Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Chip Heath

ISBN 10: 0385528752 / ISBN 13: 9780385528757

Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc, 2010

About this Item

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! The ultimate guide to making changes and following through, from the authors of Made to Stick and Decisive--hailed as "witty and instructive" (The Wall Street Journal), "packed with examples and hands-on tools that will get you moving right away" (BusinessWeek) 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. 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 * the home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping  * the manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service  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.

Seller Inventory # CIN0385528752G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385528752
• ISBN 13: 9780385528757
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.
●      The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping.
●      The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service
            
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.

About the Author

CHIP HEATH is a professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He lives in Los Gatos, California. DAN HEATH is a senior fellow at Duke University's Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE). He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Heath brothers are the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch. They write a regular column in Fast Company magazine, and have appeared on Today, NPR's Morning Edition, MSNBC, CNBC, and have been featured in Time, People and US News and World Report.