Is your change model missing something?
Most change models (Kotter's 8 steps, ADKAR, etc.) tell you what to do but not why it works. Follow the recipe, check the boxes, hope for the best. When things fail, you're stuck with no insight into what went wrong.
What's Missing are the Mechanisms of Action:
Behavioral science provides that missing piece, the psychological processes that explain WHY certain practices work. Instead of just "communicate the vision" (what), you understand it builds meaning (why).
While I currently work on a project with a team, I shared with them thoughts from recent research which identified three core mechanisms most change efforts overlook: (2024 study in Journal of Organizational Behavior)
•Mastery: People need to feel capable of navigating what's coming •Meaning: People need to see the change as legitimate and worthwhile •Belongingness: Change disrupts relationships and identity
Most change programs accidentally undermine all three, which tells me that we don't have a resistance problem, we have more of a design failure.
How can you apply this?
Think of these three needs are your first diagnostic layer, and then use the steps below to go deeper:
1) Diagnose the real drivers: What's really happening? Skills gap? Time constraints?
Misaligned incentives? Social pressure?
2) Align your systems: Training may build mastery, but if KPIs still reward old behaviors, guess which ones make it? At the end, systems beat workshops every single time.
3)Work with culture: Culture isn't Values Posters, it needs to be tangible and grounded on behaviors.
Before launching change, ask:
•How will this help people feel more capable? •How will they find personal meaning? •How will we maintain social connections?
Can't answer? Your change won't go as planned, regardless of how polished your plan looks.
In the end, change doesn't fail because people resist or because your framework is bad, it underperforms because leaders follow steps without understanding mechanisms.
Mastery, meaning, and belongingness are visible signs of whether change has a chance, and you need to account for them, but also include systematic diagnosis, system alignment, and cultural work that is tangible.
This is the kind of work we support organizations with each year... and I share these thoughts with you, so perhaps you can align and combine change and behavioral science like we do and see different results.