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Book Review: Switch

An elephant, a rider, and a path are the analogy of choice for the Heath brothers latest book, ‘Switch : How to change things, when change is hard.’
 
At first, the introduction of the elephant to describe the way that humans react emotionally and intelligently to change is somewhat of a stretch. But as the book pours through countless counter-intuitive examples of change, radical change, so too the elephant analogy takes hold.
 
It’s a book that provides real life examples of how to instigate change in your organisation. Even within yourself.
 
There are stories of Doctors who make the wrong decision because they 3 choices instead of 2. Teachers who radically change a pupil’s behaviour by putting a couch in the classroom. And loyalty cards with 2 free initial stamps on a 10 stamp card, verses no stamps on a 8 stamp card, and the 2 free stamps increase the return of the customer by 15%.
 
The picture of how tagged my book is says it all. I have heaps of notes to make and I will read it again within the next year or so.
 
If you’re a teacher, CEO, project manager, administrator, pastor, or a leader of any kind. Buy it, reflect on it, read it apply it!

Why YOU don’t change.

It was a moment of sheer intelligential brilliance. “Immovable Deadlines”, I pondered.

When an immovable deadline exists, it is easy to deliver. When I have to speak on Sunday, or deliver a presentation to a big client. The deadline is immovable, and I always meet the deadline. Always.

I have known this about myself for years of course, but now I have a term to define it. To be more successful, all I have to do is figure out a way to make movable deadlines, things I put off, IMMOVABLE.

Brilliant!

Dazzling, even if I do say so myself.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. My life is going to be so much better. I will be a better leader, husband, friend. I am sorted!

Then, by chance I read some notes I made from 2 years ago. Written across the note are these words “IMMOVABLE DEADLINES”

I cuss slightly in my head and am reminded again how hard change is.

Change takes thought.

Reflection.

Time.

Resolve.

Discipline.

Then it takes all of those things all over and over again. And again. And again.

Its hard work!

And that’s why YOU don’t change. And YOU need to sort it out. Work harder. Hold the goal before YOU. Don’t YOU give up.

I say YOU, because clearly I haven’t learnt.

Gone by lunch time.

Been learning about Samuel and Saul and Kings.

King Nahash, had a proposition for the people of Israel. They could make peace with him and then return, he would gouge out the right eye of everyone, then they could live at peace.

News spread of this peace offer and finally reached the newly appointed King Saul. He was out plowing a field. The king, out plowing.

‘Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul and he became very angry’. He called the people to follow him, all 370000 of them. The next day he took on King Nahash and his team, and “slaughter them the whole morning”. Home for lunch.

I wonder to myself, how different would my life be if I allowed the Spirit of God to come powerfully upon. I wonder what more I would achieve as a husband, a leader, a man. What things would be dealt to by lunch time.

What if the Spirit of God came powerfully upon me and I …

What would I be called to do?

Tiny drops of energy...

I have often heard of a bucket or tank being used to describe energy in life.

At the bottom of the bucket are leaks, small drips that drain energy, reduce it.  If my bucket gets to empty, completely empty, then my passion dies, drip.

I stop enjoying life, drip.

Or worse, I become a DRIP.

If the bucket is full, I bounce around the world. On fire. With passion.

If life is like a bucket of energy, it would be good to know what builds into it. And what reduces it.

So I started to focus on reducing the leaks, patching them up, stopping the drain of energy. With hindsight I see that it doesn’t solve the problem at all. If my energy is all but gone, stopping the leaks just slows the process of turning into one giant drip.

Of course, what a drip I am! So I focus on filling my bucket. I start searching for a tap, or a fire hose. A quick refill.  Anything instant.

But it too is allusive.

Then today as I try to take pictures of water drops in the rain. I realise energy comes one drop at a time.

Drop,

Drop,

Drop.

Once you have more drops coming in, that drips leaking out, your bucket starts to fill, your energy rises.

