How can you stop John’s BlackBerry addiction?
By Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of Switch
SITUATION John has a BlackBerry addiction. His body twitches every time his BlackBerry goes off. He can’t stop himself from checking every message that comes in. It’s become a serious distraction. In meetings at work, he finds himself sneaking the device under the table to read messages covertly. (It annoys John’s colleagues that he thinks he’s fooling them.) John’s wife becomes increasingly irritated that he can’t focus on their dinner conversation, and one day he almost has a fender- bender because he is trying to email someone while driving. John knows that he needs to cut it out, but every time he resolves to stop, the Black-
Berry buzzes. [John is fictitious, but we all know a John.]
WHAT’S THE SWITCH AND WHAT’S HOLDING IT BACK? This is the last Clinic in the book, and by now, we hope you’ll make easy work of this situation. The behaviour change is clear enough: John needs to stop using his Black-Berry all the time (and especially while driving). What’s holding him back? His Elephant, of course. In any addiction situation, the Elephant is the culprit. To rein in John’s Elephant, we’ll use all three parts of the framework. Take a moment to generate an action plan for John, and then compare your notes with ours.
HOW DO WE MAKE THE SWITCH?
• Direct the Rider. 1. Find the bright spots. Are there times when John doesn’t feel the BlackBerry compulsion? What’s different about those times, and can we find a way to replicate those conditions? 2. Point to the destination. John needs a B&W goal, like BP’s “No dry holes.” Recall that B&W goals are particularly useful in situations where people are prone to rationalize. (John is constantly telling himself, “I just need to check and see if this one specific e- mail has come in.”) John could experiment with different B&W goals: No BlackBerry during dinner, or No BlackBerry after 6 p.m., or The BlackBerry comes out only
when I’m travelling. He needs to eliminate his own wiggle room.
• Motivate the Elephant. 1. Find the feeling. Have John’s wife force him to read aloud the last ten emails that he received and then ask whether any of them is really worth getting twitchy over. A little embarrassment might do him good. 2. Find the feeling. Car accidents are happening more and more because of people like John. Confronting John with a particularly sobering news story—for example, “Cute puppy run over by emailing driver” — might be a good idea. 3. Build identity. John’s wife (or his colleagues) could highlight how his BlackBerry habit doesn’t fit with his character: “John, you’re usually such an ‘in control’ guy. It’s weird to see you so flaky.” 4. Build the growth mindset. Some smokers quit successfully on the seventeenth try. If John truly wants to curb his habit, his friends shouldn’t let him give up if he “relapses” a few times.
• Shape the Path. 1. Break the environment. John’s wife can simply smash his BlackBerry with a hammer. Problem solved. 1a. Tweak the environment. If smashing it isn’t possible, John could lock his BlackBerry in the trunk of his car every time he drives. That way, he wouldn’t have to fight the Elephant when it buzzes. 2. Tweak the environment. The siren song of the BlackBerry is its buzz (or ring or flashing red light). Can you turn off the sound? Cover up the light? (Paint over the light with Wite-Out if necessary.) 3. Rally the herd. John’s colleagues should make sure he knows he’s not fooling anybody in meetings. They should make a pact that, each time John sneaks a look at his BlackBerry under the table, they will all stare at him until he meets their (disapproving) eyes.
Excerpted from Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath Copyright © 2010 by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Excerpted by permission of Random House Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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