The Missing Unlock to Drive Behavior Change for Sustainable Transformation
My management consulting career didn’t start in business.
Rather, it began with the privilege of sitting across from kids and families, listening to what they chose to share with me about their lives, and perhaps more importantly, what wasn’t being said. This work required presence, being with them, and the ability to track the narratives behind behavior.
Despite my eclectic toolbox, I leaned heavily on a behavioralist approach (boundaries, rewards, consequences, etc.). It taught me how people respond to structure, how systems shape behavior. I believed in structure, accountability, and the quiet satisfaction of a well-executed behavior plan.
And honestly? I still do. But what became abundantly clear over time is just how central narrative is—not just in therapy—but in every human system we move through, including work.
At the time, narrative felt too soft, too open-ended … at least that’s what I thought. But even though I focused on behavior, I was tracking something deeper: the stories my clients told about who they were, what they needed, what could change.
Story is how people make sense of themselves, their relationships, and their world. And when that story starts to shift—whether in a classroom, a family, a team, or a company—people don’t just need new tools. They need help making meaning.
Fast forward ten years and I now lead transformational change initiatives, designing strategies and tactics to move people from current state to future state technologies, processes, or roles. To do so, I often interview leaders and teams, conduct change readiness assessments, and craft communications to activate a change.
I initially saw my journey as two distinct careers: counseling and consulting. That was, until I started to look for and connect those intersection points. One of those stand out moments was meeting Sarah Cargill.
Sarah is one of those people who can explain ideas in ways that don’t just land in your mind, but in your gut. She gave a presentation on storytelling that expanded my thinking and helped crystallize a piece of my practice that had been intuitive, a part of my tenure in counseling, but, until that moment, detached from how I approached consulting: I wasn’t just someone managing deliverables and driving outcomes—I was someone helping people cross thresholds.
In the months (now years) following, this perspective has been consistently reinforced. Everyday, Sarah and I support teams as they move through change that’s as personal as it is strategic. And across industries and initiatives, we notice the same missing link. Again and again transformation plans are built and implemented without the one thing that actually moves people: a story they can see themselves in.
Let’s be clear, this is about business, but not—business as usual. Business as usual is exactly what creates the gap: strategies with polish but no pulse. We’ve been in the rooms where change succeeds and the rooms where it fails. What we’ve learned is simple: if you skip the story, you lose the people and risk the outcome.
When we shape stories, we help people create meaning, purpose, and results. Storytelling isn’t separate from transformation, it’s the choreography that makes the movement of change possible.
Transformation Without Story is Hollow
This, perhaps, is the crux of why so many transformations fall short: transformation is more than execution, more than changes to strategy, technology, systems, and / or structure. It’s about people. And, people change not because they’re told to or because it’s a good idea, but because of deep understanding, authentic meaning, emotional connection, and articulated value that inspires them to navigate the uncertainty and come out the other side as successful contributors and owners.
When we lack a story in transformation efforts, people write their own. This is where resistance grows; a natural human response to ambiguity, an orientation to survival over all. This instinct can override the desire to be a team player and present as resistance or detraction.
From a neurological perspective, this resistance is a predictable threat response. The human brain is a prediction machine, constantly seeking to create a coherent narrative of the world to make it recognizable and safe. When transformation introduces ambiguity or uncertainty, it creates a "narrative vacuum.”
The lack of a clear, compelling story activates the brain's threat-response systems (e.g., the amygdala) leading to feelings of anxiety and fear. Without a new story to fill the void, the brain defaults to its own, often fear-based, narratives.
When we weave stories that people see themselves in and their voices echo in the narrative, transformation becomes not just possible, but powerful. This isn't just a feeling; it's a chemical reaction.
Story is the Scaffolding for Complexity
Looking back across the countless change efforts I’ve led, the most successful, sticky, and sustainable changes have one attribute in common: people can locate themselves in the change.
