Chip and Dan Heath on Behavioral Change

1. Direct the Rider

The first step concerns the Rider (our logical, rational side). Riders often suffer from ‘analysis paralysis’ of potential problems and possible pitfalls. For change to be successful, our rational state must be satisfied by clear information about the direction of change as well as guidance about the specific actions that are needed to move forward. To do this, the Heaths recommend:

Finding the Bright Spots

In a nutshell, this is about finding something, however small, about the change process which works on changing behavior, and then replicating it. The authors say that as a change effort begins, it is important to focus on what is going well rather than looking for problems. Identify the initial signs that things are working, and ask yourself how you can do more of that activity so that positive behavior starts to spread.

To illustrate this idea the authors take the example of an underperforming student who is frequently in trouble with his teachers. In an attempt to improve his behavior, researchers analyze why the student behaves well in a particular lesson and less well in others. By replicating the specific behavior of the teacher in the lesson where the student performed well across all his teachers, the student’s performance was dramatically improved. [3]

To find the bright spots in your change effort, continually monitor the change process, and seek timely feedback from those on the ground about what is working. This will enable you to share good practice widely. These initial flashes of success not only spark the hope that change can be successful, they can also clarify which direction or action is positive, and where efforts should be focused.

Scripting the Critical Moves

Many change leaders think that having a high level vision of change is enough. In reality, what is needed is absolute clarity over the specific actions and behaviors that will achieve the desired change. The authors call this 'scripting the critical moves'.

Being specific is essential, because ambiguity is the enemy of successful change. Too many options create uncertainty which in turn breeds resistance to the change effort. When things are uncertain, the emotional mind follows the tried and tested approach (the status quo) so nothing really changes.

Pointing to the Destination

This is about describing a compelling goal to which people can relate and aspire. The authors talk about creating 'destination postcards' which provide a vivid and inspiring picture of the near-term future and show people exactly what could be possible if they embrace the change.

For example, to motivate first grade level students to perform, their teacher provided a captivating destination by telling them they would reach not second but third grade level by the end of the year if they worked hard. The end point or destination of any change project is important. The authors advocate careful consideration of what it is you want to achieve and, crucially, whether this goal has the potential to motivate and excite people to work towards it.

2. Motivate the Elephant

The second step focuses on getting the Elephant (our emotional, impulsive side) on board with the change effort. Unless the Elephant is motivated to succeed, your plans for change may never get off the ground. The Heaths advocate the following activities to engage the emotional state:

Finding the Feeling

The authors make an important observation when they say that change happens when people feel the need for it. Positive feelings and emotions are a powerful force for creating change; much more so than having a logical understanding of the change itself. When people are positively interested in something their natural reaction is to investigate further. This spark of interest gets people involved: they try out new things and new ideas.

A common misconception is that people sometimes think that change happens when people follow the path ‘Analyze-Think-Change’. However, research by renowned change expert John Kotter shows that the sequence is actually ‘See-Feel-Change’.[4] People therefore need to find the feeling about a change at a deep, emotional level in order to feel energized, creative and hopeful about it and the part they will play in it.

Shrinking the Change

This is about helping people feel closer to their goal than they already are. Rather than focusing on what is new or different about the changes still to come, it is important to make the effort to remind people about what has been achieved so far. The authors point out that ‘emotional elephants’ are frightened of seemingly unachievable goals. You can counteract this by shrinking the change down into small, achievable tasks.

This helps people feel a sense of accomplishment, thus motivating their Elephant to continue. The authors also say that "even small successes can be extremely powerful in helping people believe in themselves". [5] So, if you can build small, visible wins into your change efforts, when people achieve them, they start to truly believe that they can succeed.

Growing Your People

This part of the change process is about changing the mindsets and attitudes of people so that they can achieve change in a ‘bottom up’ way. It is inspiring people to make the change a reality. An effective way of building up a person’s motivation to change is to first consider the identity model of decision-making. The identity model presents three basic questions when making a decision:

• Who am I?
• What kind of situation is this?
• What would someone like me do in this situation?

If a proposed change goes against a person’s core values and beliefs, it is likely to fail. However, if you can align the benefits of your change program with the identity of your team, it has a much greater chance of success.

3. Shape the path

Although successful change requires clear direction for the Rider and motivation for the Elephant, the path that the change will follow needs to be as smooth as possible. The authors propose three key strategies to help remove obstacles and encourage the right behaviors in order for the change to happen:

Tweak the Environment

This is about making the right behaviors easier and the wrong behaviors more difficult, so that people are guided in the direction you want. The authors say that people often behave a certain way because of their environment, not because of an inherent personality trait. If you experience resistance to your change efforts, the authors advise considering whether the ‘people problem’ is actually a situation problem instead.

As illustrated by the example of a manager who wanted to improve communication with her team, the simple act of moving her desk closer to the team members meant that dialog immediately improved. Internet hosting provider Rackspace created a significant shift in attitudes towards customer service when it threw out the customer call queueing system.

This tweak meant that employees would answer all calls directly, leading to dramatic improvements in customer service and company profits. Consider what simple changes you could make to your team or organizational environment that would encourage people to behave in a more positive way.

Build Habits

Once changes are set in stone, as a habit, it becomes easier for people to continue to display the right behaviors. People can be helped to form new habits by setting up action triggers which remind and motivate them to do the things they know they need to do.

Habits are encouraged when people make the decision to execute a certain behavior when they encounter a specific behavioral trigger. For example, one manager created an action trigger to improve sharing of learning after team members had attended a conference or external training session. He did this by asking people to note their thoughts and reflection (the desired behavior) on the train or flight home (the trigger).

Action triggers need to be specific and visible enough to encourage people to act on them and make the desired actions part of their everyday behavior. The authors also strongly advocate the use of checklists throughout the change process to educate and guide people in the right direction.

Rally the Herd

The influence of others is a powerful psychological tool that encourages people to change. The Heath brothers say that if you need to lead Elephants down an unfamiliar path of change, it makes sense to encourage them to follow the herd. Research has consistently shown that people do things because they see their peers doing them.

Behavior is contagious and you can harness this to your advantage to help drive change forward. You might do this by appointing change champions or ambassadors who are in favor of the change, thus encouraging a drip-feed of positive behaviors and actions to filter through to the wider employee population.

Furthermore, the authors also highlight the importance of ‘free spaces’ in facilitating change. If you are responsible for leading a change effort, in the early days it is critically important to give supporters private space where they can meet and develop a language and identity for the change effort. This collaboratively formed narrative articulates what is different and better about the proposed change, and helps the group prepare to take action.

Conclusion

The human mind experiences conflict when faced with significant change. Recognizing this is the change leader’s first step on the journey towards helping people make the transition towards positive change.

The framework that Chip and Dan Heath have developed in Switch is designed to help leaders of change understand that changing behavior is at the heart of all successful change efforts.

Firstly, their approach involves giving the mind’s logical, analytical Rider clear direction and specific actions about how to move forward.

Secondly, it ensures that the mind’s emotional, impulsive side (the Elephant) is motivated and inspired to succeed.

Finally, the path along which change will travel needs to be as smooth as possible, with any obstacles removed. By applying the Heaths' strategy to your change efforts, you can be sure that the fundamental elements needed for successful change are in place.