Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard [ SWITCH: HOW TO CHANGE… (urspr publ 2010; utgåvan 2010)

Some useful concepts. ( )

Pretty decent for a book I read for work (I tend to think of this kind of nonfiction with distaste). The framework laid out in this book is simple and pragmatic, and the book is full of useful real-world examples demonstrating the principles is puts forward. It's not a beach read exactly, but if you're trying to find better ways of driving change in an organization, I think it's worth a skim. ( )

So many managerial books assume that you have everything you need to succeed (authority, budget, motivated employees, etc) other that what they're about to tell you. Very few of them even attempt to help you when you aren't in a position of power, and don't have the time, the cash, or the help, to accomplish what you want. Switch isn't one of those books.

Here, the focus is on being aware of what you do have, as well as thinking laterally - how can you accomplish what you want when it _isn't_ easy (see the subtitle). It mixes in a number of real-world stories that will stick in your mind showing what others have done.

If there are any downsides to this book, it's that I'd love to see even more examples and be given more of the cognitive toolkit to apply this broadly (but how much of a downside is it that a book is so good it leaves you wanting even more?). As it stands, you have to put in some work to really integrate this into how you think about problems, but it's effort well invested. ( )

Practical, straightforward advice with great examples to illustrate the ideas. This book is perfect for anyone that wants to change anything in their life, and finds that change is hard or even impossible to get to happen. I'm putting the ideas in this book to use immediatly. I only wish I had read it sooner! ( )

Provides a tangible, workable framework for how to effect cultural change when one has limited resources, time, or other constraining factors.

An interesting anecdote: When I started this book, the very beginning references a study by a particular researcher. I recognized the name immediately, as someone who (after the publication of this book) was found to have flat-out made up the data used in his groundbreaking studies. I wonder if that includes the one cited, also? But we may never know. ( )