The Momentum Strategies

Building Momentum in Microbehavior Shifts

Even if you’ve broken things down into microbehaviors to make change more measurable, all you’ve really done is make your content easier to consume. The real challenge is ensuring learners push through the initial hurdles. This is where momentum matters most, which is necessary in the early stages of the Green Path.

One of the best ways to maintain that momentum is by creating a clear and concise recipe. In my last post, I used TDD as an example, with one microbehavior being:

"Always write unit tests as comments first, then convert them into code."

To that end, below is a simple recipe.

Crafting a Microbehavior Recipe

Microbehaviors are the fastest way to build neural pathways. Whether you're designing a structured learning program—like Arlo Belshee’s Naming as a Process—or training your team on a few key skills, this approach accelerates learning effectively.

When designing recipes to help learners adopt a microbehavior, ensure you can answer "yes" to these questions:

✅ Does my recipe teach the actions of a tiny skill?
✅ Does it minimize explanation or justification?
✅ Is it safe to fail (easily undone)?
✅ Are the results observable?

If you can’t confidently say yes to all, refine the recipe until it aligns. If you find that the recipe is too hard, your microbehavior probably needs further simplified.