Switch: a framework for changing things

In their latest book, Switch, the Heath brothers recommend a basic three-part framework that can guide you in any situation where you need to change behavior:

• Direct the Rider (the rational mind). What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. So provide crystal-clear direction.

• Motivate the Elephant (the emotional mind). What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. The Rider can't get his way by force for very long. So it's critical that you engage people's emotional side—get their Elephants on the path and cooperative.

• Shape the Path. What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. We call the situation (including the surrounding environment) the "Path." When you shape the Path, you make change more likely, no matter what's happening with the Rider and Elephant.

We created this framework to be useful for people who don't have scads of authority or vast resources. Some people can get their way by fiat. CEOs, for instance, can sell off divisions, hire people, fire people, change incentive systems, merge teams, and so on. Politicians can pass laws or impose punishments to change behavior. The rest of us don't have these tools (though, admittedly, they would make life easier: "Son, if you don't take out the trash tonight, you're fired"). In this book, we don't talk a lot about these structural methods (buy it amazon.com).