By Chip and Dan Heath…”Switch: How to
Change When Change is Hard”
"Perched atop the Elephant, the
Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Rider’s control is precarious because
the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant.
Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which
direction to go, the Rider is going to lose.
He’s completely overmatched."
You need to create a path that makes it easier to be successful.
Most of us are all too familiar
with situations in which our Elephant overpowers our Rider. You’ve experienced this if you’ve ever slept
in, overeaten, dialed up your ex at midnight, procrastinated, tried to quit
smoking and failed, skipped the gym, gotten angry and said something you
regretted, abandoned your Spanish or piano lessons, refused to speak up in a
meeting because you were scared, and so on.
The key to effective change is getting the Elephant and
the Rider moving together. Dan and Chip
write:
“Changes often fail because the
Rider simply can’t keep the Elephant on the road long enough to reach the
destination. The Elephant’s hunger for
instant gratification is the opposite of the Rider’s strength, which is the
ability to think long-term, to plan, to think beyond the moment (all those
things that your pet can’t do.) … To make progress toward a goal, whether it’s
noble or crass requires the energy and drive of the Elephant. And this strength is the mirror image of the
Rider’s great weakness: spinning his wheels.
The Rider tends to overanalyze and over think things. … A reluctant
Elephant and a wheel-spinning Rider can both ensure nothing changes. But when Elephants and Riders move together,
change can come easily.”
“Some
pleasures are not worth having because they lead to greater pains, and some
pains are worthwhile when they lead to greater pleasures. The best strategy for
attaining a maximal amount of pleasure overall is not to seek instant gratification
but to work out a sensible long term policy”
~ Epicurus
