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A cross-functional team examining a change initiative together in a workshop.
Online, self paced course for change practitioners

From Change Plan to Behavior Change

Diagnose why adoption fails, then design the conditions that make the new behaviors easier to do.

This course helps you diagnose why the new behavior is not happening and what needs to change around the work.

Join the waitlist See what you will build

Robert Meza Taught by Robert Meza — Founder, Aim For Behavior

Grounded in behavioral and implementation science. Built for the realities of organizational change.

Launching soon
€299Individual access · price at launch

Enrollment opens soon: the waitlist gets the date first.

  • FormatSelf-paced
  • Core teaching~3–3.75 hrs
  • Applied workVaries by initiative
  • Toolkit11 tools (9 core + bonus + capstone)
  • Worked caseOne case, worked end to end
  • Final outputAdoption Conditions Brief
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Team access available for 5 seats. Talk to us

The problem

Most change work fails at the behavior level

When people don't adopt the new process or tool it is very easy to say they are resistant, however, I think a lot of the time resistance is a weak diagnosis, because what looks like resistance may also be telling us something important about the culture, and the conditions for change. The symptom is not the same as the root cause, and so the issue behind the resistance may be that the new way of working doesnt fit the reality of the job or that it removes autonomy without replacing it with something useful.

It didn’t stick.

The initiative launched, but the new way of working never became normal.

We trained people and nothing changed.

Knowledge increased, but behavior in the work did not.

Adoption is uneven.

Some teams changed quickly. Others stalled, worked around it, or quietly reverted.

We don’t know what to change first.

There are too many theories, too many activities, and too little clarity on leverage.

What you will build

Adoption Conditions Brief

By the end of the course, you will produce an Adoption Conditions Brief for a real change initiative: a sponsor-ready synthesis of the target and current behavior, actor system, diagnosis, leadership and culture conditions, adoption conditions design, measurement and sustainment, and recommended next move.

Ten sections, sponsor-ready
Illustrative structure
Change initiative What change are you briefing?
Business outcome What outcome should improve later?
Target behavior Actor + action + context + quality marker.
Current behavior What do they do today instead?
Actor system Who shapes whether the behavior happens?
Diagnosis What is the strongest current explanation?
Leadership and culture What sponsor, manager, and culture signals should change?
Adoption conditions design Which binding conditions should change around the work?
Measurement and sustainment What will be measured, and what happens when the signal turns amber?
Recommended next move What decision, operating move, or evidence is needed next?

Look inside the brief

Preview three pages from the final Adoption Conditions Brief: its ten-section structure, the blank measurement page, and that page completed in the Meridian illustrative composite.

  1. Adoption Conditions Brief page grouping ten sections into Frame the work, Explain the system, and Prove and decide.

    How ten sections become three jobs

    This page groups the ten sections into three jobs: frame the work, explain the system, and prove and decide.

    View full-size page
  2. Blank measurement and sustainment page with fields for the behavior indicator, observable states, truth anchor, owner, governance, and amber action.

    The blank measurement and sustainment page

    The blank page shows the fields learners complete for the behavior indicator, observable states, truth anchor, ownership, governance, and amber action.

    View full-size page
  3. Completed Meridian illustrative composite measurement page with evidence-linked example entries, governance, and an amber action.

    The same page completed in the Meridian illustrative composite

    The Meridian illustrative composite shows a completed measurement page with evidence-linked entries, explicit governance, and a restrained amber action.

    View full-size page

Meridian is an illustrative composite. It demonstrates the method and the discipline of evidence-linked completion; it is not a client result.

You leave with your own brief, built from the tools and evidence in your initiative.

What you will learn

From a vague goal to designed adoption conditions

Three moves, from framing the behavior to sustaining it. The full module detail sits in the syllabus further down.

Frame the behavior

  1. Frame the Change ProblemWhat is the real behavior-change problem?
  2. Specify the BehaviorWho needs to do what, where, and when?
  3. Map Actors and StakeholdersWho shapes, blocks, enables, reinforces, or performs the behavior?

