What Looks Like Resistance to Change is Often a Lack of Clarity Regarding the Right Path to Follow Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, 2010

What Looks Like Resistance to Change is Often a Lack of Clarity Regarding the Right Path to Follow

Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, 2010

The ubiquitous New Year’s resolution

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The Paradox of Choice

The rational side of our brain..

• Tends to overanalyze things – finding the “analyzing” phase of any task far more satisfying than the “doing” phase

• Not decisive so it tends to become paralyzed when decisions become complex

3Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, 2010

A memorable experiment

“Free Jam Tasting”

Experiment 1: Display (N=6) Experiment 2: Display (N=24)

Purchase Rate

30% 3%

The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz, 2003

http://www.herta.edu.hel.fi/Potatoes/images/Blueberry-Jam.jpg







So how do we help the rational side of our brains find the right path?

1. Finding the bright spots around us

• Find people close to us who have already solved our problem


The Story of Jerry Sternin

• Charged with opening new office for “Save the Children” in Vietnam

• Mission: Reduce malnutrition in rural regions of Vietnam

• Foreign Minister: “You have 6 months to make a difference”

• None of them spoke Vietnamese

• Minimal staff and resources


• Malnutrition caused by intertwined set of problems:

– Poverty

– Poor sanitation

– Ignorance about nutrition

• Jerry focused his efforts on nutrition

Jerry began by conducting extensive research into the causes of malnutrition


Jerry went in search of bright spots

• Traveled to rural villages and meets with groups of local mothers

• Divided the mothers into teams and asks them to weigh every child in the village

• Asked them if they have any very poor children that were bigger and healthier than the others (Answer: Yes)

• Sternin and the mothers visited homes of bright-spot kids to observe the way in which these mothers ran their homes


These home visits were revealing

In Conventional Homes

• Kids ate 2 large meals per day

• They ate until full and then stopped

• Kids ate soft, pure foods like rice

In Bright-Spot Homes

• Kids ate 4 small meals per day

• Kids fed more actively by parents to ensure adequate intake

• Kids encouraged to eat when sick

• Kids ate mix of foods like adults

– Tiny shrimps and crabs collected from rice paddies

– Sweet potato greens (considered a low class food)


• Designed program to prepare food together

– 50 families met in groups of 10 each day

– Required to bring the key ingredients (Rice, shrimp, potatoes)

– Mothers washed their hands with soap and cooked meals together

• The best part of all: the change came from inside the village

Knowledge Alone Doesn’t Change Behavior


6 months after the Sternin’s arrival

• 65% of the kids were better nourished and they stayed that way

• Children born after Jerry left were just as healthy as those that he reached directly

• Jerry converted first 14 villages into living universities for other villages

• Program eventually reached 2.2 million people in 265 villages


2. Script the critical moves

• Translate ambiguous goals into concrete behaviors that deliver results


The Story of Bill Reger and Steve Booth

• Two professors at West Virginia University

• Project Sponsored by the State department of Health

• Mission: Persuade West Virginians to eat healthier


The Challenges

• There are many different ways to eat healthier

• People are more likely to change when the new behavior that is expected of them is crystal clear


They decided to focus on a single factor

• Most West Virginians drink milk

• Milk was the single largest source of saturated fat in typical West Virginian’s diet

• By switching from whole milk to 1% milk, West Virginians would immediately reach the target level for saturated fat

• Since most Americans will drink whatever is in the refrigerator, the campaign chose to focus on purchasing behavior rather than on drinking behavior


=

Reger & Booth launched a local media campaign


1%

To eat healthier, buy 1% milk instead of whole milk during their next visit to the super market


The results surprised everyone

• They monitored milk sales at eight stores in target media markets

– Before campaign: Market share of 1% milk = 18%

– After campaign: Market share of 1% milk = 41%

– 6 months after campaign: Market share of 1% milk = 35%


3. Point to the destination

• Shifts the focus from analyzing the need for change to figuring out how to get to the destination


John F. Kennedy’s man on the moon speech

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4. Rally behind the herd

• Follow the lead of similar others


The British government rallies behind the herd to collect delinquent taxes

• Standard letters to delinquent tax payers in 2008 resulted in the recovery of 57% of delinquent taxes

• In 2009, a single sentence was added to these letters reminding delinquent tax payers of the large number of British citizens who pay their taxes on time

• The new letter resulted in the recovery of 86% of delinquent taxes

• 5.6 billion pounds of additional revenue collected

23The Small Big by Steve J. Martin, Noah Goldstein & Robert Cialdini, 2014

Summary

• What looks like resistance to change is often a lack of clarity regarding the right path to follow

• To help the rational side of our brains find the right path:

1. Search for the bright spots around us

2. Script the critical moves to increase clarity

3. Point to the destination to shift peoples focus from analyzing the need for change to figuring out how to get to the destination

4. Rallying people behind the herd

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Documents

What Looks Like Resistance to Change is Often a Lack of Clarity Regarding the Right Path to Follow Switch by Chip and Dan Heath, 2010