Our action-led approach.
It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than think your way into a new way of acting.
Our approach is built on action – paired with a supportive environment – to develop adaptive leaders equipped for tomorrow’s challenges.
Be conscious, Be curious, Be better ™
Our framework for leadership development.
Built on decades of research and experience, our B3 framework translates behavioral science, neuroscience, adult development theory and agile-lean principles into a leadership development framework that works.
It gives leaders a mental model designed to keep growing their leadership capacity, progressing work goals, and making development a habit.
Each topic unfolds in three phases.
Be conscious
OUR PROCESS
Start with something meaningful.
Leaders explore what’s important right now, what’s working, and what’s not – surfacing key challenges to navigate and gaps to close. This process primes their thinking and focus, preparing them to develop and lead effectively.
THE RESEARCH
We grow by being challenged
We grow by taking on challenges that push past our current skill sets. Challenging situations reveal our “unconscious incompetence” – making us realize we need new skills and mindsets, which intrinsically motivates learning.
Harvard psychologist Robert Kegan and other adult developmental researchers
We need autonomy over our work
We need autonomy over our work and learning to perform at our best. Choosing personally relevant, meaningful goals provides the necessary drive.
Edward Deci’s research on self-motivation
Be curious
OUR PROCESS
Pull relevant mental models.
Leaders are given fresh inspiration, tools and insights, to spark new ideas and mental models to experiment with.
THE RESEARCH
Those closest to the work have the most context
When leaders can ‘pull’ their own solutions they ground their actions in reality.
Agile development theory
We place a disproportionately high value on outcomes we help create
A leader who designs their own strategic playbook experiences the IKEA Effect.
The IKEA Effect: When labor leads to love
Be better
OUR PROCESS
Action followed by reflection.
This is where the real development comes in. Leaders try small experiments or real-life prototypes, and reflect to learn – helping move forward. With fresh insights, you iterate and continuously develop.
THE RESEARCH
We learn through experiences, reflection and action
Active experimentation is the mechanism that turns an idea into practical, actionable knowledge.
David Kolb, Experiential Learning Model
8O% to 95% of our daily behavior, decisions, and mental processing is automatic
Knowing does not necessarily equal doing, so we need to engage our automatic system, which only learns through experience, repetition, and feedback.
Dual-Process Theory, Daniel Kahneman, The Knowing-Doing Gap, Pfeffer & Sutton
Surprising outcomes trigger dopamine, helping the brain update how it learns
Dopamine neurons fire in response to unexpected outcomes, which physically reshapes our neural connections.
Reward Prediction Error model, Neuroscience
“Expertise is built through purposeful and deliberate practice with feedback. Leadership is no different. These are the principles Adeption is built on.”
K. Anders Ericsson
World’s foremost expert on expert performance
Professor of Psychology at Florida State University
It works.
Read more of our thinking here.
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