We need to take people on a journey that honors what came before, illuminates what’s next, and explains why something is happening. We need to establish a psychological contract between an organization and its people that says, “You are seen. You belong here. You are included. And if it doesn’t include you, this is what you can expect and how we will support you.”
Narrative becomes the scaffolding that helps people hold complexity. It gives shape to something invisible, and helps make the uncertain, livable.
And, in an often overlooked reality—when change comes with negative effects—transparency and clearly communicated, early action planning can contribute to successful outcomes because people have an honest understanding of what is actually happening (e.g., you provide informed consent and empower them in controlling what they can control while implementing appropriate supports).
The psychological power of this lies in a phenomenon called neural coupling. When someone listens to a list of facts, only the language-processing parts of the brain are active. However, when they hear a story, multiple areas light up as the listener’s brain activity begins to mirror the storyteller’s.
This means that a listener's brain simulates the characters’ experiences, activating the same motor and sensory cortices as if they were experiencing it themselves. This makes complex information stick because it's not just a cognitive exercise; it's an embodied experience. Stories give people a mental "map" to navigate uncertainty, transforming an abstract plan into a tangible journey.
An effective story, with its rising action and moments of resolution, also triggers the brain's reward system by releasing dopamine. The anticipation of a clear resolution keeps the audience engaged, making the tension of complexity feel purposeful—less like chaos and more like a satisfying journey.
Your Audience Is the Hero of the Story
When we launch change initiatives that inform people of updates, we’re writing narratives at people rather than with people.
Buy-in and commitment come when we acknowledge who is in the room: what they value, fear, desire, and define as success from their side of the table.
To do so, we have to deeply understand our audiences and know how to skillfully shape the narrative with their role at the center of the hero’s journey—introduced to a new world, crossing a threshold, feeling tested, transforming with new learnings.
Psychologically, people are more likely to commit to a change when they feel they are the central figure in the story, not a side character or an extra. By framing the narrative around the audience's role in overcoming obstacles and achieving a new state, you tap into their desire for growth and agency.
When we hear a story we can relate to, especially one with a relatable hero (i.e., the audience), the brain releases oxytocin—the trust, empathy, and social connection neurotransmitter, creating a shared experience on a biological level.
Co-creation Creates Lasting Change
We build alignment and capability when we not only place our audience at the center of the story, but also invite them to storyboard with us.
The invitation to shape their story, design the future, and craft the journey helps people embody the change in a way that’s empowering and energizing. When people are engaged in this way, change becomes a shared artifact, not just of what’s happening, but who they are in the face of it.
It’s not just about clarity, it’s about co-authorship. And when people become co-authors, they become co-owners.
At this stage it is no longer about telling better stories, but about designing the story people want to live. This is how transformation moves from plan to practice.
An Invitation to Leaders
Every transformation—no matter how strategic or operational—is about tapping into the human experience. If you’re leading change, pause to ask yourself:
Are we crafting a narrative that we as a team can see ourselves in?
Have we been inclusive and empathetic in guiding the change?
Do our people know they matter for our future or are supported in moving on?
Have we made the complexity digestible in our structure?
Have we been honest and transparent about elements that are undesirable?
Have we given people the opportunity to adequately prepare themselves?
The truth is, a story is already in motion whether you’ve written it or not. To drive the narrative, invite others to the table and, together, craft the experience that allows people not only to understand it but also to believe in it - that’s the true purpose of transformational leadership.
Transformation holds when the narrative, the design, and the human experience reinforce each other. When the path forward feels as true as it sounds. That’s the work—not just telling the story, but building the conditions where people can believe it.
After all, if people don’t see themselves in the future, they will abandon the effort; they will assume they are not critical to the outcomes and they will disengage from what it takes to get from now to next.
Dr. Jess Heaton, PhD, is a business psychologist and organizational strategist who brings the depth of clinical practice and the precision of behavioral science to the boardroom.