Influence Without Authority
Influence without authority: 5 levers that move adoption
5 levers that move adoption—without positional power
Happy Thursday. This week’s note focuses on the people side of transformation—change management, influence, and leadership behaviors that make digital and quality initiatives stick. I’m sharing one practical framework, a quick example, and a simple action you can use in your next meeting or rollout.
The idea in 30 seconds
In healthcare transformation, most progress happens without formal authority. The leaders who consistently move adoption don’t push harder—they make the change easier, safer, and socially supported.
The framework
5 influence levers that reliably move behavior:
Make the shared problem visible. Name the pain in frontline terms (risk, time, rework) and anchor it to one baseline metric.
Show workflow proof (not feature proof). Demonstrate the before vs after workflow in under a minute—what steps disappear, what becomes easier.
Create social proof. Recruit 3–5 respected peers (not just early adopters). Let clinicians hear “why” from clinicians.
Remove friction relentlessly. Defaults, auto-population, intelligent routing, fewer clicks. If it adds steps, it must remove something bigger.
Reinforce the behavior. Share a small scoreboard (reliability + one outcome proxy), close the loop on feedback, and recognize teams.
A quick example
A pathway had strong evidence but low uptake. The turning point wasn’t more training—it was a 60-second workflow demo at huddle, two friction fixes in week one (timing + auto-population), and three respected clinicians sharing “this saved me time.”
How to measure it
Pick two and trend weekly:
Reliability: % eligible cases where the intended action occurs
Friction: time-on-task / clicks/completion time proxy. Optional: feedback loop speed (issue identified → fix deployed)
One action for this week
Choose one initiative and write a one-sentence “influence plan” using the 5 levers (problem, workflow proof, social proof, friction removal, reinforcement).
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