Direct The Rider Analysis

The first chapter outlines an approach to promoting behavioral change that will be expanded upon throughout the rest of the book. It introduces this approach by outlining three facts about change that many of us would not know or find to be surprising. The first is what looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity. The second is what looks like laziness is often exhaustion. The third is what looks like a people problem is often a situational problem. Chip Heath along with his brother Dan Heath believes in a basic three-part framework when it comes to behavioral change. Direct the rider, motivate the elephant, and shape the path. When used the right way this framework can be very important to individuals who want to make changes in their

lives. Human decision-making is like a rider on a huge elephant. The rider may think he’s in control but the elephant will always win. Both are flawed the rider over-thinks and over analyzes. The elephant acts on passion and emotion. In directing the rider one must focus on the bright spots. Also you need a clear vision and specific actions or tactics to get to your goal. For example in the book Jon Stegner believed the company he worked for, a large manufacturing company was losing money. Instead of freaking out or just rambling he calmly made a specific plan. He sent out his summer intern to check the prices of all the gloves in the company. What Jon and his intern learned was their company was paying a variety range of prices for the same gloves. Jon found one of the sources that was losing the company he works for money. The next step for Jon is to motivate the elephant to bring upon real change within the company. In this case scenario the companies executives. Data sheets and statistics weren’t going to do it. Jon put all the gloves along with their price tags in the boardroom table. When the executives saw the fluctuating prices for the same gloves they were shocked. Jon brought upon change in his company. He opened the eyes of the executives now they plan on shaping the path over their company. The first chapter of Switch really opened my eyes to better ways of making changes in an individual’s life. Change is not easy but the heath brothers point out people go through and undergo major life changes all the time. With the right resources its possible to make major changes in your life for the positive. One important thing I got out of this reading is learning about emotional and rational decisions and internal debates between the two.