Switch: Managing and Dealing with Change Effectively

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Last week at the EdLeader21 Conference, I had the opportunity to attend a training on Switch, a book on change by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. The book isn't new, originally published in 2010. At some point after publication I had heard about it in a previous training, but last week's session was a good reminder of its valuable lessons about how to manage and deal with change effectively.

The authors point out that we all deal with changes large and small such as marriage, a new baby, or dealing with new technology or a new procedure or policy. Some change is hard and some change is easy. As we deal with change, we all deal with the emotional and intellectual aspects of each change. The authors have us think of the emotional side of how we deal with change as a two ton elephant and the intellectual side of how we deal with change as the rider trying to reign it in. 

It was helpful to learn that the emotional side isn't always the bad side. The "elephant" can be the good guy (such as, "Wouldn’t it be cool to… solve malaria" or "serve every student"). The intellectual side can be the bad guy, too (such as  over analysis, research, no action...) The constant conflict between the rider and the elephant is exhausting. Since self-control is exhaustible, change can wear people out. What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. This is important to remember as educators as we deal with students and parents.

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During the training, multiple examples of change and this conflict between the emotional side and the intellectual side were given. The Heaths provide a three part framework for overcoming this internal conflict: 

1- Direct the Rider

2- Motivate the Elephant

3- Shape the Path  

On the Switch Framework (pictured), each of the options listed has a short sentence with a reminder about a story shared, which would be helpful to fully understand it. You'll need to attend a training or buy the book for this. A quick YouTube search will yield many options for watching videos with the authors which are beneficial. However, the general ideas are still helpful for anyone. The main principles can help you successfully manage and deal with a change, be it in education or elsewhere in life.