Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life

by Alan Deutschman

Change or Die. What if you were given that choice? If you didn't, your time would end soon—a lot sooner than it had to. Could you change when change matters most? This is the question Alan Deutschman poses in Change or Die , which began as a sensational cover story by the same title for Fast Company . Deutschman concludes that although we all have the ability to change our behavior, we rarely ever do. From patients suffering from heart disease to repeat offenders in the criminal justice system to companies trapped in the mold of unsuccessful business practices, many of us could prevent ominous outcomes by simply changing our mindset. A powerful book with universal appeal, Change or Die deconstructs and debunks age-old myths about change and empowers us with three critical keys—relate, repeat, and reframe—to help us make important positive changes in our lives. Explaining breakthrough research and progressive ideas from a wide selection of leaders in medicine, science, and business (including Dr. Dean Ornish, Mimi Silbert of the Delancey Street Foundation, Bill Gates, Daniel Boulud, and many others), Deutschman demonstrates how anyone can achieve lasting, revolutionary changes that are positive, attainable, and absolutely vital.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Leadership, Personal Development, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2006

About the author

Alan Deutschman is currently writing "Walk the Walk," a book about leadership, which will be published in September 2009 by the Portfolio imprint at Penguin.

His blog about leadership is at:
http://www.leaderswalkthewalk.blogspo...

Reviews

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband took a LEAN class over the summer and his instructor recommended this book. He really likes it a lot and he says he does use this information at work. I decided to read it(actually I listened to the audio version) because I find the study of change fascinating.

The main point of the book is: most people will try to entice other people to change using the three F's: facts, force and fear. These usually don't work at least not for the long term. He suggests that what does work are the three R's: relate, repeat, reframe. He uses a lot of examples, including heart patients, hardened criminals, alcoholics and businesses as well as a couple of personal stories.

What I like most about his approach is his emphasis on hope. You can't inspire yourself or anyone else to change if you focus on the negative results of what happens to you if you don't, it's so much better to focus on how wonderful your life will be when you do make the necessary changes. I think Mr. Deutschman does an excellent job of destroying the theory that change is impossible and that people who are entrenched in their bad habits can't change their behavior.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cleverly written but superficial long essay based on the premise that no one ever changes health behaviors, and so it's amazing that the author has found a few examples of successful behavior change programs. The main fallacy here is that people never change and no one knows how to get them to change. What about cigarette smoking, car crashes, etc. ? We have seen enormous progress in these areas; millions of lives have been saved. How did that happen? With population-level, not individual-level interventions. Excluding this factual context seems dangerous to me.
And, of course, there are different successful approaches to individual-level behavior change, and he leaves out some of those. What is valid in the book is that just shocking people with scary facts is often ineffective for behavior change. So if someone has been stuck using just that approach, then the book could be very valuable.

Something that struck me as fishy was that as a reporter for Fortune magazine, the author should know about the articles in Fortune showing that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation specifically avoided spending money on the types of things that he suggests they would spend money on like bed nets for mosquito control to prevent malaria and that their donations in the field of education for example were spectacular failures not amazing successes.

Alternatives:
Getting What We Deserve: Health and Medical Care in America
Prescription for a Healthy Nation: A New Approach to Improving Our Lives by Fixing Our Everyday World
Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body
Managing Your Mind: The Mental Fitness Guide

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book brings up a couple of interesting questions. The one that is most interesting is this: why do people find it so hard to change their behaviors even when it's literally a matter of life and death? You'd think the possibility of DYING would be enough to get people to improve their diets or stop doing drugs or participating in dangerous activities, but it clearly isn't. The author suggests that negative reinforcements are not as powerful as positive reinforcements, which may be true, but unfortunately he doesn't really delve deep enough into the issue to come to any satisfying conclusion. The whole book is pretty light, mostly anecdotal, and the concluding chapter where the author cites Andrew Weil and says that all psychoactive drugs, from antidepressants to LSD, operate entirely on the placebo effect pretty much ruins his credibility.

[Chafic (Rello) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm quite torn about this book. Not for it's content or its message, but rather I should give it a rating of 3 or 4, since it fits exactly into a 3.5 for me.

