Get Everything Done

Knowledge and information is not very effective at changing behaviour argue the authors of "Switch: How to change things when change is hard" (so far, so Aristotle). When people want change, we often assume that if they just had a better understanding the changes would follow. Not so, according to the authors Chip & Dan Heath.

In brief, they use the metaphor of an elephant, the path, and a rider to apply their model of change. They argue that the process of change is best seen not as ANALYZE-THINK-CHANGE but SEE-FEEL-CHANGE. They claim that traditional approaches are “all head, no heart". So, to what extent is thinking, planning and analysing avoidance of anticipated discomfort? I rather liked their point that self-supervision by the rider over the elephant is tiring and short-lived. I think that point re-expresses the argument on here about the limitations of willpower.

Many of the ideas and tactics for results used on this site can be rather neatly pulled together in their metaphor...


Each of the rider (plan and direct), elephant (energy from emotion) and path (environment) need to be addressed in order for results they argue. So, a "see > feel > change" recipe would go like this:

1 see the destination, outcome, result (rider)

look for whats different about times and places where successes occur (rider can spin wheels or just see problems everywhere)



2 feel (elephant)

find a feeling that energises the elephant (hope, anger, disappointment, fear, ...)

shrink the change (elephants avoid steps that feel too big). start with a 5 minute commitment 9elephant tends to need immediate gratification). small successes.



3 change (swap old behaviours for new behaviours at critical moments)

make the environment less resistant to the new behaviour, have good systems, let the new behaviour be easier to choose

use environment cues to switch an old behaviour to a new behaviour, eventually becoming a new automated habit



Outcome: rider + elephant + path = new identity.