Listening in to Plunkett

James Plunkett was recently appointed Chief Practices Officer at Nesta with the Behavioural Insights Team.Nesta is a UK innovation agency for social good: We design, test and scale new solutions to society’s biggest problems, changing millions of lives for the better. That’s pretty ambitious! And interesting… So what is the Behavioural Insights Team?At BIT we improve …

The Power of Good Arguments: Why You Should Care About Logic and Evidence

There is no escaping the rallying calls of different viewpoints in today’s society; each offers its unique perspective with promises of being true and correct. However, not every argument is created equal some possess greater value than others. Good arguments are those built upon facts and logical reasoning, while bad ones rely on emotional tugs …

Your Strongest Beliefs May Not Be True!

We live in a world where the strength of a belief is often taken as the measure of its truth. We have become so accustomed to believing in something with such conviction that we forget that our views might not always reflect reality. This is especially true regarding beliefs about us and others and those …

How to make better mistakes

I’ve made so many mistakes in my life that I have lost count of them. I used to feel bad when I made mistakes. I’d (metaphorically) beat myself over the head when I did. I’d engage in obsessive apologetic behaviour. I’d tell myself off and make repeated commitments not to make any more mistakes. Some …