In a recent post about weight loss and emotions, I referenced a piece of information about the Rider and the Elephant that I gleaned from this book. The ironic part is that when I got to think about it, I realized I never finished the book! I'm a slow reader, so the library needed the book back before I could finish it.
(And, side thought, with the Nintendo Switch releasing this coming Friday, is there not a more appropriate time to review this book??)
The Rider and Elephant metaphor is introduced early on in the book, so I wanted to take a dive back into Switch. Why? The full title of the book is Switch: How to Change When Change Is Hard, and I was interested in seeing other principles of change the Heath brothers had to offer as potential fodder for future posts.
So, now that I've made my way through the full book, did I garner a lot of new information, or was the Rider / Elephant metaphor the only good thing in here? Let's get into it.
For those of you who aren't aware, Switch follows another bestseller written by the Heath Brothers, Made to Stick. That book emphasized the principles of what makes an idea stick in people's minds, and they definitely took a dose of their own medicine when writing this book. The authors convey their ideas using easy-to-follow examples and memorable metaphors. Slight confession: this second time around, I listened through the audiobook. Even though I listened to it, I can still remember most of the principles days later because they were conveyed so well.
Another great thing the Heath brothers provide is a sort of "case study" to help the reader check their retention as the book progresses. When appropriate, the authors provide a context to a given scenario and challenge the reader to think how he or she would apply the newly learned principles to this scenario. The authors then provide their own thoughts on how they would apply their shared information to the scenario. It's a great way to ensure the reader understands how to apply the principles.
SOLID, PRACTICAL ADVICE
Of course, well-packaged information does no help if the information that is being conveyed is garbage. Fortunately, there is a lot of good stuff throughout Switch. You already know the Rider and Elephant metaphor, but the Heath brothers take it a step further by providing a ton of tools to help "shape the path" for those you are assisting to change. They provide a lot of helpful tools; for my fellow Six Sigma belters out there, you will recognize several Six Sigma tools in here.
I will say, though, that some of the information seems... well... obvious? The Heath brothers spend a good deal of time on what they call "looking for bright spots". What this means is to examine a group you are looking to change and emulating what the one successful person or group is doing for the benefit of the entire group. Does this really need to be said...? I don't know. I don't think so, but apparently the Heath brothers found it necessary!
HEAD SCRATCHING AND MIXED FEELINGS
The subtitle of the book is "How to Change When Change is Hard", but there were many times when I was confused what that meant. I think the Heath brothers mean helping to instigate change in a large group, but a lot of the tactics they recommend seem to only benefit an individual. For example, they encourage instigating change by managing triggering behaviors. So if a person has trouble with lavish credit card spending, they recommend literally freezing the credit card in a block of ice.
This is great advice for somebody seeking to instigate change within themselves, but I had trouble understanding how that would scale to an organization. With the credit card on ice example, I literally kept thinking, "You really think I'm going to get everybody in a group to freeze their credit cards? Fat chance." Of course, that's a silly example, but I couldn't think of a single change to triggering behaviors that would go over well in an organization.
I fully admit that I might be a little pessimistic here.
I hope that last section doesn't cause you to not read this book. A lot of people have found this book to be very beneficial, and because of its practicality and ease-of-understanding, I don't want to put it down. Give this book a shot. Get it at the library. If you live in the Bloomington area like myself, you can get the audiobook version of Switch via the Overdrive app. It's still worth checking out if you have the opportunity.
DISCLAIMER: I listened to the audiobook version of this book via the Bloomington Public Library's Overdrive account. This book was fully "read" prior to the publication of this review. I received no compensation from the authors or publishers for the review of this book.
Comments
Post a Comment