researchers. It is an area that I believe we need to have more focus and conversations on.

Not an easy read and often goes into intellectual puffery. There are some very good concepts in the book but I could have done with something less academic and more useful for actually doing work in BeSci.

Behavioral Insights provides a thoughtful policy and process review of ways in which to influence human behavior. The authors use the term behavioral insights to better capture aspects that go beyond the view of behavior as driven by economics.This book is not an introductory text. Readers with a more than general understanding and interest in behavioral economics will get the most out of this book.If you are interested in the topic, suggest that you read one or more of the books on the topic by Kahnamen “Thinking, Fast and Slow” or Thaler “Nudge” or Ariely “Predictably Irrational”. These books explain and illustrate behavioral economics that once understood bring this book to life. I found Ariely to be the most entertaining of the books, but anyone will do.The power of this book is in its discussion of the author’s experience applying these ideas different social, cultural and individual issues. Michael Hallsworth and Elspeth Kirkman are leaders on the Behavioral Insights Team giving them deep experience. In addition to that experience, both provide a well-reasoned and balanced view of the overall field. While this book is more about policy than application, it does a great job of taking the readers understanding to the next level.Chapter 4 – Applying Behavioral Insights is reason enough to read the book. It offers a clearly laid out approach that the authors used in their work. The clarity and illustrations bring a ‘how do you do that’ dimension lacking in other works.Chapters 5 – Criticisms, Considerations and Limitations presents a thorough and balanced perspective of the strengths and weaknesses of the discipline. The chapter will seem academic and policy oriented, but consideration on these items is essential for the leader and practitionerChapter 6 – The Future of Behavioral Insights looks at how these techniques can be applied in a future with new technologies like data analytics, human centered design, etc.Overall, this is a book I am smarter for having read, but you need to know more than a little to get the most from this book.

Would highly recommend! I thought this was an engaging, accessible summary of behavioral insights in practice. I particularly enjoyed the synthesis of the history of behavioral science, the ethics of its use, and the considerations practitioners should be aware of when applying behavioral science to policy and operations. The authors also provide keen insights into where the field is going, especially for the public sector. It's an engaging read for anyone interested in learning more about behavioral insights and wanting a short, comprehensive primer on where the field stands today and a practical look at considerations and constraints as applied to their work.

I've been working in applied behavior science for over 15 years, and still gained valuable insights from reading this book. Kirkman and Hallsworth have distilled the process of applied behavior science into a clear and concise how-to manual that is a must for any aspiring or active practitioner. Their explanation of the why behind the what empowers readers to take these skills into their own problem spaces. I have already bought a extra copies of this book as gifts and will make it required reading for my team.

Clearly structured, well written and engaging introduction to behavioural insights. Provides a good summary of the trends in social science and public administration that coalesced into this new discipline, while also providing a lot of practical tools and examples of how BI can be applied in practice. Enjoyed it and would definitely recommend to everyone, but especially those looking for a primer.

I was disappointed. Very light on actual researched examples. A majority of the book is devoted to the reasoning behind studying behavioral insights and other surrounding topics. If a person is going to pick this book up at all, I'm pretty sure they've already arrived at the conclusion that behavioral insights is a thing and don't need convincing. Furthermore... if, for some odd reason, they do... maybe it would be a good idea to mention in your description/title that the book is about what is actually about :)If you want to read about behavioral insights, try a different book.

This book is very small in size.And hard to read.The picture is misleading

This book provides the general reader with much more than an “overview” of behavioural insights. It begins with a cogent and comprehensive examination of the evolution of this important approach and goes on to give us practical examples of its application and effectiveness. The book’s careful construction means the reader understands and feels fully engaged with the challenging ideas of the later chapter where the authors consider both the possible limitations of behavioural insights and the important ethical questions the approach may raise. Most exciting, though, is the final chapter, discussing the future of behavioural insights and the approach’s ability to contribute through a balance of “rigor and pragmatism” to the kind of decision making that supports “civic agency” and “healthy democracy”.

A fantastic and unique summary of behavioural insights. It has everything from the subjects beginnings to how to apply these insights. Some very thoughtful comments on the concerns are behavioural science too. For me the highlight of the book was the comments on the future of the field. These clearly come from two authors leading the direction of behavioural insights, as they have for years. A must read for behavioural practitioners and even more important for those being introduced to the subject for the first time.

I'm enjoying this book a lot! It's a great and simple summary of previous concepts, development of behavioural insights and books like 'Nudge', 'Misbehaving'. It's an easy and entertaining read.It's missing the Behaviour Change Wheel by S. Michie and colleagues which is used quite widely in the UK and elsewhere by governments.

I've read a lot on behavioural insights, nudge and related topics ... this is a very clear, accessible, well-written introduction to the subject. It gives background, examples and practical guidance. It doesn’t shy away from the issues around behavioural insights but gives them a fair and balanced analysis. I think you'd struggle to find more useful starting point than this