What tactics can you use to activate behavior change at pace and scale?
Since 2010 we have built experiences that get people to think and act differently in a short space of time. Over the years we have discovered certain catalysts that have a disproportionate impact on changing mindsets and behaviors in organizations. We’ve come to refer to these approaches and their outcomes as activation.
As a process, activation draws on a range of methods to influence the thinking, emotions, and actions of people. As an outcome, it delivers an audience that is capable of more than what they were before. This is because they are motivated, inspired, and enabled to behave in ways that help organizations get to where they need to go.
Until recently, we had written relatively little about our activation methods. They guided our work, and they were brought to life on the Cognician platform. But over the past few months, we have combed through hundreds of programs to pick out the most impactful tactics we have used to activate behaviors. And we have grouped these tactics into eight catalysts for activation. These catalysts are design principles for activation, which we have found have an outsize impact on the hearts, minds, and habits of people. They are:
- Meaning – People are more likely to get behind a change they find meaningful.
- Guidance – The odds of people acting in line with your intentions go up when you give them a Goldilocks level of guidance.
- Contribution – People are intrinsically motivated when invited to contribute to a change.
- Actions – Actions, not information, get people to change.
- Commitment – Making a commitment increases the probability that a person will follow through on their actions.
- Connection – Change is given a boost by enabling people to connect.
- Reflection – Any action turns into a valuable learning experience when people are guided to reflect.
- Insights – Change at scale is turbo-charged when reflections are captured and shared as insights.
The Activation Tactics Cards will help you apply the catalysts and tactics to improve the success of your change initiatives. Here’s how they work …
Each card includes:
- A catalyst, which is the card’s category
- A title, which is the activation tactic
- A story to bring the tactic to life
- Guidance for what you can do in your change program to apply the activation tactic
- A question, which you can ask, to apply the tactic to your change program
You can use the cards to:
- Springboard conversations during your change team meetings.
- Come up with breakthrough solutions to people-related challenges.
- Inspire innovative designs for change programs.
- Create delightful experiences for your change audiences.
- Help you understand people-related challenges by viewing them through the lenses of the catalyst.
- Do a hundred things we haven’t thought of to improve your change programs.
Fill in the form and receive a digital download of our Activation Tactics Cards.
