by Chip Heath
Acknowledge your strength. A bereaved parent said, “I can handle things better. Things that used to be big deals just aren’t big deals anymore.” People use the trauma as a test of their capacity to stretch, endure hardship, and persevere. Many said, “If I can handle this then I can handle just about anything.”
In Chapter 6, we share the story of a young psychiatrist, Michael Dinneen, who blamed himself for the suicide of a patient that happened on his watch. His mentor stayed with him through the night, helping him to see that he could endure the pain and self-doubt. As a result of the experience, Dinneen was motivated to become a mentor himself—for decades, he has been a source of strength to others, showing them that they can overcome hardship.
Identify new possibilities. Individuals who are enduring trauma sometimes find themselves identifying new possibilities for their lives: new work, new passions, new paths.
A study by Elaine Wethington, a medical sociologist at Cornell, found that a third of people who were laid off characterized the event as having a positive impact on their lives. And almost 45% of people who had a serious illness said the same! This is not to deny the experience of the two-thirds of people who said being laid off had a negative impact. But some people find that when one door closes, another opens.
Look for spiritual insight. Many trauma survivors find comfort in spiritual practice during their struggle. One person said, “I believe that God got me through it. Five or six years ago I didn’t have those beliefs. And I don’t know what I would do without Him now.” The researchers Tedeschi and Calhoun observe that even nonreligious people can experience “greater engagement with fundamental existential questions and that engagement in itself may be experienced as growth.”
None of the discussion above is intended to imply that dealing with trauma is simple, or that your own “growth” should be the focus of your energies. A quote from Rabbi Harold Kushner, who lost a child, captures what it means to welcome growth while wishing it had never happened:
I am a more sensitive person, a more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counselor because of Aaron’s life and death than I would ever have been without it. And I would give up all of those gains in a second if I could have my son back. If I could choose, I would forego all of the spiritual growth and depth which has come my way because of our experiences. . . . But I cannot choose.
Other Recommended Reading
For more on the academic research from which this appendix is drawn, see: Richard G. Tedeschi and Lawrence G. Calhoun (2004). “Posttraumatic Growth: Conceptual Foundations and Empirical Evidence,” Psychological Inquiry 15: 1–18. The researchers have a test of post-traumatic growth, called the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), that you can find online. We also recommend the excellent Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Adam Grant and Sheryl Sandberg. Also see:
• Jane McGonigal (2015). SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully. New York: Penguin.
• James Pennebaker and John Evans (2014). Expressive Writing: Words That Heal. Enumclaw, WA: Idyll Arbor.
Notes
Chapter 1: Defining Moments
YES Prep Signing Day. This story draws on Dan’s interviews with Donald Kamentz in February 2015 and Chris Barbic in May 2016 and email exchanges with both. Also Dan’s interview with Mayra Valle in July 2016 and attendance at May 2016 Signing Day in Houston.
Buckets filled with frigid 57-degree water. Ice bucket study, peak-end concept, and duration neglect from D. Kahneman, B. L. Fredrickson, C. A. Schreiber, and D. A. Redelmeier (1993). “When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End,” Psychological Science 4: 401–5.
Remember flagship moments: the peaks, the pits, and the transitions. Daniel Kahneman, the psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in Economics, began this work with a flurry of interesting papers in the 1990s, including papers on how people experience the consumption of short film clips and how patients experience colonoscopies.
Research consistently confirms the importance of extreme moments (peaks and pits). As Carey Morewedge notes in a review of the field of predicted utility, when baseball fans are asked to recall a baseball game, they typically recall the most fantastic game they can remember. When colonoscopy patients are asked to recall a procedure, they place heavy weight on the most painful moment. When vacationers on a three-week cycling vacation in California are asked to recall the ride, they tend to focus on the best moments.
As we suggest in the first chapter, we believe it’s more useful to think in terms of “peaks and transitions” than “peaks and ends.” One reason is the blurriness between endings and beginnings that we alluded to. Another is the abundant research on the importance of beginnings. We mention that 40% of college memories come from September; another data point is that the first six weeks of the freshman year generate more long-term memories than the entire junior year (which suggests an immediate way of cutting college expenses).
