Switch book club questions

1. 1.

   The Heaths say change looks like a people problem but is often a situation problem. Think about a behavior change you've been trying to create — how much have you focused on shaping the path versus changing the person?

2. 2.

   What's a bright spot in a system you're trying to improve — a case where the desired outcome is already happening? What can you learn from it and how can you spread it?

3. 3.

   Think about a change effort you've been part of that failed. Was it the rider, the elephant, or the path that was most neglected?

4. 4.

   The elephant is motivated by feeling. What emotional argument for an important change in your organization has never been made — where you've relied only on the logical case?

5. 5.

   What's a change you want to make in your own behavior or your team's? What is the first step small enough that the elephant won't resist it?

6. 6.

   Identity shift is the most durable change mechanism. What identity statement would capture the kind of person or leader you most want to become? Are you building evidence toward that identity?

7. 7.

   The Heaths say some apparent resistance is actually exhaustion. Where in your organization might people who seem resistant to change be actually exhausted by the status quo?

8. 8.

   What's the most important path-shaping change you could make in your team's environment — physical, digital, or social — that would make the right behavior easier?

9. 9.

   The bright spots methodology starts from strength rather than deficit. How often does your organization start change efforts by studying what's already working?

10. 10.

    When the rider and elephant disagree, the elephant wins. Where in your own leadership do your rational intentions lose out to emotional pull? What does the elephant want that you're not giving it?

11. 11.

    What environmental change in your office, your calendar, or your team norms would make a behavior you care about more automatic?

12. 12.

    The Heaths draw on examples from health, poverty, business, and education. Does this breadth make the framework feel more universal or more superficial?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.