I'm Afraid Debbie From Marketing Has Left for the Day

How to Use Behavioural Design to Create Change in the Real World

By: Morten Münster

Narrated by: David Bateson

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

With more than 50,000 copies sold in Denmark, this book has been on the bestseller list since its publication in 2017.

Barack Obama used a secret competitive advantage to win two elections. Companies such as Google, Amazon and Novo Nordisk use the same insight to stir up innovation, increase compliance, improve the work environment and sell more products. And successful management groups in the C20 index have started using it as their preferred strategy. But what kind of insight are we talking about here?

The answer is - behavioural design. Because people in the real world don’t actually behave like the people we build all our usual strategies for. We are opposing human biology and psychology when we insist that good arguments, burning platforms, classic change management, pamphlets, campaigns, and joint meetings are the way to go.

Obama, Google and all the rest have instead opted to use an evidence-based approach to change behaviour, and when you’ve read "I’m Afraid Debbie From Marketing Has Left for the Day", you can adopt this approach as well. In his book, Morten Münster has converted 40 years of research in human behaviour into an easily accessible method composed of four steps - a helping hand to all managers and employees who are thirsting for alternatives to conventional means.

©2019 Gyldendal (P)2019 Gyldendal

Even better the second time

Very useful for my work environment. The book is funny and the reader is fantastic.

Great, practical summary of behaviour design

First thing to get out of the way: narrator was not great, and much of Danish humor did not translate well to English. If it sounds like the narrator is obnoxious (in the sound and in the words) - Carey on, it gets better later when the book goes into actual practical things.


As for content - absolute classic. No wonder everyone talked about this book when it came out, and I've heard about it from people from so many different and unrelated backgrounds that I knew I had to check it out. Did not disappoint!

With practical insights into why humans behave the way we do, the author explores what can be done when you want to achieve a certain change in behaviour. If posters and motivational speeches worked, we all would be at the pinnacle of perfection. And since that's not the case, the author suggests a different approach to behaviour design. After all, if something doesn't work - repeating it more won't bring new results.

I found examples relatable, and definitely something I'd take into account in communications. Overall, a fun and easy to read book - just the English version of audio book could be better.

great book about behavioural design.

easy to follow lots of examples. reccomend it if you want to learn more about creating change

Best for using behavioral design to create change!

This book is SO GOOD! Really well written (and narrated), witty, amusing, really engaging examples. Behavioral design is clearly the solution to creating change, and this book teaches you so many excellent techniques, explains why it matters, is backed by data, etc!

The narration is quite good too, really enjoyable to listen to!