More generally, there is evidence that information that comes at the beginning of an experience receives more attention and weight. Memories tend to show primacy effects (greater memory for things at the beginning of a sequence) and recency effects (greater memory at the end). Work on perceptions of others show that information early in interaction is overweighted.
For a good summary of the research that has been done on predicted utility, see Carey K. Morewedge (2015), “Utility: Anticipated, Experienced, and Remembered,” in Gideon Keren and George Wu, eds., The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Judgement and Decision Making, pp. 295–30. Malden, MA: Wiley.
The colonoscopy study is Daniel Kahneman and Donald A. Redelmeier (1996). “Patients’ Memories of Painful Medical Treatments: Real-time and Retrospective Evaluations of Two Minimally Invasive Procedures,” Pain 66(1): 3–8. The cold water task is in Daniel Kahneman, Barbara L. Fredrickson, Charles A. Schreiber, and Donald A. Redelmeier (1993). “When More Pain Is Preferred to Less: Adding a Better End,” Psychological Science, 4(6): 401–5. The research on memories for college events is summarized in David B. Pillemer (2000). Momentous Events, Vivid Memories: How Unforgettable Moments Help Us Understand the Meaning of Our Lives. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. The importance of September in college memories is from p. 126.
Magic Castle Hotel. Description of Magic Castle from in-person visits by Chip and Dan and conversations between Chip and Darren Ross, chief operating officer and general manager, at Magic Castle Hotel LLC. Review stats consulted on January 20, 2017: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32655-d84502-Reviews-Magic_Castle_Hotel-Los_Angeles_California.html.
Chapter 2: Thinking in Moments
Gloves filled with angry, stinging, bullet ants. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/13-amazing-coming-of-age-traditions-from-around-th/.
John Deere First Day Experience. Story from Dan’s interviews with Lani Lorenz Fry, January 2016 (and subsequent email exchanges); Lewis Carbone, December 2015; and Mukul Varshney (India office), January 2016.
“Reverse wedding” story from Kenneth Doka. From Dan’s interview with Doka in January 2016.
New Year’s resolutions/“fresh start” theory. The Katherine Milkman quote is from an interview with Stephen Dubner on the Freakonomics podcast, http://freakonomics.com/2015/03/13/when-willpower-isnt-enough-full-transcript/. The fitness center data is in Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, and Jason Riis (2014). “The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior,” Management Science 60(10): 2563–82, http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901.
Most significant birthdays. Adam L. Alter and Hal E. Hershfield (2014). “People Search for Meaning When They Approach a New Decade in Chronological Age,” PNAS 111, http://www.pnas.org/content/111/48/17066.
Fitbit badges. From author experience (Dan’s). Chip is still trying to accumulate enough miles for his Koala Badge. For more examples of Fitbit badges, see http://www.developgoodhabits.com/fitbit-badge-list/.
Car leases. Eric A. Taub (2016, October 27). “Let
the Lessee Beware: Car Leases Can Be the Most Binding of Contracts,” New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/automobiles/let-the-lessee-beware-car-leases-can-be-the-most-binding-of-contracts.html.
Intermountain Healthcare. Leonard L. Berry, Scott W. Davis, and Jody Wilmet (2015, October). “When the Customer Is Stressed,” Harvard Business Review.
25% of positive encounters started as service failures. Mary Jo Bitner, Bernard H. Booms, and Mary Stanfield Tetreault (1990). “The Service Encounter: Diagnosing Favorable and Unfavorable Incidents,” Journal of Marketing 54: 71–84.
Doug Dietz MRI Adventure series. Dietz MRI story from his TED talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jajduxPD6H4, plus Dan’s interview with Dietz in July 2016. The quote about taking 1 minute to get kids on the table, versus 10, came from the interview, as did the quote about Bobby and the cable car. The other quotes come from the TED Talk. Some descriptions drawn from documents shared by Dietz. The 80% statistic, and the drop in need for sedation at Children’s Hospital, is from http://www.jsonline.com/business/by-turning-medical-scans-into-adventures-ge-eases-childrens-fears-b99647870z1-366161191.html.
