⚖️💡 In health, as in leadership, friction determines outcomes 💡⚖️

Behaviour change rarely fails because people don’t care. It fails because the system makes the right behaviour too hard to sustain.

What just happened 🧪💊

Novo Nordisk has received FDA approval for the first oral GLP-1 medication for obesity.

At first glance, this looks like a small pharmaceutical update, but in reality, it’s a powerful lesson in behaviour change and system design.

GLP-1 receptor agonists work by influencing appetite regulation in the brain and gut.

They increase satiety, reduce hunger signalling, and slow gastric emptying. Injectable semaglutide has been shown to be associated with ~15%+ average weight loss over 68 weeks when paired with lifestyle support (Wilding et al., 2021).

But efficacy was never the only constraint.

Adherence matters. And adherence is shaped far more by friction than by intent.

Oral semaglutide solves a genuine biological challenge. It’s a fragile peptide normally destroyed by stomach enzymes.

The tablet creates a brief protective micro-environment that allows absorption before digestion resumes.

Elegant science… in service of behaviour.

Why this is really a behaviour change story 🧠

Injections work, but friction accumulates.

Daily tablets:

• Reduce needle aversion

• Lower psychological and logistical barriers

• Fit more easily into existing routines

And when a behaviour fits the system people already live in, it’s more likely to persist.

This is the same principle that governs leadership performance… design beats discipline…every time.

A necessary reality check 🌱

This is not a shortcut. And it’s not a replacement for sleep, movement, nutrition, and muscle preservation. 

GLP-1s are just tools.

Like any tools, used well, alongside lifestyle and behavioural support, they can be genuinely life-changing for people living with obesity. But Used in isolation, they simply medicalise a system failure.

The bigger picture 🌍

With billions of people who could benefit from obesity treatment, the future won’t be decided by the most powerful intervention…

But by the one people can actually sustain.

This approval matters because it reduces friction… and reduced friction changes behaviour at scale.

At @Essentio Health, and through @Build a Bridge – Live Your Best Life, this is the work we focus on every day:

🧠 Evidence-led insight

🔁 Behaviour-first design

🌱 Sustainable systems

Because health, like leadership, doesn’t fail from lack of knowledge. It fails when the system asks too much, for too long.