The Elephant and the Rider

Change can be made at different levels: individual, organizational and societal. On the one side, people resist change (“we have always done things this way, why shall we change it?”) but on the other side they embrace it (“I have moved into a new apartment”, “I got a new job”). How come?

Psychologist J. Haidt says that people have an emotional side called the Elephant and a rational side called the Elephant’s Rider. Whereas the Rider has the ability to think long-term, to plan and to spark the movement in a new direction the Elephant is the one who provides the energy and gets things done. So if you want to make a change you have to appeal to both.

The Heath brothers Dan and Chip described in their recent book change as a process that can be divided into three parts: First - Direct the Rider. Investigate what`s working and clone it, script the critical moves and point to the destination. Second – Motivate the Elephant. Make people feel something, break down the change until it no longer spooks the Elephant and instill the growth mindset. In a growth mindset, "your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts...everyone can change and grow through application and experience." Qualities like intelligence are a starting point, but success comes as a result of effort, learning, and persistence. Third – Shape the Path. Change the situation, look for ways to encourage habits and help to spread behavior.

Let`s take a look at the ongoing climate change conference, COP16, in Cancún, Mexico. Yesterday I read an article in The Guardian where climate change summit excluded poor countries: “The UN climate negotiations are weighted heavily against the poorest countries, which cannot send delegates to key meetings, often do not understand what is being said and are unable to keep up with the decisions being taken in their names.” Is this a good base for an agreement and a switch?

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets with a deadline of 2015 that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals. To meet the goals in reality Millennium Villages (MVP) have been established in several African countries. One of the goals is achieving primary education.

Joelle Bassoul Mojon from Kenya describes how work in the villages is conducted: “Not only is the curriculum special here but so are the teaching methods. Abdulahi, the only teacher, works from morning till way past sunset. When the sun is high, half of the class is present while the other half tends to the cattle and leads them to water points. When night falls, the other half catches up on the day’s lesson. In the pitch black darkness, Abdulahi lights his blackboard with a solar lamp that he recharges during the day. His pupils also include 19 adults, seven men and 12 women. Habiba, 17, has been a regular for the last three months. Before that, she had never set foot in a school. “I’m learning to count and write because I want to have my own business later on, selling tea to camel traders,” says the pretty young woman. Her four other siblings also learn with Abdulahi…”

Are they able to make the switch for a better future? Yes. Direct the Rider and face what is working: bring the school to the pupils, not vice versa. Motivate the Elephant: make people feel something. They get educated and learn to start their own business later. Shape the path: look for ways to encourage habits.

The result: Enrolment has increased from 13% to 30% in two years mainly because of sensitization and awareness creation and the starting of a new approach” explains Ahmed Mohamed, team leader and science coordinator at the Dertu MVP.