Chip and Dan Heath – authors of “Made to Stick” – have a new book out on how to effect change. “Switch – How to Change When Change is Hard”, highlights some simple, yet powerful, rules based in solid research on the psychology of behavior and cognition about how to drive change. One of these rules suggests that too often we focus on getting people to find internal motivation to change. The problem is that often does not work – it is simply too hard for people to “will” behavioral change. What has been shown to be more effective is to change environmental factors. Research demonstrates that when we have bigger containers (plates, cups, etc.) we tend to eat/drink more. So, change the container, not the person.
I think I found an example in the building where I work. Today, I noticed that the water fountains were different:
The water spigot had been recently added. Now, we are a fairly “sustainable” conscious campus so one thing we try to promote is the use of reusable drinking containers (coffee cups, water bottles). However, have you ever tried to fill a water bottle in a regular water fountain? This is an attempt to make that easier. We have changed the situation rather than trying to change the behavior of people with an all-out media blitz about reusable containers. Will it work to create more reusable container use in on campus? I don’t know – I would be interested to see a before and after study.
