Three Ways to Stop Fighting Human Nature
Most change work assumes people will just do what makes logical sense, but if we don't design the behavior we're not going to get the outcomes we hope for.
1. Find the friction in your system
When I audit why adoption is low, the problem is rarely motivation, instead, it's usually system friction. A government agency couldn't understand why their new technology tools weren't being adopted despite months of training. I found friction points where the new systems created extra steps without making anyone's job easier.
I map these friction points in workflows, tech choices, and the gap between what organizations say matters and what they actually measure. The resistance you're seeing is your system telling you something's broken.
2. Design motivation that actually works I've seen too many companies try to motivate their way out of design problems. A tourism company required employees to follow exact scripts for every customer interaction.
They thought consistency would improve service, but turnover was hurting them because the job felt robotic.
When we redesign motivational systems, we should pay attention to: – Giving people meaningful choices within constraints that matter – Creating feedback that shows real progress – Connecting work to outcomes people genuinely care about
You can’t force motivation if your system is working against human needs.
3. Make the right behavior feel normal Organizations need to map what behaviors actually get rewarded versus what the policy manual says. They need to align formal and informal reward systems so they reinforce the same behaviors, make desired behaviors more visible, create natural accountability between peers, and ensure what gets measured matches what gets rewarded.
What you can do
Make sure you get these three areas working together, if they don't, you get isolated solutions that fail.
- You can’t build motivation if workflows create friction. - You can’t shift culture if your reward systems contradict your strategy.
Most organizations exhaust themselves trying to motivate their way out of system problems, instead of fixing what's actually broken.