Transition to middle school/locker races. From Chip’s communication with Michael Reimer, October 2016.
Mac OS 9 eulogy. Transcribed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ya2nY12y3Q.
Deloitte retirement. Dan attended one of these in June 2016 in Washington, D.C.
Chapter 3: Build Peaks
Hillsdale High, Trial of Human Nature. This story is drawn from Dan’s interviews and subsequent email exchanges in January 2016 with Greg Jouriles, Susan Bedford, Jeff Gilbert, and Greg Lance, as well as documents shared by them, plus a transcript of Greg Lance’s appearance in Chip’s class in November 2009. Chip and Dan also attended the Trial in December 2016.
35,000 high schools. http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/hs/hsfacts.html.
Tracked down the cocktail recipe. From Chip’s interview with Darren Ross in June 2015.
One exception to this logic. Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick Delisi wrote a smart and practical book called The Effortless Experience, which reports on the results of a study of 97,000 customer-support interactions via phone or Web. (Dan wrote the book’s foreword.) The authors found that “there is virtually no difference at all between the loyalty of those customers whose expectations are exceeded and those whose expectations are simply met.” They add that “companies tend to grossly underestimate the benefit of simply meeting customer expectations.” In other words, if a customer is calling about a problem with his credit card or cable service, then he just wants it fixed, quickly. He doesn’t want to be “delighted.” It’s plenty delightful to resolve the issue without transferring him or making him repeat himself. This is a situation where being “mostly forgettable” is a good thing. So, if your job involves resolving customer issues remotely (via phone or Web), forget about building peaks. Instead, focus on filling pits—those delays or handoffs that irritate the customer. And to learn practical ways to fill those pits, read the book! Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick Delisi (2013). The Effortless Experience. New York: Portfolio.
“To exceed customer expectations.” From Dan’s call with Len Berry, August 2016.
Customer experience, Plan A/ Plan B. The customer experience survey is described in Rick Parrish with Harley Manning, Roxana Strohmenger, Gabriella Zoia, and Rachel Birrell (2016). “The US Customer Experience Index,” 2016, Forrester. CX Index is a trademark of Forrester Research, Inc.
We obsess about problems and negative information. R. F. Baumeister, E. Bratslavsky, C. Finkenauer, and K. D. Vohs (2001). “Bad Is Stronger than Good,” Review of General Psychology 5: 323–70.
Footnote on wedding expenses. Andrew M. Francis and Hugo M. Mialon (2014). “ ‘A Diamond Is Forever’ and Other Fairy Tales: The Relationship Between Wedding Expenses and Marriage Duration,” Social Science Research Network, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2501480. In later chapters, we will discuss “moments of connection.” These researchers also found that having more people at a wedding led to reduced likelihood of breakup.
Eugene O’Kelly, Chasing Daylight. Eugene O’Kelly and Andrew Postman (2005). Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Chapter 4: Break the Script
Joshie the giraffe at the Ritz. Joshie story from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-hurn/stuffed-giraffe-shows-wha_b_1524038.html.
Concept of a script. The hamburger and birthday party examples are from a book by two psychologists who did the most to study the impact of scripts: Roger C. Schank and Robert P. Abelson (1977). Scripts, Plans, and Knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Strategic surprise/“Well-aimed surprise.” We considered a related point in our book Made to Stick, which explains how to make communication stickier. Made to Stick discussed the difference between “gimmicky surprise” and “core surprise” in the context of making messages unexpected. A core surprise is one that helps attract attention to the key message being expressed (as opposed to a cheap joke or stunt that earns attention but is irrelevant). Similarly, in this chapter, we are recommending “strategic surprise,” which is generated by breaking a known script in a way that reinforces your goals (as with the Ritz story).