I’m sorted now of course. Most lakes and rivers are filled one drop of water at a time, I just need to hunt for drops, not drips. I would prefer steady rain of course.

Then it hit me. As my energy drips away, as my bucket gets empty, I become more of a drip. Then, I can become a drip to other people. I start draining their energy.

I realised that I need drops of energy, so that I can give drops of energy.

And I need to give drops of energy, so that I can get drops of energy.

This week I resolve to go in search of drops of energy.

Once a geek, always a geek (some cool tech tools I am using)

Playing around with a few tech toys recently and a couple of them are very cool.

Evernote 

I used to use google notebook (which was in beta and they are no longer developing). Evernote is tool you can use for making notes about anything. You can be on a website and send a part of the text to evernote. You can email notes to it. I can take a photo from my phone of something I want to remember and it uploads. Or you can type a new note directly.

Whats more, there is a desktop version that syncs to the web version which syncs to my windows mobile (phone).  Its free and very functional, or you can pay $45 US per year to have additional features and secure syncing.

Dual Monitors

Old technology, but have just set it up. I have been getting annoyed with the amount of paper I print out, just so I can compare to something else on the screen. This solves it and allows for much more.

Sure this looks really geeky, but it is awesome and don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago.

One small problem, I stole the second monitor off someone elses desk, will need to sort that first thing Monday. 

iPod Nano

Watched my first video postcast on my Nano. Had it for a year and only listen ever listened to music, audiobooks and audio podcasts.

The quality was very cool and watched a podcast from TED. It was Jacqueline Novogratz from Acuman Fund talking about a third way to think about aid. Cool to see the images and the quality was remarkably good.

Finding my way around

When I flew into Melbourne this week I knew broadly my hotel was in the Southbank area, so caught a bus, then the train, then walked around looking for it. Most people, I would assume, would actually look it up on a map.

When I went to the conference yesterday, I knew it was at the Tennis grounds. Again forgot to look it up, so just followed my nose.

Last night tried to lead some friends to a great place to eat. Failed completely, and got sore legs walking around the city, then ended up back near were we started.

Then I realised, that maybe the way I lead is a bit like that. I know the kind of area I need to head towards, but never really map out the way. I almost head there by trial and error without all the details worked out.  Most times I succeed, sometimes I fail big-time.

Broadly knowing where I am going, but not really nailing down the best route.

Hmm

I'm not sure this is a great leadership trait.

Those poor happy people...

I was talking to an ex-colleague the other day who fulfilled her dream and went to Costa-Rica. She said that she stayed with a really poor family by some beech for 2 weeks, and they were the so incredibly happy.

Poor happy people!

Then I found a recent article that states a full 27 Million Americans are now on anti-depressants. 10% of their entire population.

Rich unhappy people!

Maybe poor people don’t take anti-depressants because they can’t afford them. I am sure there are plenty of sad poor people around. OR maybe if we, (Western culture ‘we’), weren’t so worried about climbing the socioeconomic ladder, we wouldn’t be so sad.

Maybe then, we would focus on doing things that bring true happiness and not focus on buying things that brings happiness.

Maybe…

 

21 years ago today my life changed

I remember it because it was the 8th of 8, 88.

Bob Addison and Dale Henderson took a punt and gave a young, uneducated, skinny bum the opportunity to work at Baycourt theatre.

I had been hanging around the theatre for about 5 years, and looking back I must have been one frustrating young guy. Full of potential but lacking discipline and a little bit strange to boot.

But I got opportunities to clean toilets, learn more about sound and lighting and play with pagemaker on computers (no mean feat in 88).

I learned about creativity, long hours, leadership, communicating with people older than me and doing crap jobs I didn’t enjoy.

I was 18, and I was privileged that Bob and Dale gave me a shot. After a while I moved on and learnt other things from other leaders. But they were some of the first people to see something in me, I didn’t see, even though they never got to see it delivered.

So anyway two key points I considered today.

