Switch: How to change things when change is hard.


by Chip and Dan Heath (2011)

You have to love this simply because it proffers such a plethora of sensible sounding solutions to the problem of how to implement change and it does this with so many vivid examples, and within such well organised framework that you really won't forget the broad outline of the ideas, from which is it possible to recall the finer details and therefore will be able to actually use what you've read.  It is, as with the "Asshole Survival Guide", a must read in that it would make the world a better place.

OK, at some points, you may begin to wonder if some of the research might not have survived the replication crisis.  Carol Dweck is quoted with reverence and questions were hanging over her "Growth Mindset" argument, but I see that as of August 2019, a large study has confirmed that it does work, and even if the effects were small, were still significant. 

Research aside (!), intuitively, every change-facilitating method in "Switch" does feel sensible and whilst it is not the absolute last word on how to make a change (they don't include the Benjamin Franklin effect, for example, though they do talk about how to use cognitive dissonance in other ways), their framework is definitely worth carrying around in one's head and using as needed. 

Rating 10/10

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