Switch by Chip and Dan Heath
JACK’S TAKE
When people ask me what books form my origin story (ok, no-one has ever asked me that), I will always give this one. It’s one of the books I read at business school that inspired me to pursue a career in change. First in consulting, then leading teams at Kraft Heinz, and now co-founding Wildest Dream.
Why do I love this book so much? It is so simple, to change you need to influence the rider (rationality), the elephant (emotion), and shape the path (the environment). I don’t know a single organisation, team or manager that isn’t going through some kind of change right now, so trust me, this is relevant.
KEY IDEAS
For example, let’s say you’re tasked to bring more AI practices into your team, you would follow their 9 step process for change:
Rider
Find the bright spots: what examples of AI use is already working within your team?
Script the critical moves: narrow down to just one use case which could be beneficial to everyone.
Point to the destination: describe an inspiring picture of the future where AI is embedded in the team and making them better at their jobs.
Elephant
Find the feeling: paint the picture of inaction. What would happen if we don’t use AI? We will be left behind!
Shrink the change: find the smallest version of the first step, because baby steps are easier to motivate a team towards than giant leaps.
Grow your people: by now you’ve got AI champions in the team - how can they help you push the initiative further?
Path
Tweak the environment: your job as a manager is to relieve blockages for the team. Are there any unnecessary company policies you can push back on?
Build habits: now everyone is more involved, how can you build a regular routine around the new AI workflows?
Rally the herd: now it’s time to get those laggards involved! Find initiatives to bring everyone into the picture - remember, behaviour is contagious!
“Don’t obsess about the failures. Instead, investigate and clone the successes.”
MAYBE SKIP IF
You’re more of an individual contributor.
Change isn’t really in your remit.
You’ve already got your own change map (John Kotter’s is another very good one).
WHO THIS IS FOR
You have just started, are about to start, or only a few months into management.
You want specific tools and frameworks you can use to make changes within your team.
You’ve been tasked with a large change program and you don’t know where to start.
EXPLORE MORE OF OUR RECOMMENDED BOOKS
