Reset: How to Change What's Not Working

by Dan Heath

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments comes a revolutionary guide to fixing what’s not working—in systems and processes, organizations and companies, and even in our daily lives—by identifying leverage points and concentrating resources to achieve our goals.

Changing how we work can feel overwhelming. Like trying to budge an enormous boulder. We’re stifled by the gravity of the way we’ve always done things. And we spend so much time fighting fires—and fighting colleagues—that we lack the energy to shift direction.

But with the right strategy, we can move the boulder. In Reset, Heath explores a framework for getting unstuck and making the changes that matter. The secret is to find “leverage points”: places where a little bit of effort can yield a disproportionate return. Then, we can thoughtfully rearrange our resources to push on those points.

Heath weaves together fascinating examples, ranging from a freakishly effective fast-food drive-thru to a simple trick from couples therapy to an inspirational campaign that saved a million cats.

In Reset, you’ll
-Why the feeling of progress can be your secret weapon in accelerating change
-How leaders can uncover and stop wasteful activities
-Why your team’s motivation is often squandered—and how to avoid that mistake
-How you can jumpstart your change efforts by beginning with a “burst”

The book investigates Why the middle is the roughest part of a change effort. Why inefficiency can sometimes accelerate progress. Why getting “buy-in” is the wrong way to think about change.

What if we could unlock forward movement—achieving progress on what matters most—without the need for more resources? The same people, the same assets…but dramatically better results. Yesterday, we were stuck. Today, we reset.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Leadership, Psychology, Audiobook, Productivity

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 21, 2025

About the author

Dan Heath is a Senior Fellow at Duke University's CASE center.
Dan has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a B.A. from the Plan II Honors Program from the University of Texas at Austin.

He co-wrote a book titled Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard with his brother Chip Heath.

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Mostly about business/organisations. As ever with this type of book, you hope to get one or two good takeaways, in this case the important of focusing on goals' goals (ie thinking not just about what you're trying to achieve, but what achieving it is supposed to achieve).

[Doctor Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am honored to have been given the opportunity to read the advance reader's edition of Dan's new book.

I am a Change Management/Continuous Improvement professional, so I understand all of the Lean Six Sigma concepts, but Dan has done a phenomenal job of taking many of those same concepts and packaging/presenting them in ways that are much easier to understand.

While there seems to be very little new material being presented, there are certainly new, albeit not always better, ways of presenting the material, and Dan has hit the nail on the head.

Many of the examples presented in this book are relatable, which is ideal for helping readers from all walks of like understand the concepts...and to get them to actually reset and change what's not working.

I won't turn this into a book report and regurgitate the material here...it is for you to read and enjoy yourselves. I want to say, mostly, that it is well worth the time to read, and I am thankful for the opportunity to read, understand, and apply these concepts in my personal and professional life sooner rather than later.

Gratefully,
Dr. Mark E. Wood

[Librariann · Rating 4 out of 5]

** I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher, because I am a librarian and librarians are awesome **

Readable and with readily apparent applications (and cute illustrations to boot!) I want the entire management team at my library to read this.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses mostly on business and areas where there chaos exists. I liked the way the author broke down the way to look and find what's not working. And then how to go about making change.

The author was extremely personable. I will have to look into his other writings. So 4 stars

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Heath is an American author and Harvard MBA currently serving as a fellow at Duke University; he's probably best known for the well-known series of pop psychology and pop sociology books (like Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, and Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work) he's co-written with his older brother, PhD psychologist and Stanford professor Chip Heath. Reset marks Dan Heath's second solo book venture, after 2020's Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, and features the same engaging, casual writing style that characterizes all the Heath brothers' books, Malcolm Gladwell's books, and many similar books that likely copy from them.

