Every January, capable business owners make the same mistake.
They set goals.
They feel motivated.
They assume follow-through will “just happen”.
Daniel Pink’s research tells a different story:
the people who win don’t rely on motivation — they rely on structure.
The good news? Structure can be designed.
Here’s a practical, evidence-based playbook for setting your business up for success in 2026 — and how to make it stick using Way We Do.
2026 in Three Acts
Daniel Pink deliberately structures his plan in three acts because change, whether personal or organizational, rarely happens in a single leap — it unfolds in stages.
The first act focuses on designing the year, helping people reflect on the past, anticipate failure, and decide what truly matters before any action begins. The second act is about building structure, translating intention into daily and weekly systems that remove reliance on willpower and make follow-through easier. The third act turns to sustaining momentum, recognizing that even the best plans fail without motivation, feedback, and supportive environments.
By organizing his framework this way, Pink mirrors how humans actually change: we need clarity before commitment, structure before discipline, and connection before endurance. The three-act structure ensures the plan doesn’t just start strong in January, but remains viable, humane, and resilient across an entire year.
Act 1: Design the Year (Before the Year Designs You)
1. Run a Regret Review (2025)
The idea:
Choose one regret from last year. Extract the lesson. Discard the emotion. Keep the instruction.
Why this is important:
Running a Regret Review is important because it transforms past disappointment into practical insight, allowing leaders to extract clear lessons from what didn’t happen, strengthen their systems, and prevent the same issues from quietly repeating themselves in the year ahead.
How Way We Do supports this
- Create an Annual Regret Review process, with an automation for it to run towards the end or beginning of each year
- Capture the lesson as:
- a new or revised process
- a missing checklist
- a broken handover or approval step
- Assign ownership to a role, not a person — so the lesson survives staff changes
- Schedule a revision reminder so the regret doesn’t quietly reappear in 2026
👉 Regret becomes a documented improvement, not a recurring pain.
2. Run a Premortem for 2026
The idea:
Jump to December 31, 2026. The goal failed. Why?
Why this is important?
Running a premortem is important because it allows a business to identify and design out predictable points of failure in advance, replacing hope and hindsight with deliberate systems that protect priorities, accountability, and execution before momentum is lost.
How Way We Do supports this
- Create an Annual Premortem process, with an automation for it to run towards the end or beginning of each year
- Add these potential risks to your Risk Register
- Create action tasks to mitigate the risks and keep track of them
- Improve existing processes or create new ones to prevent failure
👉 You don’t “hope” failure won’t happen — you design systems that prevent it.
3. Choose a One-Word Theme for 2026
The idea:
A single word becomes a decision filter.
Why this is important:
Choosing a one-word theme is important because it acts as a simple decision filter throughout the year, helping leaders cut through noise, align priorities, and consistently choose actions that reinforce what matters most.
How Way We Do supports this
- Use your theme to:
- prioritize which processes, automations, and AIs get actioned first
- decide which workflows get automated vs paused
- Embed the theme into:
- process objectives
- training introductions
- leadership dashboards
👉 Your theme stops being inspirational — it becomes operational.
4. Work in 90-Day Seasons
The idea:
Four focused chapters beat one vague year.
Why this is important:
90-Day Plans are important because they break big annual goals into focused, achievable cycles, creating clearer priorities, faster feedback, and sustained momentum instead of vague year-long intentions.
How Way We Do supports this
- Group processes and initiatives by quarter
- Create 90-Day Plans and embed them into your Weekly Team and Leadership Meeting processes – recommit to your quarterly plan every week.
👉 Continuous improvement becomes rhythmic, not reactive.
Act 2: Build Daily Structure That Makes Execution Easy
5. Protect the First Hour
The idea:
Your best thinking happens before the world interrupts.
Why this is important:
Protecting the first hour of your workday is important because it is when your focus and cognitive capacity are at their highest, allowing you to direct attention to strategic, high-impact work before reactive tasks and other people’s priorities fragment your thinking for the rest of the day.
How Way We Do supports this
- Use the first hour for:
- identifying and/or building a new repeatable process to move the business forward
- planning which steps of the process you want to automate and how you will incorporate AI
- how to support your team to be the best in their roles
- improving one critical process
👉 Leaders lead systems — not inboxes.
