Abstract
Organizational behavior management (OBM) research has explored the degree to which leaders can design deliberate enviro-social interventions to improve the capabilities, wellbeing, and emotional affect of their workers. This paper recontextualizes this to examine how, when, and to what degree individuals exert agency over their own enviro-social settings — taking deliberate actions which improve the immediate physical and social environments where they work for their own enabling effect. This model is particularly relevant at a time when individuals are increasingly skeptical of monolithic corporate cultures, remote and nontraditional work settings are more common, isolation and digital-first lifestyles are on the rise, and AI is redefining what we consider “essential” human skills. This paper draws on both ecological systems theory and organizational behavior management to argue for a conceptualization of enviro-social agency — an individuals’ ability to shape their immediate enviro-social setting consciously and for their benefit — as a distinct and trainable skill within the existing domain of 21st century skills such as self-efficacy, creativity, adaptability, and critical thinking.