My 5- and 7-year-old nieces had no idea that this was a phone.
So I called them on a smartphone to prove it worked, kind of like a walkie-talkie.
They were amazed.
It was both hilarious and strangely profound. To them, every phone is a smartphone. They don’t even realise other kinds exist. Why would they?
It reminded me how much of our understanding is shaped by what we’re exposed to. We can’t question what we don’t even know exists.
For most of my life, I thought behaviour change required two things:
❌ Awareness of the problem;
❌ Motivation to change it.
Just like my nieces assumed all phones were smart, I assumed all change was driven by willpower and conscious choice.
👉 But behavioural science teaches us something radically different: Behaviour can change without awareness or motivation.
Sometimes, all it takes is a change in the environment, a subtle cue, or a design tweak, and we act differently without even realising why.
If you think that’s both scary and exciting, you’re right.
Whatever business you’re in, you’re in the business of behaviour.
Time to upgrade the techniques you’re using.
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