We recently received a health bonus at Industrial Logic.  Each employee was given $500 to spend on his or her health with two conditions: a) we spend the money by the end of 2013, and b) we report back to the rest of the company on what we spent and why.

At first I was a bit skeptical.  I’m in my mid-forties and have been steadily getting out of shape over the past 5 years.  And I’ve got many failed experiences with diets and exercise programs, although I know it can be done.  More specifically, I had built a running habit that I kept for 15 years and used to have a much better diet – so I knew I could do it even though I have failed to do so over the past few years.

Also, I know what doesn’t work for me.  Gadgets don’t work – I’ve got many unused gadgets.  Gyms don’t work, I’m self-conscious at gyms and don’t really like taking the time to go to one far away.  Diets don’t work, I always yo-yo back.

So all the obvious routes have already been tried and didn’t work for me.  And I just don’t have the motivation or belief that trying the same thing again will work this time around.  So what can I do differently?

Well – I know that if I can build a habit – like the one that I broke with running – then it really becomes easy.  But how?

A bunch of internet searches and a cool TedX video later and I’ve got a plan that I’m working on for health and fitness.  Then I started thinking about all the great ways that this idea – of getting really good at building habits – can help us do a better job at helping our clients get the most out of our products and services.

At Industrial Logic, we’ve been working steadily on creating an Anzen culture – a culture of safety – for our clients and ourselves. One of those ways has been validated learning – i.e. making sure all of our offerings not only deliver valuable content, but result in observable behavior change.  Which is where all the habit work comes in – the best way we know to make behavior changes stick is to form a habit.  And by leveraging the latest in behavioral science, we can really make things safer – and better – for everyone.