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Featured Item:
WEALTH VIRTUES
A Guide to acquire more money than you spend and to save more
money than you owe
Price: $27.00 as of 09/09/2010 02:20 EDT
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Binding: Hardcover
EAN: 9780307357274
Format: Import
ISBN: 0307357279
Label: Random House Canada
Manufacturer: Random House Canada
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: February 16, 2010
Publisher: Random House Canada
Release Date: February 16, 2010
Studio: Random House Canada
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Chip Heath and Dan Heath on Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
"Change is hard." "People hate change." Those were two of the most common quotes we heard when we began to study change.
But it occurred to us that if people hate change, they have a funny way of showing it. Every iPhone sold serves as counter-evidence. So does every text message sent, every corporate merger finalized, every aluminum can recycled. And we haven’t even mentioned the biggest changes: Getting married. Having kids. (If people hate change, then having a kid is an awfully dumb decision.)
It puzzled us--why do some huge changes, like marriage, come joyously, while some trivial changes, like submitting an expense report on time, meet fierce resistance?
We found the answer in the research of some brilliant psychologists who’d discovered that people have two separate “systems” in their brains—a rational system and an emotional system. The rational system is a thoughtful, logical planner. The emotional system is, well, emotional—and impulsive and instinctual.
When these two systems are in alignment, change can come quickly and easily (as when a dreamy-eyed couple gets married). When they’re not, change can be grueling (as anyone who has struggled with a diet can attest).
In those situations where change is hard, is it possible to align the two systems? Is it possible to overcome our internal "schizophrenia" about change? We believe it is.
In our research, we studied people trying to make difficult changes: People fighting to lose weight and keep it off. Managers trying to overhaul an entrenched bureaucracy. Activists combatting seemingly intractable problems such as child malnutrition. They succeeded--and, to our surprise, we found striking similarities in the strategies they used. They seemed to share a similar game plan. We wanted, in Switch, to make that game plan available to everyone, in hopes that we could show people how to make the hard changes in life a little bit easier. --Chip and Dan Heath
(Photo © Amy Surdacki)
Product Description:
Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?
The primary obstacle is a conflict that's built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems - the rational mind and the emotional mind - that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort - but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.
In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people - employees and managers, parents and nurses - have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:
- The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients (see page 242)
- The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping (see page 130)
- The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service (see page 199)
In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Many books have been written about why people act the way they do. Just as many books have been written about how to change your behavior. This book presents a new framework for looking at change.
The framework for change:
**Direct the Rider - our rational side.
**Motivate the Elephant - our emotional side.
**Shape the Path - the situation and surrounding environment.
Some of my favorite concepts from the book:
**Find the bright spots ... Read More
Rating:  -
This new book is filled with remarkable examples of innovative people using simple, but not obvious, principles to overcome mis-behaviors and dysfunctions. The reading is easy, almost exciting at times, as you are eager to learn how a solution is found. I felt uplifted and encouraged, able to put the methods to work immediately. Whether you are trying to change health care, like me, or government, customers, your family, or anyone but your cantankerous dog, this well written book will get you and ... Read More
Rating: -
This was a quick read and applied to many aspects of my life where change is needed. Don't we all need to change something? Business or personal, this is the starting point to making change happen - easily and quickly.
Rating:  -
As in many other circumstances, the authors stretched out 1 chapter of interesting material into a full book. I did not find it worthwhile.
Rating: -
I am a fan of the Heath brothers already from their Fast Company column and their first book, Made To Stick. I really loved Switch. The topic on change is important (it is subtitled How To Change Things When Change Is Hard). The format is very accessible with lots of varied examples, chapter reviews of the main highlights, and catchy teaching phrases, such as Find Your Bright Spots or Shrink The Change.
A lot of their advice dovetails very nicely with traditional coaching advice, so I ... Read More
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