Switch - Chip Heath [99]
WHAT’S THE SWITCH AND WHAT’S HOLDING IT BACK? This is the last Clinic in the book, and by now, we hope you’ll make easy work of this situation. The behavior change is clear enough: John needs to stop using his BlackBerry all the time (and especially while driving). What’s holding him back? His Elephant, of course. In any addiction situation, the Elephant is the culprit. To rein in John’s Elephant, we’ll use all three parts of the framework. Take a moment to generate an action plan for John, and then compare your notes with ours.
HOW DO WE MAKE THE SWITCH?
• Direct the Rider. 1. Find the bright spots. Are there times when John doesn’t feel the BlackBerry compulsion? What’s different about those times, and can we find a way to replicate those conditions? 2. Point to the destination. John needs a B&W goal, like BP’s “No dry holes.” Recall that B&W goals are particularly useful in situations where people are prone to rationalize. (John is constantly telling himself, “I just need to check and see if this one specific e-mail has come in.”) John could experiment with different B&W goals: No BlackBerry during dinner, or No BlackBerry after 6 p.m., or The BlackBerry comes out only when I’m traveling. He needs to eliminate his own wiggle room.
• Motivate the Elephant. 1. Find the feeling. Have John’s wife force him to read aloud the last ten e-mails that he received and then ask whether any of them is really worth getting twitchy over. A little embarrassment might do him good. 2. Find the feeling. Car accidents are happening more and more because of people like John. Confronting John with a particularly sobering news story—for example, “Cute Puppy Run Over by E-Mailing Driver”—might be a good idea. 3. Build identity. John’s wife (or his colleagues) could highlight how his BlackBerry habit doesn’t fit with his character: “John, you’re usually such an ‘in control’ guy. It’s weird to see you so flaky.” 4. Build the growth mindset. Some smokers quit successfully on the seventeenth try. If John truly wants to curb his habit, his friends shouldn’t let him give up if he “relapses” a few times.
• Shape the Path. 1. Break the environment. John’s wife can simply smash his BlackBerry with a hammer. Problem solved. 1a. Tweak the environment. If smashing it isn’t possible, John could lock his BlackBerry in the trunk of his car every time he drives. That way, he wouldn’t have to fight the Elephant when it buzzes. 2. Tweak the environment. The siren song of the BlackBerry is its buzz (or ring or flashing red light). Can you turn off the sound? Cover up the light? (Paint over the light with Wite-Out if necessary.) 3. Rally the herd. John’s colleagues should make sure he knows he’s not fooling anybody in meetings. They should make a pact that, each time John sneaks a look at his BlackBerry under the table, they will all stare at him until he meets their (disapproving) eyes.
5.
The Fataki case study may have felt foreign to you. It probably doesn’t bear many superficial similarities to the changes you’re contemplating. But look at the underlying dynamics: You want certain people to act differently, but they are resistant to the change. So you rally the support of others who in turn could influence those you hope to sway. In essence, it’s an attempt to change the culture, and culture often is the linchpin of successful organizational change. As former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner said, “I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game—it is the game.” But organizational culture is a slippery, abstract concept. How do you change it? Where do you start?
In 1984, Libby Zion, an 18-year-old freshman at Bennington College, at