Simple. Impartial. Me.

Find the bright spots.

The Rider loves to contemplate and analyze, but his analysis is almost always directed at problems rather than bright spots. (You can probably recall a conversation with a friend who agonized for hours over a particular relationship problem. But can you remember an instance when a friend spent even a few minutes analyzing why something was working so well?) And when the Rider sees problems everywhere, “analysis paralysis” often kicks in. That’s why, to make progress on a change, it helps to point out what is going right in a given process or relationship—and then encourage yourself or your team to replicate those right moves.

Shrink the change.

A business cliché commands us to “raise the bar.” But that’s exactly the wrong instinct if you want to motivate a reluctant Elephant. You need to lower the bar, or at least break the process of getting over that bar into more-doable baby steps. IN other words, you need to shrink the size of that change. The Elephant needs to believe a change is possible before he’s willing to take a single committed step, and if you can help the Elephant to see he’s already part-way there, so much the better.

Tweak the environment.

Tweaking the environment can be one of the simplest ways to foster change. Want to eat less? Use smaller plates and bowls. Going to the mall but don’t want to overspend? Take out as much cash as you have budgeted for your shopping trip and leave your credit cards and debit cards at home. Trying to go to the gym after work? Keep your workout clothes and shoes in the front passenger seat of your car. Determined to eat healthier? Clear the junk out of your cupboards.

Rally the herd.

Behavior is contagious. This is why laugh tracks are sometimes used in TV shows: When you see or hear someone laughing, you laugh, too. (Need proof? Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6UU6m3cqk.) You can use this knowledge to your advantage when you want to make change. Ask your family, friends or coworkers to send you helpful signals. Trying to stop checking your smartphone during dinner? Ask your dinner companions to give you a disapproving glance if you reach for your device. Want to change a policy at your corporate workplace? Find other like-minded workers to go with you when you approach the company policymakers. Going as a group will signal that there is support for this particular change.

Whether the switch you seek is in your family, in your organization, or in society at large, you’ll get there by making three things happen: You’ll direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant, and shape the Path.

I just read a great article around the subject of change and thought I’d share it with you. As a point of note, this is a summary of a new book, “Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard” by Chip & Dan Heath–the authors of “Made to Stick” (which I’m also reading right now). With regard to the subject of change, they draw the analogy that it’s like trying to move an elephant down a different path (the rational part of your brain is the Rider; the physical aspect is the Elephant, and the Path is where your actions should be leading you.)

One of the interesting things about change is how many mistaken assumptions we make about how it works—or doesn’t. Here are some surprising insights that can help you identify the real obstacles to change and avoid investing energy in clearing roadblocks that aren’t really there.

Surprise No. 1

What looks like resistance is often a lack of clarity.

“The Rider,” or the rational part of your brain, is tasked with planning, organizing, analyzing and long-term thinking. And to do that job well, the Rider needs clear, specific instructions. Without clear instructions, the Rider’s tendency is to overanalyze, overthink, and endlessly spin his wheels.

So, the next time you berate yourself for resisting change (say, you commit to eating healthier but still manage to come home from the grocery store with a family-size bag of snack cookies), consider that it’s not resistance but lack of clarity. If your Rider only hears “Eat healthier!” instead of “Eat more dark leafy greens—and here is a convenient way to prepare them,” you’re more unclear than resistant.

Surprise No. 2

What looks like laziness is often exhaustion.

Self-control is an exhaustible resource. It’s like doing bench presses at the gym. The first one is easy, when your muscles are fresh. But with each repetition, your muscles get more exhausted, until you can’t lift the bar again.

This is a crucial realization, because when we talk about self-control, we don’t mean the narrow sense of the word, as in the willpower needed to fight vices (smokes, cookies, alcohol). We’re talking about a broader kind of self-supervision.

Think of the way your mind works when you’re giving negative feedback to an employee, or assembling a new bookshelf, or learning a new dance. You are careful and deliberate with your words or movements. It feels like there’s a supervisor on duty. That’s self-control, too.

Dozens of studies have demonstrated the exhausting nature of self-supervision. And research shows that we burn up self-control in a wide variety of situations: managing the impression we’re making on others, coping with fears, controlling our spending, and many, many others.

Here’s why this matters for change: When people try to change things they’re usually tinkering with behaviors that have become automatic, and changing those behaviors requires careful supervision by the Rider.

The bigger the change you’re suggesting, the more it will sap your self-control. And when people exhaust their self-control, what they’re exhausting are the mental muscles needed to think creatively, to focus, to inhibit their impulses, and to persist in the face of frustration or failure.

In other words, they’re exhausting precisely the mental muscles needed to make a big change.

So when you hear people say that change is hard because people are lazy or resistant, that’s just flat wrong. In fact, the opposite is true: Change is hard because people wear themselves out trying.

Surprise No. 3

What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem.

W. Edwards Deming, the chief instigator of the Total Quality Management movement that revolutionized manufacturing, told a story about a company that used a variety of flammable products in its production process. Unsurprisingly, fires frequently broke out in its plants. But the president of the company didn’t think he had a situation problem: he thought he had a people problem. He sent a letter to every one of the company’s 10,500 employees pleading with them to set fewer fires. Ahem. This is a bit like asking gardeners to come home from work less covered in dirt.

We are frequently blind to the power of situations. Stanford psychologist Lee Ross surveyed dozens of studies in psychology and noted that people have a systemic tendency to ignore the situational forces that share other people’s behavior. He called this deep-rooted tendency the “Fundamental Attribution Error.” The error lies in our inclination to attribute people’s behavior to the way they are rather than to the situation they are in. But many times it is the situation—not the person—that is causing the trouble. Change your situation and you are better equipped to change your behavior.

So, if you want people to change, you can address the “people problem” by providing clear direction (Rider), and by boosting motivation and determination (Elephant). Remember, though, that you can also take steps to make the journey in the desired direction easier. Create a steep downhill slope and give them a push (no, not literally, Andy). Remove some friction from the trail. Scatter around lots of signs to tell them they’re getting close. Resolve the “situation problem.” This is how you shape the Path.

WARNING: These are NOT safe for work or kids.

Serves 4

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu; saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer tofu to bowl.
2. Add remaining tablespoon of oil, then zucchini and bell pepper to skillet; saute until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Return tofu to skillet. Add ginger and jalapeno; stir for 30 seconds. Add coconut milk, honey, lime juice, soy sauce and curry paste; stir to dissolve curry paste. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 6-7 minutes.
4. Season to taste with salt and more lime juice, if desired. Stir in half of the basil. Sprinkle with remaining basil and serve over jasmine rice.