How do you diagnose why people are not adopting a new process or tool?
Diagnosis starts with specificity. Most organizations describe their adoption problem in vague terms: "people are resistant" or "adoption is low." That is like telling a doctor "I feel bad." It is true, but it does not point to a treatment.
The first step is to specify the behavior.
Not "adopt the new CRM" but "enter client interaction data within 24 hours of the meeting." Not "embrace the new culture" but "use the new escalation pathway instead of emailing the director directly." Behavior must be observable, measurable, and specific enough to diagnose.
The second step uses COM-B to hypothesize the causes. For each target behavior, ask three questions. Can they do it? (Capability: do they have the knowledge and skill, and can they hold the steps in memory under workload pressure?) Does the environment support it? (Opportunity: is the system accessible, does the workflow make sense, are peers doing it?) Is it worth it at the moment of action? (Motivation: do they believe it matters, does it feel rewarding, or does the old way feel safer?)
This diagnosis produces a barrier profile. Maybe the primary barrier is that the new tool takes four more clicks than the old process (Opportunity, physical). Or maybe the primary barrier is that managers are not modeling the new behavior, so it feels professionally risky (Opportunity, social). Or maybe people genuinely do not know the new process well enough to use it under time pressure (Capability, skill).
Each barrier maps to different intervention strategies through a taxonomy of 33 strategy cards that combine Behaviour Change Techniques (what you deliver) with implementation strategies (how you deliver it). The diagnosis determines the treatment. Without it, organizations are guessing, and expensive guessing at that.
