Writing reports and setting goals is the easy part. Turning those goals into practice is much tougher; as behavioral scientists know, there is often a gap between intention and action.
There’s much to be gained by broadening out from designing choice architecture with little input from those who use it. But we need to change the way we talk about the options.
If behavioral science is baked into the core structures of the organization, then it will continue to produce benefits, regardless of the leadership’s decorative preferences.
The term “irrationality” may encourage overconfidence that prevents behavioral scientists from looking more deeply into what’s driving behavior.
