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papidoc's review against another edition
4.0
I appreciated the counsel in Change Anything and have already used it to good effect in my weight loss efforts. The book is an extension of concepts and ideas first encountered in their book Crucial Confrontations, building on and applying the six source framework of motivation and ability. It also incorporates ideas found in Influencer, such as the roles of critical moments and vital behaviors, the need for positive deviance research, and so forth. However, where Influencer deals with large scale organizational or institutional change, Change Anything applies their model to personal change.
The first part of the book explains the model in detail, so there is no need to have read the other two books first. Numerous brief examples are used, making the reading less dense and more helpful.
The second part of the book is devoted to an in-depth examination of how the model would apply to five common change needs: weight loss, financial security, addiction, relationships, and careers.
The authors recommend starting with a single tool, and sometimes that is enough, especially if carefully chosen by considering critical moments and vital behaviors. For example, in my own weight loss efforts, I began with their recommendation for tracking my eating habits daily. That alone has proven helpful and has directly correlated with my losing almost ten pounds over the last couple of months.
There is nothing new here, really, but it is packaged in a useful and easy to apply way, if only the desire to change is present. Indeed, much of what they discuss is oriented to gaining and strengthening that desire to change. I would add my own recommendation: read it with a spouse or partner and commit each other to change, then support each other in that effort.
The first part of the book explains the model in detail, so there is no need to have read the other two books first. Numerous brief examples are used, making the reading less dense and more helpful.
The second part of the book is devoted to an in-depth examination of how the model would apply to five common change needs: weight loss, financial security, addiction, relationships, and careers.
The authors recommend starting with a single tool, and sometimes that is enough, especially if carefully chosen by considering critical moments and vital behaviors. For example, in my own weight loss efforts, I began with their recommendation for tracking my eating habits daily. That alone has proven helpful and has directly correlated with my losing almost ten pounds over the last couple of months.
There is nothing new here, really, but it is packaged in a useful and easy to apply way, if only the desire to change is present. Indeed, much of what they discuss is oriented to gaining and strengthening that desire to change. I would add my own recommendation: read it with a spouse or partner and commit each other to change, then support each other in that effort.
rbogue's review against another edition
3.0
I’m no stranger to books about change, whether that change is focused on an organizational or a personal result. It turns out that changes occurring at either a personal level or an organizational level still require a personal change. That is, organizational changes come through changing individuals. That’s why Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success can be a powerful tool, both personally and professionally.
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hawkes's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed reading it overall, some great ideas in there. But annoyed at the constant plugging of their website throughout, which you can no longer access anyway! (Given I'm reading it 12 years after it was published, that's not surprising, but it does date some of the suggestions pretty fast.)
caffeinatedkiwi's review against another edition
3.0
This had some good points, but could have been effectively told in a fraction of the space. Possibly even a couple of pages, if all the narrative was stripped out to leave concise bullet points. There were a lot of long-winded case examples, all following the same template. (I listened to the audiobook edition, so found this particularly frustrating as my time and attention leaked away between useful snippets of information.)
Rather than put the time in to read this book (or to listen to it, which will require 6 hours and 30 minutes of your time), just ask someone who's read it what the '6 Sources of Influence' are. Then you have the frame of the entire book. Or, better, Google an article or blog post about it. Like this one: http://sourcesofinsight.com/six-sources-of-influence. I'm sure that would take a lot less than 6 and a half hours to read.
Rather than put the time in to read this book (or to listen to it, which will require 6 hours and 30 minutes of your time), just ask someone who's read it what the '6 Sources of Influence' are. Then you have the frame of the entire book. Or, better, Google an article or blog post about it. Like this one: http://sourcesofinsight.com/six-sources-of-influence. I'm sure that would take a lot less than 6 and a half hours to read.
smgreathouse's review against another edition
5.0
I normally don't prefer self help books, but this one is great for me. I'm very analytical, and most self-help or goal oriented books are too "wishy-washy" for me. This book, on the other hand, is incredibly structured. I highly recommend it if you have a specific goal you'd like to achieve. (If you don't have a specific goal that you can visualize, this book might be better left on your shelf until you have something you can relate it to).
mlottermoser's review against another edition
4.0
I love to set goals, but I'm not the best at achieving them. This book broke down six influences that can contribute to how well you can accomplish a goal. It provided research, examples, and plans. I'm so excited to put what I learned into action.
clumsycrane's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first non-fiction book I've read since college and the first self-help ever. It kept my interest and had some good information in it. I read it for a workshop my manager is holding.
andystehr's review against another edition
3.0
For a book I was skeptical about, it turned out to be pretty good. I think I'm going to take the 6 step change process put forward in the book and try in out on few things I'd like to improve. That's the real test for this type of book. Will the thoughts and processes talked about actually help?
emiged's review against another edition
4.0
Patterson, et al., identify Six Sources of Influence that work together to motivate our behaviors and, therefore, need to be adjusted when we want to make a change. They arrange their Six Sources in a matrix with three categories (Personal, Social, and Structural) with two facets each (Motivation and Ability). Using all six of the sources, rather than just one or two, greatly improves your chance of success. And the authors go in to great detail on specific tactics for each. For example, under Source 1: Personal Motivation, they recommend five tactics to increase your personal desire to change and keep it strong:
* Visit your default future. Figure out what your future will look like if you don't change.
* Tell the whole vivid story. Describe that future as vividly as possible to make it seem more "real."
* Use value words. Articulate the "why" for your change in positive terms.
* Make it a game. Set a time frame and smaller goals to help you reach the big one.
* Create a personal motivation statement. This will help you stay on track when you hit those crucial moments when you are more likely to fail.
And that's just one of the Six Sources.
One thought I found particularly insightful was regarding willpower. "Will is a skill, not a character trait. Willpower can be learned and strengthened like anything else, and...it is best learned through deliberate practice." This makes sense. If we view willpower as a static character trait, we're more likely to think that because we've failed once, there's no use in trying again; we just can't do it, it's hopeless. If instead, we, view will as a skill that can be improved, there's always hope for that improvement and the encouragement to keep trying. Also, a good reminder for any goals we set, "Reward your actions, not your results. Results are often out of your control...so link your incentives to something you can control." We can't set goals for what others are going to do because we have no control over that. Our goals must be based on actions we can control or it will be too easy to lose heart.
Read more at my blog: Build Enough Bookshelves
* Visit your default future. Figure out what your future will look like if you don't change.
* Tell the whole vivid story. Describe that future as vividly as possible to make it seem more "real."
* Use value words. Articulate the "why" for your change in positive terms.
* Make it a game. Set a time frame and smaller goals to help you reach the big one.
* Create a personal motivation statement. This will help you stay on track when you hit those crucial moments when you are more likely to fail.
And that's just one of the Six Sources.
One thought I found particularly insightful was regarding willpower. "Will is a skill, not a character trait. Willpower can be learned and strengthened like anything else, and...it is best learned through deliberate practice." This makes sense. If we view willpower as a static character trait, we're more likely to think that because we've failed once, there's no use in trying again; we just can't do it, it's hopeless. If instead, we, view will as a skill that can be improved, there's always hope for that improvement and the encouragement to keep trying. Also, a good reminder for any goals we set, "Reward your actions, not your results. Results are often out of your control...so link your incentives to something you can control." We can't set goals for what others are going to do because we have no control over that. Our goals must be based on actions we can control or it will be too easy to lose heart.
Read more at my blog: Build Enough Bookshelves
llambe01's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the first half ....and then it languished unread for weeks. Overall i would say it was a repeat of stuff I already knew, but in an enjoyable way.