Switch - Chip Heath [107]
GROW YOUR PEOPLE. Cultivate a sense of identity and instill the growth mindset. [Brasilata’s “inventors,” junior-high math kids’ turnaround]
→ SHAPE the Path
TWEAK THE ENVIRONMENT. When the situation changes, the behavior changes. So change the situation. [Throwing out the phone system at Rackspace, 1-Click ordering, simplifying the online time sheet]
BUILD HABITS. When behavior is habitual, it’s “free”—it doesn’t tax the Rider. Look for ways to encourage habits. [Setting “action triggers,” eating two bowls of soup while dieting, using checklists]
RALLY THE HERD. Behavior is contagious. Help it spread. [“Fataki” in Tanzania, “free spaces” in hospitals, seeding the tip jar]
————— OVERCOMING OBSTACLES —————
Here we list twelve common problems that people encounter as they fight for change, along with some advice about overcoming them. (Note that we’re speaking in shorthand here—this advice won’t make sense to anybody who hasn’t read the book.)
Problem: People don’t see the need to change.
Advice: 1. You are not going to overcome this by talking to the Rider. Instead, find the feeling. Can you do a dramatic demonstration like the Glove Shrine, or like Robyn Waters’s demos at Target? 2. Create empathy. Show people the problems with not changing (think Attila the Accountant). 3. Tweak the environment so that whether people see the need to change is irrelevant. Remember, Rackspace employees didn’t necessarily see the need to improve customer service, but after the call-queuing system disappeared, they had to pick up the phone.
Problem: I’m having the “not invented here” problem: People resist my idea because they say “We’ve never done it like that before.”
Advice: 1. Highlight identity: Is there some aspect of your idea that’s consistent with the history of your organization? (E.g., We’ve always been the pioneers in this industry.) Or is your idea consistent with a professional identity that people share? 2. Find a bright spot that is invented here and clone it.
Problem: We should be doing something, but we’re getting bogged down in analysis.
Advice: 1. Don’t overanalyze and play to the weaknesses of the Rider. Instead, find a feeling that will get the Elephant moving. 2. Create a destination postcard. That way, the Rider starts analyzing how to get there rather than whether anything should be done. 3. Simplify the problem by scripting the critical moves: What’s your equivalent of the 1% milk campaign?
Problem: The environment has shifted, and we need to overcome our old patterns of behavior.
Advice: 1. Can you create a new habit so the Rider doesn’t constantly have to wrestle the Elephant? 2. Set an action trigger. Preload your decision by imagining the time and place where you’re going to act differently. 3. Use Natalie Elder’s strategy of creating a routine for the morning that eliminates the old, bad behavior. 4. The old pattern is powerful, so make sure to script the critical moves, because ambiguity is the enemy. ALL railroad came up with four simple rules to work its way out of financial distress.
Problem: People simply aren’t motivated to change.
Advice: 1. Is an identity conflict standing in the way? If so, you’ll need to “sell” the new identity (think Brasilata’s inventors). Encourage people to take a small step toward the new identity, as in the “Drive Safely” study. 2. Create a destination postcard that makes the change more attractive (like the teacher who told her first graders “You’ll be third graders by the end of the year”). 3. Lower the bar to get people moving, as with the 5-Minute Room Rescue. 4. Use social pressure to encourage change (as when Gerard Cachon posted the review times for the operations journal). 5. Can you smooth the Path so much that even an unmotivated person will slide along? Remember, even jerks in the dorm donated to the food drive when given a specific invitation and a map.
Problem: I’ll change tomorrow.
Advice: 1. Shrink the change so you can start today. 2. If you