Drive Method Masterclass · 2026

Motivation is not a people problem.
It is a design problem.

A year-long program for everyone who has stopped managing engagement — and wants to build systems that generate it instead.

Reserve your seat now Next cohort · max. 25 participants
85%
of employees
are not truly engaged*
$ 7 Bn
productivity loss
worldwide annually*
9 Mo.
program duration
with real projects
The real tragedy is not that people lose their spark. It is that we have built workplaces that extinguish it by design.
12–24

months after an engagement program launches, the impact has usually faded. Incentives were raised. Badges were handed out. The score barely moved.

The problem is not execution. The problem is the diagnosis. Treat motivation as a state, and you will always be adjusting. Treat it as a system, and you build once — and benefit permanently.

* Source: Gallup State of the Global Workplace

Not a course.
A certification
through practice.

01

Async learning material

Video modules and sprint playbooks for every topic. You learn when it works for you — not when the calendar says so.

02

Live Sessions & Community

90-minute online sessions per sprint. Real-time exchange with the cohort. Peer feedback on your real projects.

03

Application Windows

After every sprint comes a deliberate pause — no tasks, no content. Time to integrate what you have learned into your actual work.

04

Every topic twice

All sprint topics appear twice a year. Miss one — get a second chance. Teams can join in staggered waves.

05

Drive Method Book + materials

Every member receives the Drive Method book and additional materials that evolve alongside the program.

From diagnosis
to self-sustaining
performance.

Before Sprint 1, a short primer module clarifies what this discipline is not: not change management, not classic behavioral economics, not HR consulting, not gamification. Sprint 1 then lays the foundation with three additional modules and runs 4–5 weeks, Sprint 2 through 5 run 2–3 weeks each, each followed by an Application Window. Sprint 6 closes the program in 4 weeks with no pause afterward. Every topic appears twice a year.

Sprint 01

Diagnosis · Activation Barriers, Not Motivation Deficits

Classic diagnostics ask where motivation is missing. The Drive Method asks where the system blocks the next action, and whether it is even a motivation problem. You place your organization on the Behavioral Maturity Model, learn the COM-B gate, which refuses a motivation diagnosis until it is passed, and the 5 Entropy Questions, checked against the 8-Week Wall standard. You close with your first Behavioral Performance Audit on your own system, internal or customer-facing.

Behavioral Maturity Model Self-Determination Theory COM-B Gate 5 Entropy Questions · 8-Week Wall Behavioral Performance Audit
Sprint 02

Motivational Fit · Finding the Right Domain Before You Design

The Behavioral Solution Matrix places your system on two independent axes and prevents the most common design mistake: building an intervention on the wrong motivational source. The nine functional domains show which concrete triggers actually work.

Behavioral Solution Matrix Nine Functional Domains BSM Mapping & Domain Analysis
Sprint 03

Building Systems · A Loop, Not a Sequence to Work Through

At the center is the IntrinsiQ Performance Journey™, our own five-phase framework for sustainable engagement: curiosity, interest, positive externality, autonomy, mastery. You design the full journey for your own system, grounded mechanistically in the Activation Loop.

IntrinsiQ Performance Journey™ Activation Loop & Triad Five-Phase Design
Sprint 04

Embedding · Why Good Systems Die at the Anchoring Stage

A brilliant design is useless without the organizational capacity to run it. You audit your environment against the five required capabilities and decide, for every gap: build it, train it, or partner with experts.

Five Required Capabilities Build · Train · Partner Embedding Plan
Sprint 05

Management Systems · Visibility Is Protection

Motivation systems rarely fail because they stop working. They fail because they stay invisible to leadership. You translate your system into trackable indicators, existing performance rhythms and recognition logic, so it counts instead of fading out.

Motivation Signals, Not Vanity Metrics Promotion & Recognition Management System Blueprint
Sprint 06

From Mandate to Function

The sprint that no longer belongs to the Drive Method. The first five sprints make you a practitioner who can build a system. Sprint 6 turns that into a function: a business case for behavioral infrastructure, a connection to existing people-analytics infrastructure, and, as a guest module with outside counsel, orientation on codetermination and works council law. You close with a function case you can defend internally in front of a leadership team.

Business Case for Behavioral Infrastructure People-Analytics Connection Codetermination & Works Council (Guest Module) Function Case
Application Window

After sprints 1 through 5: 2 weeks of deliberate pause each. No new material, no tasks. Time to test what you have learned in real work — and reflect with the community. Sprint 6 closes directly with the cohort pitch live session, with no Application Window afterward.

2 Wo.

Für alle, die aufgehört haben,
Symptome zu behandeln.

HR & L&D

Those who hold the budget — and the responsibility.

You no longer want to launch engagement programs that have moved nothing 18 months later. You want to build the internal capability to design systems that sustain themselves.

