Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

I am sure each one of you tried to change something in your life at least once (lose weight, change the way you do paperwork so you submit your taxes on time and do not get fined, make your developers comment the code they write… you name it). The goal may be clear and theoretically desirable to all the stakeholders, and the means to reach it not very taxing, but still, for some reason, six months later you discover that your tax receipts are mislaid, you have to pierce another hole in your belt, and your developers spend hours trying to figure out what exactly a certain piece of code does, even if they wrote the code in question themselves not five months ago. Sound familiar?
Well, Chip Heath and Dan Heath know what ails you. You may have heard of them: they wrote “Made to stick”, a beautiful book about how to explain things to people and make the lessons stick. This book is written using all the lessons from the previous one. It is clear, lucid and sticks to memory. Chip and Dan tell us stories: about a manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service; about a simple technique that helps desperately exasperated people to overcome the dread of undone workloads and get away from the slough of despond by following a simple routine.

 

Switch shows us techniques for inspiring change, whether at work, at home or in the community. The authors use a metaphor of a Rider on an Elephant following a Path. The Rider, basically, is your rational being (who understands perfectly well the necessity of losing weight or commenting your code). The Elephant is your emotional being (the one that would rather have this chocolate cookie now, and does not really care about the consequences, or the one who knows that 6 months from now he won’t remember what this piece of code does, but somehow cannot believe it). The Path is the road you want to follow. The authors tell us to break down each task into three simple sections:

1. Direct the Rider
2. Motivate the Elephant
3. Shape the Path

They say that for the change to be successful, you need to convince both the Elephant and the Rider that it is necessary and desirable. To achieve that, each item is broken into 3:

1. Direct the Rider

1.1. Follow the bright spots – focus on the success stories around your change, not the negative examples. Find what works and imitate it.
1.2. Script the critical moves – remove the opportunity for decision paralysis by making the key steps clear. Think in terms of specific behaviour. (Don’t decide to eat less, decide to buy skim milk instead of 2%, and your calories intake will go down as if by itself.)
1.3. Point to the destination – describe a compelling goal to which people can relate and aspire.

2. Motivate the Elephant

2.1. Find the feeling – make people feel something, find a visual example instead of dry statistics.
2.2. Shrink the change – break the change down so it’s more digestible. Spend 5 minutes a day to pick up the junk in your room, and soon you’ll be amazed by how much better it looks.
2.3. Grow your people – cultivate a sense of identity to which people can relate, and shift towards a “growth mindset” that sees things in flux rather than fixed.

3. Shape the Path

3.1. Tweak the environment – make changes to surroundings and processes to point people in the right direction. When the situation changes, the behaviour changes, so change the situation.
3.2. Build habits – change people’s habits to change long-term behaviour. Look for ways to encourage habits.
3.3. Rally the herd – understand the power of group dynamics (peer pressure, to an extent) and work with them.

If you are familiar with the Flylady method, you will see a lot of similarities. In fact, Chip and Dan Heath mention Flylady a lot when they talk about shaping the path and scripting the critical moves.

All in all, it is a great book! Change will not be hard once you get things going, so start today!

 

Visit the FlyLady website to find out more about her method. It will be a nice addition to reading Switch.

FlyLady uses the Sidetracked Home Executive (SHE) system as a basis for organizing her home and her life. She adds humor, spunk, and a dose of common sense to her advice, but be prepared - FlyLady does not allow whining. You have to get off your "Franny"!

Flylady for Sidetracked Home Executives