Dr. Arvind Singhal, expert in Positive Deviance and professor at the University of Texas where he teaches the subject, says context, communication, and micro behaviors are the keys to identifying and understanding positive outliers. 

Through positive deviance, people are able to solve problems or have better success without extra resources, and often against great odds. 

Yet, somehow they persevere. 

Arvind shares compelling examples of this – most notably the stories of two Indian villages that are tremendously successful at controlling the covid-19 pandemic. 

Check out this interview to hear from Arvind about by analyzing the data around these positive deviants, we can have success with problems. 

Because human behavior is the variant, we must analyze their micro-behaviors and understand the context. 

Be sure to check out Arvind’s newest book, The Art of Positive Deviance, a Radically Different Way of Solving the World’s Toughest Problems, which launches on June 11th. You can find some of his previous books on Amazon.

Connect with Dr. Arvind Singhal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvind-singhal-0a00b32/

Topical time codes:

00:44 – Positive deviance

2:33 – Examples of positive deviance in 2 Indian villages battling covid19

6:59 – Micro-behaviors, pay attention to positive variations

11:55 – Recognizing deviants

16:26 – The role of data & analyzing micro-behaviors

20:51 – Role of context, relationship, communication 

23:48 – Takeaway message: be humble

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