Robert Meza · LinkedIn note
(hint, start here first) The reason this matters is that most barriers aren't sitting where you think they are.
Aim For Behavior · 2026-03-13

Change programs that focus only on the individual won't change anything...

You need a broader thinking tool, that pushes you to look at three levels at once..

This tool called ISM (Scottish Government) can help you do that, we use it in our work, and it has 3 parts

1) Individual: what's going on inside the person is important of course, their beliefs, their habits, their sense of what's expected of them, their capability to actually do the things required in the change.

2) Social: what's going on between people, these are the norms that go through a team, who the informal role models are and what happens to someone who tries the new behaviour.

3)Material: what's going on in the system around them, the ime, tools, processes, the default settings of the environment they work in. (hint, start here first)

The reason this matters is that most barriers aren't sitting where you think they are. Take for example a manager who doesn't give developmental feedback probably isn't lacking a values poster, instead they might not have a trusted way to structure the conversation (individual), they've watched colleagues do it and get sidelined (social), there is simply no protected space in how 1:1s are run (material).

Same behaviour, but three completely different interventions depending on where the barrier actually sits.

The framework doesn't tell you what to do, It tells you where to look before you decide.. now you should connect this to the interventions you do, and while this takes effort, it is possible... we have a system for it.

I'll be sharing more on how to use ISM as a diagnostic tool for org change, as I think it is a nice tool, perhaps in a longer format.