Behavior integration guidance (BIG) make sures that people and their behaviors are considered along with technical and operational issues in every program element and phase.  Thinking BIG creates a tight focus on your development goals and keeps your programs grounded and agile.  Plus, staying behavior-led (not intervention-driven) will keep your team empowered instead of frazzled.

Think | BIG leverages—rather than replaces—traditional social and behavior change approaches like human centered design, best practice design expertise, and systems strengthening insights.

Using the cutting-edge methods in our Think | BIG suite of tools lets you:

• accelerate progress towards your development or social goals,
• fast-track behavior uptake in your target communities,
• create shared accountability among your program’s partners,
• maximize your program’s efficiency,
• leverage adaptive management, and
• enhance your know-how to implement behavior change in different contexts.

There are three core phases as you move through the Think | BIG process:

1. In phase one of Thinking BIG, you’ll create a laser-tight focus on your goal and find the behaviors that matter most.  We call this the Focus and Analyze phase of Think | BIG.  You’ll compile a solid evidence base.  Do the thinking work to pull out key insights.  And streamline your approach by leveraging synergies and eliminating redundancies across behaviors and factors.  It can feel like you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.  But our tools are the magnets you’ll use to find what you need fast. Get through this phase and you have already avoided key pitfalls of intervention-driven approaches and are on your way to instigating real change.
2. Phase two of Thinking BIG has you craft a behaviorally focused game plan and translate the pathways to change you found in phase one into real-world activities. This is the Design and Manage phase of Think | BIG.  Here is where the inherent flexibility of our behavior integration process shines.  Moving through this phase will let you handle small, single activity programs, or scale up to big, complex multi-sectoral initiatives with equal ease. You’ve done your homework.  Your resources are in play in the real-world.  And core demographics in communities you care about are starting to transform.
3. The third and final phase of Thinking BIG teaches you how to keep your program and strategy responsive by creating your own evidence base of what’s working and what’s not and pivoting when needed. This final Track and Adapt phase of Think | BIG gets you to the finish line.  You’ll set your sights on meaningful indicators. Harness the power of behavioral metrics. And adapt your programming to maximize your results.  Sticking with the process harvests your return on investment. Behavior change measured in how much, not if? Check. Data to back it up? Got it. Photos of a happy team celebrating their success and healthy communities accessing their potential? Nailed it. And Thinking BIG got you there.

BIG Process Schema (PDF) 

ACCELERATE Project Description for USAID Missions (PDF)

Using Think | BIG to Develop a Strategy (PDF)

List of Select Health Behaviors, Steps, and Behavioral Outcome Indicators (PDF)

Website Quick Start Guide (PDF)

Behavior Integration (Video)

Behavior Integration Video, with English Subtitles (Video)

Behavior Integration Video, with Portugese Subtitles (Video)

Download Think | BIG Game (52MB, Windows only)

Focus and Analyze

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Design and Manage

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Track and Adapt 

Below view or download offline copies of these tools and guidance on getting the best out of them.