Author: Chip Heath and Dan Heath
_Chip Heath and Dan Heath_
Reading time: 24 minutes
Synopsis
Switch (2010) looks at why it’s often hard for people to change their behavior. It shows ways to make changes easier. This happens by understanding how our brain works better. The book shares simple but effective strategies for change. These are based on scientific studies and personal stories.
What you will learn: How to overcome your habits and welcome change.
Maybe you have tried many times to stop bad habits. And maybe you have failed badly. Deciding to quit smoking quickly can feel like a huge task. Even planning to eat healthier often fails from the start. Why is it so hard to really follow through on New Year’s resolutions? Stopping smoking, changing your diet, the new year – all these mean change. And this is where the problem is.
We often learn that changing behavior needs effort. But even in groups, like a work team or society, habits usually rule. These Blinks from Switch will show you how to make changes. You will learn to open the door to the changes you want.
In the Blinks that follow, you will also learn:
- about your inner Rider and Elephant.
- why it’s sometimes good to create a postcard from your goal.
- how a young man saved the St. Lucia parrot from dying out.
Blink 1 – With a clear direction and the right motivation, you can control your inner Elephant.
Changing your own behavior is hard. Everyone knows this. Maybe you have tried to stop smoking, eat healthier, or jog every morning. But what makes it so difficult to make changes happen?
To understand this better, think of an Elephant and its Rider. They are going on a journey together. The Elephant is strong and stubborn. It stands for your emotional side. This side wants quick happiness. The Rider is your thinking side. It wants what is good for you in the long term. The Rider can use the reins to control the Elephant a little. The path stands for the situation where you want to make a change.
Imagine you want to wake up at 6 AM to go jogging. Your inner Rider has thought about this. It knows jogging would be good for you. But what really happens when your alarm rings in the morning? For most people, the inner Elephant wants more sleep. It will take over the Rider.
Besides the Elephant and Rider, a third thing is important. This is the situation where you make a choice. A comfy bed and bad weather make the Elephant even more stubborn. But the smell of fresh coffee can get even the sleepiest Elephant moving.
These three things affect if a change can happen. They also affect if you move in the right direction mentally. You might want to change your diet. Or you might want to influence others. Your success depends on three things. First, how well you guide your Rider. Second, how well you motivate the Elephant. Third, how well you remove problems from your path.
Blink 2 – Talk clearly to your inner Rider and learn from your successes.
Our inner Rider is a great thinker and planner. But sometimes he wastes his skills. He thinks too much about every part of a planned change. He doesn’t do anything about it. Even worse: He only focuses on problems. He gets too worried about them.
Thinking too much about problems in your way is not helpful. You must give your Rider clear instructions. Tell it where to go. This will guide its thoughts in the right way. Don’t just look at problems. Instead, look for ‘bright spots‘. These are times or places where a change has already worked well. You need to find out exactly how the change happened. Then you can use this knowledge for future plans.
Jerry Sternin used this idea in 1990. The government of Vietnam asked him to help fight child malnutrition. He did not look at the many hard problems causing this, like poverty or bad toilets. Instead, Sternin looked for promising starting points, the bright spots. In a small village where almost all children were malnourished, he found some children who were well-fed. Their families had found a solution, even with hard living conditions.
Sternin watched these families. He saw small but important differences in how they fed their children. These children did not get more food than others. But their mothers split the food into small meals. They gave these meals several times a day. Sternin helped other families learn this way of eating. This worked especially well because people from the village started the change. It was not outsiders.
This small change had amazing results. Just one month later, 65% of the children in the village were eating better.
Blink 3 – The Rider hates making decisions. To make changes happen, you need to give it clear steps.
When it’s time to make a decision, the Rider often gets ‘decision paralysis’. Imagine you decide vaguely to eat healthier. The Rider will then think about all the ways to reach this goal. For example, eating more vegetables, fewer carbs, less salt, or using a different cooking oil. Any of these actions could help you. But only if the Rider focuses less on thinking and more on doing the changes.
Studies show that people often hesitate. The more choices we have, the harder it is to decide. Too many options just confuse us. From the outside, it might look like we don’t want to change. But actually, we just don’t know what to do next.
The way to fix this human problem is to give the Rider a clear direction. Unclear information is the enemy. You must fight it with clear goals and instructions. Think about the situations where you want to change. Then plan the exact steps to get there. For example, if you want to eat healthier, make a shopping list. We can only eat what we buy.
Health researchers wanted people in West Virginia to eat healthier. They didn’t just say, ‘Eat healthier!’. Instead, they gave clear advice. They said: ‘Next time you buy milk, buy low-fat milk.’ This advice was so easy to follow. The amount of low-fat milk sold doubled. It also led to much less high-fat products being eaten.
So, small changes can bring big benefits.
