The Three Levers of Organizational Change
Paint a vivid picture, appeal to identity, shrink the change — in that order
The Three Levers of Organizational Change is a framework developed by Adam Grant and Dan Heath for motivating workplace transformation. Most change efforts fail because they rely on data and rational arguments alone. Grant opens the episode with a hospital that spent eight months misdiagnosing why patients were unhappy — surgeons concluded staff needed to smile more, when the actual problems were poor care quality and long wait times. Even smart people get stuck when they ignore emotional reality.
The three levers address this gap: (1) Paint a Vivid Picture — create emotional resonance through demonstration rather than data alone; (2) Appeal to Existing Values — don't try to change what people believe, leverage their current identity; (3) Shrink the Change — break overwhelming goals into manageable first steps using the foot-in-the-door technique. Each lever addresses a different psychological barrier to change: apathy (solved by vivid pictures), resistance (solved by identity alignment), and overwhelm (solved by shrinking).
The framework is notable for what it does not include: forcing change. Grant emphasizes that 'too many people try to force change, when they should be looking for ways to unleash it.' The levers work by making change feel natural and aligned rather than imposed and threatening.
- Data alone doesn't motivate change — emotional resonance does.
- Don't try to change what people believe; leverage their existing identity and values.
- Overwhelming goals paralyze — shrink the change to a manageable first step.
- Successful change is unleashed, not forced.
- Look for bright spots (what's already working) before trying to fix what's broken.
- Paint a Vivid PictureRather than presenting data alone, create emotional resonance through tangible demonstration. Dan Heath shares the story of John Stegner, a finance manager who needed to convince executives to centralize purchasing. Instead of presenting spreadsheets, Stegner collected 424 different types of work gloves purchased across factories at prices ranging from $10 to $19 per pair. He displayed them physically on a boardroom table. Executives who would have dismissed a spreadsheet felt visceral concern when confronted with the physical evidence of waste, and approved centralized purchasing immediately.Pro tipFind your 'glove table' — the physical, visible, tangible demonstration that makes abstract waste or opportunity emotionally real.WarningVivid pictures work for attention and motivation, but they don't provide the roadmap. You still need a concrete plan after the emotional engagement.
- Appeal to Existing Values and IdentityDon't try to change what people believe — instead, connect the change to identities and values they already hold. The Texas 'Don't Mess with Texas' anti-litter campaign is the definitive example: rather than appealing to environmental concern (which Texan identity didn't prioritize), the campaign featured beloved local figures like Nolan Ryan and Willie Nelson appealing to civic pride. Litter wasn't framed as an environmental issue but as a Texan pride issue. The change aligned with existing identity rather than fighting it.Pro tipAsk: 'What do the people I'm trying to change already believe about themselves?' Then frame the change as an expression of that existing identity.WarningIf the change genuinely conflicts with existing identity, this lever won't work — you'll need to do deeper cultural work first.
- Shrink the Change to a Manageable First StepBreak overwhelming goals into tiny, non-threatening first requests. Emily Dia, a teacher who wanted to transform her school's classroom model, started by asking her principal for just 5.5 minutes to watch a video about the Modern Classrooms Project. After that small commitment, she gradually escalated to classroom presentations, then summer training. This psychological 'foot-in-the-door' technique works because small commitments create momentum and consistency pressure — once someone says yes to a small request, they're more likely to say yes to larger ones.Pro tipMake your first ask so small it feels almost silly to refuse. 'Can I have 5 minutes of your time?' is nearly impossible to reject.WarningDon't shrink the change so much that the first step feels disconnected from the ultimate goal. Each step should logically lead to the next.
Finance manager John Stegner needed to convince executives to centralize purchasing across factories. Instead of presenting a spreadsheet showing cost inefficiencies, he collected 424 different types of work gloves being purchased at prices ranging from $10 to $19 per pair. He displayed them physically on the boardroom table. The visual impact — hundreds of identical-function gloves at wildly different prices — created immediate visceral concern that no spreadsheet could match.
The Texas Department of Transportation needed to reduce highway littering. Rather than using environmental messaging, they created the 'Don't Mess with Texas' campaign featuring beloved local figures like baseball legend Nolan Ryan and country singer Willie Nelson. The campaign appealed to Texan civic pride — littering wasn't an environmental sin, it was un-Texan. The campaign tapped into existing identity rather than trying to create a new one.
When Hubert Joly became CEO of struggling Best Buy, he didn't stay at headquarters analyzing data. He visited stores as a sales associate, discovering that employees needed support rather than more metrics. He reduced 42 performance indicators to two core problems (declining revenue and shrinking margins), then used 'appreciative inquiry' to identify bright spots — like Chris Schmidt's individualized coaching program in Denver — and scaled those existing successes company-wide.
Adam Grant and Dan Heath (coauthor of 'Switch' and 'Made to Stick') developed this framework for a June 2022 episode of the WorkLife podcast. Heath contributed the glove story (John Stegner's demonstration) and the concept of shrinking the change from his work with his brother Chip Heath on the book 'Switch.' Grant added the Best Buy turnaround story featuring CEO Hubert Joly and the concept of appreciative inquiry. The framework synthesizes research from behavioral psychology, organizational change literature, and real-world case studies into three practical levers anyone can pull.