Conventional psychology tells us that our brains have two independent system at work simultaneously: the emotional side and the rational side.
The emotional side provide us with instincts, pain, and pleasure. The rational side provides us with reflective, analytical, and future looking thoughts.
in the book The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt uses an analogy of an elephant for our emotional side, a rider perched on the elephant for our rational side, He goes on to talk about shaping the path (our future) despite the battles between the elephant and the rider.
In the book Switch, Chip & Dan Heath use the elephant, rider, and path analogies to talk about how to change things when change is hard.
Their thesis is that to effectively change things, you must appeal to both the rider (the planning and analytical work) and the elephant (to provide the required energy). Reaching only one of the two will result in failure to meet your objectives.
Switch highlights three surprises and contrarian thoughts about change initiatives we could all learn from:
💡What looks like resistance to change is often a lack of clarity. We must direct the rider.
💡What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. We must motivate the elephant.
💡What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. We must shape the path.
If you are intreaged by this so far, I invite you to stay tuned. Better yet, pick up a copy of the book Switch and join me in examining further the analogy of elephant, rider, and path. More to come…
#ChangeManagement #Switch
