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B.U.I.L.D.® LEARN

In our last article, Implement, Lara and I explored how to move from insight to action by embedding new mindsets and behaviours into everyday practices and the development of successful customer value propositions.   But behaviour change, and maintaining a positive, growth mindset, is not a one-off exercise.
Without continued learning, even the most successful initiatives can lose momentum. Habits fade. Motivation dips. Results plateau.

That’s why the Learn stage of the B.U.I.L.D.® framework is so important.
It’s not a full stop. It’s a specific and deliberate pause to take stock and further build on what’s already in motion.

Why Learn Matters

Many organisations launch change programmes with energy and optimism, but sometimes, a few months later, we are told again and again that they find themselves wondering: “Why aren’t we seeing the impact we expected?”
And then, we identify it’s because they didn’t take enough time to stand back to LEARN and take a measured view, really asking

  • What is, and isn’t, working?
  • What needs to change?
  • Where could we go from here?

Learning isn’t just about reflection. It’s about realignment. It helps create the clarity and awareness needed to make smart, timely decisions, moving from activity to genuine, additive, progress.

What Learning Looks Like in Practice

At this point in B.U.I.L.D.®, we work with individuals and teams to review progress, surface insights, and adjust strategies. This might include:

  • Progress Tracking
    One client began with a Positive Intelligence (PQ) score of 52, meaning she responded positively about half the time. It was a coin toss whether a difficult email or meeting would trigger self-doubt or calm resilience. Through weekly micro-practices that helped rewire her thinking, she increased her score to 75, the recognised tipping point for sustained wellbeing and performance. She became the steady voice in meetings, and a leader who supported growth in others too. She could feel the difference her efforts had made, but quantifying her progress helped her celebrate her growth and continue to apply what she had learned.
  • Regular Reviews and Reports We helped one team formalise a rhythm of regular commercial check-ins and individual reflection sessions to focus on learning and growth. By reviewing progress with direct questions like:

On the commercial side

  • How has our understanding of our customers and prospects improved?
  • Are we still certain about our proof points? And our key North Star?
  • How are we doing on the KPIs in our marketing funnel?
  • What are our current challenges and next immediate actions?

On the individual side

  • How do you feel your operating rhythm, and that of the team, has been?
  • Have you moved from good intentions to regular positive small steps each week?
  • Are you now spending more time on high impact areas?

…these foster a culture of purposeful reflection and shift a team’s focus from activity to impact, supporting performance without compromising wellbeing.

  • Employee Engagement
    The marketing and sales teams in a lead country for one client were working in silos, mainly as the marketing team focussed on multi-country global campaigns and the sales team mainly on home country tactical activations. When the company decided to pivot to a new strategic direction, the leaders of each team recognised the potential benefits of closer collaboration, to learn from each other. To identify the key tasks ahead, we moderated a 2hr interactive online workshop with 4 targeted questions around wishes, reasons why customers would want the new services, information needed for decisions emerging and what success would look like next year. A simple exercise, sparking improved communication and clear goals.

“We found a great set of actions to progress from listening and learning from everyone. This workshop helped us set a clear course and gave us the confidence to move forward together”,

For Individuals: Insight for Intentional Growth

Learning isn’t just about actions, metrics and targets, it’s also about self-awareness. We help individuals reflect on:

  • How do I respond to pressure now?
  • What patterns have shifted?
  • What kind of leader am I becoming?

Using tools like PQ scores, 360 feedback, and self-reflection exercises, clients uncover what’s working and where to focus next.

A typical feedback:
“I went from feeling completely stuck and overwhelmed to discovering both an inner resolve and the value of being more open to the ideas and views of others. It wasn’t just about changing my, or our, circumstances overnight, but about changing how I showed up every day and experiencing how the reflection process had reduced conflict between colleagues.”

For Teams: Making Success Repeatable

The Learn stage helps teams pause, reflect, and understand what’s really happening so they can make informed adjustments.

We support this by:
Listening actively with surveys and engagement tools to capture shifting sentiment
Reviewing trends through structured reflections and quarterly reports
Spotting what’s working and identifying issues early, before they escalate
✔  Tracking progress through updated assessments and revisiting initial goals

As one team put it:
 “We used to just react to everything. Now we reflect first, then respond with purpose.”

