How to Design for Long-Term Behavior Change—Part 1: New Habit Formation

Great article, as always. I totally agree with the thought that motivation is ineffective at driving long-term behavior.

But isn't it the case that this is true only as long as we are talking about a behavior that is always the same because the context /environment where it is supposed to happen stays always the same? 

While it can be a great way to 'design' processes and environments that are stable and so enhance the ability to create foster particular behaviors by making everything easier to stay over the activation threshold, I'm wondering if, at the same time, we are designing the fun out of something?

The second most common reason of people that quit their job is: "I don't feel to progress at this job. I have to go somewhere else to be challenged again." Most often, these are people that experience their jobs as too easy. Their ability to perform good is always above the challenge. As long as they don't see an enormous meaning by doing what they are doing, they will probably miss the challenge and start looking for soemthing new. 

So, by taking this into account, I think that if we want to raise someone over the activity threshold regulary to be able to do a particular behavior and to even make it a habit, we should find a point over the threshold line that is not too far on the right side but still needs a particular level of motivation. Otherwise, without these regulary peaks of motivation (no matter how the motivation is triggered, hopefully not just extrisically) I'm concerned that we sacrifice the fun for creating a (boring) habit. Even if it works and we get the habit we aimed for, we increased the chance of loosing the employee because of boreout ;-)

Just a thought...cheers, Roman