About this episode
The episode discusses the limitations of willpower and the effectiveness of commitment devices in achieving goals.
Three thousand years ago, Odysseus tied himself to a mast to resist the Sirens. He didn't trust his willpower, so he removed the choice entirely. Today, Owain Service, co-founder of the Behavioural Insights Team and CEO at CogCo, calls that a commitment device. And modern evidence shows it works for everything from saving money to staying married. --- Owain’s book: https://amzn.to/4smVtrP Owain’s company CogCo: https://cogco.co/ Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Join 11,626 readers of my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- Today’s sources: Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment. In H. Guetzkow (Ed.), Groups, leadership and men (pp. 177–190). Carnegie Press. Ashraf, N., Karlan, D., & Yin, W. (2006). Tying Odysseus to the mast: Evidence from a commitment savings product in the Philippines. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 121(2), 635–672. Behavioural Insights Team. (2013). New BIT trial results: helping people back into work. https://www.bi.team/blogs/new-bit-trial-results-helping-people-back-into-work/…
People in this episode
Host: Phill Agnew
Guest: Owain Service
Topics covered
- willpower
- commitment devices
- behavioral insights
- saving money
- goal achievement
Keywords
- willpower
- commitment devices
- behavioral economics
- saving money
- goal setting
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Behavioural Insights Team, CogCo
Books & works: Why willpower alone doesn’t work, Tying Odysseus to the mast: Evidence from a commitment savings product in the Philippines, Implementation intentions and effective goal pursuit, Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes
More episodes of Nudge
- “How we used nudges reach £12 billion in sales” Octopus Energy's Pete Miller · June 8, 2026 · 41 min
- Enhanced Games: Did the $320m marketing stunt backfire? · June 1, 2026 · 28 min
- What makes a good logo? · May 25, 2026 · 24 min
- How peer pressure built a $5 billion fitness revolution · May 18, 2026 · 22 min
- Prof Wiseman: “My (Failed) Search for the World's Funniest Joke” · May 11, 2026 · 24 min
- Prof Wiseman: “This is how you spot a liar” · April 27, 2026 · 31 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Nudge podcast page.