Ten Ways to Get People to Change
How do you get leaders, employees, customers — and even yourself — to change behaviors? Executives can change strategy, products and processes until they're blue in the face, but real change doesn't take hold until people actually change what they do.

如何让你的领导、员工、客户，甚至是你自己的行为发生改变？高管可以花很长的时间去改变策略、产品和流程，但是只有人们真的改变了他们的行为，改变才真的发生。

I spent the summer reviewing research on this topic. Here is my list of 10 approaches that seem to work.

我整个夏天都在整理对这个课题的研究，得到下面10条貌似可行的方法。

1. Embrace the power of one. One company I worked with posted 8 values and 12 competencies they wanted employees to practice. The result: Nothing changed. When you have 20 priorities, you have none. Research on multi-tasking reveals that we're not good at it. Focus on one behavior to change at a time. Sequence the change of more than one behavior.

专一的力量。我曾经合作过的一家公司，有8条价值观和12条核心竞争力，希望员工实践。结果呢，毫无改变。当最高优先级的事情有20件，等于没有。对多任务的研究表明，我们并不擅长多任务并行。集中精力一次改变一项行为，一个接着一个来。

2. Make it sticky. Goal theory has taught us that for goals to be effective, they need to be concrete and measurable. So with behaviors. "Listen actively" is vague and not measurable. "Paraphrase what others said and check for accuracy" is concrete and measurable.

增加粘性。目标理论告诉我们，有效的目标应该是明确并可测量的。行为也一样，“积极听取”这个行为很模糊，也无法衡量，“回想别人的话并且判别正确性”则明确可测。

3. Paint a vivid picture. When celebrity chef Jamie Oliver wanted to change the eating habits of kids at a U.S. school, he got their attention with a single, disgusting image: A truckload of pure animal fat (see photo). When Oliver taught an obese kid to cook, he showed how cooking can be "cool" — walking with head up, shoulders back, and a swagger while preparing food. This gave the boy a positive image he could relate to. As Herminia Ibarra outlines in her book Working Identity, imagining new selves can be a powerful force for change. Use stories, metaphors, pictures, and physical objects to paint an ugly image of "where we are now" and a better vision of a glorious new state. This taps into people's emotions, a forceful lever for (or against) change.

生动地描绘。明星厨师Jamie Oliver想要改变美国学校里的孩子们的饮食习惯，他使用了一副非常恶心的场面：满满一卡车的动物脂肪。他教一个肥胖的小孩子烹饪时，他演示了烹饪怎么可以变“酷”——走路时昂首挺胸，准备菜时趾高气扬。小盆友能将这幅画面与自己关联起来。如Herminia的《职业身份》一书所述，幻想新的自己是驱动改变的巨大力量。通过讲故事，打比方，画图或实物，来描绘“我们的现状”，然后用一幅更好的画面来呈现“美丽新世界”，这样可以触及到人的情感面，更有力地促使（或阻止）改变发生。

4. Activate peer pressure. As social comparison theory shows, we look to others in our immediate circle for guidance for what are acceptable behaviors. Peers can set expectations, shame us or provide role models. When a banker was told by his boss that he needed to show more "we" and less "me" behaviors, team members observed and called out missteps, such as inappropriate "I" statements. The peer pressure worked. This is also the case for online groups. Ask peers to set expectations and put pressure on one another. Sign up friends on facebook to check in on your behaviors (or use a company network tool).

激发同伴间竞争。根据社会比较理论，我们会参照身边的圈子，来判断什么样的行为是可以接受的。同伴的行为会设立我们的预期，或是让我们羞愧，或是成为我们角色的榜样。有一个银行职员被他的老板要求，说话时多使用“我们”而不是“我”，他同组的成员观察到了，并补充道，同样的也不应该说“本人”。同伴压力奏效了。这一点同样体现在网络社区。同伴间相互设置期望，能给彼此带来压力。注册facebook(或使用公司的网络工具)后加些好友，然后把你的行为“签到”。

5. Mobilize the crowd. In this video, would you be the second, the middle or the last person to join the dance? Most people would join somewhere in the middle, at the tipping point. Embracing a new behavior typically follows a diffusion curve — early adopters, safe followers, late-comers. Diffusion theory holds, however, that this is not a random process: Key influencers make it tip. They are often not managers with senior titles but those with the most informal connections and those to whom others look for directions (see ch. 6 in my book Collaboration for these "bridges" in a company network). Get a few early adopters to adopt a behavior, then find and convince the influencers, and then sit back and watch as it goes viral (hopefully).

调动群体。在这个视频里，你会是第二个参与跳舞的人，还是在中间，或是最后的呢？所有的人都会在中间某段地方加入，那里是临界点。普遍接受一个新行为会有一个传播弧——从初期的改革派，再到安全跟风的人，最后慢热型的人。这不是一个随机过程：有关键影响力的人能改变整个局面。他们通常都不是有高级头衔的经理人，而是有最多人脉的人，或是别人最愿意去询问意见的人。（参见我的《协作》一书第六章，公司网络中的“架桥人”）。让初期改革派先接受改变，再找到并说服有影响力的人，然后坐下来等着看改变逐渐扩散（希望如此）。

6. Tweak the situation. How do you get employees to eat healthier food in the company cafeteria? You could educate them about healthy food. Or you could alter the physical flow. Google did just that. Using the cue that people tend to grab what they see first, they stationed the salad bar in front of the room. This and similar techniques are based on the red hot area of behavioral decision theory, which holds that behavioral change can come about by tweaking the situation around the person. You nudge people, not by telling them directly (eat salad!), but indirectly, by shaping their choices. Use different default settings, frame things as losses (not gains), commit in advance and so on.