6. Use the 2-Minute Rule
The idea:
If it takes two minutes, do it now.
Why this is important:
The two-minute rule is important in business because it prevents small tasks from accumulating into cognitive clutter, reducing distraction and decision fatigue so leaders and teams can maintain focus and momentum on higher-value work.
How Way We Do supports this (in 2 minutes or less)
- Review and provide feedback to your team
- Sign-off on a process change
👉 Less cognitive fog, more execution energy.
7. Create a Weekly Shutdown Ritual
The idea:
Close loops so your brain can rest.
Why this is important:
A weekly shutdown ritual is important for the business because it reduces burnout, improves focus and decision quality, and ensures work resumes each week with clear priorities and continuity instead of confusion or rework.
How Way We Do supports this
- Create a Weekly Shutdown Process and create an automation for it to run on a Friday afternoon
- End the week by:
- reviewing incomplete workflows
- noting blockers inside the system
- Start Monday with clarity, not dread
👉 The system remembers what your brain doesn’t need to.
8. Weekly Reset (15 minutes)
The idea:
Reclaim the week before it claims you.
Why this is important:
A weekly reset is important because it realigns intention with reality before the week begins. For leadership, it creates space to step out of reaction mode, regain perspective, and make deliberate decisions about priorities instead of responding to noise. For the team, it brings clarity, reduces uncertainty, and ensures everyone starts the week knowing what matters most and where to focus their effort. For the business, it prevents drift, reduces rework and bottlenecks, and maintains consistent momentum toward strategic goals rather than allowing small misalignments to compound over time.
How Way We Do supports this
- Use reports to:
- see overdue tasks
- identify bottlenecks
- confirm accountability
👉 Planning and execution live in the same place.
9. Mise en Place (Everything in Its Place)
The idea:
Preparation creates speed and accuracy.
Why is this important:
Mise en place is important to a business because preparing tools, information, and processes in advance reduces friction, errors, and wasted effort, allowing teams to execute work faster, more accurately, and with less cognitive load.
How Way We Do supports this
- Pre-configure:
- templates
- checklists
- training modules
- Ensure teams start work with:
- the right version
- the right steps
- the right expectations
👉 Order isn’t sterile — it’s strategic.
10. 15-Minute Walk Break
The idea:
Breaks are part of performance.
Why this is important:
A 15-minute walk break is important because it restores mental energy, improves creative thinking and problem-solving, and prevents cognitive fatigue, helping people return to work with sharper focus and better decision-making.
How Way We Do supports this
- Systems reduce decision fatigue
- Clear workflows mean people can step away without work stalling
👉 When work is systemised, rest becomes possible.
Act 3: Build Motivation That Lasts
11. Embrace the 85% Rule
The idea:
Growth lives just outside comfort.
Why this is important:
The 85% rule is the principle that people and systems learn and improve fastest when they are succeeding about 85% of the time — challenged enough to stretch and adapt but not so overwhelmed that progress stalls or motivation collapses.
How Way We Do supports this
- Set process targets that:
- stretch capability
- allow iteration
- Track completion and quality, not perfection
👉 Improvement is measurable, not emotional.
12. Redefine Discomfort as Learning
The idea:
Uncomfortable doesn’t mean wrong.
Why this is important:
Seeing discomfort as learning is important because it reframes challenge and uncertainty as signals of growth rather than failure, enabling individuals and teams to persist through difficulty, adapt more quickly, and build capability instead of retreating at the first sign of effort.
How Way We Do supports this
- Don’t create the perfect system – simply just start with something, rather than nothing
- Capture learnings directly into:
- process notes
- revisions
- version history
- Turn “that was clunky” into “here’s the new standard”
👉 Learning becomes institutional, not personal.
13. Design Friction Wisely
The idea:
Environment beats willpower.
Why this is important:
Designing friction is the deliberate practice of shaping an environment, system, or process to influence behavior by making undesirable actions harder and desirable actions easier, so the right behaviors happen by default without relying on willpower or constant supervision.
