Throwback Thursday: Evolution's Secret Playbook Sam Tatam

In memory of our friend, Sam Tatam. Sam was a pioneer in his field, and he joined us for a discussion full of creativity, resolve, and a love of behavioral science. He will be missed. Innovation does not always come from inventing something entirely new. Often, the natural world has already solved the problem. In this throwback conversation, we explore the concept of biomimicry with behavioral scientist Sam Tatam, author of Evolutionary Ideas: Unlocking Ancient Innovation to Solve Tomorrow’s Challenges. We discuss how looking to nature can inspire creative solutions in behavioral science and beyond, from the principles of biomimicry to frameworks like the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and the Goal Gradient theory. Along the way, we also wander into lighter territory, chatting about the musical artist Sam once traveled to Italy with and the cultural differences between pubs in London and Sydney. Topics [4:59] Welcome and speed round questions. [13:23] What is biomimicry? [18:20] TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) and evolutionary thinking. [25:32] How language can be a liberator for innovation. [29:28] Categorizing biases into patterns. [34:58] What is the Goal Gradient Theory and why isn’t it applied more often? [9:14] Five psychological contradictions. [47:26] What music would Sam take to a desert island? [51:03] Grooving Session: Evolutionary Ideas.

You can listen to Throwback Thursday: Evolution's Secret Playbook Sam Tatam online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Throwback Thursday: Evolution's Secret Playbook Sam Tatam is an episode from Behavioral Grooves Podcast by Kurt Nelson, PhD and Tim Houlihan.

This episode is 68:14 long.

This episode was published on Mar 12, 2026.

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