Blink 4 – Have a clear goal that excites both the Rider and the Elephant.
When a change is coming, the Rider often worries too much about the new path. It wastes time looking at every option very carefully. You can stop this paralyzing thinking. Give the Rider a clear direction.
Teacher Crystal Jones, for example, motivated her students like this: She promised them that by the end of the year, they would be respected third graders. They would have excellent skills in reading, writing, and math. She created a strong image. This image spoke to the students’ inner Rider. It gave them a clear goal to work towards. The image also motivated the children’s inner Elephant. It offered a wanted reward: the ‘cool’ status of third graders.
This kind of clear, attractive picture of the near future is called a destination postcard. It’s like a postcard from your goal. It works best if it excites both the Rider and the Elephant. When you plan the steps to reach your goal, make sure both the Rider and the Elephant get a destination postcard. Then both will start the journey towards the desired change together.
But how can we make ourselves follow the desired change without fail? Let’s say you decide to ‘eat healthier’. You might try to stick to a diet. But sooner or later, you will make an excuse. For example: ‘I ate a salad last week, so I can have this hot dog now!’
One solution is to make your goals very clear. This leaves no room for excuses. Instead of deciding to ‘eat healthier’, you could make a strong decision. For example: ‘I will never eat hot dogs again.’ This strict way of doing things allows fewer excuses. It helps you really stick to your diet.
Blink 5 – You need a strong emotion to get the Elephant moving.
The Rider usually holds the reins. But if its will is against the Elephant’s, the Rider quickly loses strength. It loses control. Then both easily go off course.
So, to make a change happen, you must also motivate the Elephant. Logic and facts can convince the Rider. But they don’t work on the Elephant. To get the Elephant to move in the right direction, you need to attract it with a desire.
Jon Stegner wanted to show his company’s leaders that their buying process was not good. He knew that charts and data would not get their attention. So Stegner changed his presentation to speak to the leaders’ inner Elephant. He got one sample of every type of work glove used in the company’s factories. He collected a total of 424 different pairs of gloves. He piled them up on the conference table. This quickly caused a stir. People asked: ‘Why are we buying so many different types of gloves? This makes no sense!’ The leaders immediately asked Stegner to make the buying process better.
The feeling you need to create in the Elephant to get it moving can be positive or negative. For example, a desire or fear. Usually, a negative emotion comes with a sense of urgency. This makes it seem necessary to solve the problem right away. This was like the anger of the leaders in Stegner’s story.
If problems are not so clear, and the solution is not obvious, positive feelings can work better. They open your mind and show new ways to solve things.
Blink 6 – Before you make the Elephant climb a mountain, let it climb a small hill.
Changes often seem huge and scary. People with many debts often feel they can never pay them off. A big change seems like a very high mountain to the Elephant. It feels too hard to climb. So, in its disappointment, it just stands still.
How can you get the Elephant moving then? Approach the change in small steps. Tell the Elephant it only needs to climb a small hill for now.
You can motivate the Elephant by showing it the successes it has already had. In one study, a group was told they needed ten stamps on a loyalty card to get a free car wash. Only 18% of these people decided to use the offer. Another group was told they needed twelve stamps for the same offer. But – and here’s the trick – two stamps were already on their cards. 34% of these people filled their cards, almost twice as many. The offer was actually the same. But the second group was more motivated. They felt they didn’t have to start from the very beginning. So, always point out the progress that has already been made when you want to motivate others.
When a change is broken down into several smaller steps, it seems easier to do. It also gives more recognition to small successes.
Finance expert Dave Ramsey also uses this method. He helps people pay off their debts. Many tax advisors would say something else. But Ramsey tells his clients to pay off the smallest debts first. It is much more motivating to pay off small debts fully, one by one. This is better than paying only a small part of a big debt.
Small successes build confidence that change is possible. The more small goals you reach and small successes you have, the faster the Elephant gets going. The motivation needed for change then stays strong.
Blink 7 – A new self-image and the right mindset can bring big changes.
In 1977, most people on St. Lucia island did not worry much about the local St. Lucia parrot. This beautiful turquoise-lime-green bird was endangered. It needed the people’s help to survive.
Paul Butler, 21, was asked to save the endangered parrot. He could not get people’s support with logical, environmental reasons. So he appealed to their national pride. Butler used car stickers, T-shirts, and other events. He made the bird a symbol of the islanders’ national identity. He started a wave of support. This led to new laws to protect the beautiful parrot.
This story shows one key thing that affects how well changes happen. Does the change fit with your own identity? Does it fit with how you see yourself? For example, if people see themselves as ‘caring citizens’. They will want to make changes that they believe ‘caring citizens’ should do. Like protecting an endangered parrot.
To make changes happen, sometimes you need to change how people see themselves. Butler did this.
