Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

by Chip Heath

And that’s the first surprise about change: What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem.

They require the leader of the change to do three things at once. We’ve already mentioned one of those three things: To change someone’s behavior, you’ve got to change that person’s situation.

For individuals’ behavior to change, you’ve got to influence not only their environment but their hearts and minds.

Self-control is an exhaustible resource.

So when you hear people say that change is hard because people are lazy or resistant, that’s just flat wrong. In fact, the opposite is true: Change is hard because people wear themselves out. And that’s the second surprise about change: What looks like laziness is often exhaustion.

What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.

If you want people to change, you must provide crystal-clear direction.