改变环境。如何让员工在公司的自助餐厅吃更健康的食物呢？你当然可以对他们进行健康食品教育，或者你还可以改变人流方向。谷歌就是这么做的。人们往往去拿他们所看到的第一样东西，根据这中心理暗示，谷歌就把沙拉放在餐厅的最前面。类似的方法都是基于行为决策中的红热区域理论，该理论认为通过改变周围的环境能改变行为。想要推动别人，不必直接告诉他们(吃沙拉!)，而是间接方法——修改他们的选择，比如使用不同的默认设置 习惯于没有（而非拥有），提前“吹风”等等。

7. Subtract, not just add. In The Power of Habits, Charles Duhigg tells a great story about a U.S. Army Major stationed in a small town in Iraq. Every so often crowds would gather in the plaza and by the evening rioting would ensue. What to do? Add more troops when the crowd swells? No. Next time the Major had the food stalls removed. When the crowd grew hungry in the evening, there was nothing to eat and the crowd dispersed before a riot could take hold. Change behaviors by removing enablers, triggers and barriers. Managers are so obsessed with what new things to add that they forget the obvious: Subtracting.

做减法，不要只做加法。在《习惯的力量》一书中，作者查尔斯讲了一个很好的故事，故事讲的是一个驻扎在某伊拉克小镇的美国陆军少校，经常看到只要有人群聚集到广场上，到了晚上肯定发生骚乱。怎么办呢？人一多就加派军队吗？不用。只要人多起来了，少校把卖食物的摊贩给赶走。到了晚上，人们开始饿了，广场上却没吃的，骚乱没来得及发生，人们就散了。去除外界的促成或触发条件，扫清障碍，行为就会改变。管理者太执着于加新东西，反而忘了明摆着的方案：做减法。

8. Dare to link to carrots and sticks (and follow through). This list would not be complete without the traditional HR lever, incentives, in the form of pay, bonus and promotion. In a famous HBS case, a banker at Morgan Stanley is up for promotion. His numbers are great, but he comes up short on the 360-degree review that assessed his behaviors. Tie incentives to both performance and desired behaviors. But, as Dan Pink highlights in Drive, such extrinsic rewards and punishments only work for non-creative behaviors and much less for, say, "innovate outside the box" (see his TED video here).

敢于使用胡萝卜加大棒（并且坚持到底）。这个清单也离不开HR常用的手段和激励措施，比如加薪、分红和升职。哈佛商学院有一个著名的案例，摩根·斯坦利的一个银行职员将要升职了，他的收入变得丰厚，但是他的工作表现将会受到360度的全方位检阅。把激励和表现与期望的行为绑定在一起。但是丹·品克在《驱动力》一书中强调，这种外在的奖惩只对非创造性的工作有效，对于那些“脱离框框的创新”的作用就小很多了。看看这个TED演讲吧。

9. Teach and coach well. Many behaviors have a skill dimension: I may not know how to prioritize work, even though I am motivated to do so. Be a good teacher or coach (or, be a good learner if you're trying to change your own behaviors). This involves practicing the behavior, like a muscle, which is difficult especially for behaviors with a high tacit component (e.g., how to listen well).

做个好榜样。很多行为需要技巧，比如我很想排好工作的优先级，但是我不知道怎么做。管理人员应该做个好的老师或教练(如果你想改变自己的行为，那就做个好学生)。这就像练肌肉，需要你身体力行，更难的是有些行为含有隐含要素(比如如何倾听)。

10. Hire and fire based on behaviors. The list so far is about changing the person. But there is also selection: Change the composition of the team. Get people who embody the desired behaviors and get rid of those that clearly do not. This is based on theories of role fit: Match strengths (including your current behaviors) to what the job requires. This also goes for you: Fire yourself and find a better job if need be.

根据员工的行为，雇佣或解雇员工。目前我们这个列表上都是在谈如何改变他人。其实还有另一个选择：改变团队的组成。雇佣行为合乎要求的员工，解雇掉明显不合格的。这个做法的理论依据是：让团队实力(包括你的管理)和工作需要相匹配。这点在你自己身上也适用——如果必要，辞掉工作再找一份。

These ten principles for changing behaviors are rooted in different theories that are rarely put together: Sharpen the destination (1-3), activate social processes (4 and 5), tweak the situation (6 and 7), and revamp traditional HR levers (8-10).

这十条改变行为的原则缘自不同的理论，很少被一起讨论：明确目的(1-3条)，改变环境（6-7条），改进传统的人力资源管理方法(8-10条)。

Why don't we see more successful change in organizations? Because managers use only a few of these levers. Use them all

为什么我们没有见到组织里发生更多成功的改变？因为管理者只使用了以上手段的一小部分。你得把他们全都用上！