Discover how to drive rapid change with behavioral tactics. Learn about actions that can boost transformation outcomes by as much as 400% in just four weeks.
Why does driving change feel like turning a cruise liner, when it could be as swift as steering a speedboat? In many cases, it's because change leaders rely on traditional methods that fail to grab attention and involve people in the change process. Conventional approaches such as communications campaigns and training programs often fall short. Communications campaigns have a limited lifespan – their impact fades as time passes. Training programs are often more focused on content delivery than on the participants and the real-world outcomes they need to achieve. The result? People may understand the change but fail to translate that understanding into action. So how can you catalyze real change? The answer lies in applying principles from behavioral science.
The corporate landscape is changing so fast that organizations need to invest in change capability as much as in change programs. That means empowering their people to integrate behavioral science into how they drive and respond to change. Companies invest in change initiatives hoping to become more agile or resilient. But these goals are much more attainable when you use behavioral science to activate change.
It's a common misconception that if you want people to do new things, you have to train them. At Cognician, we apply behavioral tactics in our change programs to achieve remarkable results. Like a 475% increase in software adoption in four weeks. Or a 1,600% uplift in the application of power skills as measured by feedback logged in Workday. Or achieving a 5% increase in billable hours in the first month on the job. See what I mean? In each case, we've helped a cruise liner to turn like a speedboat.
What would have happened if we'd offered our clients traditional training programs instead of what we delivered? Well, they would have learned about new software. They would have learned about feedback. And they would have learned about how to increase billable hours. But they wouldn't necessarily have used new software, given any feedback, or billed any actual hours. We began with these ends in mind and applied behavioral tactics to get people to take the kinds of actions that training programs aim for but seldom achieve.
In addition to training programs and communications campaigns, many organizations rely on another traditional method of driving change: performance reviews. The hoped-for outcome is that performance reviews drive accountability. But the reality is that performance reviews are periodic and often focus on past performance. They don't create the daily momentum needed for rapid behavior change. The core issue is that change managers often ignore the psychological drivers of human behavior. They don't take the time to understand what truly motivates individuals, so they rely on methods that miss the mark. When you approach change from the perspective of behavioral science, you start from a different position.
At Cognician, our starting point is to ask, "Who is the audience? And what is meaningful to them?" When we design activation experiences and nudges for the audience, we improve our chances of earning their attention and involving them in the change. For example, imagine you're struggling to get a group of people to adopt a new HR system. You're barreling toward the holidays and a new year, and you haven't yet met your adoption targets. You could try boosting communications, but that hasn't worked up to this point. Training isn't going to work because you don't have the time – and neither does the audience. And performance reviews aren't for another quarter. So, you take the approach we use at Cognician, and you ask, "What is meaningful to this audience?" It's only by asking that question that you can come to these realizations:
It's the holidays. What is meaningful to people? Their leave balance! We can boost adoption of the HR system if we nudge the group to explore their leave balances and book vacation time. And while they're though the door of the system, we can reward them for trying out other functions, which they can share about on Teams.
When you take this kind of approach, you narrow the gap between intentions and desired behaviors. Adoption goes one way only: up! No communications, training, or performance reviews required.
The future of change management lies in enabling change managers to apply behavioral science principles effortlessly. When they do, we see a surge in quicker, more sustainable transformations.
So how do you bring more of this kind of thinking into your change work? One place to start is to research behavioral taxonomies. This will help you to categorize human behavior into understandable segments. Another is to apply some of behavioral science's key principles to everyday change problems. Start with nudges – small and subtle reinforcements that guide your people toward desired behaviors. You can also use tools like Cognician's Transformation Tactics, which gives change managers a tangible way to apply powerful behavioral tactics to their work. And whatever you do, remember to monitor and adjust what you're doing as you go. Track your progress and adapt your strategies based on what the data suggests. Finally, don't forget to engage your people and celebrate your victories. Celebrating small wins can propel your transformation journey by putting wind in your people's sails.
Driving change at speed isn't a pipe dream; it's very much within reach. By harnessing behavioral science, we can achieve rapid, measurable results in our work. Instead of keeping up, we may even outpace the rate of change.
What approach have you found to be the most effective in driving rapid change within your organization?
