The rider and the elephant – a model for change. I am listening in my car to a book called Switch by the the Heath brothers. http://heathbrothers.com/switch/ I have found much of his stuff really compelling and surprising. I really like his model for change. Our analytical side is the rider and our emotional, intuitive side is the elephant.
If the elephant wants to go a certain way, the rider must go along for the ride. However if the elephant is cooperative, the rider must want to go that way. The book tackles the challenges with great examples and stories.
Some of the stories are baffling. The example that comes to mind was some research done on chamber maids in a big hotel. They studied their activity level and found it was well beyond what most people did for fitness and they did not lose weight. They also said they were getting no exercise. They divided the group into two groups. One group they told them how much exercise they were getting and nothing to the other group. The first group after a few weeks had lost two or three pounds and the other group none. They could find nothing in the first groups lives that had changed. They had no explanation except the Placebo effect. They now believed that were doing something to lose weight and so they lost weight.
I am looking for models that will help me with my golfers who do not put in their scores. I need to get their elephant and the rider to cooperate.
Any ideas?