What Comes Next?

Once learning becomes part of the rhythm, the way forward becomes clearer. That’s when we move into Develop: sustaining progress, scaling success, and building for the long term.

📩 Ready to make space to learn from your recent progress?
Download our B.U.I.L.D. ® info pack or book a call here

In our last article, Upskill, we looked at how individuals and teams can develop the mental and emotional capacity for meaningful change. Strengthening resilience, collaboration, and confidence creates the conditions for growth, but it still leaves one big question: How do you make it stick?

That’s where the next stage of the B.U.I.L.D.® framework comes in: Implement.

Why implement matters

Many organisations invest time and money in training and strategy, only to find that when it comes to putting new ways of thinking into practice, people default to old habits. Busy schedules take over, confidence wavers, and positive intentions slowly get sidelined.

It’s not about a lack of intelligence or ambition. It’s about the lack of structure and support to help people consistently follow through.

The Implement phase of B.U.I.L.D.® exists to bridge that gap. It helps individuals and teams move from ideas and insight to clear actions that align with their goals and values.

This is where change becomes part of the everyday.

What implementation looks like in practice

In this stage of B.U.I.L.D.®, we work with clients to put mindset into motion. This includes a range of coaching, facilitation and planning tools designed to create alignment, accountability and meaningful progress.

There are a number of ways we can help support implementation:

🧭 Vision Crystallisation Sessions Clarifying what success looks like for an individual, team or organisation. These sessions help ensure everyone is working towards the same goal, with shared language and purpose.

🗂 Action Planning Workshops Bringing people together to translate strategy into steps. We break down big ambitions into manageable, visible actions that can be tracked and reviewed.

🔄 Change Management Support Providing tools and coaching to help people lead themselves and others through change with confidence and care.

📆 Productivity Planning Helping individuals and teams rethink how they spend their time and energy. The aim is to reduce friction and create more space for work that matters.

🧠 Leadership Coaching and Development Ensuring new mindsets and behaviours are not a one-off, but become embedded in how leaders operate.

Workshops in action: How implementation comes to life

💡 The 10% Positive Approach – Idea Box Workshop In this session, team members are encouraged to share ideas without pressure for perfection. Instead of critiquing, the group looks for the 10% of value in every suggestion, to build upon.

“One of our strongest campaign ideas came from something that started out as a throwaway comment. Our old culture would have dismissed it, but this time we stayed curious and built on it.”

🛍️ Retail Safari – Out ‘n’ About Rather than sitting in a meeting room, we took a client team out in a customer immersion exercise to see how their product was actually being experienced in the market.

“We saw things we’d never considered: packaging issues, price confusion, how it sat next to competitors. It completely changed our priorities for the next quarter.”

Implementation doesn’t always start with a plan. Sometimes it starts with seeing things differently.

🎭 Brand Obituary Exercise In another session, a senior team was invited to write the obituary for their own brand, imagining why, when, where, and what had caused it to fail.

“It felt uncomfortable, but incredibly clarifying. It showed us where we were avoiding key decisions. When Jeff asked us to then flip and write the obituary for our competitor, the shift in energy and perspective gave us the courage to act.”

Facing what’s uncomfortable often unlocks what’s possible.

Implementation at a Human Level

For Individuals: We help leaders bring their learning into day-to-day actions. That might be how they manage their priorities, make decisions, or hold conversations.

“Before, I had good intentions, but no follow-through. I was prevaricating. Now I know exactly what small steps I’m taking each week – and I’m actually doing them.”

For Teams: We help teams build consistency, accountability and momentum, moving from idea-sharing to coordinated action.

“Our meetings used to end with lots of nodding and no action. Now, as a minimum we end with three clear tasks and an owner for each.”

What Comes Next?

Once new behaviours are in place and showing results, the next phase is Learn, where we review progress, make adjustments, and ensure development continues.

Would you like to explore how Implement could support your team, function or career?

Download our B.U.I.L.D. ® info pack or book a call here