Form New Habits
Understanding the context of habit formation is crucial when implementing new behaviors in a team or organization.
Summary
Research on habit formation shows that behaviors become habitual when consistently performed in the same context. When introducing new habits, focus on the specific situation where the behavior should occur. Use a structured approach to define the context, the old habit to be replaced, and the new desired behavior. This method increases the likelihood of successful behavior change within your team or organization.
The idea
Oftentimes we ask ourselves or our team members to adopt new habits that are beneficial to reaching a collective goal. Oftentimes, we don’t spend enough time understanding the context in which we’re asking new habits to be formed. According to habit formation science, it’s one of the more critical strategies to implementing change.
The Evidence
Research on habit formation has shown that behavior is likely to become habitual when it is frequently and consistently performed in the same context (e.g., Ouellette and Wood, 1998). For example, when one frequently and consistently eats vegetables for lunch, at some point eating vegetables for lunch will become a habit. This is because the frequent co-occurrence of context and behavior instigates an association that may guide future behavior (e.g., Aarts and Dijksterhuis, 2000; Neal et al., 2012). Specifically, when encountering a context (e.g., having lunch) that is associated with a certain behavior (e.g., eating vegetables), this context will automatically trigger this associated behavior.
Actions to Take
If you or a direct report are trying to implement a new habit, take a moment to answer the following question. This helps concretize the context and use the changed behavior. When this happens [describe the situation]....Instead of [describe the old habit you want to stop doing. Be specific]...I’ll do this. What’s the new habit? [describe]
Sources
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00560/full
Form New Habits
Facilitate Behavior Change Through Context-Aware Strategies
Summary
Research on habit formation shows that behaviors become habitual when consistently performed in the same context. When introducing new habits, focus on the specific situation where the behavior should occur. Use a structured approach to define the context, the old habit to be replaced, and the new desired behavior. This method increases the likelihood of successful behavior change within your team or organization.
Form New Habits
Facilitate Behavior Change Through Context-Aware Strategies
Summary
Research on habit formation shows that behaviors become habitual when consistently performed in the same context. When introducing new habits, focus on the specific situation where the behavior should occur. Use a structured approach to define the context, the old habit to be replaced, and the new desired behavior. This method increases the likelihood of successful behavior change within your team or organization.
Form New Habits
Facilitate Behavior Change Through Context-Aware Strategies
Citations
Podcast
Understanding the context of habit formation is crucial when implementing new behaviors in a team or organization.
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