In "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the authors show that successful changes follow a pattern, a pat­tern we can use to make the changes that matter to us and whatever change we aspire to. They introduce a model that includes DIRECT the Rider, MOTIVATE the Elephant, and SHAPE the Path. They explore the situations we find our­selves in with hard changes and easy changes.

For things to change, somebody somewhere has to start acting differently. Maybe it's you, maybe it's your team. Picture that person (or people). Each has an emotional Elephant side and a rational Rider side. You've got to reach both. And you've also got to clear the way for them to succeed. In short, you must do three things:

1. Direct the Driver

o   SCRIPT THE CRITICAL MOVES. Don't think big picture, think in terms of specific behaviors. What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.

Two health researchers, Steve Booth-Butterfield and Bill Reger, professors at West Virginia University, were contemplating ways to persuade people to eat a healthier diet. From past research, they knew that people were more likely to change when the new behavior expected of them was crystal clear, but unfortunately, "eating a healthier diet" was anything but.

Where to begin? Tell people to "eat healthier"? The number of ways to "eat healthier" is limitless, especially given the starting place of the average American diet. This is exactly the kind of situation in which the Rider will spin his wheels, analyzing and agonizing and never moving forward.

After much analysis, they came to the conclusion that if Americans switched from whole milk to skim or 1% milk, the average diet would immediately attain the USDA recommended levels of saturated fat. How do you get Americans to start drinking low-fat milk? They further conclude that You don't need to change drinking behavior. You need to change purchasing behavior.

Suddenly the intervention became razor-sharp. They launched a campaign (TV, newspaper, radio) for two weeks. In contrast to the bland messages of most public-health campaigns, the 1% milk campaign was punchy and specific. One ad trumpeted the fact that one glass of whole milk has the same amount of saturated fat as five strips of bacon! Before the campaign, the market share of low-fat milk was 18 percent. After the campaign, it was 41 percent. Six months later, it held at 35 percent.

2. Motivate the Elephant

o   FIND THE FEELING. Knowing something isn't enough to cause change. Make people feel something. Jon Stegner believed the company he worked for was wasting vast sums of money. "I thought we had an opportunity to drive down purchasing costs not by 2 percent but by something on the order of $1 billion over the next five years," said Stegner, who is quoted in John Kotter and Dan Cohen's essential book "The Heart of Change". To reap these savings, a big process shift would be required, and for that shift to occur, Stegner knew that he'd have to convince his bosses. He also knew that they'd never embrace such a big shift unless they believed in the opportunity, and for the most part, they didn't.

Seeking a compelling example of the company's poor purchasing habits, Stegner assigned a summer student intern to investigate a single item: work gloves, which workers in most of the company's factories wore. The student embarked on a mission to identify all the types of gloves used in all the company's factories and then trace back what the company was paying for them.  The intrepid intern soon reported that the factories were purchasing 424 different kinds of gloves! Furthermore, they were using different glove suppliers, and they were all negotiating their own prices. The same pair of gloves that cost $5 at one factory might cost $17 at another.  Stegner's gathered up all different types of gloves, brought to the boardroom, and piled up on the conference table. Stegner invited all the division presidents to come visit the Glove Shrine. He recalled the scene:

What they saw was a large expensive table, normally clean or with a few papers, now stacked high with gloves. Each of our executives stared at this display for a minute. Then each said something like, "We really buy all these different kinds of gloves?" Well, as a matter of fact, yes we do. "Really?" Yes, really. Then they walked around the table.... They could see the tag prices. They looked at two gloves that seemed exactly alike, yet one was marked $3.22 and the other $10.55. It's a rare event when these people don't have anything to say. But that day, they just stood with their mouths gaping.

The gloves exhibit soon became a traveling road show, visiting dozens of plants. Soon Stegner had exactly the mandate for change that he'd sought. The company changed its purchasing process and saved a great deal of money.

3. Shape The Path

o   TWEAK THE ENVIRONMENT. 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.  When ATM machines first came out, people were consistently forgetting to get their ATM cards after their transactions.  As a result, this was causing inconvenience to clients, who will find out their card was missing at the next purchase point and extra cost to the banks, issuing new cards for clients.  The solution was not to remind users to take their cards with them, the solution was to release their cards before releasing their money or at the point in which the user confirmed that he/she did not wish to proceed with additional transactions.  This is a simple but perfect example of how tweaking the environment can contribute to behavior change and more specifically to sustaining change.

Moment of Reflection:

o   Are you directing the Rider (rational minds) providing enough guidance and direction, helping them see the "what" and the "how"?

o   Are you motivating the elephant (emotional minds) connecting with them and helping them understand the "why"?

o   Are you shaping the path (environment) incorporating changes in the environment that support and sustain change?