Summary

  • Organizations evolve via routines; individuals and firms change via habits.
  • Use keystone habits and crisis windows to shift systems.
  • Operate with an ordered goal ladder, acceptance criteria, Anki, and feedback loops.

Concepts (distilled)

  • Nelson & Winter: firms adapt through routines (like genes); trial-and-error + feedback shape evolution.
  • Duhigg: cue → routine → reward; change by keeping cue/reward and swapping routine; keystone habits cascade change.
  • Crisis leverage: moments of instability legitimize new routines; script the change and make it easy to adopt.
  • Examples: Alcoa safety; Starbucks LATTE script; transport/hospital incidents driving new protocols.

Method (step-by-step — ordered)

  1. Name the system to change (team, process, personal).
  2. Map current habit loop(s): cue, routine, reward; log frictions.
  3. Pick one keystone habit tightly tied to desired outcome.
  4. Design replacement routine + micro-script (e.g., LATTE).
  5. Set context & guardrails: tools, roles, environments, timebox.
  6. Define acceptance criteria (behavioral + metric).
  7. Pilot in a small cohort or “sandbox” team.
  8. Install feedback: visible scoreboard, weekly review, post-mortems.
  9. Codify as routine: checklist, SOP, automation, training.
  10. Scale: expand cohort, retire old affordances, celebrate wins.

Goal ladder (template)


Goal: (Keystone habit: )  
Step N —  
Tools: <docs/scripts/sdk>  
Conditions: <context, timebox, cohort>  
Acceptance: <observable behavior + metric>  
Evidence: <link to SOP/PR/metric board>

Example


Goal: Cut incident handoffs by 30% in 6 weeks (Keystone: blameless 10-min postmortem)

1. Draft 1-page PM template → Accept: used in 3 incidents
    
2. Schedule Friday review (30m) → Accept: attendance ≥80%
    
3. Automate template creation in Slack → Accept: 100% PMs created  
    Metric: MTTR, handoffs/incident, action items closed in 7d

Acceptance criteria checklist

  • Specific behavior (“when X, do Y”) and a metric.
  • Observable via log/form/test.
  • Fits Bloom target for depth:
    • Remember/Understand → cheat sheet
    • Apply → SOP used 3×
    • Analyze → compare before/after metrics
    • Evaluate → ADR with trade-offs
    • Create → train one teammate

Crisis window playbook

  • Trigger: define the event that justifies change.
  • Message: “why now” in one paragraph.
  • Script: micro-steps (e.g., LATTE: Listen, Acknowledge, Take action, Thank, Explain).
  • Safety: protections for early adopters; public recognition.

Anki deck (seed cards)

  • “Nelson & Winter core idea?” → Routines drive firm evolution; selection via feedback.
  • “Habit loop parts + how to change?” → Cue/routine/reward; keep cue/reward, swap routine.
  • “Define keystone habit + example.”
  • “When to use a crisis window?” → To legitimize new routines; pair with script + safety.
  • “Acceptance criteria for behavior change?” → Observable act + metric + scope.

Card format:


Front: Scenario/question  
Back: Rule + 2 pros/2 cons + success metric  
Tags: habits/routines/keystone

Weekly cadence

  • Pilot one step from the ladder.
  • Measure dashboard deltas.
  • Debrief 15 min (what changed, why).
  • Encode as SOP/checklist; add 3–5 Anki cards.