Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Book Review of the Week-ish)

When I first put together a list of the 12 most important business books of the last 10 years, Chip Heath and Dan Heath made the cut easily. Their first book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, looked at how ideas catch on and grow. The book was both a big hit for them and a huge influence on businesses worldwide.

Of course, moving ideas is one thing; moving organizations takes a bit more effort. And that’s where their new book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, comes into play.

Much as they did with Made to Stick,
the Heath brothers lay out a simple, straightforward path to follow, along with memorable images that will, um, stick with you once you’ve finished the book. For example, Switch makes a distinction between the conscious and unconscious ways we – and those around us in our organizations – make decisions every day that either support or resist major changes. While only psychology professors seem to love ideas like “superego” and “id,” even the most casual reader can understand the difference between an elephant and the poor guy trying to ride the thing, especially when you feel like you’re trying to get whole herds of them pointed in the same direction.

The brothers’ recommendations for setting direction, motivating the people affected by the change and managing the environment you’re in are well worth price of admission. They include such tips as finding bright spots in your organization to build on, shrinking the change to manageable steps, and developing habits among your team along with enough supporting examples and guides to help you direct your rider and motivate your elephant, too. Their website even includes a handy set of free resources once you’ve completed the read.

Will Switch end up on the 12 most important business books of the next 10 years? You’ll have to wait and see. But, even if it doesn’t, it’s a solid effort, full of useful strategies and tips for how to move organizations in the right direction. And that’s more than worth the price of the book. Grab a copy today.

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