Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard
March 23, 2011
Switch
How To Change Things When Change Is Hard
By Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Why is it so hard for individuals, organizations, and communities to make meaningful lasting changes? We’re grateful to our colleague Mike Cabot at Merced Systems for recommending this book, which provides both a clear conceptual framework and plenty of compelling stories and examples.
The challenge of change can be understood as a battle between the emotional and rational sides of our brains. The emotional side is like an Elephant – lazy, hungry for instant gratification, and focused on the short-term. The rational side is like the Rider who is struggling to control that Elephant. The Rider is able to plan, think about the big picture, and sacrifice immediate satisfaction for long-term results. But the Rider’s strength is no match for the Elephant.
Based on this metaphor and their experience with change in a variety of settings the Heaths provide a three-part framework for guiding any significant change effort: Direct the Rider, Motivate the Elephant, Shape the Path.
Direct the Rider
The Heaths argue that what looks like resistance is often just a lack of clarity. In order to achieve meaningful change, it’s critical to begin with very clear directions. They suggest several strategies:
Find the bright spots. Look for what’s working well now and see if you can scale it.
Script the critical moves. The Heaths cite Barry Schwarz’s book The Paradox of Choice to explain why it’s easy to overwhelm the Rider with too many choices. Instead, provide clear rules and principles to guide the most important decisions.
Point to the destination. Begin with the end in mind, and make that end compelling and meaningful. Create a “destination postcard” that paints a vivid picture of what’s possible.
Motivate the Elephant
The Heaths suggest that what looks like laziness is often exhaustion. To sustain change over the long term it’s important to connect with our emotional side.
Find the feeling. There’s plenty of evidence that information is not enough to create change. Help people see the situation in a way that influences their emotions, too.
Shrink the change. Build hope by creating a feeling of progress. Harness the “endowed progress effect” by letting people know that they are already part way to the goal.
Grow your people. Help people to develop what Stanford Psychology Professor Carol Dweck calls a “growth mindset” – a belief that they can continue to learn, develop, and change.
Shape the Path
What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. The Heaths draw on recent advances in behavioral economics to suggest that it’s much easier to sustain change if you create an easier path for the Rider and the Elephant.
Tweak the environment. Make it easier for people to do what’s right. If you want to eat smaller portions, use smaller plates.
Build habits. Good habits don’t just happen. Create “action triggers” by making decisions and planning in advance to take a particular action in a specific situation.
Rally the herd. Perceptions matter, and we tend to do what we believe other people are doing. So when people are embracing the right behaviors, it’s important to share those successes and build on that momentum.
Many of our clients are attempting to make dramatic improvements in the service they provide to their customers. Or they want to transform the performance of their front-line representatives from a narrow focus on service to a broader focus on sales and service. It’s easy – and tempting – for companies to see these issues as a “training” problem. But training is only part of the solution. To create and sustain meaningful change in the culture of an organization requires a systematic – and systemic – approach. It’s vital to engage people in both rational and emotional ways and to build in the organizational supports that make it easier for them to do the right things on a consistent basis.
