Switch: How to change things when change is hard

I was recommended this book and so glad I was. I can see how I can apply the philosophy in my personal and professional life. Indeed the books website helps you shift your focus to read with a personal point of view or work. However, I found so many aha moments that I had to scribble in a lot of margins and underscore many very true statements - I haven't read a book that dragged me in so much in a few months.I understand much clearer why 'head office' had declared dramatic changes and nothings happened and how inspirational Area Managers say one sentence and its motivated the whole team. Now I can do the same for my own little posse and hope to gain their full backing for changes I want to make.Personally, I feel there is a clearer path towards gaining a happy and more fulfilled life; how I can inspire a teenager to tidy their room or do the washing up, how I can achieve chores without it being a chore, or even how I can exercise more without the excuses - now that is worth the book price in its own right!You shouldn't just read this book, you should digest and think and revisit. You should give yourself time to make notes, set a plan and try a new way of living/working.The writing style is understandable, humorous and thought provoking.

This is a clever, inspirational book which works on a number of levels. It is an easy and accessible book which demonstrates success in a wide variety of spheres, often achieved with scant resources, which offers a methodology that can be repeated by ordinary people as well as leaders. It is not particularly or exclusively a business book. It is for anybody who sees a situation and contemplates how it can be changed, even down to the behaviour moderation of one individual, or even the person that looks at you through the mirror each day. Teachers, nurses, community leaders or concerned citizens could all relate to the content and imagine new possibilities.On the level of entertainment the book is similar to  Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance . The book has amusing quips and turns of phrase that lightens the subject matter from that of a text book. Yet the book is fully referenced with study, research and quotation information, should the reader wish to get into more depth. I know that some people who read these reviews have already read the book and are curious about what other people think. Therefore I will list some of my personal highlights of the book. I hope for those considering the book it will also ignite curiosity. I liked exhaustible self control, 424 gloves, 1% milk. Bright spots. A husband forgets his wife's birthday. Miner county. No dry holes. Where did you find six dumb people? Attila the accountant. Rock bottom. The burning platform. Loyalty cards. 5 minute room rescue. Money makeover. A miracle scale. Brasilata. Safe driving. Fundamental Attribution Error. Saints and jerks. Sterile cockpit. Mike Romano. The humble checklist. Designated driver. Fataki the sugar-daddy. The skateboarding monkey. I hope this gives you an idea of the way that an amusing anecdote becomes a powerful and memorable learning.The variety of these techniques is best appreciated at the end of the book. There is a summary of change-making examples at the end of the book changing the book into a manual for change rather than just a passive read. The authors summarize all the techniques you could deploy, if you haven't just skipped to the end. It is a great reminder that this is not just a collection of stories or examples but part of a collection of strategies that are repeatable in your own context. This book contains a perfect recipe for turning what is and what could be from fantasy to reality. Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

Switch is a brilliant book for anyone interested in a non-academic approach to change / change management. Set around three core areas - Direct the Rider (the rational mind), motivate the elephant (the heart/motivation) and shape the path (as it sounds!) the Heath's use real world examples and put it across in a way that is meaningful to anyone trying to approach change.The goal setting discussed (such as black and white goals that focuses the group on the task at hand) and following the brightspots, looking at what works and how it can be cloned rather than focusing relentlessly on what is 'wrong' are tools I have adapted into my own working life. I also loved other areas such as really demonstrating the issue (they give an example where an organization had many suppliers of rubber gloves and instead of doing a presentation to the board someone got a pair of gloves to represent every supplier and dumped the lot on the boardroom table. It just echos: this must changeThere are frequent check points for you to try apply the logic to an example as well as a summary section at the back (although it makes no sense if you haven't read the book, so don't think you can just skip to it!). This is a good book and regardless of your background or interest in change you will finish with a great set of approaches that everyone can understand without the all the usual acronyms and certifications that usually surround the topic.

I really enjoyed this book, but it felt like it was going on a little bit tooo much. There were ALOT of case studies. For some that might be good, but for me, I could’ve still learnt the same if there weren’t as many case studies.The brothers wrote this book brilliantly and I already have The Power it Moments’ which is next on my list to read.

I picked up this book after reading their book on How to Make Ideas Stick which I loved. I'm fascinated by the subject because I'm not keen on institutions and I'd love to find out ways to change them. The dynamic duo urge us to study success, not analyse failure. That's a very useful strategy. Short stories like the one about the accountant who filled a room with gloves or how BP reduced their number of 'dry wells' or how a UN doctor developed a way to beat malnutrition in Africa provide simple examples of how to motivate the 'Elephant' and the 'Rider'.We get advice on how to 'shrink the change', 'change the situation' and acquire a 'growth mindset'. I was particularly pleased to read how Chip and Dan failed to master salsa because they claimed they just weren't suited to it. I wasn't either but I became a competent dancer by going to lessons every week for over four years! This book has really inspired me and will come in very handy in my work as a speechwriter.