Behavioural science lessons to improve board diversity -Dowshan Humzah and Rory Sutherland

What lessons can we learn from #behaviouralscience that will help us improve #board diversity?
This was recorded as part of Getting on Boards' Festival of #rusteeship on 9th November 2022 featuring Dowshan Humzah and Rory Sutherland - chaired by Penny Wilson, CEO.
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Have you ever upped your donation on a giving page to match the norm of others? If so, it was probably Nudge Theory that influenced you.
The concept of #nudge theory was introduced by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their book: ‘Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness’ in 2008.
It’s based upon the idea that by shaping the environment, also known as the choice architecture, one can influence the likelihood that one option is chosen over another by individuals. A key factor of Nudge Theory is the ability for an individual to maintain freedom of choice and to feel in control of the decisions they make.
Nudge Theory has been applied to business management, healthcare, politics and fundraising. Can it also help board diversity?
Rory Sutherland and Dowshan Humzah think so.
Rory is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy agency, TED Global speaker and he has founded a behavioural science practice. He examines the small contextual changes in consumer behaviour which can have enormous effects on the decisions people make.
Dowshan is an independent board director and strategic advisor passionate about creating a more inclusive society and working environment. He has also pioneered something called 'creative consulting' i.e. thinking differently to achieve transformative growth.
Together the duo explore how boards can improve their quality and composition by being nudged towards greater diversity in a one of its kind webinar and live Q&A during Getting on Board's Festival of Trusteeship 2022.
What lessons can we learn from other sectors? Do those lessons hold the key to better board diversity in the charity sector? What can we learn from hotel bathrooms, fast food restaurants or electric cars? Is it bonkers to think that trustees behave like consumers and that we have anything to learn from product marketing? And who decides what is "desirable behaviour" for such nudges anyway?
Chaired by Getting on Board CEO, Penny Wilson, this session is for anyone with an active interest in making trusteeship and indeed board directorship in any sector more representative of wider society.
This event is part of Getting on Board's Festival of Trusteeship and takes place on Wednesday 10 November 2022 7-8pm.