Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Let me sum this book up: To change behavior, you must do three things. One, you must change the person's behavior. Two and three, you must change the person's hearts and minds.

The authors use the analogy of an Elephant and his Rider. The Rider is your logical brain. The Elephant is your heart. To get the elephant to move, you must engage both the Rider and the Elephant. So, to put it another way, to change behavior, you must Direct the Rider (provide clear direction), Motivate the Elephant (engage people's emotions), and Shape the Path (create the best environment).

Here are some more ideas from the book. Keep the Rider (one's mind) busy analyzing why things work well. Ask what small changes can be made to make things work better. The hardest part of change is in the details. What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. Set what Built to Last authors call a BHAG, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, a goal that hits you in the gut and motivates you, a destination postcard, pictures of a future that hard work can make possible. When it is time to change behavior, our first instinct is to teach them something. Instead, we need to appeal to the heart. If you need quick action, negative emotions might help, but most of the time, it's not a stone-in-the-shoe situation and we need to encourage play, open minds, creativity, and hope. Go ahead and give two stamps toward the goal on the Loyalty Card, what the authors call Shrink the Change, build by providing an early small win. Small targets lead to small victories. Grow your people. Lock your people into identifying with being a great person. Tweak the environment. Create specific action triggers. Build habits. Use the humble checklist.