Advancing behavioural economics through positive deviance: Attending to the microworld of second-track processes

Abstract

Behavioral economists interested in solving wicked problems can benefit from a deeper understanding of positive deviance (PD), an approach for spreading innovations by identifying the novel and effective practices of positive outliers—those who have solved the problem against all odds. In this article, we contend that the PD approach (1) represents a vital condition of problem-solving using Second Track Processes, emphasizing conversation, coordination, and collaboration among multiple stakeholders, each accompanied by their lived realities, agendas and constraints; and (2) allows us to focus our attention on the microworld of human interaction—the local context where life is authentically thrashed out by partners and participants amidst complexity.