Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard
by Chip and Dan Heath
Most of us think that change is hard but that’s not true. Some changes like getting married or having children are massive changes that many of us happily choose and follow through with.
And yet, simple changes like getting an expense report in on time just doesn’t happen
This book explores the reasons why some changes are hard and offers a framework to enable change.
This framework is to use the analogy of a rider on an elephant travelling along a path.
The Rider is our conscious, rational, logical, thinking self – the part of us that thinks it’s in charge. The Elephant is our subconscious, emotional, reactive self and the Path is the environment in which the activity is happening.
The Rider has strengths such as long term thinking, planning and logic; and weaknesses, in particular a tendency to over analyse, collect too much data and ends up spinning his/her wheels unable to determine the ‘right’ action to take.
The Elephant also has strengths – loyalty, drive, emotional connection and strength; and weaknesses – short termism, desire for instant gratification and lazy.
If the Rider wants to go one way and the Elephant wants to do something else, the Elephant will ultimately win because the Rider tires easily and the Elephant has much greater strength.
Add to this mix, the Path, which could be wide and clear in one direction or narrow and tangled with undergrowth in another direction.
So How Do We Change When Change Is Hard?
The authors suggest we tackle any particular problem from each of the three different perspectives.
For the Rider:
1. Find out what’s working already in this area. Is someone else getting the results you want? What are they doing differently and can you do it too?
2. Give the Rider clear instructions and a clear goal. Have the end result in mind and decide exactly what steps you are going to take and then take them. You can correct as necessary as you get feedback of the effectiveness of your actions. Analysis paralysis results in no action and no progress.
For the Elephant:
1. Find the feeling that will drive the change you desire. How can you give the Elephant a good feeling about changing?
2. Shrink the change. Big changes seem overwhelming and the emotional Elephant gets spooked. If you can make the change much smaller then the Elephant will be less resistant.
3. Adopt a growth mindset. Believe that change is possible – both change to the situation and also change in you and/or your people.
Shape the Path
1. Make it easier to change than not to change.
2. Establish new habits to effect the change without having to redecide what to do each time.
3. Create a trigger for change by linking the new action to an existing action or habit so it becomes automatic.
4. Use checklists to make things easier and less likely to be missed.
My Example
In the book the authors cite around a dozen examples where people have instigated change by a combination of approaches to the Rider, the Elephant and the Path.
Here’s my personal example:
The change I wanted to make was to develop a daily routine of actually doing goal setting and visualisation. Consciously and logically I’ve known it’s a good idea to do goal setting and visualisation on a daily basis for years.
But I haven’t done it!
I’d start with good intentions and then my Elephant would get sidetracked. I’d change the goal because something else came along and I was spending far too much time and effort researching different goal setting strategies looking for the ‘right’ one.
My solution:
1. I chose a single goal setting strategy to work with for at least 30 days without fail.
2. I included an exercise to get my emotions upbeat before I started the goal setting and visualisation.
3. I decided when and where I would do my goal setting – in my home office at the start of my working day.
4. I linked the goal setting to something I already do on a daily basis – my piano practice.
5. I created a checklist of all the steps I wanted to take each day:
i) Write out 10 things I’m grateful for (that gets the emotional level upbeat).
ii) Write out the goal and note any negativity that comes up
iii) Close my eyes and imagine the goal had come to pass an hour ago, how would I feel, what would things look like, what would I hear? I get into a full multi-sensory imagination.
iv) Create my daily action plan focused towards achieving the goal.
Now, every morning I get up, have breakfast and do my piano practice. Then I go into my home office and shut the door and work through my goal setting check list.
And it doesn’t matter if I’m out at a networking breakfast in the morning because I come home and do my piano practice – that’s already established. Then as soon as I’ve finished my piano practice I go into my home office and do my goal setting exercises.
It works!
I have established a new, supportive habit and changed my behaviour easily by tackling the three different areas – the Rider, the Elephant and the Path as suggested in this book.
What I have written is a brief synopsis of the book but there is far more detail and useful examples in the actual book.
You can get your copy from Amazon at
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
You must log in to post a comment.