“Delightful surprises.” Stat from John C. Crotts and Vincent P. Magnini (2011). “The Customer Delight Construct: Is Surprise Essential?” Annals of Tourism Research 38(2): 719–22. Cited in Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger (2015). Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected. New York: Penguin Books, p. 137.
Pret A Manger. The “smile on my face” quote is from Matt Watkinson (2013). The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences. Harlow, England: Pearson, p. 107. The other quotes are from http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/pret-a-manger-staff-give-free-coffee-to-their-favourite-customers-sandwich-chain-boss-reveals-10191611.html.
Southwest Airlines flight safety announcements. The flight safety jokes are on cloud-shaped plaques on a wall at Southwest corporate headquarters in Dallas, close to the cafeteria. The list price of a Boeing 737-800 is $72 million but airlines don’t pay list. The actual prices they do pay are highly secret but occasionally word leaks out about one deal or another; a blogger cited a few recent examples buried in airline’s financial statements and the going price looks to be $50 million or so: http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/2009/07/01/how-much-is-a-shiny-new-boeing-737-worth-not-72-million/. Chip did a workshop for Southwest in July 2016. The statistics in the analysis of the flight safety announcements are from Frank Tooley, Katie Boynton, and Mike Overly between August 2016 and January 2017.
Serial entrepreneur Scott Beck. From Dan’s interview with Scott Beck, October 2015.
Examples of Saturday Surprise. Various survey responses, March 2016.
VF Corporation meeting, “going outside.” The details about the meetings come from Chip’s interviews with Stephen Dull in July 2016, and with Soon Yu in July, August, and December 2016. Full disclosure: Chip was invited to deliver several paid speeches and workshops at VF Corporation, which is how he met Soon Yu and learned about this story. The JanSport backpack story is told in an internal “Bright Spot” video. (Consistent with the recommendations in our book Switch, VF made an effort to advertise bright spot situations where the change was already happening—where people had produced some clear wins from going outside.)
$1.6 billion in value. Estimate from Dull, made by rolling up the projections of each of the project owners who had to justify their business impact to VF corporate leaders. Projections are often wildly optimistic so Dull, Yu, and their team went with a conservative approach of counting only the predicted first three years’ revenue for most products. The sum added up to more than $1.6 billion. They also tracked the revenues from ideas that had already reached the market, and at press time, VF had brought to market about one-third of the $1.6 billion potential revenue portfolio.
The Remi
niscence Bump. Dorthe Berntsen and David M. Rubin (2004). “Cultural Life Scripts Structure Recall from Autobiographical Memory,” Memory & Cognition 32(3): 427–42. The Hammond quote is from Claudia Hammond (2012). Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception. Toronto: House of Anansi Press.
The oddball effect is from a study by Vani Pariyadath and David Eagleman (2007). “The Effect of Predictability on Subjective Duration,” PLoS ONE 2(11), http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0001264. Eagleman explains the oddball effect as arising from boredom in this blog entry: http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/11/on_stretching_time.html.
150-foot free fall. Study description and result from Bulkhard Bilger, “The Possibilian,” New Yorker, April 25, 2011.
“We feel most alive” when things are not certain. Found in the introduction to Luna and Renninger, Surprise, p. xx.
Clinic 2: Refresh a Meeting. This scenario is based on a conversation between Rev. Frey and Dan in July 2016.
Chapter 5: Trip Over the Truth
BMJ most important medical milestones. Sarah Boseley (2007, January 19). “Sanitation Rated the Greatest Medical Advance in 150 Years,” http://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jan/19/health.medicineandhealth3.
About a billion people. World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/mdg1/en/.
“Even better than my house.” “Shit Matters,” video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NSwL1TCaoY#t=11.
60 countries around the world. From CLTS home page, http://www.cltsfoundation.org/.
A CLTS facilitator arrives. Most of the description of the transect walk is from the CLTS handbook, which can be downloaded at the link below, with some additional color from an interview between Dan and Kar in January 2016. Kamal Kar (2008). Handbook on Community-Led Total Sanitation. http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/sites/communityledtotalsanitation.org/files/cltshandbook.pdf.