Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

by Chip Heath

The Happiness Hypothesis. Haidt says that our emotional side is an Elephant and our rational side is its Rider. Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. He’s completely overmatched.

If you want to change things, you’ve got to appeal to both. The Rider provides the planning and direction, and the Elephant provides the energy. So if you reach the Riders of your team but not the Elephants, team members will have understanding without motivation. If you reach their Elephants but not their Riders, they’ll have passion without direction. In both cases, the flaws can be paralyzing. A reluctant Elephant and a wheel-spinning Rider can both ensure that nothing changes. But when Elephants and Riders move together, change can come easily.

Whether the switch you seek is in your family, in your charity, in your organization, or in society at large, you’ll get there by making three things happen. You’ll direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant, and shape the Path.

To pursue bright spots is to ask the question “What’s working, and how can we do more of it?” Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Yet, in the real world, this obvious question is almost never asked. Instead, the question we ask is more problem focused: “What’s broken, and how do we fix it?” This problem-seeking mindset is a shortcoming of the Rider in each of us.

Destination postcards do double duty: They show the Rider where you’re headed, and they show the Elephant why the journey is worthwhile.

He knew his colleagues weren’t enthused about his idea for centralized purchasing, so he didn’t bother talking about the numbers. Instead, he showed them something that made them feel something. (We really buy all these different kinds of gloves?) SEE-FEEL-CHANGE.

How Can You Make Developers Care About the End-User?

A business cliché commands us to “raise the bar.” But that’s exactly the wrong instinct if you want to motivate a reluctant Elephant. You need to lower the bar. Picture taking a high-jump bar and lowering it so far that it can be stepped over. If you want a reluctant Elephant to get moving, you need to shrink the change.

company that was passionate about support. He posted an aspirational banner on the wall: RACKSPACE GIVES FANATICAL SUPPORT. The phrase stuck immediately. This was just talk, of course, but there was action to back it up. Weston started

Problems are easy to spot; progress, much harder. But the progress is precious.

Change isn’t an event; it’s a process.

To lead a process requires persistence.

Big changes can start with very small steps. Small changes tend to snowball. But this is not the same as saying that change is easy.

In other words, when change works, it’s because the Rider, the Elephant, and the Path are all aligned in support of the switch.

They directed the Rider, they motivated the Elephant, and they shaped the Path. And now it’s your pattern. What will you switch?