I found the book quite enjoyable, mostly cause I'm a sucker for case studies and this was chalk full of them. It was informative and has a very good outline in assimilating change.
I think this is a definite must-read for those wanting to read more non-fiction, albeit the showy title.

Definitely keeps you thinking.

4.01 / 5

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to change go for the 3 R's (relate, repeat, reframe) rather than the 3 F's (facts, fear, force). If you want to get the most of out this book, read the intro and skip the rest.

[Libby Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite non-fiction books - Alan Deustchman's "Change or Die" - poses a question as compelling as any you're ever likely to hear. If you had to change your beliefs and behaviors or risk premature death, could you do it? You may think so, but the well-documented scientific research is betting against you. Nine to one against you, in fact. But there's hope as Deutschman details in this page-turner. Experts in a variety of fields including healthcare, criminal rehabilitation, and advertising have all inspired meaningful and lasting change in others. Read Change or Die and discover the fascinating commonalities of these inspiring leaders.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another 'barticle' -- an article that mushroomed into a book. The idea here is that you can change things you want to, like bad habits, or obesity or whatever, by doing three things: getting human support (relate), learning new habits (repeat) and by learning new ways of thinking (reframe). One is tempted to say that this tripartite solution merely defines change rather than making it possible by revealing deep secrets, but that's carping. If you do these three things, you can change the toughest of bad habits. If you change, in other words, you'll change.

[Paula Hagar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was compelling, but I'd have liked it better if there had been fewer lengthy examples of groups and companies that had effected change and more concrete examples of individuals who had effected and maintained change in their lives. It's well worth reading though.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent premise but the book didn't follow through.

[Della Nova · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has an important reframe and message for the world: Inspire Change By Providing Hope Through Relationships and Community, not fear.

It should be read for that important message and understanding about change.

I appreciated that guidance, but I wish there were more substantive ideas on how to execute it in real life.

The most lacking example was in the chapter for "Change a Loved One". The example of how Bill Gates became a philanthropist was in contradiction with the author's advice to find people we relate to
As one of the wealthiest men in the world, Bill Gates story was completely unrelatable and totally unhelpful for those of us wanting to inspire change with our loved ones.
Very disappointing as it was the only example provided in that chapter, with no other concrete advice.
And the sentence " When he fell in love with a woman and eventually married her, his mother could have felt threatened by this new rival for his attention and affection"...was very weird! Mothers and wives are not rivals for their son.

[Chase · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a typical high-schooler/early undergrad attempting to finish writing assignments, I upheld the same level of academic integrity expected of most that age.
I latched on to curious ideas, Googled phrases related to them, chose whatever sources either fully backed up, or could be twisted in order to back up, my "original" idea, and fleshed out enough semi-relevant, yet rarely coherent rambling to fulfill the required word count.
Then I grew up a little bit.
Not that I started writing better papers as much as I stopped writing bad ones. Still working on that.

Deutschman selects his evidence to support his thesis and not the other way around, haphazardly at that, emphasizing the relevance of certain details and dismissing others that don't offer an easy persuasive boost.
If that's not enough to call into question the whole work, the entirety of his evidence is anecdotal. This is intellectual dishonesty of a type I'm not completely certain that Deutschman is aware that he is committing, coming from a career in journalism that relies on making sensational connections between the successful and their habits.

Nothing against the guy, though.
I don't know him. I probably won't ever know him. Not that I wouldn't want to meet him given the opportunity, I just don't think we'll ever be introduced. I have very few close friends and I doubt our circles overlap in any real sense.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Blueprint for Change Agents

Author Alan Deutchman writes powerfully about the phenomenon of personal change – both in our professional and “real” lives. He starts with the arresting premise that, even if faced with the stark choice of changing or dying, many people would slack off. Instead, he offers three factors for genuine change and case studies illustrating these lessons.

