Switch - A Book Review

Sanku - Thanks for recommending this one. A must read book for anybody who wishes to "Change" anything in life especially (as the title  says) when "Change is Hard". Seems like a good complement to "Speed of Trust" focusing more on the dynamics of change and how to make it happen. This is also a slightly different version of "Tipping Point" where it talks about how certain small changes  make a big impact.

The authors (Chip and Dan Heath) have a very light style of narrating their "concepts" making it an easy read with full of interesting and practical perspective. It is a fairly simple "framework" comprising of only 3 components - Elephant, Rider and the Path. The Rider is the Logical / Rational aspect, the Elephant -  the Emotional side and the Path is the environment in which Change needs to happen. The process is "simple" too - Direct the Rider, Motivate the Elephant and Shape the Path. Quite easy eh!! Have taken a few excerpts from the book which I found to be most appealing.

Direct The Rider

"Find and Follow the Bright Spots" - In any challenging  situation, they claim that there will be a few bright spots which stand apart from the crowd. Those bright spots need not be earth shattering. It could be as simple as tossing in tiny shrimp and crabs in the rice (to avoid malnutrition in kids in Vietnam). Once you find the bright spots follow them to identify the trends and clone them over and over and over.  "Don't obsess about failures. Instead investigate and clone the successes."

Quite often we get into a challenge where the solution doesn't seem to be anywhere near the horizon. A simple question to ask - "What was different the last time it worked?" (where we know it worked).

A very strong (and true) statement made - "We're all loop-hole exploiting lawyers when it comes to our own self-control." How many times have we "justified" ourselves on actions that we do. 

Here's another "eye-opener" - "One reason we're able to believe that we are better than average leaders and drivers and spouses and team players is that we are defining those terms in ways that flatter us." 

Motivate the Elephant

By "motivating" the elephant they mean reaching out to the emotional aspect of the stakeholders involved in that Change. One interesting concept is to create a "burning platform". "To create a burning platform is to paint such a gloomy picture of the current state of things that employees can't help but jump into the fiery sea." And hence be "forced" to Change.

One of the main detrimental factors to change is the fear of the magnitude (sometimes unknown) of the change. Their idea is to "Shrink the Change" to make it more palatable to the Elephant. Few years ago one of my client bosses constantly said "Do not try to eat the whole elephant. Eat it in chunks." Now I totally understand what he meant. ;-)  Another technique is to create an "impression" that you are not starting from scratch. "People find it more motivating to be partly finished with a long journey than to be at the starting gate of a shorter one." The key is to identify a quick win and win it. "You need quick wins to get fired up. And getting fired up is super important."

Shape the Path

Read about an interesting psychological concept "Fundamental Attribution Error" which states "The error lies in our inclination to attribute the behaviour to the way they are rather than the situation they are in." They claim "What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. And no matter what your role is you've got (some) control over the situation." So the important question they ask is "How can I set up a situation that brings out the good in these people." Easier said than done eh!!

Talking about the Path, we often worry too much and try to get every piece of the puzzle in order along the path. "When you are at the beginning, don't obsess about the middle because the middle is going to look different once you get there. Just look for a strong beginning and a strong ending and GET MOVING".

This review by no means does any justice to the book. This is more of a reminder for myself for future reference.

More information on this is available at http://www.heathbrothers.com/switch/

Happy Switching!!

C

Holidays 2011

HOLIDAYS 2011 - It was a huge one for us. Can't remember the last time I had a few days with absolutely no plan. It started from the eve of christmas eve when the office closed earlier than usual. We had a lunch hosted at our place and had to prepare for it. Saturday was a bit hectic with guests coming over for lunch, but it ended at about 3 PM. From that point it has been a very relaxing holiday (so far!!). We had prepared enough food that lasted us for 2 days. 

After a long time we were able to take the kids to the park nearby. On 26th  we had lunch at my uncle's place in Sydney. A nice spread with a mix of south and north indian delicacies. For a change we were actually on time for lunch and we didn't even have to rush. Thus began our holiday...