But even when people get a new self-image, they might sometimes find it hard to live up to it. Even ‘caring citizens’ sometimes find it hard to act like their ideal self. How people deal with this struggle is key to successful change. It is important not to give up. Learn from your failures and grow from the challenge.
Develop a ‘growth mindset‘. Accept failure as something that will happen. See it as a useful experience that makes you stronger. Think of your brain and skills like muscles. They are not fixed. You can train them and make them stronger. Studies show that a growth mindset greatly improves our performance.
Blink 8 – To make people change their behavior, you need to show them an easy path.
Sometimes change can happen even if the Rider is lost and the Elephant doesn’t want to move. This is mostly because of the path itself. This means the surroundings and the situation affect our behavior. An easy path makes it simpler to reach the change you want.
People often don’t see how important the situation is. Especially when they explain why others act a certain way. This is called the attribution error. We think others act based on their personality, not on what is happening around them.
But in reality, situational factors greatly affect our behavior. Research suggests they can affect our behavior more than our inborn traits.
In one study, college students had to rate how kind their friends were. They called them ‘saints’ or ‘antisocial’. Then, these friends received an email asking them to donate food. To see how much the situation affected things, half of the students got a standard letter. It asked them to drop off food donations on campus. The other half of the students got more detailed instructions. They were told to donate a can of beans at a very specific place. The standard letter got average results. Only 8% of the ‘saints’ donated. None of the ‘antisocial’ students donated. But in response to the second letter, 25% of the ‘antisocial’ students donated. This was three times more than the ‘saints’ who got the standard letter.
The ‘saints’, who were rated as kinder, were limited by the changed situation. On the other hand, a small change in the outside situation made people who were less kind change their behavior.
Blink 9 – Find a place where your Elephant will walk by itself. Trick it with habits.
During the Vietnam War, the US government had problems with widespread drug use among its soldiers. About 20% of soldiers in Vietnam became seriously addicted to drugs. Because of this, there was much worry about the long-term effects of this addiction when the troops came home.
Surprisingly, one year after returning home, only 1% of the veterans were still addicted to drugs. The environment in Vietnam had led many to use drugs. But at home, family and friends helped the soldiers break their addiction.
This example shows how our surroundings affect habits. They can make habits stronger or stop them. Habits are important for change. They are like our behavior on autopilot. We follow certain habits, good or bad, without thinking much. This means habits need little effort from the inner Rider. If you can make habits that help your desired change, you get a free ride on your Elephant.
But starting new habits is hard work. Choose your surroundings so they help you.
One way is to create triggers in your environment. When A happens, you do B. This moves control of your behavior from you to your surroundings. For example, you can decide that after you take your children to school (trigger), you go straight to the gym (action).
Another useful tool is a checklist. When people go through a checklist step by step, they are more likely to follow the rules. Checklists help you stick to a habit as you planned.
Blink 10 – Let humans, who are like herd animals, follow the example of others.
Basically, humans are like herd animals. When they don’t know how to act, they look at what others are doing. Then they follow that example.
Imagine you are at a fancy dinner. You don’t know which fork to use. You watch which fork others pick up. Then you do the same.
Behavior is catchy. That’s why TV shows use canned laughter. Or why tip jars are placed where they can be seen clearly. This is because we tend to follow others. We laugh with the crowd. And we give tips like others before us.
You can use this human tendency when you try to change other people’s behavior. Show that most people are already making the desired change. For example, you want everyone at work to start using timesheets. But some employees don’t like your idea. Then publish a list of people who support it. Peer pressure will make your opponents give up their resistance.
But this only works if most employees already use timesheets. If most employees are against timesheets, you need to do something else. Then you should try to make the minority, who support your idea, stronger. For example, give them a place to talk about the benefits of timesheets. Arrange for them to discuss these benefits regularly. This way, they can find strong arguments. This way, you can finally change opinions.
Eventually, there will be a fight between the ‘conservatives’ and the ‘reformers’. Such a fight is not pleasant. But it is needed. It starts a growth process that will change the company for the better.
Summary
The main idea of this book is:
Three things decide if desired behavior changes are successful: The Rider is your thinking side. You must give it a clear direction. It should guide the Elephant there. The Elephant is your emotional side. It needs to be motivated to move in that sensible direction. The path stands for factors based on the situation. You need to improve these. This will help the Rider and Elephant reach the goal more easily.
Did this help you?
We work hard to present the main ideas of books. We want you to learn a lot from them. At least six people edit and check each Blink. If you still don’t like something, please let us know at [email protected].
For further reading: Drive by Daniel Pink
In Drive, Pink explains external and internal motivation. He shows that many companies rely on external motivation. And why this often does not work well. The book makes it clear how people can be best motivated in different situations.
Source: https://www.blinkist.com/https://www.blinkist.com/de/books/switch-de