“You don’t change behaviour by motivating people, you change it by changing the consequences of their behaviour.”

That one line summarizes the work of the late Dr. Chris Anderson (PhD) and his colleagues. A behavioural scientist, educator, and consultant, Anderson's groundbreaking work demonstrated how lasting human behaviour change—in business and in life—is driven not by motivation, but by structure, feedback, and consequences.

I first encountered his work in person when I had the privilege of hearing him speak. I was so impressed that we brought him from Oregon to Canada and opened the session up to all ASL Distribution employees. What he shared has stuck with me for decades. And now, in my work through 6S Advisory, I see how his insights remain as relevant, and underused, as ever.

Why Traditional Change Efforts Fail 

Most leadership books, employee engagement initiatives, and corporate training programs focus on mindset, culture, or personality. The assumption is that if you change how people feel, you will change how they act.

Anderson’s work turns that inside out. He showed, through more than 30 years of field research in more than 300 organizations, that: 
- Attitudes don’t change behaviour 
- Motivation isn’t enough 
- Training alone rarely sticks

The implication? Most efforts to improve performance miss the mark. They start with feelings and end with slogans. They might generate momentary excitement, but they don’t change what people actually do.

What does work?

  1. Identifying the few key, or precision, behaviours that truly drive results, and,
  2. building a system to track, reinforce, and sustain them.

The Science of Behaviour in Business 

Anderson called it a "technology of radical, lasting human behaviour change". A structured, data-driven methodology to improve performance in any workplace.

At its core, his approach isn’t about motivating people differently. It’s about designing environments where the right behaviour is easy to identify, measure, and reinforce.

The 7 Steps to Lasting Behaviour Change 

1. Identify critical (precision) behaviours (1–3 only) that drive your goal 
2. Track those behaviours, not just outcomes 
3. Psychological safety, no punishment for honest reporting 
4. Cross-check for accuracy occasionally and respectfully 
5. Chart progress weekly, anonymously 
6. Give individual feedback, privately and consistently 
7. Use social reinforcement, not just incentives

Each step is deceptively simple, but when implemented with consistency and integrity, the results are remarkable.

Case in Point: From Cold Calls to Market Share 

In one example, Anderson was brought into a struggling real estate firm stuck at 6.2 percent market share and ranked 7th in their region. The CEO had tried everything: motivational speakers, contests, and more hiring. Nothing worked.

Anderson’s team identified two key (precision) behaviours: 

  1. Face-to-face cold contacts
  2. Face-to-face follow-ups

With no changes to compensation, the firm implemented Anderson’s tracking and feedback model. The result?

Within 20 weeks:

  1. Cold calls and follow-ups increased by 300 percent 
  2. Market share grew from 6.2 to 14.1 percent
  3. Sales rose by 122 percent

However, when the behaviour system was removed, under the assumption that performance would continue on its own, market share collapsed to just 3 percent. The company eventually folded. The lesson? Behaviour change is contingent, not permanent. The system that supports the behaviour must be sustained.

NCAA Hockey Case: From Passive to Physical 

One of my favourite of Anderson’s well-documented success stories came from an NCAA Division I hockey program that had struggled with defensive performance, specifically, legal body checking.

The coaching staff had tried conventional motivational approaches with little sustained improvement. Anderson’s team introduced a three-part behaviour change system:

1. Performance Posting – each player’s legal checking stats were charted weekly and posted anonymously and publicly in the locker room. 
2. Goal Setting – players set personal weekly targets and posted them. 
3. Praise – coaches delivered private verbal recognition when goals were met or exceeded.

The results were dramatic:

Step-by-step improvement:

  1. Baseline: 0.22 legal hits per minute
  2. After feedback: 0.45
  3. After self-set goals: 0.67
  4. After social reinforcement: 0.85

The team dramatically improved performance to not losing a game for two straight seasons, until the NCAA finals.

The team nearly quadrupled their defensive checking performance. Importantly, this increase came without an increase in penalties, highlighting the emphasis on legal technique.

Performance declined between seasons when the system was paused, but quickly rebounded when reinstated.

Anderson’s point: even in high-stakes, physically demanding settings, structured behavioural feedback outperforms motivational rhetoric and many other systems.

Clarifying “Consequences” 

Anderson used the term “consequences” in a neutral and scientific way, not in the punitive or disciplinary sense that many assume. In behavioural science, a consequence is simply what happens after a behaviour that makes it more or less likely to happen again.

Positive consequences include: 
- Praise 
- Recognition 
- Social approval 
- Feedback 
- Personal satisfaction

Understanding this distinction is critical. The goal isn’t to punish unwanted behaviour, it’s to reinforce the right behaviour consistently and visibly.

The Deeper Philosophy 

Anderson’s approach was grounded in one core belief:

“Behaviour is identity.”

He rejected the idea that people are fixed types, motivated or unmotivated, engaged or lazy. Instead, he showed that behaviour is shaped by what gets measured, reinforced, and repeated.

He argued that: 

  1. Feelings don’t drive performance; behaviour does. 
  2. Happiness doesn’t cause productivity; productive behaviour occasionally causes happiness. 
  3. Managing people is ineffective; managing behaviour is transformational.

What This Means for Leaders Today 

If you're a CEO, coach, team leader (or working on your own self-improvement), consider:

1. Define success in behavioural terms 
2. Track what people actually do, not just results 
3. Reinforce positive behaviour often 
4. Remove fear from honest self-reporting

This may feel mechanical or awkward at first, but that’s exactly why it works. Behaviour change is engineered, not hoped for.

Honouring a Legacy—and Applying It 

Chris Anderson passed away having substantiated something few ever do: that sustained performance is not about motivational techniques, mindset, goals, charisma, slogans, or gut instinct. It's about what people do, reliably, visibly, and over time.

If you're serious about improving results in your organization, start by asking:

  1. What do you want? 
     
  2. Who must do what? 
     
  3. How will you track and reinforce that behaviour?

If you can answer those questions, and build and maintain systems around them, you won’t just improve performance. You’ll change it for good.

Here is the summary of the 7 Steps to Lasting Behaviour Change:

  1. Identify Key Behaviors
    Choose the 1–3 precision actions that most directly drive your desired result.
     
  2. Track Behavior, Not Just Outcomes
    Create a simple system for individuals to self-monitor weekly.
     
  3. Guarantee Psychological Safety
    Promise and deliver zero negative consequences for honest reporting.
     
  4. Use Respectful Cross-Checks
    Verify data occasionally to maintain integrity, not punishment.
     
  5. Chart Behavior Over Time
    Display weekly graphs (with anonymous IDs) to build accountability.
     
  6. Review Progress One-on-One
    Never compare people, compare each person to their past self.
     
  7. Reinforce with Recognition, Not Pressure
    Use social reinforcement and praise to drive consistency.