I enjoyed Reset. It's a quick read/listen (288 page book/6 hour audiobook), with the audiobook doing a much better than average job of describing figures in the enhancement PDF for listeners who aren't referring to it while listening. The case examples Heath uses are fresh (at least to me, a frequent reader of this genre) and interesting. That being said, the topic overall -- how to change when change is hard -- is a very oversaturated one in pop psychology, including in other books by the Heath brothers. Still, I think this is a worthwhile read for fans of prior Heath brothers books and this genre in general.

My statistics:
Book 27 for 2025
Book 1953 cumulatively

[Liz Lindskoog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was awarded an advance copy of this book, which I am forever grateful for. I love the Heath brother books, they are always easy and inspiring to read. They take research and real life examples, so it’s easy to apply what you learn. This book was no different.

I didn’t give it 5 stars because usually I am able to tie all the concepts in the book together and find opportunites to immediately apply lessons into my daily work. This book had some, but there were parts that didn’t come together for me. I missed the “ah-Ha” I normally get. That could have been a me thing too.

Regardless, this book was very much worth a read and it will be one I continue to go back to.

[Aidan Busch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really good. I liked it a tad better then “switch,” which Heath wrote with his brother. This felt more concise and actionable, and the “find the leverage point and restack resources on it” model is deceptively simple. Love it.

Grad school is making me addicted to these books. Might even get into Patrick Lencioni *shivers*

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a work bookclub. I liked the examples, they each illustrated his points well. Being so short and having a few cartoons and bullet points, this was a very quick read as well.

[LB · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!! Lovely view of leadership lessons from various case studies. Focused on finding problems, identifying leverage points, and pushing on them. Good reminder of how to fix what feels difficult.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn’t terrible, but it was pretty mid. Dan Heath and his brother write a ton of books marketed toward business folks, and they probably get paid boat loads of cash for their talks. They’re also mentors to Jonah Berger, who does the same thing. The issue is that 90% of their books are just filled with anecdotal evidence. While this book had me excited at first because Heath pointed to some research, that didn’t really extend passed the first few chapters.

This book is about problem-solving when you’re “stuck”. It’s primarily for solving problems within businesses, but some of the advice is practical for everyday life. As mentioned, I don’t think the book was terrible, but it just annoys me that he could easily reference some research to make his arguments stronger. However, he doesn’t really have to because people will buy up his books anyway.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Reset both timely and thought-provoking, especially in the way it reframes how we approach change in our lives and systems. Heath explores the concept of resets – those rare moments when systems are disrupted and we’re offered a chance to rethink and rebuild better. Whether it’s in workplaces, institutions, or personal habits, he argues that we shouldn’t just return to the status quo after upheaval, but use these moments as opportunities to design something stronger.

What stood out to me was how grounded the book felt. Heath draws from real-world examples – from post-crisis policy changes to innovative social programmes – to show how resets can be intentional rather than accidental. He also offers tools for recognising these moments and acting on them with purpose.

Some of the stories were more impactful than others, and there were parts where I wished for a bit more depth, but overall it was a worthwhile, energising read. It gave me language and clarity around the idea that not every disruption has to be a setback – it can be the beginning of something much better.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ALWAYS enjoy Heath brother books, and although this one was missing Chip, it was still just as practical, down-to-earth, and accessible as the others. I loved all the case studies and examples of how to really think about how to solve problems that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. While the majority of the case examples are business-related in nature, I like to think about how to apply these principles to everyday life, and there were several of those examples throughout the book as well. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have selected this as Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 2/2, as it stands heads above other recently published books on this topic.

[Juan Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it has a business focus, there is so much to glean on a personal level as well as professional. There are so many real world examples of the principles brought forth in this book that makes it easy to understand and apply.

