Book Review: Switch

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, is a book about how to make change happen in ways we wouldn't normally think to use.  It's not an autism-focused book, but given how difficult change and transitions can be for autistic people (including me), I found it a useful read.

The book explains the players of making (or not making) a change as three distinct entities: emotions, logical mind, and the situation or environment.  If all three players are in alignment, the change is likely to happen easily.  If not, the change won't be easy, and maybe won't happen at all.

The very very TL;DR version is this: to effectively make a change that'll stick, the person (or entity) needs to be emotionally motivated to make the change.  They need a clear, understandable path to follow to make that change.  And finally, the environment needs support that change.  

To make my own version of their example...  a family with an autistic teenager is  having trouble with getting that teen to do their chores.  The mother has told the teen what chores they're responsible for, but the chores aren't getting done.  Yelling at them doesn't change things.  Taking away their allowance doesn't change things.  The punishment simply makes the teen resentful and sullen.  The chores still don't get done.  

What to do?  Well.  First, we can consider logic.  Does the teen understand exactly what's expected of them, and is there clearly specified day and time by which it must be done?  Are there any chores that routinely get done, and if so, why does the teen manage them but not the others?  Perhaps something could be done to make the other chores as doable as the ones that get done.  

The issue might also be emotional.  Depending on how the expectation of the chores was introduced, the teen may simply wonder why these jobs are suddenly their responsibility when Mom has always taken care of them 'til now.  Reframing the situation might be what's needed.  Instead of saying, "You need to take care of these chores now or else you're in trouble!" an alternative could be noting that the child's friends do their own laundry (or clean their rooms, or whatever), or that it's something that college-bound people take care of for themselves.  These reframe the job as something normal and expected from their peer group, or something to aspire to.  

Finally, there's the environment.  Is there an easily-accessible checklist or some kind of organizational aid they can reference?  Autistic people (and indeed, people in general) can lose the details of things.  Having a visual, accessible organizational system might be the key.  The teen may simply be forgetting what exactly is expected of them or what exactly is involved in their chores.  Spelling it out might be all that's needed.  Or, does the teen have a hamper into which they can put their dirty clothes, transport to the washer and dryer, then take the clean clothes back once they're done?  

The authors describe how each player (emotions, logic, and environment) can stumble, causing a hoped-for change to fail, and also how to remove those stumbling blocks.  They describe situations on a personal habits level, but also country-wide level.  Their ideas work for any size group, or any kind of person, and they give a multitude of examples from all kinds of situations.  

One of their main points is that these suggestions don't require any particular power or influence.  You don't have to be able to make laws, or have millions of dollars to throw at a problem.  You don't have to be a CEO or have the ability to make sweeping reforms to a situation.  The solutions they talk about are more "if I wiggle this piece of the puzzle just so, stuff will change" type deals.  

Obviously, it's not always so simple.  Sometimes you have to wiggle a few pieces, or even wiggle the pieces around the one you want to get at.  Still, the book gives adequate examples.  There's never just one thing you can do with a problem to nudge it towards the solution you want.  Usually, in the "now let's apply this idea!" sections, there's upwards of 6 different ways to solve the problem.  So if the one thing you thought of doesn't work, there's many more options.  

These sorts of solutions could be applied to self improvement, organizational policies, family dynamics, and even to autism advocacy.

Read This Book If

You're looking for a new way to make changes in your life or work.  Maybe you've tried a "I'm going to be healthier this year!" habit and haven't had it work out.  Or maybe you're sick of repeating the same old unhappy patterns with your spouse or child.  This book can give you a different perspective and new ideas on how to change things.  It may take a bit of work to adapt the ideas to work with your life, but it might be just what you need to finally accomplish your goals.