Quotes from Chip Heath

SMART goals presume the emotion; they don't generate it. In looking for a goal that reaches the Elephant—that hits people in the gut—you can't bank on SMART goals.

Kotter and Cohen observed that, in almost all successful change efforts, the sequence of change is not ANALYZE-THINK-CHANGE, but rather SEE-FEEL-CHANGE. You

Because uncertainty makes the Elephant anxious. (Think of how, in an unfamiliar place, you gravitate toward a familiar face.) And that's why decision paralysis can be deadly for change—because the most familiar path is always the status quo.

Be simple. Not simple in terms of "dumbing down" or "sound bites." You don't have to speak in monosyllables to be simple. What we mean by "simple" is finding the core of the idea.

successful change transformations were more likely to set behavioral goals:

A pyramid signifies hierarchy, yet no hierarchy is evident in the Food Pyramid.

As I see it, I am not just in charge of food service; I am in charge of morale.

What is the ratio of the time I spend solving problems to the time I spend scaling successes?

change rarely happens unless it's motivated by feeling

a technique called "failure mode and effect analysis" (FMEA), a precursor to the premortem that has been used for decades in the military and government.

One IT group adopted the "sterile cockpit" concept to advance an important software project.

Ambiguity is the enemy. Any successful change requires a translation of ambiguous goals into concrete behaviors.

This is important. This is real. We're in this together. And what we're doing matters.

When change happens, it tends to follow a pattern. We've got to stop ignoring that pattern and start embracing it.

It's clear that we imitate the behaviors of others, whether consciously or not. We are especially keen to see what they're doing when the situation is unfamiliar or ambiguous. And change situations are, by definition, unfamiliar! So if you want to change things, you have to pay close attention to social signals, because they can either guarantee a change effort or doom it.

ladder your way down from a change idea to a specific behavior, you

Ambiguity is the enemy. Any successful change requires a translation of ambiguous goals into concrete behaviors. In short, to make a switch, you need to script the critical moves.

serving food is a job, but improving morale is a mission.

Some moments are vastly more meaningful than others. For tourists, the Popsicle Hotline is a 15-minute experience that pops out of the surrounding 2-week vacation. For students at YES Prep, Senior Signing Day is a single morning that rises above a 7-year journey.

In situations where your herd has embraced the right behavior, publicize it. For instance, if 80 percent of your team submits time sheets on time, make sure the other 20 percent knows the group norm. Those individuals almost certainly will correct themselves. But if only 10 percent of your team submits time sheets on time, publicizing those results will hurt, not help.

the more successful change transformations were more likely to set behavioral goals: 89 percent of the top third versus only 33 percent of the bottom third. For instance, a behavioral goal might be that project teams would meet once a week

What tires out the Rider—and puts change efforts at risk—is ambiguity

Guthrie doesn't share his findings from his customer meetings; he creates a situation where they can replicate his discovery. It becomes their own insight, and as a result, they're motivated to act.

A study showed that when doctors reckoned themselves "completely certain" about a diagnosis, they were wrong 40% of the time. When a group of students made estimates that they believed had only a 1% chance of being wrong, they were actually wrong 27% of the time.