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

72%

This book actually does a really good job of looking at the inefficiencies in life. One of the biggest things that I like to recognize is there's only so much time for most people's lives. When you choose one to do one thing, you're saying no to doing something else. And it's important to find the bottlenecks in your systems. It's like the Toyota method. Just ask why five times. One thing I really like to do personally is, when I'm ironing out inefficiencies, is if you're going to do something and figure out if there's something wrong, you batch up your tasks and group them together. For example, if I'm working on construction projects, I'm doing all construction projects that day. And I do them in order. I'm going to be in this area, then I'm going to be in this area, then I'm going to be in this area. That's a great time management skill. Another thing is, if you're going in one direction and you have a package to carry, for instance, and it's out of the way, but you have to go partway the same path, I like to leave that package in that area and then come back to it. It's the same thing with many other things. You can group them all together. And when you're actually going in the direction where those other things go, take care of them along the way. It's much more efficient. We like efficiency standards, we like batching, and we like staying on the same task. Because if we get off task, who knows what's going to happenWhat it's really shined through was making me think about my own business, Pi, and saying, hey, here's where we can make some improvements. Made me ask some questions. Made me find some regulations that needed to be taken care of, and I said, okay, great. Communication and asking questions. Those are some of the best tools you can have. Simplest things..

[Namo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working

Dan Heath

“Yesterday, we were stuck. Today, we reset.”

ทุกวันนี้เราใช้พลังงานส่วนใหญ่ของเราไปกับเรื่องของคนอื่น ไปสู้กับเรื่องไรสาระ จนทำให้เวลาเราอยากจะเปลี่ยนอะไรบางอย่างที่โดยปกติแล้วเรามักจะทำอยู่ใน comfort zone ของเรา มันเลยเป็นเรื่องยาก

หนังสือเล่มนี้ได้นำเสนอแนวคิดเพื่อที่จะได้ออกจากจุดที่เราติดกับดักอยู่ getting unstuck and making the changes that matter โดยได้นำเสนอแนวคิดที่น่าสนใจที่ว่า

- หา leverage points ซึ่งจะเป็นจุดสำคัญที่เพียงเปลี่ยนเล็กน้อย ก็เกิดผลลพธ์ที่ดีอันยิ่งใหญ่ได้
- restack resources จัดของใหม่อย่างฉลาด ไม่ต้องวิ่งไล่ตามอะไร แค่เอาของที่มีอยู่มาใช้ให้มีประสิทธิภาพกว่าเดิม

ซึ่งโดยรวมแล้วเป็นหนังสือเล่มหนึ่งที่ค่อนข้างอ่านง่าย เข้าใจไม่ยาก เหมาะกับคนที่รู้สึกตันและติดอยู่กับบางสิ่งรวมถึงกรอบความคิดอะไรบางอย่าง และเราคิดว่าแนวคิดที่ถูกนำเสนอในหนังสือเล่มค่อนข้างดีเลยทีเดียว มีการยกตัวอย่างที่จับต้องได้ด้วย แบบว่า เรื่องนีเมันสามารถเกิดขึ้นจริงได้นะ

แต่… ตอนอ่านก็มีอีกจุดที่แอบคิดคือ เรื่องบางเรื่อง แม้จะทำตามที่นักเขียนบอก มันไม่ได้ง่ายอย่างนั้นเสมอไป แล้วเนื้อหาส่วนใหญ่มีความเกี่ยวข้องกับภาคธุรกิจเยอะ เราเลยคิดว่าหนังสือเล่มนี้มีความเหมาะกับภาคธุรกิจมากกว่ารายบุคคล แต่ยังไงก็คิดว่าบางส่วนก็ยังเอามา adapt ได้อยู่

[Paula G · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Reset” is a compelling read that seamlessly ties engaging stories to its core teachings, making it not only quick but also enjoyable. The book's practical lessons are deeply rooted in Six Sigma methodologies, providing readers with concrete tools and frameworks for identifying and seizing improvement opportunities.

As a leader, you'll find this book particularly valuable. It guides you through the process of prioritizing initiatives and diving into them headfirst with confidence. The practical advice and real-world examples make complex concepts easy to grasp and implement.

Even if you have previous experience leading change, “Reset” offers fresh insights and innovative strategies that will enhance your leadership arsenal. I’m willing to bet you'll pick up a trick or two that you hadn’t encountered before.

