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President of Vitamin Angels India | Chair of Executive Group Catalyst2030 India | Building Nutrition Equity in India |
𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲? It is not funny how we build systems expecting that ‘common sense’ drives decisions. If that was the case, we would not lose insane number of lives to preventable accidents. Or to under-nutrition! Today, we let 1 million children die of malnutrition every year (World Health Organization). Countless children face life-long morbidities, resulting in severely shortened life or economic potential. But who would want their children to die or remain weak? So it is really common sense to not do anything that exposes us to risks. But if common-sense drove our actions, we would have every driver driving defensively. Every woman would have access and care she needs when pregnant. Every child would have breast-milk in the first half an hour of birth! Doesn’t quite happen. That is the reason why 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 exists as an important body of work and knowledge. Let’s unpack that a little. I have seen 'social and behaviour change’ programs entailing a bunch of 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, distributed in printed or on-screen format. The premise that people would see an instruction and follow it to a T - is flawed! It’s based on common-sense… Doesn’t work! Social and behaviour change is not = Do’s and Don’ts or Instructions. Instructions are mere 'compliance', and should not be mistaken for an intervention. To change behaviours, let's develop stuff that helps people develop their own 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤. This approach would mean getting 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 of undesirable behaviour. And not stop there, but get into the 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 - quite literally. Correct behaviour has to become one’s 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺. Hazard Perception is a simple and effective way to safe driving behaviour, for example. It develops one's muscle memory to take safe-driving decisions. Instructions, enforcement, incentives - these are 𝐧𝐨𝐭 sustainable approaches to social and behaviour change. They sub-consciously drive people to 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 and escape. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 - 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. So work on ‘what drives their decision making’ and not the decision itself. What are some ideas of behaviour-change that have blown you away? #SBC #Nutrition #POSHAN #India #Safety #Change #CSR Vitamin Angels | Catalyst 2030 India Nutrition Collaborative