Welcome back to the second issue of The Behavior Brief!
Each week, we unpack the small, observable behaviors that drive real performance and offer one practical action you can apply immediately—without adding meetings, tools, or noise. Let’s jump in…
Insight
When most organizations see performance gaps, they jump to training as a solution. But training is the transmission of information, and chances are, a shortage of information is not your problem.
Awareness doesn't improve results. Action does.
Training can be truly great—content, delivery, ratings. But if it's not designed to change behaviors, it won't improve performance.
Go Deeper
Behavior change lasts when it becomes automatic—that is, when new behaviors become habits. And the science on what it takes to build new habits is well established.
Psychologist Wendy Wood, author of Good Habits, Bad Habits, puts it simply: "[Your habit-forming brain is] not picky about what it learns. Just give it repetition, rewards, and contexts. These are key to changing unwanted habits and forming good ones that are consistent with our goals."
Repeated behaviors, in a consistent context, with a reward structure attached, are the ingredients of lasting behavior change.
Take Action
Stop designing learning. Start designing behavior.
Ask: “What do people need to do differently this week—in real work?”
Then design for:
• a few high-leverage behaviors
• micro-actions inside existing workflows
• prompts in context
• repetition + role modeling
• adoption, not satisfaction
Training can inspire.
Only behavior—repeated under real conditions—transforms.
See 1st90 in Action
Want to see how behavior change is built into the flow of work?
“1st90 took my attention because of the style of the program, the elements attached, the progress being tracked, and above all…the actionable, real-world activities that make the change stick”
Partner With Us
We collaborate with consulting firms, exec-ed programs, and transformation leaders.
If you’re building capability and want to drive real adoption: