The Secret to Behavior Change

Plant and water seeds but let them sprout on their own

A client of mine who is a senior leader at a large organization often speaks about what he calls the “knowing-doing gap.” During every big change, he believes, there is a point where everyone knows what the change is, why it’s needed, and even how to do it — but that doesn’t mean they do it. I think the knowing-doing gap is every bit as true for personal change as it is for organizational change.

As I’ve written before, an easy trap to fall into is thinking that intellectually understanding something is the same thing as doing it. Being an expert on meditation isn’t the same thing as meditating. If you are a coach, teacher, or manager, you can convince yourself that because you’ve explained something to your people over and over again and they “get it,” they’ll do it. Not always true.

Whether you are leading yourself or others, your job is to plant seeds. But the insight that allows those seeds to sprout has to happen on it’s own.

How can you go from knowing to doing? You need to set up the conditions for insight. People must come to change on their own. Generally this is about feeling both the motivation to do the thing and the…