Nudge Theory is one of the most powerful management tools for fostering motivation and compliance, prompting such behaviour at a relatively sub-conscious level amongst the target audience, rather than adopting a more direct, hard-wired but seemingly sermonising management approach.
Given its fundamental premises, practical implementation of Nudge Theory in specific contexts requires the adoption of relatively more creative approaches in niche areas such as public policymaking and project design, thus seamlessly blending with the clarion call to India’s bureaucracy by her visionary Prime Minister—now elected for the third time running—for implementing out-of-the-box solutions in the delivery of public services.
This brief note looks at some recent implementations of this powerful theory in the State of Rajasthan and lessons arising therefrom.
Use Case #1: Traffic Compliance free with Heatwave Protection
With heatwaves rising all over North India, Rajasthan’s Chief Secretary suggested experimenting with the use of green shades at traffic intersections in some cities, with a view to relieving heat-related stress amongst commuters stranded under a harsh and very strong sun as they wait for traffic lights to change. A very dynamic Commissioner heading Jaipur Nagar Nigam picked up the idea, and working closely with traffic police in the City of Jaipur, undertook some trial implementations at selected traffic intersections.
Medium-shade green cloth was used allowing flowing air to pass freely, preventing damage to shades because of high winds, while an underlying bamboo structure provided a light and flexible support system for shading commuters waiting patiently underneath.
The experiment originally intended to relieve heatwave-related stress had an interesting outcome: since the shadow cast on the road stopped just short of zebra crossings, commuters starting automatically stopping at red lights to escape the heat, rather than act in a hurry-as-usual method and sweat it out in the sun in the process.
Traffic compliance by road commuters at intersections has thus been automatically nudged by a mechanism that was originally intended to protect them from scorching heat!
Use Case #2: Prompting Timely e-File Disposal
Another interesting intervention in the State has been in timely disposal of government file work, given the new Chief Secretary’s focus on timely decision-making by public officers in various departments.
When he started focussing on the issue in fortnightly meeting of senior officers soon after taking charge, some officers started taking shortcuts only to make them look very efficient—using (and abusing) mechanisms like creating artificial windows for submission of files by their junior officers at preset time periods, or making their personal assistants regularly move files of their bosses into the former’s own inboxes just so that average time disposal by the bosses would be curtailed significantly!
This left officers interested in more sincere compliance with the Chief Secretary’s mandate in quite a difficult position of having longer file disposal times as compared to those simply taking shortcuts.
Perhaps in response to some of these genuine concerns being faced by the more sincere officers, the Department of Information Technology upon directions of the Chief Secretary started a very simple intervention of sending pre-set SMSs to officers at 9:30 am and at 6:30 pm every day, with the original purpose of reminding them of the pendency in their inboxes to prompt action after receipt of the SMSs.
This however, led to a more interesting outcome: just the “psychological” impact of knowing that “so-many-files-pending” SMSs would arrive at 9:30 am every morning has now led to a situation that most officers have started disposing file work rather early in the day, in advance of the 9:30 am and 6:30 pm time slots, as nothing probably beats the feeling of a psychological “win” when one gets a zero- or near-zero files pending message at the appointed time!
A measure that was thus originally intended to remind officers of the pendency of file work, has now led to their being auto-motivated for early and timely disposal, prompted by the “subconscious award” and the joy of receiving a “zero files pending” SMS every day.
Lessons and Moving Forward
Public policymaking and project implementation, of course, require much more complex solutions than those designed for simpler situations such as traffic compliance and timely disposal of file work.
An interesting application of Nudge that is currently under informal discussion between some road engineers and senior forest officers in Rajasthan relates to road infrastructure upgradation in forest areas, for instance, in the context of experiences with construction of elevated roads in forest area—a high-cost measure that was intended to provide for alternative pathways for road users (the elevated road) and for wildlife (the area underneath).
However, preliminary anecdotal evidence shows that with the rising number of SUV users in rural areas (coupled with a fondness of fast driving that the SUVs enable in the first place), the elevated road solution while increasing infrastructure costs may have led to enhanced dangers for wildlife as speedy cars frequently meet wildlife crossing the paths of such high-speed but careless road users.
The original solution thus seems to have had unintended anti-wildlife implications, rather than being a pro-wildlife solution as initially envisaged. An alternative approach that may work better in practice could be introducing speed-slowing measures (such as stone/ cobbled roads) in forest areas, coupled with faster speed road networks located just outside such forest areas.
Road commuters would then be nudged into making conscious choices amongst competing options—choose to drive slower in forest areas at speeds that are more respectful of wildlife, versus driving at faster speeds on longer routes outside the forest areas and opt for a “better” driving experience.
Simultaneously, public works (and forest) departments would be nudged away from suggesting (and agreeing to) high-speed shortcuts through forest areas all the time, simply because spending volumes of public money on a high-cost elevated road doesn’t really pinch a government official (or a high-level decision-maker in the political executive hierarchy) personally, in either of these departments.
Preliminary evidence, even if anecdotal; along with an insistence on prior analysis of options from nudge theory perspectives as suggested above, could thus throw up valuable and worthwhile alternatives to traditional policy making and project design in the public sector in India, encouraging much more creative and out-of-the-box thinking as envisioned by her dynamic Prime Minister.
(The author is Additional Chief Secretary, Public Works Department, Government of Rajasthan; Views are personal)
