The situation
What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. When you shape the path (the situation), you make change more likely, no matter what’s happening with the rider and the elephant.
- Dan & Chip Heath: Switch, 'How
to change things when change is hard'
Tweak the environment
To change a person's behavior successfully, make sure that the path the elephant has to follow is as easy as possible.
When the situation changes, the behavior changes. So change the situation.
Build habits
The rider gets tired when there’s a lot of deciding and analyzing to do. Habits are far less tiring, like when you drive home on 'autopilot'. When behavior is habitual, it’s “free”—it doesn’t tax the Rider.
Look for ways to encourage habits and rituals, so you can stop thinking about the 'difficult' new behavior. Define 'action triggers': imagineup front when and in what conditions you will take a specific action: start to run, when to do homework, make a phone calll ...
Also, think Sprint Rituals: daily stand up, Sprint planning, retrospective ... A few, clear rituals make adopting a method much easier.
Rally the herd
People follow the lead of others, particularly at times of change when situations are new or ambiguous.
Behavior is contagious. Help it spread.