When enabling behavior, it’s important to look at different approaches and combine them.
Think about areas of anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, and design.
The graphic is from a Public Health England paper related to improving people's health.(2018)
It mentions a few themes, which can benefit organizations that want to add a behavioral focus to enable change.
The themes from the paper: (slightly modified for organizations)
1.
Evidence and Theory
Align programs and interventions with evidence-based guidelines from behavioral and social sciences.
2.
Leadership Integration
Make behavioral and social science knowledge mainstream in all operations to improve decision-making - <we have to stop the black box approach!>
3.
Access to Expertise
Support all stakeholders to understand and apply behavioral and social science evidence and approaches.
4.
Tools and Resources
Provide tools to facilitate the adoption of behavioral and social sciences approaches.
5.
Capacity Building
Develop competencies so your employees can deliver interventions underpinned by these sciences.
5.
Research and Translation
Promote funding and relevant research.
6.
Communities of Practice
Establish networks for information exchange and experience sharing.
These 6 themes capture how we can start to get a deeper focus on behavior in organizations, so we can understand the root causes of the challenges we have and address them in the right way.