Result: You become the internal architect for sustainable performance.
Leaders & Managers

Those who see every day that pressure does not scale.

You give feedback, explain, motivate — and still it does not work. The Drive Method program gives you the tools to set up your team so it moves itself.

Result: Less management intervention. More genuine ownership.
External Consultants & Coaches

Those who want to give their clients more than frameworks.

You work in change, transformation, leadership — and know that most initiatives fail not at strategy but at the system level. This certification is your differentiator.

Result: Certification in Behavioral Design as a clear USP.

Invest once.
Benefit permanently.

One price per person, whether individual or team. Full annual access including all sprints and both cycles.

Always included
Drive Method Book + materials Sprint Playbooks Digital Templates Live sessions (all sprints) Community access Session Recordings Portfolio + function case
Optional · Upgrade
Portfolio review & certification by Roman personally · + € 790 1:1 coaching session (60 min.) · on request

The same methodology.
Applied directly to your system.

The Masterclass builds behavioral design capability in individual practitioners. The knowledge is the same, but the path is different: you learn the methodology in the context of real programs at other organizations, not your own.

If, as a company, you want to not only build this capability but also apply it directly to your own loyalty programs, onboarding flows, or performance systems, the Behavioral Architect in Residence at Engaginglab is the right setup. The engagement is tailored to your system, combines assessment, implementation work, and capability transfer in one program, and includes building knowledge across several team members at once. For Masterclass graduates with a finished portfolio, this transition is especially direct: the system audit already exists, the only remaining question is who implements it together with you.

Behavioral Architect in Residence →
Masterclass vs. Residence
Residence
Who benefits
Your organization as a unit
Methodology
Identical · applied individually
Context
Your system, your data
Assessment
Included (€ 8,500 value)
Team
Several people at once

What you want to know
before you sign up.

Most questions don't come from skepticism — they come from wanting to understand whether the program is the right fit for your specific situation. Here are the most common ones.

Sprint 1 runs 4–5 weeks, because it lays the foundation with the Behavioral Maturity Model, Self-Determination Theory, and the COM-B gate. Sprints 2 through 5 run 2–3 weeks each, Sprint 6 runs 4 weeks. During a sprint, you should plan for around 3–5 hours per week, spread across asynchronous video material, the sprint playbook, and a live session. After sprints 1 through 5 comes a two-week Application Window with no content and no tasks, intentional time to integrate what you have learned into real work. Sprint 6 closes directly with the cohort pitch live session. The year-long program has phases where you are more intensively engaged, and phases where you process and apply.
Every sprint topic appears twice per year. If you miss one cycle, you join the next one without losing your place. This is not an accident — it is a design decision. Teams can enter in a staggered way, and individuals retain flexibility without losing the program year.
None in Behavioral Design or gamification. The program begins with the Behavioral Performance Audit in Sprint 01. You learn to diagnose before you start designing anything. Experience in HR, leadership, or consulting is a good foundation, but not a requirement. What you should bring: a concrete environment in which you want to apply the method. The program is practice-oriented, not an abstract theory course.
The program has a fixed annual structure with planned sprint windows and live sessions. It is not a self-paced online course waiting for you to be ready. The cohort structure is part of the learning design. Peer feedback on real projects and community exchange only work when everyone is working on the same topic at roughly the same time.
By completing all six sprints, you will have built a complete portfolio, on your own system, not on a case study: Behavioral Performance Audit, BSM mapping with domain analysis, IntrinsiQ Performance Journey, Embedding Plan, Management System Blueprint, and, from Sprint 6, a function case with a business-case calculation. This portfolio is the certification basis. It proves you can apply the methodology, not just that you consumed six modules. For the strongest form of the credential, particularly relevant for external consultants and coaches, we optionally offer a personal portfolio review and certification by Roman (+ € 790): a direct assessment of your finished portfolio instead of a standardized exam.
Yes, at the same price per person, € 1,690 / year, whether you come alone or as a group. From 4 people at one company, you additionally get a dedicated team coaching slot per sprint, joint project reviews, and the option to enter in a staggered way. This is particularly relevant when not everyone is available at the same time. Different people can start in different sprints and still work together as a team.
The main program is delivered in German and targets the DACH region. An English version is available at behavioral-architects.com/en/. If you work internationally or your team is mixed, get in touch and we can assess the situation together.

Stop managing
motivation.

The next cohort starts with a maximum of 25 participants.
Sign up with no obligation. We will be in touch with all details and the start date.

Waitlist · Next Cohort

No payment required. Fully non-binding. You will receive all information about the program, start date and price.

The Drive Method – Roman Rackwitz

The handbook for architecture.

Roman Rackwitz decodes the mechanisms of sustainable performance in "The Drive Method". No myths, no motivational speeches — just architecture.

How to build engagement that survives even when external rewards disappear. A practical book for everyone who wants to design systems instead of symptoms.

Order the book Download PDF free