Articles & Publications
Teaching Senior Leaders to Influence, Elizabeth Stevens
In this article, Dr. Stevens examines the application of influence parameters by executive coaches teaching senior leaders how to deploy influence in a business context. She outlines five key steps an executive coach should follow in order to teach most effectively. Teaching Senior Leaders the Art and Science of Influence: A Toolkit for Executive Coaches […]
Crucial Questions about Target Audience Analysis
A new paper from Tom Wein and Gaby van den Berg of the BDI looks to answer three key questions about Target Audience Analysis: Why is everyone explaining TAA in different ways? What kind of research is right for my TAA? How do I know if the contractor I am about to commission for TAA is any good? […]
Why RAND missed the point on the effectiveness of US Military Information Operations
The authors of Behavioural Conflict have just published an important new article examining the effectiveness of US Military Information Operations in Afghanistan. Responding to the Arturo Munoz’s 2012 RAND report (which is available here) they lay out a powerful critique of that approach to Information Operations. It is an approach, they argue, erroneously founded in the […]
The Perfect and the Possible: Seeking a Frugal Model of Behaviour Change, Tom Wein
Yesterday, we published Rowland and van den Berg’s article, ‘In Pursuit of a Contextual Diagnostic Approach to Behavior Change’. Today, the BDI’s Tom Wein responds, with an article entitled ‘The Perfect and the Possible: Seeking a Frugal Model of Behaviour Change’. He argues that Rowland and van den Berg are too ambitious, given constraints on […]
In Pursuit of a Contextual Diagnostic Approach to Behavior Change, Rowland and van den Berg
In their latest paper for the Behavioural Dynamics Institute, Dr. Lee Rowland and Gaby van den Berg build on Michie et al’s Behaviour Change Wheel, and propose a more sophisticated Behaviour Change Framework, made up of parameters that examine the following domains: Motivation; Social Context; and Informational Context. Crucially, they attempt to devise a diagnostic […]
The ‘narrative strategy’: A politicized strategy for leaving Afghanistan, Tom Wein
Infinity Journal is a new peer-reviewed journal on military strategy. The BDI’s Tom Wein contributed an article to Volume 1 Issue 2, published in Spring 2011, entitled “The ‘narrative strategy’: A politicized strategy for leaving Afghanistan”. Beginning from the bracing premise that ISAF’s current statebuilding strategy cannot succeed in the time remaining, he calls for […]
A Call for Focus in Cultural Diplomacy, Tom Wein
In February 2012, Tom Wein of the Behavioural Dynamics Institute attended the Berlin Freedom of Expression Forum at the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy. There, he presented a brief paper on Western use of cultural diplomacy - a key tool in promoting freedom of expression. Drawing on work by Dr Lee Rowland and Gaby van den […]
Tactical Strategic Communication! Steve Tatham
Commander Steve Tatham profiles General Mackay’s approach with 52 Brigade in Afghanistan, and widens out to a discussion of ISAF, Al-Qa’ida and Taliban strategic communication, providing valuable insights into the competing approaches, and in particular efforts to engage with Arab media outlets and embedded journalists. Examining the case study of the battle for Musa Qala, […]
Effective Influence & Strategic Communication, Lee Rowland
At Matt Armstrong’s Mountain Runner blog, Dr. Lee Rowland offered some first principles for effective influence and strategic communication. Though hopeful about the development of the discipline, he cautions that there is still much more work to do. On the Process of Target Audience Analysis, he notes the following imperatives: recognizing that TAA is not […]
Behavioural Conflict, Andrew Mackay and Steve Tatham
‘Behavioural Conflict; Why understanding people and their motives will prove decisive in future conflict’ was written by Andrew Mackay and Steve Tatham. The BDI’s Lee Rowland is proud to have been asked to write a chapter on the science of influence as part of this important book, that is widely talked about as an important first […]