I highly recommend “Reset” to any leader who is serious about driving continuous improvement and fostering a culture of excellence.

[Jason Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Heath’s work…

This book felt kinda of forced, like a collection of things we’ve heard and are likely trying or already doing, masquerading as fresh knowledge. I know that’s harsh, but it’s mostly a collection of well known business management axioms (ie the Pareto principle) sprinkled with psychology (Amabile’s work on motivation—of which I am a big fan of btw).

Anyways, all great tips in this book, just repackaged tips. I still would recommend reading it.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Reset by Dan Heath!

Heath explores how every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. His central thesis of Reset is that if you’re stuck, identify leverage points, and restack resources towards those steps that will have the biggest impact.

What I liked the least about the book is that most of it was targeted towards business and leaders of teams, so there weren’t many actionable steps that I can apply to my personal life within the next day.

What I liked most about the book is that it clearly identifies key ideas and illustrates them with vivid examples of how

- a Texas library went from irrelevant to a central hub of the community (think miniature ponies at the library and cocktails & coloring nights for adults)
- Sweetgreen went from wasting time and resources mixing salads in stainless steel reusable bowls to designing a hexagonal to-go bowl that is big enough for mixing
- a radiology clinic’s receptionists gave out oral contrast to improve patient flow
- an archery coach followed a new coaching technique
- Chic-fil-a pursued bottlenecks to speed up the drive-through
- a hospital receiving area started delivering packages in a day
- the technical data center team at Exonn Mobil triumphed over its mountain of files
- executives at Gartner improved client retention numbers
- 49ers games got better
- church services got shorter
- millions of cats were saved
- a final father and son game of ping pong was played

Each chapter also has a quick review, and the end of the book even includes a one-page summary of the book

I would recommend this book to anyone. It’s a quick, easy, and entertaining read that I will remember for years to come!

[Julie Manthey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main theme of this book is about problem solving at work, mostly about identifying what problems to solve and getting the right resources. It’s part change management and part creative problem solving but overall a good read with interesting examples and clear methods you can apply to any industry.

[Neil Krikul · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a business or team leader, hopefully there's nothing new for you here. Organisations face roadblocks all the time, and this book presents an applicable framework to tackle just that.

Nonetheless, I always enjoy Dan Heath's writing style and learned from the stories shared in the book.

[Devante Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed Reset by Dan Heath. It’s packed with practical, actionable advice you can actually use. About half the ideas I’d heard before, but it was good to revisit them. Super helpful and definitely worth the read!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Littered with consultant speak. Like what is a “leverage point”? Come on.

Some good nuggets: make sure you understand the problem on the ground. Efficiency isn’t always the answer. People are motivated by feelings of progress.

[Jacob Ryder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan is a great author. I preordered this one so I could go to a webinar he hosted and I recommend listening to him speak if you get the chance.

[Céline des Ligneris (Carole) · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, I love that the audio book has an exhaustive pdf attached with all the visual and the summary of each chapter, way easier to remember the important parts.

Dan Heath give us numerous tools to bring change when we are not in an emergency situation. What's interesting is that it does not require to use (mostly new technologies) to nudge people to change, but to identify the leverage points (not so simple) and stack different resources to make change happen.

I am looking forward to testing some of those tools, and see what happens then.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, practical advice for moving through a variety of problems to help inspire you to seeing other avenues. It was interesting end to end.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great business and life book to read and have on your shelf. Authentic analysis and studies, but down to earth dialogue. I recommend all this author’s books, I have never been disappointed.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to his other books. Compelling stories, simplified action items, self-deprecating humor.

Good stuff.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's perfectly fine for this sort of business self-help book. I think the overall framework makes a lot of sense even though I am shocked most isn't intuitive.

[Gordon Paisley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six stars. Excellent collection of relevant business process improvement approaches with applicable examples. I don't think I have ever ready a book with a higher example to commentary ratio.