The best way to design a new behaviour

I know a 'lean systems' expert. Her role in aerospace manufacturing is to observe factory processes and find ways to improve efficiency. This includes repositioning machines and materials as well as optimising the flow of materials through the space. Importantly, it also involves changing people: their ideas, habits, and practices, though people generally dislike change.

Years ago, when I started coaching, the topic of how people change was at the forefront of my mind. People aspire to change, but the reality is that default behaviour can be much more stubborn to shift than we expect. I asked my aerospace friend about how she overcame this tricky problem – how do you get people to adopt a new way of doing things – and she had the most brilliant and simple piece of advice.

Good behaviour design. Make it harder to do it any other way.

We prefer the easiest route, the path with the least friction. The key is to plan ahead, to prepare in advance. It can be argued that willpower or self-control is more about careful preparation, making the desired behaviour easier when the moment comes. This presents an engaging design challenge for the Day Crafter. If you're aiming to adopt a new habit or break a harmful one, how might you design and craft the day so that the behaviour you want becomes the default—the easier choice to make? Your ideas can serve as a valuable experiment.

The Practice

You really need to be motivated to adopt a new behaviour. If your motivation is lacking, the technique above probably won't work. If you think you're nearly motivated, try making the behaviour smaller or easier until your motivation kicks in.

The next step is design: if it's a behaviour you want to do but haven't, make it easy and obvious, and make alternatives more difficult. If it's a behaviour you want to avoid, make it very difficult or impossible. For example, if I don't want to keep eating biscuits, I can move them out of my way or avoid buying them in the first place.