Book Review: SWITCH: How to Change Things when Change is Hard, by Chip & Dan Heath

In their latest book, the Heath brothers argue that not all change is difficult for us – think of those big changes like getting married or becoming parents and it’s clear we humans are capable of significantly changing.

But if that’s true, then why can some change – like losing weight and keeping it off – be so darned difficult? Research in sociology, psychology and other fields suggests that we are essentially of 2 minds – what the authors call the “Rider” (our analytical, rational side) and the “Elephant” (our emotional side), borrowing the terms from Jonathan Haidt’s analogy in The Happiness Hypothesis.

The Rider’s strength is in thinking long-term, analytically and rationally. Its weakness is “analysis paralysis”. The Elephant’s strength is motivation and drive, getting things done. Its weakness is wanting the quick payoff. Change fails when the Rider and the Elephant are at odds.

The Heath brothers outline the steps necessary to effect change by appealing to both the Rider and the Elephant, after first laying out what they call the 3 surprises about change.

1) “What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem” (p 3)
2) “What looks like laziness is often exhaustion” (p 12)
3) “What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity” (p 15)

So, to change your own behavior, that of your company, or to “change the world” one little bit at a time, the Heaths argue, you need to implement steps that tackle the situation problem, the exhaustion, and the lack of clarity.

“What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity” – So, Direct the Rider
“What looks like laziness is often exhaustion” – Motivate the Elephant
“What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem” – Shape the Path

In the rest of the book, the Heaths break down each of the 3 major steps into sub-steps, giving real-life examples of precisely how that action brought about change. (An example of “Directing the Rider” is to “Follow the Bright Spots” by figuring out what is already working in the particular situation, and to do more of that.
An example of Motivating the Elephant is to “Shrink the Change” into bite-size pieces that don’t overwhelm the Elephant. If you’ve been a couch potato, a 5 minute walk around the block may be just enough to get you moving – rather than the thought of 60 minutes on a treadmill.)

Any one of these actions can aid in bringing about change, but it’s even more effective when you’re taking steps in all the areas (Rider, Elephant, Path).

Best of all, the stories included are largely about people without a lot of formal power in their organization, without large budgets, and without a lot of time to effect change. Yet they were successful because they managed to give the Rider direction, to motivate the Elephant, and to shape the Path.