"Switch" by Chip & Dan Heath

In the last few days, I read this book called "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath.  It's about change. It was great! Really liked it (though it is a secular book- whatever that means).  I highly recommend it for those influencing a change effort of any kind.  However, below, I will give you some of the main/best blurbs from the book. This pretty well covers it:

• What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. What looks like resistance is often lack of clarity.
• Some is not a number. Soon is not a time. Here's the number:___. Here's the time:___. These must be specific in change efforts.
• All of us can remember a time when a friend was laboring over what was wrong in their relationship. How many of us can recall a time when one of our friends spent the same amount time trying to analyze why things were working so well?
• Bright spots matter. Find out what's working and do more of it. A major reason for change is when we locate bright spots and zero in on them. Instead we often find bright spots and choose not to trust them and become skeptical.
• Major finding: big problems usually require small solutions sometimes over weeks and sometimes over decades. When many of us analyze problems we look for a solution that matches the scale of the problem. This is unwise. It is a wrong mental model. We see a 24 inch hole and look for 24 inch peg. Instead we must say what is working right now and how can we do more of it? Start there. This is solution focused change. We must stop asking what is broken and how do we fix it and start looking at what is working and do more of it.
• Naturally most of us think choice is a good thing. But sometimes choice stops liberating and starts debilitating.
• Any successful change requires translation of ambiguous goals into concrete behaviors. In short to make a switch you need to script the critical moves. You cannot script every move but it is extremely important that we script the critical moves that we want to see happen in the tough moments of change.
• When you want someone to behave in a new way explain the new way clearly. Do not assume the new moves are obvious. Until you can ladder your way down from a change idea to a specific behavior, you are not ready to lead a switch. To create movement you've got to be specific and concrete.
• When you're at the beginning, don't obsess about the middle, because the middle is going to look different once you get there. Just look for a strong beginning and envision a strong ending and get moving.
• Simply raising the bar is the wrong approach if you want to motivate a reluctant elephant. You need to lower the bar. If you want a reluctant elephant to get moving you need to shrink the change. Need to encourage what progress is already been made and make the change that you are presenting look doable.
• Sometimes people don't need milestones, they need inch pebbles. We must shrink the change so people feel big relative to the challenge. Yes, we shrink the change. But then, we must grow the people. Particularly in identity surrounding the potential task or change. Small steps toward them joining the change--foot in the door-- is needed.
• Every one of us either has a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. The first will not see much change. The second will. Simple as that. Which are you?
• In leading any switch or change the challenge is to keep the elephant moving forward. Whereas the rider needs direction, the elephant needs motivation. Motivation comes from a feeling, knowledge isn't enough to motivate change. But motivation also comes from confidence. The elephant has to believe that it's capable of conquering the change. And there are two ways to build people's confidence so that they feel *big* relative to their challenge. You can shrink the change or you can grow your people -- or preferably...both.
• Behavior is contagious! It doesn't matter if you are a teenager with piercings or mature adult that's been in an industry for many years. Behavior is contagious on a social, personal and business level.
• This is major: we do not need to create new believers so much as we need to unleash the believers we already have. We must tell influencers that support our change that it's safe to get vocal now. Unleash them!
• There are reformers and there are resistors. Both are functioning out of a certain identity. As odd as it sounds, for major change to happen, the reform minded people must come together and form what is known as an oppositional identity. They need space and language to form their new identity. We must get the reformers together. We call that free space. They need to coordinate outside the gaze of the resisters!
• Counterintuitively, you've got to let your organization have an identity conflicts. For a time, at least, you've got to permit an us versus them struggle to take place. Of course this violates our kumbaya & unity instincts and the feeling that we all must be on the same page all the time. It's l How on earth can 100 people all be in agreement on the same thing regarding change in difficult moments? It just isn't possible. So we must turn to the reformers get them together in a safe place and let them talk. Then we will get clarity and momentum toward our switch.
• Change is not an event, it is a process. And if we want to keep that process moving, we must find the bright spots and encourage people every little step of the way. Just like training a monkey to ride a skateboard or dolphin to jump through hoop, we take it a little at a time with lots of rewards along the way.
• When change works, it tends to follow a pattern. The people who change have clear direction, ample motivation, and a supportive environment. In other words, when change works, it's because the rider, the elephant, and the path are all aligned in support of the switch!!