Why is change so hard? That seems like a question asked in every self-help book. And it also seems that every such book has a solution to making change easier. But authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath provide solutions by closely examining real-life situations in Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard.
Switch discusses the difficulties in making change by exploring a conflict within the human mind – particularly, the rational mind versus the emotional mind. The authors illustrate this conflict as a battle of wills between a “Rider” (the rational mind) who sits atop an “Elephant” (the emotional mind). Both minds need different things to get them up and going, usually running counter to each other. Heath and Heath show that both the Rider and the Elephant in one’s mind need to be catered to – individually and specifically – and then the “Path” for both must be shaped to reach a successful change.
One of the reasons why Switch is such a good read is because of how it’s broken down by sections – “Direct the Rider,” “Motivate the Elephant” and “Shape the Path.” These sections are broken down further by various chapters which elaborate on various ways one can accomplish these three goals. The authors go to great lengths to illustrate various ways on how to help the Rider and the Elephant change what they’re doing (or not doing), often doing so with real-life examples.
For instance, in directing the Rider, the authors examine how someone working for an international nonprofit helped malnourished children in Vietnam by finding the bright spots – following the examples of a few mothers who kept their children well-fed despite living in poverty. In another instance, they highlight how decision paralysis can happen when one has too many choices, which results in having to help the Rider by scripting his/her critical moves (whether to try an unused medication or have surgery, in this example). And in yet another example, they look at a teacher who pointed to the Rider’s destination (of improving students’ reading levels) by getting her first-graders to think of themselves as third-graders.
Heath and Heath also spend time showing how to motivate the Elephant via a sales manager at Target who changed the company’s marketing strategy by finding a certain feeling within senior executives. There’s an example of how to shrink the change for an Elephant based on hotel maids who were encouraged to get fit by being told they were already exercising while performing their daily work routines. Another example recalls how one man appealed to the people of St. Lucia by convincing them – growing them – to have pride in an endangered parrot that lived exclusively on their island.
The authors don’t stop at directing the Rider and motivating the Elephant. Once the rational and emotional sides of the mind are set for change, there is another step to be taken: shaping the Path. Heath and Heath spend the remainder of Switch returning to earlier examples to show how ordinary people shaped Paths which led to extraordinary changes. These examples highlight ways the reader can tweak the environment, build new habits and rally the herd – thus setting people on the right Path. The authors conclude their book with some thoughts on how to keep the switch going, as well as brief advice on what the reader can do when he/she encounters problems while implementing change.
So for a book that reads less like a self-help and more like an academic publication filled with real-life examples instead of theoretical anecdotes, open up Switch. It makes for a nice end-of-the-workday leaf-through as well as a primer over the morning cup of coffee. Go make the change and read this book!
By Adam Hopkins, Marketing Coordinator, Dechert LLP