The Power of Moments: Why Certain Moments Have Extraordinary Impact

by Chip Heath

1. Moments of insight deliver realizations and transformations. 2. They need not be serendipitous. To deliver moments of insight for others, we can lead them to “trip over the truth,” which means sparking a realization that packs an emotional wallop. • Kamal Kar’s CLTS causes communities to trip over the truth of open defecation’s harms. 3. Tripping over the truth involves (1) a clear insight (2) compressed in time and (3) discovered by the audience itself. • In the “Dream Exercise,” professors discover they’re spending no time in class on their most important goals. 4. To produce moments of self-insight, we need to stretch: placing ourselves in new situations that expose us to the risk of failure. • Lea Chadwell took a risk by opening a bakery. Overwhelmed, she closed it, and in the process learned more about her capabilities and her values. 5. Mentors can help us stretch further than we thought we could, and in the process they can spark defining moments. • The psychiatry resident Michael Dinneen had a mentor who pushed him to continue working through the night: “He knew I had it in me to make it through that night when I didn’t know that myself.”