Transformative · 6-week programs, multi-day intensives, or ongoing coaching engagements

Immunity to Change™

A cognitive-developmental framework that identifies the internal 'immune system' preventing behavioral change. It helps individuals and teams uncover hidden competing commitments and underlying assumptions that stall progress on critical goals.

When to use Immunity to Change™

Most effective for 'adaptive challenges' where technical solutions have failed, or when there is a persistent gap between a person's stated intentions and their actual behaviors.

How Immunity to Change™ works

Facilitators can integrate this by using the 'ITC Map' as a diagnostic tool in leadership coaching or team-building sessions. It serves as a structured reflection exercise where participants move from identifying a goal to uncovering the psychological barriers preventing its achievement.

Phases of Immunity to Change™

  1. Identify a Core Improvement Goal: Each person names one improvement goal that matters to them and that depends on changing their own behaviour. Participants write it in column one of the immunity map; the facilitator checks it is personal, important and not already easy.
  2. Inventory Behaviors (Doing/Not Doing): People list concrete things they currently do or fail to do that work against the goal, without explaining or fixing them. The facilitator pushes for honest, observable behaviours, often with input from a trusted colleague.
  3. Uncover Competing Commitments: Participants imagine doing the opposite of each behaviour, notice the worry that arises, and turn it into a hidden commitment it protects (for example, 'committed to never looking incompetent'). The facilitator guides this step slowly, often in pairs.
  4. Identify Big Assumptions: People name the beliefs they hold as true that make the competing commitments feel necessary, such as 'if I delegate, I lose respect'. The facilitator helps phrase them as testable statements rather than facts.
  5. Test and Overturn Assumptions: Participants design small, safe experiments to gather data about a big assumption, run them over the following weeks, and reflect on what they learned. The facilitator helps keep tests modest and schedules follow-up check-ins.

Key principles

  • Adult Developmental Theory
  • Competing Commitments
  • The Mental Immune System
  • Adaptive vs. Technical Change
  • Big Assumptions

Best for

  • Leadership development
  • Organizational culture change
  • Personal professional development
  • Overcoming behavioral plateaus

Considerations

  • Requires a high level of psychological safety within a group
  • Demands significant vulnerability and self-reflection from participants
  • Focuses on deep-seated beliefs rather than quick-fix skills

Attribution & sources

Developed by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, Harvard University faculty

Primary source

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