Diagnose adoption

  1. Diagnose Readiness and BarriersWhat is stopping the behavior from happening?
  2. Leadership: Sponsor + ManagerWhat sponsor and manager behaviors shape whether the new behavior gets adopted?
  3. Culture & NormsWhat cultural signals make the old behavior legitimate and the new behavior unsafe?

Design and measure

  1. Design Adoption ConditionsWhat needs to change around the behavior for adoption to happen?
  2. Measure and SustainHow will we know behavior is changing and staying changed?
  3. Capstone: Adoption Conditions BriefCan you do this on a real initiative?

The toolkit

Tools you fill in, not slides you file away

Every module pairs with a tool you apply to the worked case and then to your own initiative. Each tool ships as a worksheet with methodology notes and a fully worked example.

Tool 1

Change Problem Framing Canvas

Turns a vague change goal into a specific behavioral problem statement.

Tool 2

ABC Behavior Specification Canvas

Pins down who needs to do what, where, and when.. before anyone designs anything.

Tool 3

Stakeholder / Actor System Map

Maps the actor system, then identifies the two or three stakeholders whose engagement most affects adoption.

Tool 4

Readiness & Barrier Diagnostic

Tests capability, opportunity and workflow, motivation, readiness, capacity, and priorities, then ranks the evidence-backed barrier hypotheses.

Tool 5

Sponsor Behavior Contract

Converts “leadership support” into named, observable sponsor behaviors.

Tool 6

Manager Activation Sheet

Does the same for line managers.. the people who make or break daily adoption.

Tool 7

Culture & Norms Scan

Surfaces the cultural signals that keep the old behavior legitimate.

Tool 8

Adoption Conditions Map

Designs the response.. matched to the diagnosed barrier, at the right level.

Tool 9

KBI & Sustainment Chain

Defines the behavioral indicators under your KPIs and the sustainment loop that keeps change alive — including the Three-Signal Framework, distinguishing doing it, not doing it, and faking it.

Tool Bonus

Stakeholder Engagement Diagnostic

A deeper engagement diagnostic for complex stakeholder systems.

Tool Capstone

Capstone Brief

The integrating deliverable: your Adoption Conditions Brief template.

Stop relaunching. Start diagnosing.

Join the waitlist and I will let you know when the course opens.

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The method underneath

The method underneath

The course is organized around a practical 7-step adoption workflow: frame the change problem, specify the behavior, map actors and stakeholders, diagnose readiness and barriers, identify leadership and culture gaps, design adoption conditions, and measure and sustain. Underneath it sits the SHIFT method (Specify, Hypothesize, Intervene, Facilitate, Test) and established behavioral science.

SHIFT method spine The fixed SHIFT spine underpins the operational workflow taught in the course.
  1. Specify
  2. Hypothesize
  3. Intervene
  4. Facilitate
  5. Test

Operational course workflow

  1. Frame the change problem
  2. Specify the behavior
  3. Map actors and stakeholders
  4. Diagnose readiness and barriers
  5. Identify leadership, culture, and condition gaps
  6. Design adoption conditions
  7. Measure and sustain behavior change

Who is behind this

Who is behind this

Robert Meza

Robert Meza

Founder, Aim For Behavior

Robert Meza is a behavioral scientist and the founder of Aim For Behavior, a behavioral science consultancy that helps organizations make change happen in real work. The course distils the diagnostic approach AFB uses in consulting engagements. The same diagnosis-before-solution discipline, packaged so practitioners can run it themselves.

I built this course after working and applying change for different organizations and seeing the gaps they needed to fill.

Connect on LinkedIn

Behavioral science, applied to adoption

Behavior changes when the conditions around it change

Change the system default

At Penn Medicine, changing the EHR prescribing default from opt-in to opt-out increased generic prescribing from 75.4% to 98.4%. The 98.4% rate held across 30 months and 2,599,045 post-change prescriptions.

Olshan, Rareshide & Patel (2019), Journal of General Internal Medicine; quasi-experimental health-system study.

