Elephant and rider description
emotional side is elephant and rational side is rider; perched atop elephant, rider holds reins and seems to be leader but is so small relative to elephant- when they disagree, rider is going to lose, he’s completely overmatched; if you reach rider w/o elephant, they will have direction but w/o motivation
Three surprises about change
1- what looks like a people problem is often a situation problem
2- what looks like laziness is often exhaustion
3- what looks like resistance is often lack of clarity
3 keys to switch
1- direct the rider- resistance is often lack of clarity- provide crystal-clear direction
2- motivate the elephant- laziness is often exhaustion- get elephants on path and cooperative- engage emotional side
3- shape the path- people problem is often situation prob
Direct the rider (3)
1- find the bright spots- what’s working and how can we do more of it
2- script the critical moves- more options, even good ones, can freeze us- the more instinctive a move becomes, the less self-control from the rider it requires and thus it’s more sustainable
3- point to the destination- vivid picture from near future- goal closer at hand- to be tackled in month or years not decades
Point to the destination description
destination postcard- vivid picture from near future that shows what could be possible; need a gut-smacking goal- appeals to both Rider and Elephant- show Rider where headed and Elephant why the journey is worthwhile
must back up destination postcard with good behavioral script
Rider’s flaws (3)
- limited reserves of strength (self-control)
- paralysis in the face of ambiguity and choice
- relentless focus on problems rather than solutions
Motivate the elephant (3 ways)
- Find the feeling- SEE-FEEL-CHANGE
- Shrink the change- people are more motivated if they are closer to the finish line than they thot
- Grow your people- when behavior needs to change, ask urself if people would agree with this: I aspire to be the kind of person who would make this change- must create identity around change
Find the feeling
- SEE-FEEL-CHANGE- presented with evidence that makes you feel somthing- hits you at emotional level ex. disturbing look at prob, hopeful glimpse of solution, sobering reflection of current habits
- neg emotions only help for quick and short-term, need creativity, flexiblity, and ingenuity for longer-term
Shrink the change
- people find it more motivating to be partly finished with longer journey than to be starting shorter one
- Elephant is easily demoralized- remind people what’s already been conquered
- one way to shrink change is to limit investment you’re asking for- 5 mins of housecleaning; another way is to think of small wins- milestones within reach
- engineer early successes engineers hope- it’s Elephant fuel
Small wins
- build momentum
- reduce importance (this is no big deal), reduce demands (that’s all that needs to be done), raise perceived skills (I can do at least that)
- wins should have 2 traits: 1. meaningful 2. within immediate reach
- big changes come from succession of small changes
Grow your people
- create an identity that they aspire to that involves the change
- build in failure expectation- not end goal failure, but failure on the way- build in growth mindset- brains and abilities are like muscles- strengthened with practice
Motivating elephant…
comes from feeling
also comes from confidence- elephant has to believe it’s capable of conquering change- from feeling big relative to change (growing people or shrinking change)
Shape the path
1- tweak the environment- make right behavior a little easier and wrong behavior a little harder
2- build habits- action triggers, checklists
3- rally the herd- people follow social behavior of others- publicize results of herd members who have done it right; imp of opinion ldrs
Build habits
- small environmental tweaks can make a diff; can force a habit
- action triggers: execute a certain action when encountering certain situation trigger
- checklists- provide insurance against overconfidence, ensure against big screwups, helps avoid blindspots
action triggers
- execute a certain action when encountering certain situation trigger; preloads decision
- must be specific enough and visible enough to interrupt people’s normal stream of consciousness
- next time team resolves to act in a new way, have team specify when and where they’re going to put plan in action
Habits
- are behavioral autopilot- doesn’t draw down Rider’s reserves
- must advance mission 2. relatively easy to embrace- if too hard, becomes its own change problem- ex. lay out gym clothes instead of going to gym