How Way We Do supports this
- Make good behavior easier:
- pre-built workflows
- auto-assigned roles and tasks
- embedded training
- Make bad behavior harder:
- remove the “old system” so people can’t use it
👉 The system nudges the right behavior by default.
14. Public Promises (Quiet Accountability)
The idea:
One goal. One person. Weekly check-in.
Why this is important:
In a business setting, a public promise is a clear commitment to a specific outcome or action that is explicitly stated, recorded, and visible to others — such as a leader, peer, or team — creating accountability and increasing follow-through by making progress (or lack of it) transparent rather than private.
How Way We Do supports this
- Create a Weekly 1-2-1 Meeting process (for a team member and their leader to meet each week)
- Make commitments visible through:
- assigned ownership
- due dates
- progress reporting
👉 Accountability becomes structural, not awkward.
15. Track Small Wins Daily
The idea:
Progress fuels motivation.
Why is this important?
Tracking small wins daily is important because it makes progress visible, reinforces momentum, and boosts motivation by helping individuals and teams see that consistent effort is moving work forward, even when final outcomes are still some distance away.
How Way We Do supports this
- Use reports to show:
- tasks completed
- workflows finished
- improvements made
- Make progress visible to individuals and teams
👉 Momentum becomes undeniable.
Act 4: Strengthen the Network Around the System
16. Build a Challenge Network (Feedback Fridays)
The idea:
Feedback improves work faster than praise.
Why this is important:
A challenge network is a small group of trusted people who are deliberately invited to question, critique, and improve your thinking and work by offering honest, constructive feedback rather than simple encouragement or praise.
How Way We Do supports this
- Share:
- draft processes
- workflows
- training modules
- Capture feedback directly into reviews and revisions
👉 Feedback turns into better systems, not forgotten comments.
17. Curate Your Circle
The idea:
Challenger. Cheerleader. Coach.
Why this is important:
Curating your circle is important in a business because deliberately including advisors, a business coach, and external auditors brings objective perspective, constructive challenge, and accountability that strengthen decision-making, raise standards, and reduce blind spots that internal teams often cannot see.
How Way We Do supports this
- Use shared access to:
- review processes
- audit workflows
- assess consistency
- External advisors can see reality, not just intentions
👉 Business advice becomes evidence-based.
18. Create a “To Don’t” List
The idea:
Subtraction creates capacity.
Why this is important:
A “to don’t” list is important to a business because deliberately stopping low-value activities frees time, attention, and capacity, allowing teams to focus on the work that truly drives results instead of being diluted by unnecessary tasks.
How Way We Do supports this
- Include “to don’t lists” in key documents e.g. Our Target Market – include a list of customer types or markets you do not want to work with
- Identify:
- unused processes
- redundant steps
- low-value tasks
- Archive or retire them deliberately, or automate them
👉 Simplification becomes a system decision.
19. Micro Sabbaths
The idea:
Stillness restores thinking.
Why this is important:
A micro sabbath is important to a business owner because brief, intentional pauses restore mental clarity and decision-making capacity, helping prevent burnout and enabling more thoughtful, strategic leadership rather than reactive, fatigued choices.
How Way We Do supports this
- When work is documented and activated:
- teams don’t depend on one person
- leaders can pause without things breaking
👉 Systems create breathing room.
20. Send 26 Thank You Notes
The idea:
Gratitude strengthens relationships.
Why this is important:
Sending thank you notes is important in business because they strengthen relationships, reinforce trust and goodwill, and recognize contribution in a personal way, which deepens loyalty and engagement beyond what transactions or incentives alone can achieve.
How Way We Do supports this
- Create a “Write Thank You Notes” process and set an automation for it to run every two weeks
- Use processes to:
- recognize contributors
- acknowledge improvements
- celebrate consistency
- Embed gratitude into leadership rhythms
👉 Culture is reinforced through systems, not slogans.
The Real Takeaway for 2026
Daniel Pink is right:
A better year isn’t something you wait for.
It’s something you design.
Way We Do exists for one reason:
to turn good intentions into repeatable execution.
If 2026 is the year you want:
- fewer dropped balls
- clearer accountability
- calmer leadership
- consistent outcomes
Then don’t rely on motivation.
Build the structure.
