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 systems - the rational mind and the emotional
mind-that 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 effort - but if it is
overcome change can come quickly. In Switch the Heaths show how everyday people - employees
and managers parents and nurses - have 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 guru who developed a simple
technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping • The manager who transformed a
lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of
customer service In a compelling story-driven narrative the Heaths bring together decades
of counterintuitive research in psychology sociology and other fields to shed new light on
how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern
a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you whether your interest is in
changing the world or changing your waistline.