The case studies include
• A successful homeless/rehab shelter in San Francisco
• Dean Ornish’s diet and wellness work with overweight individuals
• Toyota taking over a US car factory in Michigan
• His own undergraduate struggles to learn French and later his own “battle of the bulge” waistline

Deutschman argues that the willingness to pursue positive change enhances the brain’s plasticity and provides people with adaptive compensations. Part of the trouble is, as we get older we increasingly do not like to look foolish or bumbling in trying to learn a new skill. Kids are less self-conscious that way.

“Change or Die” is a powerful blueprint to spur us to reassess what is needed to effect positive changes in our lives and the importance of self-directed change throughout all of life’s seasons.

[Brad Lockey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Change is integral to growth.
Do you ever wonder why you make a good change ... and then fall back into your old ways after a week? or a couple of days?? or 2 days???
Why is change so very difficult?
It's not enough to just acknowledge change and want to make change.
One must relate, repeat and reframe change that they wish to make - and therein is another important aspect of change - YOU must want and wish for change, or it will be a flash in the pan.

Favourite quote: "No matter how successful we are in whatever we do, it's still vital to keep learning - to become successful at something else, something new. And the way to learn is from other people. They have the habits and the skills and the conceptual frameworks that we lack. The trick is learning from them rather than stubbornly believing that our ways are the best ways or the only ways or telling ourselves that we're no longer capable of changing."

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quick and easy to read. The key idea is explained clearly using examples from heart patients, criminals and companies. A must read for people who believe that "burning platforms" are the way to motivate others to change. My favourite quote is "People don't resist change, they resist being changed". If you see change as an active learning process, you can tackle it more successfully.

[Jon Burd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book on the root motivations to change.

It is almost entirely anecdotes and then some tying together themes. There is certainly a lot that is not tied together, but I appreciate the raw stories for thought.

The whole book has the underlying key of:
1. Relate
2. Repeat
3. Reframe

And it does take time to justify those key coaching elements.

[Simeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the end, the author apologized for the title of his book. He admits that the phrase “Change or Die” is a message of fear. So it leaves me wondering, dear Alan, is your bark worse than your bite? While I did enjoy reading your work, I must also thank you for your parting wish: Change and THRIVE!

[Zachary Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy listening to case studies about psychology and how people create habits or make changes. This was an older yet still interesting collection of case studies. Nothing revolutionary in this but still an enjoyable

[Shayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, and helped me think differently about how to change things I want to change.

[Melissa Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Really wanted to give 3.5 stars. The case studies are incredible. Writing style is easy. I listened to to the audiobook.

[Christy Carmean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with lots of stories of people who used the people and situations around them to change and thrive.

[David Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would you do what you need to in order to create lasting change?

Smooth read, examples were enjoyable and unique.

[Katherine Szerdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

MY REVIEW OF “CHANGE OR DIE”
The message behind this powerful classic is a motivating one! I am at the age where I am witness to too many for whom the message of this book is too late, and that makes me so sad and frustrated. I think we all could stand to read this book once a year! It’s about how we have the power within our grasp to prevent ominous outcomes resulting from
Heart issues
Cancer
Addiction
Abusive relationships
Business failure
It’s about waking up from the “It is what it is” negativity, lethargy, laziness, and switching up our thinking,
by choosing better,
one forkful,
temptation,
decision,
moment at a time.
While the process of change can feel intimiditating at first, even overwhelming at times, the key to lasting change is to “change the station” and
cultivate an enthusiasm for
Learning,
Practicing,
Mastering new skills and habits.
Initially, fear can motivate us to change. But fear is not the only motivator. The author cites the example of the heart patients of Dr. Dean Ornish, the cardiologist who designed the only diet recommended for heart patients at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Ornish states that his patients are not so much motivated to change in order to live longer; they are, however, strongly motivated knowing they can enjoy life and feel better starting now—one forkful at a time.
In the end, the author notes that once we change up our mindset from the old tapes. “can’t,” “should,” “would if only”, we can then slide easily from the mantra of “Change Or Die” to the more hopeful “Change And Thrive”!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes people change? This is the central premise of this short, interesting book by author Alan Deutschman. More specifically, why don't people change when even their own pending mortality is at stake? Why aren't facts and fear about our physical health, for example, enough to motivate us to change?

