The one book to read if you’re trying to change the world
- Mon, January 25 2010
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
Read Switch. It’s the new book from Chip and Dan Heath, who wrote the wonderful storytelling guide, Made to Stick.
Why is this book so important? Let me tell you a story.
Last summer, I taught a class on marketing and strategic communications at American University for mid-career federal government professionals. In working together, it quickly became apparent to me that they needed more than marketing. From the FDA employee trying to talk to the public about generic drugs to the government purchasing agent trying to get other government departments to use her services, they didn’t just need to know the 4 Ps or how to craft a good message - they needed to learn how to change what people do. So instead of talking about messaging, I spent most of the course talking about behavior change.
Lucky for me, I had a nifty little resource - the first chapter of Switch, which Dan Heath had emailed to me. Without leaking his wonderful content, I tapped into his understanding of the human brain. I used this information to help my students not just say the right things - but to get people to do the right things. And I discovered that as a committed marketer of a good cause, you need these principles to fully achieve the change you seek.
Nonprofit marketing friends - all marketing friends: We need to be more than messengers. We need to be change agents. That takes more than marketing. It takes psychology, too.
A few weeks ago, I finally got the whole book, and it is fantastic.
Here’s the premise: It’s really hard to change organizations, communities, people and ourselves. We all know that. But why? Because of the way our brain works. We are literally of two minds: the rational mind and the emotional mind - that compete for control. As Dan writes, the rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. Or as I think of it, the rational mind is the one that sets the alarm for 5 am when I go to bed so I can get up early to work on my novel before I leave for the office. The emotional mind is the one that hits snooze and puts a pillow over my head when morning comes. (Which is why I’m still only halfway through my novel, two years in.)
These two minds can doom efforts at compelling action and achieving change, but guess what? They can be overcome with three methods, used together. This principles apply not just to your personal resolutions - they apply to getting people in your office to adapt a new approach, to persuading people to eat healthy, to galvanizing people around actions that advance your cause.
The wonderful news is, these three steps are not gigantic. In fact, the solutions to your big problems are often small and simple when you approach them with a clear understanding of how people think. As the book notes,
Big problems are rarely solved with commensurately big solutions. Instead, they are most often solved by a sequence of small solutions, sometimes over weeks, sometimes over decades.
But change usually feels big and unweildy - like steering an elephant. Your rational mind is like the wee little driver perched atop this gigantic, emotional, recalcitrant beast. The Heath brothers’ three-part framework tells you how to get the elephant moving:
1. Direct the rider: Provide crystal-clear direction. You may think you’re encountering resistance when in fact you’re encountering confusion. This principle deeply resonated with me, because I believe so much of nonprofit work falls down over poor, unclear or overly complex calls to action. We tell people to stop global warming when we should ask them to switch light bulbs.
2. Motivate the elephant: Engage people’s emotional sides to they cooperate. Self-control is exhausting, and people need emotional energy to embrace and adopt change.
3. Shape the path: A “people” problem is often simply a situation problem. Put people in a different situation if you want them to change.
Want to hear more? Buy the book. Or write in this post’s comments section what you’re trying to change and
I’ll send the first five commenters one of the galley proofs Dan donated to Network for Good.
[Update: they’re all gone!]AND, by all means, listen to Dan speak! He has generously volunteered his time to do a presentation on the book in February as a Network for Good teleconference! This call will change your work (and maybe even your bad habits), so don’t miss it.
Register here for the call. It is free.
Enjoy!
(BTW, if the novel gets done, Dan gets some credit.)
Comments
I’m trying to change the perspective of our organization from always (and only) looking at what we can and are good at delivering to looking at what our customers, donors and supporters want from us.
This book sounds like exactly what we are looking for at my org. We talk a lot about “changing culture.” Seems like a lot to do. Would love to take a look at this book and see what ideas the authors have about things like that.
As a college student and temporary employee of a diabetes education company, I find that I wind up with interesting ideas that the management likes but never acts on. This sounds like a useful book for me as I move into the “real world.”
I have a hard time reconciling the face time people give our organization with the fact that they don’t really seem to know what we do. How do I convey to them our mission in concrete terms they can use to take action?
We have been trying to change the reach of globalbike’s brand from a local basis to a regional basis. We are getting traction but change is tough - questions always arise - is this the best decision, is it the right decision - do we need to change. Lastly, changing a communities understanding that what a small organization does globally positively impacts the local community is a tough mind set to change.
I’m trying to help change the shape of arts education at the pre-professional level. How do we inspire people to alter a system that produced greatness 30 years ago and now produces a plethora of temps and realtors?
I’m trying to get my nonprofit to take a more proactive approach to everything and get out of winning-through-crisis-management mode.
The idea of tackling ‘big’ problems by breaking the solution down to little steps is not new in itself, but having read the Heath’s last work (and loved it) I’m looking forward to reading their application of the concept.
With the number of non-profits and missions (and the need for them) ever increasing, added to the decrease of available financial resources (caused by the recession, credit crunch etc) - I think this new book might help push non-profits and charities to review their communications and marketing strategies.
www.non-profitplace.com
P.S. love your blog btw!
You wrote that you taught a class last summer on “marketing and strategic communications at American University for mid-career federal government professionals.” Do you have plans to do that again?
As for the Heath brothers’ latest book, I’m eager to get my hands on it. I loved “Made to Stick,” so your post has certainly whetted my appetite for this next offering.
I teach at the Key Executive program and yes, I’ll be teaching again this summer. Mary Ann, hope you enjoy the book!
Perfect timing! From what I have read so far…this book is a definite must read for our new charter! New ideas and approaches are being discussed among the members to include quite a few “oldtimers” who never seem to want to change. It can be a problem. I’ve been wishing for a miracle!
Great review. I just picked this up and am anxious to read it. I’d sign up for the teleconference but I have meetings at that time - will it be available in an archived format afterward?
If you registered for the teleconference, you’ll get the first chapter of the book and notes! We’ll also post them in our learning center at www.fundraising123.org
I used this information to help my students not just say the right things - but to get people to do the right things. And I discovered that as a committed marketer of a good cause, you need these principles to fully achieve the change you seek.
This is exactly what I followed looking for. Thanks for sharing this good clause! That is very interesting grinning I love version and I am invariably looking for revealing selective information like this! You are bookmarked!
Thx.
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I’ve recently read this book I would agree the first chapter is enough to get you hooked, recommended !