Make the desired action automatic

At a large US corporation, automatic 401(k) enrollment increased participation among employees in tenure months 3-15 from 37% to 86%. Many employees also stayed with the default contribution rate and fund, showing why defaults must be designed carefully.

Madrian & Shea (2001), Quarterly Journal of Economics; administrative employer comparison.

Build accountability into the workflow

Across 47 primary care practices, accountable justification reduced inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by 7.0 percentage points and peer comparison by 5.2 points relative to control trends. Suggested alternatives alone did not significantly change the trajectory (P = .66).

Meeker et al. (2016), JAMA; cluster-randomized clinical trial.

These studies show how defaults, workflow design, and accountability changed behavior in specific organizational settings. They are not tactics to copy unchanged or promises of course outcomes. The EHR result came from a single-system quasi-experimental study; Madrian and Shea also found default anchoring; Meeker studied prescribing in US primary care.

Who it is for

Built for people responsible for making change land

This course is designed for practitioners already involved in organizational change, transformation, adoption, implementation, or capability-building work.

Change managersTransformation managersHR and People professionalsOD practitionersL&D leaders and learning designersInternal consultantsService designers working on organizational adoptionProduct, technology, or process adoption leadsProgram managers responsible for benefits realization
Honestly, who it is not for: This is not a general introduction to organizational behavior, a traditional change management certification, or a theory-heavy behavioral science course. It is a practical course with tools for people who need to diagnose and design for adoption in real work.
A working group reviewing evidence around a shared table.

The worked case

One case, worked end to end

Meridian Bank: a mid-size regional commercial bank rolling out a new credit decisioning platform. 150 relationship managers, 25 credit analysts, training done, dashboards green, and the real work still happening in Excel and email. Every module applies its tool to this case before you apply it to your own.

Meridian Bank is a fully worked, bank-realistic illustrative composite built for teaching. It is not a real client engagement.

Full syllabus

Every unit, in order

  • Intro Course Intro 9–11 min

    How does the adoption workflow fit together?

    Orientation to the 7-step adoption workflow and the SHIFT method underneath it.. how the modules, tools, and case connect.

  • M1 Frame the Change Problem 16–18 min

    What is the real behavior-change problem?

    Distinguish between initiatives, outcomes, attitudes, and behaviors.. and turn broad goals like “drive adoption” into a workable problem statement.

    Tool used: Change Problem Framing Canvas · You produce: A first draft of the behavioral change problem

  • M2 Specify the Behavior 17–22 min

    Who needs to do what, where, and when?

    Specify the target behavior using Actor–Behavior–Context logic. Without a specific behavior, diagnosis goes vague and interventions default to generic solutions.

    Tool used: ABC Behavior Specification Canvas · You produce: A clear target behavior and at least one supporting behavior

  • M3 Map Actors and Stakeholders 18–23 min

    Who shapes, blocks, enables, reinforces, or performs the behavior?

    Look beyond the end user. Adoption depends on a stakeholder system.. sponsors, managers, influencers, gatekeepers, champions, blockers, and bystanders.

    Tool used: Stakeholder / Actor System Map · You produce: A stakeholder and actor system map

  • M4 Diagnose Readiness and Barriers 18–23 min

    What is stopping the behavior from happening?

    Diagnose readiness and barriers before choosing interventions.. combining a practical behavioral lens with organizational readiness.

    Tool used: Readiness & Barrier Diagnostic · You produce: A ranked barrier hypothesis for your own change initiative

  • M5a Leadership: Sponsor + Manager 20–25 min

    What sponsor and manager behaviors shape whether the new behavior gets adopted?

    Leadership support is not a message.. it is a pattern of behavior. Translate “sponsorship” into observable sponsor and manager behaviors.

    Tool used: Sponsor Behavior Contract + Manager Activation Sheet · You produce: A sponsor and manager behavior diagnosis

  • M5b Culture & Norms 19–24 min

    What cultural signals make the old behavior legitimate and the new behavior unsafe?

    Culture is visible in what people expect, support, reward, punish, tolerate, and repeat. Translate “culture change” into observable signals.

