Why is behavior change not happening in organizations?
Early on in my career, I worked with orgs where the transformation looked great on paper, maybe because little real diagnosis was made…
I saw the typical things:
The culture of the company was pushing back, people did their own thing, incentives were misaligned, there was little in terms of the meaning of the change shared.
Here are a few things of doing diagnostics for change
Initiatives have taught me:
1. Behavioral change = manipulation: Not even close, because real change isn't about forcing decisions, it's about aligning behavior with what people already want to doiIt's alignment, not control.
2.
Just add nudges
Nudges are fine, until they're put on top of broken systems. Trying to fix friction points with tactics is like putting a Band-Aid on a huge wound.
3.
People are irrational
Come on.. they're not… they're acting rationally given the system they're in, mixed messages, incentives, operational misalignment.
4. Everything can become a habit: no way… real habits need ongoing rewards and supportive environments and in organizations, most actions are active decisions, not autopilot behaviors.
5.
Behavioral tools are magic
They're really not, but they are starting point. The real impact comes from solid diagnosis, and a mapped strategy.
6.
Change is just hard
It's not inherently hard, it's just poorly diagnosed and worked on sometimes. When you skip the problem diagnosis and system analysis, of course it's a mess.
Behind every 'resistance to change' label is usually a broken system no one's fixing.
What's it costing your organization?
