I am not sharing this framework (yet), but instead some lessons that are more practical for those working on change.
In recent months me and my wonderful teams have had to think about and develop different frameworks for different contexts, from digital health to public policy and change management.
I think these frameworks are very important for my work and my clients, because they let us structure the process that needs to happen - though I understand that this process is rarely linear and that there are many loops and cycling back and forth that happen.
I was going to share this older version of my Organizational Behavior Change framework, which was created about 2 years ago, but I realized that it is quite complex and as I was about to upload it, I realized I had to simplify it and make it more practical and actionable.
The point of this framework is not to fully replace those that CM's already use, but to build on top of them, to remove the barriers or the approaches that may not work as well, and to give them tools from behavioral science that can help complement and fill gaps.
While I work on a new version to share, I want to give you 5 tips to help increase the success of your change projects:
1) Use behavioral science to make your analysis/diagnosis sharper Don’t just ask “are people ready?", instead ask why they are or aren’t, because very often the real barriers will be hidden in the systems, norms, and incentives that surround people, not in people themselves.
2) Design engagement around real human motivation
Choice, progress, and connection matter far more than posters or comms campaigns, because when you build environments that support those needs, change is going to feel owned rather than imposed - (this was something we discussed in a leadership project we just completed)
3) Think in terms of behaviors, not attitudes
It’s easier to observe, measure, and design for behaviors than to manage attitudes. You have to shift the focus from things like how do we get buy-in? to what do we want people to do differently (behaviors) and what levers do we have to make that easier or harder to do.
4) Use social dynamics as a lever Change doesn’t always spread top-down, it moves from peer-to-peer. Things like social proof, modeling, and norms are often stronger drivers than any memo/slack message or email that gets sent out.
5) Treat change as an ongoing experiment, not a rigid rollout
You can't underestimate the power of prototyping and testing interventions. They will let you gather feedback and adapt as needed. In the end the best teams don’t assume they’ll get it right first time, because even with a systamtic and evidence based way of working, we are still trying to prove a hypothesis.
What other tips would you share, that have worked for you?