    Tool used: Culture & Norms Scan · You produce: A cultural-signal diagnosis

  • M6 Design Adoption Conditions 18–23 min

    What needs to change around the behavior for adoption to happen?

    Design adoption conditions instead of defaulting to generic communication, training, or pressure.. choosing strategies that match the diagnosis.

    Tool used: Adoption Conditions Map · You produce: A draft Adoption Conditions Map

  • M7 Measure and Sustain 20–25 min

    How will we know behavior is changing and staying changed?

    Measure adoption as behavior, not just activity, sentiment, or rollout completion.. with a simple KBI chain connecting leading indicators to outcomes.

    Tool used: KBI & Sustainment Chain · You produce: A measurement and sustainment plan

  • Capstone Capstone: Adoption Conditions Brief 18–22 min

    Can you do this on a real initiative?

    Integrate everything into a short, sponsor-ready Adoption Conditions Brief on your own change case.

    Tool used: Capstone Brief · You produce: Your Adoption Conditions Brief

What is included

Format and access

10 focused teaching units

Course Intro, seven numbered modules (with Module 5 split into two teaching units), and a capstone: ten teaching units in total. The revised teaching scripts total approximately 3 to 3 hours 40 minutes.

A worked case from start to finish

Meridian Bank.. a fully worked, bank-realistic illustrative case threaded through every module, so you see each tool applied before you use it on your own initiative.

11 practical tools

Nine core tools, a bonus stakeholder engagement diagnostic, and the capstone Adoption Conditions Brief. Each includes a learner worksheet and a worked Meridian example.

A capstone you can use at work

You finish by producing an Adoption Conditions Brief on a real initiative: a sponsor-ready synthesis of the behavior, the system around it, the design response, and the measurement loop.

Finish with a certificate. Complete the course and receive a From Change Plan to Behavior Change certificate with a unique ID, the course name, and the date awarded, that you can add to your LinkedIn profile.
Individual
€299

Self-paced online course + complete toolkit

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Team · 5 seats
€1249

Five seats for your change, HR, or transformation team

Ask about team access
Organization
Let us talk

Licensing, facilitated delivery, or capability programs for your organization

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Questions, answered

Questions, answered

Who is this course for?
Practitioners already involved in change, transformation, adoption, or capability-building work: change managers, HR and People professionals, OD practitioners, L&D leaders, internal consultants, service designers, and adoption leads. If you are responsible for helping people adopt new ways of working, it is for you.
How long does it take?
Plan for approximately 3 to 3 hours 40 minutes of teaching, plus applied work on your own change initiative. Application time varies with the complexity of the case and the evidence you already have.
Is it theoretical or practical?
Practical. Every module pairs with a tool you fill in: first on a fully worked case, then on your own initiative. You finish with an Adoption Conditions Brief you can put in front of a sponsor. The behavioral science is underneath the workflow, not in your way.
Can my team take it together?
Yes. There is a five-seat team tier, and the tools work well as a shared language for a change or transformation team; several of them are designed to be discussed, not just filled in alone.
Can our organization license it?
Yes. Licensing and facilitated delivery are available for organizations. Book a call and we will work out what fits.
What tools are included?
Eleven tools: nine module tools (problem framing, behavior specification, stakeholder mapping, readiness and barrier diagnosis, sponsor contract, manager activation, culture scan, adoption conditions map, KBI chain), one bonus stakeholder engagement diagnostic, and the capstone Adoption Conditions Brief. Each comes with a learner worksheet, methodology notes, and a worked example.
How does access work?
Self-paced online access through our course platform, the same way our other courses run. You get the video lessons plus the full toolkit to download and keep, and you work through it at your own pace.
How is this different from ADKAR / Kotter?
They help structure parts of the change journey. This works downstream of them: when the plan has been communicated, training has happened, and adoption is still uneven, it helps diagnose why and redesign the conditions around the behavior. A complement, not a replacement.
Is this another change-management framework?
No. It assumes you already have a change plan and method. It's the diagnose-and-design step for when training is done but behavior hasn't followed.

Diagnose the barriers, then design the conditions, so you can enable change

Join the waitlist and be first to know when the course opens.

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