If These Pigeons Can Innovate, So Can You
Hello!
I took an impromptu break from the newsletter as my September and October were laden with in-person events and speaking much to my delight.
Now, with my size sixes back on solid ground I finally found a moment to pause and write up this beauty of a newsletter.
All about habits, innovation, and pigeons. 🐦
Humans and habits.
I’ve always had a theory that there are two types of people you can set your watch by: commuters and day drinkers.
When I was a commuter, my morning was precisely measured.
The same shower, the same coffee, the same train seat (if I was lucky), and the same familiar faces standing on the platform.
We all followed a comfortable routine, day in and day out. And when I worked in bars, the day drinkers were just as predictable.
You could set your watch by their orders: the Thursday 12:05 pint of Stella (to be served in two halves a habit from his Californian days), or the farmer who arrived like clockwork for his Harveys at 12:30.
Routines provide comfort, predictability, and security for all of us.
They regulate our emotions. Make us feel all is right in a world of chaos.
But here’s the thing: while routines can make life easier, they rarely lead to innovation.
Or do they?
Just like the commuters on the platform or the day drinkers at the bar, businesses develop their own rituals—ways of doing things that feel efficient but may actually limit new thinking.
This is where we can learn a lesson from pigeons and the power of intentional rituals.
From Pigeons to Innovators: How Rituals Can Unlock Creativity in Your Business
In 1947, behavioural psychologist B.F. Skinner conducted a now-famous experiment involving pigeons that sheds light on how rituals (or superstitious behaviours) develop and how purposeful actions can lead to innovation.
Skinner placed two sets of pigeons in different experimental setups:
The “Superstitious” Pigeons: In the first group, food was delivered at completely random intervals, unrelated to any specific behaviour of the pigeons.
Over time, something curious happened.
The pigeons began to develop what Skinner called “superstitious” behaviours.
Some birds turned in circles, others pecked at a particular spot, and some made odd head movements. Each their own little innovation. A way to make sense of the randomness.
Despite the randomness of the food delivery, the pigeons came to believe that their specific actions were causing the food to appear.
They innovated in their own way, creating behaviours they believed would help them control the situation, even though they couldn’t.
This need to create patterns and meaning is something we humans do as well; when faced with uncertainty, we too create rituals to feel in control.
Like having that coffee in your favourite mug on the way to the train station.
The “Reinforced” Pigeons:
In the second group, food was delivered when the pigeons pressed a button.
The pigeons learned the direct connection between their action (pressing the button) and the reward (receiving food).
Their behaviour was purposeful and efficient, driven by a clear understanding of cause and effect. They stopped flapping about and realised they needed to just perform the one habit that producted results.
In the case of the first group, even though there was no logical connection between the pigeons’ actions and the food delivery, they created rituals to try to regulate the randomness.
They innovated because they needed to make sense of the situation, even though their rituals didn’t actually affect the outcome.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
Everything.
Humans, just like Skinner’s pigeons, often develop rituals to make sense of uncertainty.
Sometimes we innovate to control situations that feel random, even though those innovations might not lead to productive results.
In business, these can become routines we repeat because they give us a sense of order, but are they really driving success?
Which Pigeon are you?
Have you learned to “peck at the lever”?
To follow actions and routines that get results?
Or have you created your own rituals in response to uncertainty?
Innovation is a big thing in business, but it’s important to assess how it helps or hinders progress.
Clinging to rituals because they feel safe is a hindrance to progress.
Truly innovating to solve problems relies on recognising the result of our actions. Not just the feeling.
Innovation then becomes a strategic process, rather than a reaction to randomness.
Businesses can thrive when they develop purposeful rituals, much like the second group of pigeons.
Intentional rituals like regular brainstorming sessions or innovation sprints can help businesses channel their creativity towards meaningful results.
While those rituals were random for the pigeons, in business, intentional rituals can be designed to foster innovation and drive real results, rather than ones that leave you spinning in circles trying to make sense of life.
Rituals as a Tool for Innovation
Rituals, when designed with purpose, can help you move beyond automatic habits and foster innovation. In fact, many of the world’s most innovative companies have developed intentional rituals to encourage creativity and experimentation:
Daily stand-ups, hackathons, or “Innovation Fridays,” for example, create opportunities for teams to break out of routine work and explore new ideas.
These rituals, done consistently, help employees associate these practices with creativity and breakthroughs—just as Skinner’s pigeons associated their behaviours with receiving food but in this case with intentional and productive results .
Fail Fast, Learn Faster: One of the most powerful rituals in innovative companies is the idea of celebrating failure as a learning opportunity.
By ritualising failure as a positive (like after action reviews), companies enable a freer flow of bold ideas .
Breaking Free from Old Rituals
Sometimes, innovation requires us to break free from entrenched rituals.
Like the pigeons believed their superstitious behaviours were key to getting food, and companies often get stuck in old routines that no longer serve them.
Think of Blockbuster vs Netflix. Blackberry vs iPhone. British Home Stores (BHS) vs. ASOS:
Stuck in the rituals of old, flapping about feeling like they had control.
💪 Bold Behaviour Challenge
Identify one habitual routine in your business or team. How could you turn that routine into a meaningful ritual that fosters innovation?
Implement it for a week, and tell me the result!
Some cool articles on BeSci and Pigeons.
[1] Behavioral Science and Innovation
[2] Make or Break the Behaviors Within the Innovation Process
[3] How Behavioural Science Drives Successful Innovation
[4] Frontiers in Psychology: Behavioral Science
[5] Top 10 Innovations Tackling Mental Ill Health
[6] PMC: Behavioral Science Study
[7] Hackeducation: Skinner’s Pigeons
[8] Smithsonian: Skinner’s Pigeons and Unusual Sciencel start associating these rituals with opportunities for breakthroughs, leading to a culture of continuous innovation.
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