Authors Encourge You to Change the Way You Do Things

Authors Chip and Dan Heath wanted to find out why people gladly make big changes in their lives, like getting married or having kids, but fiercely resist changes that are far less encompassing.

Two psychologists helped them find the answers. People have two separate “systems” in their brains: a rational, logical system and an emotional, impulsive, instinctual system. If they are not aligned, change can be difficult.

In their research, they studied people in the workplace, people trying to lose weight, and those trying to make big changes in organizations. They discovered that there were striking similarities in the steps they took toward success. In their new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, they give a game plan available to everyone in order to show how changes in life can be a little easier.

One quote: “What do you do, in the first hour of the first day, to teach a monkey how to ride a skateboard? The answer doesn’t involve punishment.”

Tell people what you want them to do in a way that they will understand. The government’s Food Guide Pyramid says we should eat 5 to 7 teaspoons of oil a day, suggesting people should eat less oil. The Heaths found a a public-health campaign in West Virginia that urged people to drink 1 percent milk. A glass of whole milk has as much fat as five strips of bacon. If you switch to 1 percent, you’ll eat less oil.

Appeal to the emotional side. A picky accountant obsessed with details and forms visited a group home where he could see the kids and the problems. He was moved to simplify the way the home could request funds.

The authors’ lessons are backed up by anecdotes that deal with many facets of home life, business life and organizations. It is an entertaining and educational must-read for executives and ordinary people who want to make changes.

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