1. 21 years later, I wonder which 18 year I should be giving a similar opportunity to?
2. Where did 21 years go?

Tipping Points. Positive and Negative!

Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Tipping Point’ speaks of single events that then trigger other unrelated people to do similar things. I have been wondering if the Hawkes Bay Police siege might be a Tipping Point.

There have been a couple weird shootings that Police have been involved since the siege in Hawkes Bay with Jan Molenaar.

Last month, Shayne Sime, a paraplegic man was shot, and a connection made to the Hawkes Bay shooting and it was referred to in the media as "suicide by cop".

This week actor Rob Mokaraka was shot when he 'engineered' a confrontation with Police. He has a distant connection to the Jan Molenaar shootings.

Gladwell talks of a high profile person committing suicide in a car crash, and then the number of car crashes increasing, as people almost have permission to do the same.

I hope that Jan Mollenaar’s actions in Hawkes Bay aren’t a tipping point for people wanting to go out in a ‘blaze of glory’. I hope the media coverage doesn’t put more police personnel in harms way.

So now to the implication of this post…

It seems many Tipping Points are negative ones. I wonder what it would take to create a truly positive Tipping Point.

One that really makes a positive difference in the world.

One that the media would follow with as much interest as police shootings.

I am not sure it is possible?

What will I be doing in 15 years time?

Interesting question isn’t it? I often struggle to know what I will be doing next week, and in moments of absolute brilliance, I might do some top level thought into next 3 – 5 years.

I’m skim reading a book called “Total Leadership” at the moment and one of its exercises is to write down what your life and leadership will amount to in 15 years.

15 years is a long way away.

In 15 years, I will have been married for 27 years!

In 15 years, my eldest daughter will be 24!

In 15 years, I don’t want to be doing the same things I am doing now.

In 15 years, I want to have made a significant impact on the world.

It is an interesting think about 15 years from now. I have never done it before, but I sense that it will help give perspective to the small issues I currently face.

Successful People

Saw an interview on 60 Minutes this week with Kiwi Kerry Spackman. Kerry is a Neuroscientist for sports stars like Lewis Hamilton.

He was asked what made them successful and gave these four qualities

1. They are phenomenally hard workers

2. Their attention to detail was second to none

3. They have an ability to get over disappointment

4. They have an unshakable belief in themselves

A timely reminder to me!

Metaphorical mountains

I was chatting with friends this week about mountains

Metaphorical ones.

Those huge obstacles in front of us. Projects, struggles, illnesses, financial problems, relationship issues … things that seem too BIG to handle.

We were discussing about how we often cry out to God and ask him to pick them up and through them into the sea. To make them go away.

And yet we need to climb mountains. They are good for us and through them we learn heaps and are cultivated and grown.

The problem with mountains is often the obstacle in front of us, is the issue of the moment.

We forget about what the view from the top of the mountain will be like.

We forget the satisfaction that comes from making it to the top.

We forget that climbing mountains is worth it.

We just see the obstacle!

Maybe when we remember how good the mountain can be for us, we will stop asking for it to be taken away, be thankful for it.

Maybe we will then focus on the more important task of getting to the top.
 

Summer Reading.

Took a few books away with me to read while at the beach. As normal, took too many books with me. Will post a summary, maybe, once I have read them.

• The Appeal - John Grisham
• Constructing Artistic Integrity - Kim Barbour
• The End of Charity - Nic Frances
• Jesus wants to save Christians - Rob Bell & Don Golden
• Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell
• Growing Great Girls - Ian & Mary Grant
• View from the Summit - Sir Edmond Hillary

Varying topics and reasons for reading. Will be interesting,

A surprise Christmas gift.

Here is peice of art my wife did for me for Christmas. Will hang at work when I get back from leave.

 

Personal development

"I believe that I am responsible for my own personal development. Only I know who I want to become. Only I know my real strenghts and weaknesses, my passion and my talent. Only I know the price I am willing to pay to be who I can become."

- Fred Smith Sr.

How very true of me!