change

As Jamie entrenched himself in the community of Huntington, it became clear how big and complex the task ahead of him really was.  The divide between the knowledge he wanted to impart to the community, and the level they were at at that time, were miles apart.  How do you educate a community about healthy eating habits if first graders couldn't identify a tomato (they insisted it was a potato) and many others (adults and children) did not know how to use a knife and fork after years of eating junk food that only require their hands. One of the key target audiences for Jamie's message, the schools, didn't even supply knives and forks in their cafeterias as the food on their menus didn't require them.  So simply changing the menu wouldn't work.

I love Jamie Oliver - he's by far my favorite celebrity chef.  Every since I first saw him stuff a leg of lamb, I knew he was my 'culinary muse'.  Over the last few years, he's been on a mission to change the eating habits of various communities, including schools in the UK and US.  

Now how much more effective is this than a couple of posters on the wall and powerpoint presentations on improving your health by climbing the stairs ...

Goes to show, when it comes to changing behaviour, we need to think outside the box!

Aristotle said: “The greatest thing by far is to have mastered the metaphor.” And the Spanish philosopher and writer Jose Ortega y Gasset added, “The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man.”

This is fascinating!  One of the first things I remember hearing Dave Snowden speak about is how people make decisions.  According to cognitive science we only have a very small percentage of what's in our visual range in sharp focus at any given time.  We see through a series of spot observations and fill in the rest based on past experience.  This often leads us to physically not see things that don't fit our expectations or patterns.  I remember when I first heard this I started wondering what I'm NOT seeing!  How much of reality am I missing?

This video illustrates this theory perfectly.  In essence over 70% of the people in the experiment completely miss seeing a change that should be perfectly obvious.

The turnaround of Xerox is an important case study in today's global economic situation. Here's a Fast Company article that outlines how important stories are in this context. The article also shows how litte "s" stories becomes Big "S" stories:

Storytelling is hugely important. At our town meetings, the most frequently asked question wasn't whether we'd survive, but what we would look like when we did. I got great advice: Write a story. We wrote a Wall Street Journal article, because they had been particularly nasty about us, dated five years out. It was about where we could be if we really stood up to the plate. And people loved it. No matter where I go, people pull that article out. They personalized it.

Stories exist at all levels of the corporation. You talk to tech reps, and they'll tell you what they did to help turn this company around. Whether it was saving a buck here, or doing something different for customers, everyone has a story. That creates powerful momentum -- people's sense that they're able to do good things. It's much more powerful than the precision or elegance of the strategy.

I’m currently reading Dan Brown’s novel Deception Point (not his best, but not a bad weekend read). I was struck by the motto of one of the characters - ‘Find the truth. Act on it’. My first thought was that this is such a simple statement, but with a lot of punch. If more leaders would adopt this as their personal ‘mission statement’ it would certainly have a great impact on the companies, countries, etc, that they’re supposed to be leading. Often, even if they know the truth, leaders refuse to act on it. Other times, they just refuse to acknowledge, or even find, the truth, nevermind acting on it. As I said, very simple statement, but definitely one worth pondering.­