How do you move an elephant?

Creating change is about motivating elephants.

Every so often you come across a metaphor that shines the light on the things you are doing and offers a new way of looking at things. This week I have been introduced to a metaphor that is really useful in my thinking about the process of change. One of the certainties of life (other than death and taxes) is change and we've probably all had experiences of change that has been poorly managed or executed.

Chip and Dan Heath, in their book, "Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard" expand on a metaphor from social psychologist Jonathon Haidt about the elephant, the rider and the path.

The idea is that change is influenced by three things: the mind, the heart and the environment. The heart is the elephant, a large beast that is difficult to control and is easily spooked by circumstances. The elephant represents our emotions, our values, the feelings that influence our decisions.

The rider on the back of the elephant is the mind; the logical, conscious part of the person, and compared to the elephant, the rider is very small and finds it hard to keep the elephant under control. The rider also tires very easily.

In front of the elephant and its rider is the path. This is the way forward and shows the direction of change. It represents the environment that affects that change and influences both the rider and the elephant.

As we address change we need to learn how to direct the rider, motivate the elephant and shape the path.

I'll expand more on this in my next post.