Deutschman walks us through three major case studies that reinforce the framework his framework of three Keys of change: 1. finding a new relationship / mentor you can relate to who can inspire you to do something different, 2. Repeating new actions and habits with the help of this person, and 3. shifting one's thinking into a new paradigm through the influence of 1 and 2. This sounds simplistic, but all good frameworks are simple, memorable, and actionable.

The book examines an ex-con rehab center in San Francisco called Delancey Street, led by a woman named S, the GM plant in California that Honda purchased and led to unprecedented excellence in employee performance, and a doctor who found a way to persuade heart patients to improve their chances of survival by changing the way they live.

[RainyCraze · Rating 5 out of 5]

The meat of this book is in the three case studies covering advanced heart disease patients, hardened criminals, & floundering ad agencies facing the rise of the Internet. The research says these people can't make real change, except it's proven they can, & extremely effectively at that. Alan Deutschman shows what particular experts have been doing for years to fly in the face of conventional understanding. And if a third-generation criminal addict can turn their life around permanently, you can make lasting, positive change in your life, too.

My only critique would be how Deutschman provides several pieces of personal experience in the book: some of them aren't directly connected to any topic (such as changing political stances), & considering the experiences are uncitable, they don't fit well with the rest of the well-sourced material.

[Tabitha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sensationalism of the title initially repelled me from this book, but I am overall glad I read it. Though the author looks at different programs meant to foster changes in patterns of behavior in larger groups, I think this book is better read as a guide to individual change. I definitely found the premise of his argument interesting-- unpacking the fact that so few of us manage long-term behavioral changes even when our lives may be on the line. As an adult educator, I appreciated his consideration of changing conceptual frameworks (a key element of lasting change) though I think there are better resources out there for truly understanding what it means for a person's mindset to significantly change and how that happens. It's a fine introduction, though, to behavioral change and one that might spur many a reader to dive more deeply into the topic.

[R.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4-stars here is because I feel the author is doing what he set out to do well, though I feel that I'm not the target audience here (I feel that his three keys are not all that innovative, really.) I mean...anyone who has read any other thing in this vague self-help arena will be very unsurprised by his three keys, which (spoiler alert) are to basically to seek out an environment where the change is successfully modeled (a person, a community, etc.), believe that you CAN actually change (reframe your viewpoint to shut down all the reasons you can't change), and then repeat (via actions) the actual changed actions over and over. I mean...it's a pretty standard definition of "how to change", though people who feel stuck will probably appreciate being walked through it. There's also a lot of case studies covered which would provide inspiration.

[Karen Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deutschman has a clever style, and this book is a page turner. Who doesn't want to change their loved one? Know what Bill Gates' mom wrote to Melinda French Gates on her wedding day that influenced one of the world's most wealthy men? Get the inside scoop on IBM and the transformative measures that saved the company from collapse? I mean, I was floored throughout this book. The audiobook also has these well-placed musical transitions that grab attention at just the right moment.

You get three important key ideas for change: relate, repeat, reframe. Sounds simple? Yes, but read the book to be convinced. The author does an FAQ at the end where he answers questions about other change agents and gives his feedback.

Deutschman has interviewed a lot of powerful people during his time at Fortune magazine, and his street cred is substantial. Read this book!

[Andres Montero]

Even though it doesn't seem like it from the name, the book gives great insight into psychological concepts along with inspiring case studies. It teaches examples of change that demonstrate how our mind can be our most powerful tool, great when we know how to use it but dangerous when we don't.

I'd recommend it if you feel stuck at work, in your personal life, between decisions or suffering from mental or physical issues. I'm sure it will inspire you to change and use your mind the best way you can.

[Yicheng Sun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly simplistic book on behavior change and how successful change comes from relating, reframing, and repeating. Interesting analogies in recidivism rates in convicts and business world like IBM and Yahoo and how they parallel changing personal health behaviors. Examples are a little dates and the book doesn't shy away from the authors access to resources/privilege and still not being able to do behavior change well.

[Deanna Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories

A very good book with great stories about people and companies I had heard of and some I hadn't. The title caught my attention. But I must say that though I enjoyed the book, I couldn't tell you his model for achieving change. I need to read it again in order to get the full benefit.