People look sideways before they move forward.

No signal? They freeze.
Wrong signal? They follow straight into the wrong behaviour.

Think:

Showering and reusing towels
A hotel guest wondering whether to reuse their towel, there isn't a clue on what is expected of them.
vs
Drinking pints of beer
Drinking more than you would like because everyone around you is enjoying a pint or 3. So you go with the flow.

“If I ask, ‘What do people like you normally do?’, can they answer easily?”

If they hesitate, the norm is missing.
If they smirk and say “We always do X,” the norm may be risky.

What to do

Behaviour Kit – Strategy Selector

What you’ll notice

  • “What does everyone else do?” emails
  • Uptake lags until a leader demos first
  • Wide scatter of choices, no clear majority

Why it happens

People wait for a visible majority before feeling safe to copy.

Select a strategy to reveal tactics:

Surface real numbers (“78 % of your peers chose this setting”).

Animate live counts, spotlight trending choices, celebrate first movers.

What you’ll notice

  • Team jokes about skipping safety checks
  • “Everybody does it” used as a shield for poor practice
  • New hires conform within days

Why it happens

The existing norm is visible and identity-defining, so it overrides policies.

Select a strategy to reveal tactics:

Slow the default habit: extra confirmation, staggered timing, cooldown steps.

Re-anchor identity: “Teams who double-check ship 30 % fewer bugs.”

Why it matters

People don’t just copy others.
They want to fit in.
And that means reading the room.

Norms are the hidden rules of “how we do things around here.”
They tell us what’s expected, what’s acceptable, and what will get us side-eye at lunch.

It's the idea that humans have evolved to detect and follow group expectations. To fit in and maintain group harmony.

But norm signals can be:
Missing: so people stall, unsure what’s expected. They don’t want to do the “wrong” thing.
Misleading: people follow the crowd, even if it leads to bad outcomes.

And once a norm takes hold, it spreads fast.
Even if it’s the wrong one.

This is how bad habits become group habits.
“I guess this is just how we do things here.”

If you want behaviour to shift, shift what feels normal.
Make the right behaviour visible.
Make the risky one feel like the odd one out.

The science bit

Behaviour Resources

Focus Theory of Normative Conduct

People litter less when they see others keeping it clean – and more when they see rubbish.

→ Highlight the behaviour you want copied.

Descriptive Norms vs Approval Cues

Energy feedback cut use in high-use homes but raised it in low-use ones – a smiley face fixed the rebound.

→ Pair “what others do” with “what’s approved.”

The Grammar of Society

Norms need both empirical (“others do it”) and normative (“others expect it”) signals.

→ If people can’t see what’s expected, they won’t act on it.

Norm Messengers in School Networks

Disciplinary issues dropped 30 % when respected students modelled anti-conflict behaviour.

→ Norms spread faster through people, not posters.
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