Half-way Technology (and change)

Lisa Heft lisaheft at openingspace.net
Thu May 13 16:34:11 PDT 2004


Hello, dear colleagues -

We talk a lot about if OS leads to sustained change.  As many of you
know I also have a background in health education, and in health ed.
(especially in HIV/AIDS education) we talk a lot about behavior change.
I thought I'd add into the conversation a way that human behavior change
is looked at by many behavioral scientists and health educators.

- - - - - - - -

Behavior change theory is a way that we observe how and why people
change (our best guess, anyway, as are all of our theories) - it is used
quite a bit in understanding and designing community-based health
education programs, from stop smoking programs to injection drug users'
risk reduction (through their own actions) to understanding peoples'
moving back and forth (less safe, more safe) in actions regarding safer
sex.

The simple version is that there is a continuum of change.  We go
backwards and forwards on this continuum (not just forward - gee I
stopped smoking and I never go back to smoking - v-e-r-y rare for most
people) but back and forth as things around us affect us in some way.

Here is the (again, the simple) version of the Behavior Change
Continuum:

Not Ready to Think About It   <-->  Thinking About It <-->  Getting
Ready <-->  Taking Action <-->  Maintenance

We dance back and forth and back and forth on this continuum.  The
things researchers observe that lead to peoples' change in the "less
risk" direction (we OSonOSers can also call it 'healthier
organizations', perhaps) include experiencing information and knowledge
about their situation, general consciousness-raising, noting how their
'problem' affects their environment and/or those around them, assessing
their feelings regarding their (current and next) behavior, commitment
or belief in their ability to change, ongoing reinforcement for more
healthful change, social support for the change, alternatives for less
healthy behavior, avoiding high-risk situations that might toss them
back into old patterns, a generally nutritious environment for positive
change (tools at hand, role models in their lives, ongoing interventions
/ opportunities for transformation instead of single one-shot
interventions, and the other things mentioned above) and so on.

Think about this in an organizational sense - what those things would be
/ how you would design events, communication, structure and the daily
workplace experience in an organization to keep it moving towards (or
staying in the "maintenance" stage of) wellness.  Or conversely, what
would be those things in their environment / workplace / communication /
structure that might provide barriers to forward, healthful
transformation.  No matter how great the OSs (or ongoing acupuncture
treatments) are.

Things that affect slipping back to the left (less healthful) items on
this continuum would include environmental changes such as loss of
income, health, housing, grief, scary or tragic events, hanging out with
people in the old patterns, losing role models and losing (or losing
sight of) those things above that lead to positive behavior.  Or even
*perceiving* the loss of one or more of those things.

Now think about what *those* things would be in an organization.  Lose a
visionary leader who was backing change, lose budget, forget to go to
your ongoing wellness appointments (or do your ongoing Open Space).Back
you slide, picking up that cigarette again or biting into that big piece
of chocolate cake.  Slipping back into what was more damaging but also
more familiar - easier to do (or let happen to you) when you're feeling
smaller and overwhelmed.

One more note is that behavioral scientists and educators can find ways
to measure change but have a very difficult (and sometimes impossible)
time measuring what *caused* the change - because many many factors can
contribute together - which one was the seed?  Maybe a situation, and a
tool, and then an environmental change, and then a new friend or new
supervisor, and then just one good day feeling well.hard to measure a
person's entire environment.  So it is interesting to me when we talk
about how to 'prove' OS contributed to a change.

Cheers from Berkeley,

Lisa
________________________________

L i s a   H e f t
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
O p e n i n g  S p a c e
2325 Oregon
Berkeley, California
94705-1106   USA
+01 510 548-8449
 <mailto:lisaheft at openingspace.net> lisaheft at openingspace.net
 <http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net



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