Build Habits

Build Habits is a Path method from Switch for making change less dependent on moment-to-moment self-control. It turns a useful, repeatable behaviour into a routine triggered by its context.

When to use it

• To make repeated behaviour easier to sustain.
• To reduce the Rider’s cognitive load.
• To support a larger mission through a simple routine.
• To protect the change after initial enthusiasm declines.

Origins

Chip and Dan Heath presented “Build Habits” as one of the Shape the Path tactics in Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (twenty ten). Their treatment draws on established behavioural research showing that repeated action in a stable context can become automatically cued. The method uses environmental prompts, action triggers and checklists to conserve attention and make desired behaviour easier to repeat.

What it is

A habit is a learned association through which a context increasingly prompts a behaviour with less conscious deliberation. Habits form whether leaders design them or not. A change-supporting habit should advance the mission, attach to a reliable cue and remain simple enough that adopting it does not become another difficult change.