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Review - Switch - By Dan And Chip Heath
The book focuses on the required elements to effectively making a change – in your individual or professional life or in your company or organization. **Elephant, Rider, and Path** The book investigates change through 3 metaphors: 2 for different features of the personalities of the people affected by a change, along with one representing the setting around that change. Originally described in The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt, the 3 part metaphor used in Switch is both entertaining as well as insightful (I have not had a chance to read Haidt's book for myself yet, but I've added it to my list!). As impressed as I am by the effectiveness of the metaphor utilised in switch, I'll try to keep it to the point - because I know I could go on for hours. Essentiallywhat the metaphor describes is that our character is divided. On one hand you have an Elephant, while on the other hand you have a Rider sitting on the Elephant's back - doing his best to control the Elephant's movements. Now and then the Elephant and the Rider don't always concur on what route to go in - unfortunately the Rider is only physically powerful enough to pull the Elephant along for a small stretchof time. Dan and Chip Heath explain our "Elephant" side as the portion of our psyche that is vulnerable to emotional responses and reactions, as well as our predisposition to "go with the flow" and respond without truly thinking things through first. Our “Elephants” represent action – not contemplation or analysis, just response to everything around us. The Elephant represents emotional responses and instincts. The challenge is that those feelings and instincts can be counter to the changes we must make in our lives – so we need to persuade the Elephant (ourselves) to move in a less than comfortable direction. The Rider comes into play when the path we must take isn't something the Elephant is comfortable with. It's the Rider's job to direct the Elephant in the right direction, even when the Elephant resists (meaning we struggle with the willpower or restraint to continue). The Rider is our analytical mind – the part of us whose function is to see around obstacles and look at the larger picture. The Rider's greatest challenge is spending a lot of time weighing his options. He can easily get caught over thinking things and spinning his wheels when what we really need to do is ACT. The final component to Haidt and Heath's metaphor is the Path, used to describe the environment surrounding th changes we try to make in our lives. Things that effect the Path can include the attitudes of others, social norms, laws and systems - or any other factors that impact the changes we are making. Seeing The Metaphor In Action Throughout Switch, Dan and Chip Heath demonstrate effective change with a simple, three part process based on the metaphor described above: * Motivate the Elephant * Direct the Rider * Shape the Path Each of the steps in this process is the focus of one of the books three main sections. Essentially, you need to get the Elephant moving, give the Rider a clear destination to travel in (preventing him from spinning his wheels) and shape the Path you’re traveling on to eliminate or avoid obstacles. There are, of course, finer points within each section, and the different chapters are broken down to illustrate these points. The concepts of Switch are demonstrated through a series of stories about unrelated change efforts from all over the world, and how the three step process above helped them succeed. The changes in the book range from personal habits to corporate and national movements. Why This Book Works So Well While I fully enjoyed this book, I certainly recognize that it probably doesn't sound like the most entertaining material ever written. In spite of that fact, the authors did a very good job of making it an extremely entertaining book to read. The structure of the book is extremely well organized, allowing the different chapters to reinforce one another. Add in that the authors added in plenty of small side notes that are full of humor and personality and you forget you’re reading a “personal development” book because you are constantly engaged in short stories that are both entertaining and straightforward to identify with. Despite the variety of changes that are depicted in the book, Dan and Chip Heath do a great job of connecting the dots between different situations. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this book is loaded with moments that leave you thinking “Yup. I totally do that…” All in all, this a great read for anyone who has a habit they don’t like, or something they think they need to improve in their life or their business (which I think covers pretty much all of us ;) ) Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Switch by Dan and Chip Heath is one of many books that Lynne and Chad have enjoyed reading and has helped them in running their internet marketing business. |
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