Understanding the E-C Matrix
How the Energy-Commitment matrix works, what the four quadrants mean, and how to use it to guide intervention strategy.
The Energy-Commitment (E-C) Matrix is the primary readiness visualization in Cursus. It places stakeholder groups on a two-dimensional grid based on their measured energy and commitment levels, making it immediately clear where to focus intervention effort.
What energy and commitment mean
Energy measures active engagement with the change — how much bandwidth and motivation a group has to participate. High energy groups are showing up, asking questions, and engaging with change activities. Low energy groups are passive, disengaged, or overwhelmed by competing demands.
Commitment measures conviction that the change is the right direction. High commitment groups believe in the change's purpose. Low commitment groups are skeptical, resistant, or unaware of why the change is happening.
These are distinct dimensions. A group can have high energy but low commitment (vocal resistors), or high commitment but low energy (believers who are stretched too thin).
The four quadrants
| Quadrant | Energy | Commitment | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ready (green) | High | High | Proceed — deploy and enable |
| Willing but Overwhelmed (blue) | Low | High | Committed but capacity-constrained — reduce load, prioritize |
| Capable but Resistant (amber) | High | Low | Engaged but skeptical — address the why, involve in design |
| At Risk (red) | Low | Low | Disengaged and unconvinced — high intervention priority |
How scores are computed
E-C scores are derived from multiple signal sources:
- Survey responses (readiness and sentiment check-ins)
- Communication platform metadata (engagement pattern signals)
- Training and adoption telemetry (participation rates, feature usage)
- Practitioner assessments (manually entered observations)
Each source is weighted based on recency and reliability. The score reflects the current state as of the most recent signal window. Source attribution is shown for every score — click the info icon on any group card to see which signals contributed.
Intervention strategies by quadrant
- Ready — Focus on reinforcement and enablement. Avoid over-managing.
- Willing but Overwhelmed — Audit change load, defer non-critical asks, simplify the journey.
- Capable but Resistant — Investigate the source of skepticism. Involve group representatives in design decisions. Use Lumen to draft targeted "why this change" communications.
- At Risk — Escalate to leadership. Build awareness before requesting any commitment. Consider one-to-one leader conversations as the first intervention.
Using the temporal scrubber
The E-C Matrix includes a timeline scrubber at the bottom of the view. Drag the handle to move through time and watch how group positions shift relative to program milestones and releases.
This is useful for:
- Post-intervention analysis (did the amber groups move after the communications campaign?)
- Pre-release risk assessment (which groups are still At Risk heading into go-live?)
- Board and steering committee reporting (show trajectory, not just current state)
Data points are plotted at each signal collection interval. Gaps in the timeline indicate periods with insufficient data.