The Coronavirus has been a great demonstration of how difficult drive behaviour change. Yesterday the UK Government mandated stricter policies to restrict movement after many people across the country continued to socially mingle.
In order for behaviour to happen the following needs to occur:
Behaviour happens when motivation & ability & prompt converge at the same moment (B=MAP) BJ Fogg – Tiny Habits
To date the government has relied on the motivation to “protect the NHS” for behaviour change.
We see so far that this motivational plea has not been sufficient.
Motivation is the weakest of these three variables.
Our motivation comes in waves and is not reliable. We can see as soon as the sunny weather arrived at the weekend how quickly people were motivated to go outdoors.
Ability and Prompt are more powerful levers for change.
Make the behaviour as easy as possible and provide prompts that trigger the desired behaviour.
So far new behaviours have been made harder to adopt by using new, ambiguous terms such as “social distancing” and “self isolation”. Many people are left wondering what do these really mean?
To help overcome these challenges and more effectively enable behaviour change in organisations, I have used a technique called Specification-By-Example.
Typically used by software development teams, to describe how their systems should work but it’s a great technique for any behaviour change.
Examples are described through a simple language:
Given = The context
When = The Prompt
Then = The action (ability)
You can see this in action through a really simple example below:
Given i’m 70 or over
When I need Milk
Then I will ask a relative to purchase on my behalf
And leave the milk on door step
The benefit of this approach is it provides a concrete example for people to design their behaviour.
Importantly it provides a foundation to have a good conversation.
My hope is this post will equip you to have better conversations with parents, children and friends around the desired behaviours. Clearing up ambiguity and discussing real examples.
As coaches, facilitators and leaders you can use this technique in any efforts where behaviour change is desired in your organisation.
The key lessons to takeaway are:
Don’t rely on motivation
Use concrete examples
Make it simple
I’d love to hear your examples in the comments below and on LinkedIn. Here are some more of mine:
Scenarios: Milk
Given i’m exhibiting no symptoms
And i’m under 70
And I do not live with anyone in either of those categories
When i need milk
Then I will visit my nearest supermarket
And maintain a distance of 2 meters
And get over 1 weeks of essential produce
And wash my hands immediately after returning home
Given i’m walking to the supermarket
And someone is walking towards me on a narrow pavement
Then i will cross the road to keep a 2 meter distance
Given I have a persistent cough
When I need milk
Then I will not leave the house
And I will ask a relative/friend/neighbour to bring me milk with other essentials
And leave it on door step
Scenarios: Exercise
Given I have not exercised
When I exercise
Then I will only do a walk, run, or cycle
And limit my activity to less than 30 minutes
And keep a distance of 2 meters
Given I have exercised today
When I feel restless and i need of exercise
Then I will not leave the house
And do an exercise activity indoors
Given I have not exercised
When my friend calls to invite me for a round of golf
Then I will say no
And suggest we play Mario golf on Nintendo switch