Reflections on the 2024 Behaviour Change Masterclass

Behaviour change, backed by science‍

For Ingrid Longley, Head of Product and Corporate at Bullshift, the Behaviour Change Masterclass offered a way to strengthen her team’s capacity to turn learning into lasting, meaningful change. 

“We’re always looking for ways to help our clients and learners embed the content we teach,” she explains. “The scientific analysis of human behaviour provides a valuable lens for understanding why people behave the way they do.”

For consultant Nicola Brandon, then Head of Strategic Communications for WA Return Recycle Renew, the decision was shaped by an earlier collaboration with BehaviourWorks Australia: a behavioural science review for the WA Container Deposit Scheme.

“That project opened my eyes further to the opportunities behavioural science offers,” she says. “The learnings were fascinating and highly effective, which made me keen to deepen my knowledge.”

Though both had professional exposure through their work, neither participant had formal behavioural science training before they enrolled.

A Careful, Hands-On Approach 

Both Ingrid and Nicola emphasise the course’s practical nature and accessible delivery.

“Using systems and frameworks to map likely behaviour encourages a ‘no stone left unturned’ approach to change,” Ingrid reflects. 

“It’s not one of those big, intimidating academic courses,” Nicola says. “It’s engaging for people at many different levels and career stages.”

The Masterclass structure helps identify potential pitfalls early, before ideas reach implementation - a benefit both participants valued.

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From theory to practice 

The course is designed to give participants sharper tools and greater confidence when it comes to approaching behaviour-change work. For Nicola, it provided the context she needed to design her way around intended change:

“I can now draw on specific frameworks and approaches to design more effective interventions and communications,” she says. “Real impact doesn’t come from simply raising awareness, it comes from helping people change what they do. Behaviour-change skills provide the tools to do exactly that.”

Ingrid says the course was “a reminder to develop content critically, pay attention to detail, and anticipate how it may be received … even unintentionally, so that we can adapt as needed.”

The value of expert facilitation and peer learning

As anyone who has ever been a student can attest, structured learning is only as good as those at the helm.

“I enjoyed the passion and enthusiasm with which the facilitators communicated the course,” Ingrid reflects. “Their framing also helped to make sometimes-complex concepts relatable and accessible.”

“The facilitators were excellent; they offered a wide range of perspectives and were incredibly engaging,” Nicola agrees. “The flexibility of being able to complete the course in my own time was [also] a real bonus.”

The peer environment enriched the experience, Ingrid adds. “Working through concepts with people in the room, from various professional backgrounds and industries, opened up the perspectives, encouraging us to look at our own focus areas from multiple perspectives. 

“It was also encouraging to meet people from around the country that are working hard to create meaningful, sustainable, behaviour change.”

Takeaways that stick

For both women, the Masterclass provided tools they’ve continued to apply in their work - from early identification of risks, to more strategic intervention design, to maintaining a critical, adaptive mindset.

“It’s given me more confidence to integrate behavioural science principles into the projects and strategies I lead,” Nicola says. “Once I was into the content, it was genuinely addictive - you could say it was behaviour-changing in itself.”

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