Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

• Author: Thomas, Chris
• Position: Book review

The ever increasing pace of business is requiring organizations, management and employees to become more adept at change. This is particularly true in the communication industry, where advertising, media and technology are changing so quickly that strategies and tactics that were effective even a year ago may now be obsolete.

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I was particularly interested in Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath, because change has become part of my agency's DNA. We have worked to cultivate a culture of change and challenge our team to be constantly learning, adapting and innovating.

The broader theme of the Heaths' book encompasses the notion that change doesn't just happen, but rather it follows a pattern. "The people who change have clear direction, ample motivation and a supportive environment."

The book employs metaphors of an elephant, rider and a path to diagram the emotional, rational and environmental elements of change, and it explores each in the context of not just understanding but also practical application.

Some interesting insights from Switch include

* Self-control is an exhaustible resource: "What looks like laziness is often exhaustion."

* Decision makers typically exert too much time analyzing...