Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives? The primary obstacle is a conflict that's built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systemsthe rational mind and the emotional mindthat compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effortbut if it is overcome, change can come quickly. In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday peopleemployees and managers, parents and nurseshave united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results: — The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients.— The home-organizing