Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

<b>Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives?</b><br /><br />The primary obstacle is a conflict that's built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller <i>Made to Stick</i>. 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.<br /><br />In <i><b>Switch</b></i>, the Heaths show how everyday people - employees and managers, parents and nurses - have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:<br /><br />- The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients<br />- The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping <br />- The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by <i>removing</i> a standard tool of customer service <br /><br />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. <i><b>Switch</b> </i>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.