Official Review: Switch- How to Change Things

[kayla1080]

Switch- "How to Change Things When Change is Hard"
By: Dan and Chip Heath

Listed one of the 5 business books to read this week by DailyWorth and a #1 New York Times bestseller, Switch is a great reference for how little things can create big changes.

The Heaths use this model to explain change: the Rider (the analytical side of us that sets goals and drive the energy), the Elephant (the energy behind the change) and the Path (the outcome and what sets the change in motion). To create change, you have to appeal to both the Rider and the Elephant...and Switch delves into the psychology of catering to the emotion of the Elephant and indecisiveness of the Rider.

"...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." (pg. How do you get the Elephant and the Rider to go hand in hand to create change? That's what this book is all about.

Switch introduces some good definitions on what inhibits change, like "analysis paralysis"- the Rider spinning his wheels until he's given direction and even instead of traditional psychology, using "solutions-focused therapy"- focusing on solutions rather than the problems at hand, a “growth mindset”- those who stretch themselves and take risks versus a “fixed mindset”.

It's about asking ourselves, "What's working right now?" instead of "what's broken and how do we fix it?" Solutions-focused therapy includes questions like, "if you were to wake up tomorrow and all of your problems had gone away, what would be different?" and then using small changes in behavior to get to that point.

This book also offers some true-to-life, clear-cut examples of how average people can make big changes, much in a Freakonomics or Outliers fashion. Some examples include: how a 1st grade teacher got her students to a 3rd grade level, how a professor of public management pulled off a successful government procurement reform, how malnourished children in Vietnam became healthy by simple changes to their diet, and how abusive parents stopped abusing their kids. “Clinics” are introduced throughout the book as real-life problems and simple solutions to them.

Here are some takeaways I got from the book:
- What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity
- Small victories can often trigger a positive spiral of behavior
- Engineering early successes is engineering hope
- You need quick wins to get fired up, and getting fired up is super-important
- Sense of progress is critical, and if you want to lead a change effort you should lower the bar

There are tons of great examples here, but in conclusion, Switch present ways to evoke change that lasts, and it inspires hope that positive change really can happen.

[Amheiser]

This seems like it would be a very helpful book for anyone who feels stuck in their situation and is looking for help in figuring out how to make things happen. I think I would really like to read this book so I can learn how to make changes in my life and also to help people I know to make changes in their lives too if they are feeling stuck. It sounds like a very positive book to read and is exactly what I need right now.

[kayla1080]

Yes, it was really good! It made me realize what needs to change in my situation. It's just hard to get there because I'm learning that it's not me, it's them. But it does give hope and some small steps you can take to create big changes. I heard that their other book, "Made to Stick", is good too!

[Amheiser]

I think that my problem is getting other people to understand what should change and why it should change. This book sounds like it would be helpful with making that change happen, or at least make progress on making changes by taking smaller steps toward the change. I'm looking forward to reading this book and learning how to do that. I think I would like to check out the other book, Made to Stick, also. This is an interesting review.