Post lunch we left Sydney at around 3 PM and headed out to Coffs Harbour where we had planned our stopover enroute to Brisbane. The drive was quite smooth all along. We were warned about a lot of hold ups due to road work and traffic. Luckily we did not face any hurdles. We did pretty good time and reached Coffs Harbour by 9.45 PM inspite of 2-3 breaks inbetween. Highways in NSW had some unique features compared to a freeway in US. 

1) There were more rest areas to stop and "Revive". The motto being "Stop, Revive & Survive". 

2) The speed limits were variable based on weather conditions. A zone where you could drive at 110 km/hr changes to 80 km/hr when it rains.

3) They had slots to actually turn around in the highway without having to take an exit.

There were quite a few cops around busy earning bonus revenue for the state during the "silly season". 

The motel in Coffs Harbour was just right for a night's stop over. After a long time I slept under a ceiling fan. Coffs Harbour apparently is considered in one of the best ambience in terms of temperature across the world. No complaints there. 

Left early next morning and reached Brisbane at around 2 pm. Thanks to the early start there wasn't much traffic either. They have made some newer roads that our GPS was not updated with. It took us on a "scenic" deviation at some point and rejoined us back on the highway. After a while the GPS tried to do it again, but my 3rd sense told me not to follow it. As we continued on the highway I could see the GPS thoroughly confused with the new roads. Clearly time to update the maps. 

Time in Brisbane was very relaxed. We jumped into the pool right after lunch. The swimming pool was the key "enticing factor" to make Nandhitha leave her "comfort zone" and go a on a long drive. The next day we had a Brioche french toast for breakfast. Brioche is a French bread variety which tastes exactly like a Croissant but not flaky. Later in the evening took my neices out for bowling. Had a decent start with 100 points in the first game, but droped to 80 by the third round. Luckily called it quits by then. Nandhitha had a blast by having her own turn in the lane compared to having a turn here and there when the the adults bowled. 

Did a day trip to a water park nearby called Wet and Wild. Reached there around noon and got our tummys filled up first before we headed to the waters. All of us had a good time. Nandha increased my "adventure" factor even in the most adventureless rides. Holding a revolting toddler on a tube float is not a fun thing to do. Please attempt at your own risk. :-) To my surprise Nandhitha actually made it on the tall water slide. Luckily she was just a tad over the minimum height limit. The best part of this water park was what they called as "Splash Cash". I was given a water proof wrist band which had a bar code. I was able to load with money and the entire day I used it as an "e-wallet" whenever we had to buy something to eat / drink. It was very convenient not to carry around the wallet or risk missing it in some place. Am pretty sure this feature must be available in most water park these days. Just that it has been a while since I had been to one. 

Brisbane has a nice "CBD". We did a few "mistakes" going around thanks to driving without a clear address. Eventually reached the spot where we wanted to be. They had a nice park. The kids play area was a quite unique and modern. We "stumbled" across the artificial beach created in the park. Had to convince Nandhitha that I will "think about it" if she finishes her lunch properly. Had a good chinese lunch and went back to the "beach". Reached back home just in time for a dinner at a desi restaurant. Apparently it had a nice water front view, but we couldn't enjoy at night.

Started back from Brisbane at around 8 AM Sydney time (Brisbane is an hour behind during summer) on our 14 hour drive home. Enroute we took a short deviation to Gold Coast to have a quick peek. The weather was not very supportive and hence we didn't bother to get out of the car. Had a leisurely lunch at Coffs Harbour. None of the restaurants were open except for a small cafe and it turned out to be an excellent choice. Reached home at around 11 PM, just in time to catch the famous fireworks on the Sydney Harbour Bridge - on TV.

New Year was quite hectic with a temple visit followed by a party. Nandhitha did an ex-tempo dance number for "Daddy Mummy veetil illa..". She had originally "practiced" for a Punnagai Mannan song (Kaalam kaalamaaga....) but the request did not reach the DJ on time. Hence switched to something that was readily available. She did a good job actually without fussing about the song that she knew. She had a blast!!

2011 was wonderful. It had quite a few ups and downs. The year ended on a good note with me being awarded with the best project manager for last quarter. 2012 seems quite interesting in many many ways. Let's see how it goes...

Have A Good Year Ahead!!

C