Episode
Why telling people what to do doesn’t work
- Published
- Feb 4, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1639
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://digitalgovawards.com/podcast/
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/transform-gov-the-digital-government-podcast-6921732/episodes/why-telling-people-what-to-do-doesn-t-work/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/transform-gov-the-digital-government-podcast-6921732/why-telling-people-what-to-do-doesn-t-work.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
What if improving health didn’t start with another campaign telling people what to do? In this episode of Transform Gov, Maeve Kneafsey speaks with Stephen McPeake , founder of Civic Dollars , about a practical, community-led way councils and health bodies are encouraging healthier behaviour — and actually seeing results. Stephen explains why incentives often work better than awareness campaigns, why people push back when they’re told what to do, and how councils and health bodies are using Civic Dollars to improve wellbeing, support local businesses, and strengthen communities. A smart listen for anyone working in public health, local government, or digital transformation. Topics 00:00 – 01:00 Why public services struggle to change behaviour 01:00 – 03:00 A simple idea: rewarding people for time outdoors 03:00 – 05:30 How health activity turns into community impact 05:30 – 09:00 Using incentives instead of prescriptions 09:00 – 12:10 Why public health campaigns don’t work 12:10 – 15:00 Why place matters more than apps 15:00 – 19:00 How innovation gets stuck in pilot mode 19:00 – 27:00 What councils get, what it costs, and what’s next Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.