2. WORKING WITH ADULTS

The speaker learned that adults often focus on changing behavior without addressing the environment that sustains it. Instead of blaming motivation or discipline, behavior scientists ask what supports the behavior. Starting with compassion provides insight and choices for change, as it offers information and options. This compassionate approach is more effective in initiating change. And here's something I've learned from working with adults. We spend so much time trying to change behavior without changing the environment that keeps the behavior alive. We blame motivation, we blame discipline, we blame ourselves. But behavior scientists keep asking, what is making this behavior work? And that's such a more compassionate place to start. Not because compassion lowers expectations, but because compassion gives us information, and information gives us options. That's where change begins.