Introducing The Rider And The Elephant
About this episode
Why is change so hard, even when we know what we want to do?
In the first episode of The Rider and the Elephant: Activating Change, Aaron and Cristina introduce the framework inspired by Chip and Dan Heath’s Switch: the Rider represents our rational mind, the Elephant our emotions, and the Path the conditions around us. Drawing on their backgrounds in consulting, learning and development, and coaching, they explore why plans and good intentions don’t always translate into action.
Whether you’re navigating personal change, leading a team, or facing an organizational shift, this conversation invites you to identify where you’re getting stuck—and choose one conscious move forward.
Transcript
Cristina Amigoni (00:33): Hello, Aaron.
Aaron (00:35): Hey, Cristina.
Cristina Amigoni (00:36): Hi. So we've got a new podcast we are starting.
Aaron (00:40): We do really excited about sharing it.
Cristina Amigoni (00:44): it's called The Rider and the Elephant and we're gonna explain where that comes from what it means and how we're gonna use it.
Aaron (00:50): Yeah, talking about how that framework overall inspired by the book called Switch by Chip and Dan Heath. And we are really focusing on, the process of change and that real change just doesn't happen just because we tell people to change or tell them why it matters and behind this framework it happens with these these key forces, the Rider where we want to establish clear direction so the mind knows what to do. we have the elephant the emotional mind and connect with what people actually want to do. emotionally and then shape the path. So creating the right environment. So the conditions that we create on the path is the easiest way. So yeah. those align and making sure they stick. make make change stick.
Cristina Amigoni (01:43): that's the hardest part the Rider, our mind will decide what a change is that we want for our lives, that we, or the organization is telling people that they're gonna go through, teams are going through it, all sorts of different lenses. and the elephant is going to decide where we actually go and if we stay on the path that we would like to, and if we even, can create the path, but the elephant, our emotional side decides whether we're gonna even stay on the path, what's gonna happen if we're gonna get to destination. And so in this show, we want to talk change, why is it so hard?
Aaron (02:19): Mm-hmm.
Cristina Amigoni (02:19): And what are some examples of changes and our own journeys with that? What happens at the individual level, us as just humans, individuals, what happens, when we're working with others as teams, and what happens that when organizations bring change to us and determine this is the path you're on. And while our mind may say, okay, our the elephant is gonna be like, no, thanks. I'm going my own way.
Aaron (02:45): And just having that readiness too, like to be able to be shown the way, but also emotionally be ready to handle and not rationalize away what's happening in front of you as as part of moving forward with activating change. So we're excited to talk about that aspect as well.
Cristina Amigoni (03:04): Yes, the next question is why us? Why are we talking about this?
Aaron (03:10): Yeah, so my background is former consultant was on the heavily on the process side of the change, you know, not really part of the sort of the art shall we say of the of change management. I was focused on program management associated with change, making sure that I'm guiding clients through the change process from a process perspective, but it really wasn't getting to the roots of the human experience of change. And part of why I wanted to be a part of this podcast was to recognize that we are driven, we are emotional beings. We are driven by our emotional elephant. And that is rationalized away by our mind and by not being able to keep both our emotions and our mindset in check as we navigate the path of change. And I felt as a consultant, I wasn't really able to affect that sort of human response. And so I shifted to coaching as a focus and felt as part of this podcast that coaching is such an integral part to the experience of shifting the Rider and the elephant aligned along the the path of least resistance, shall we say. And really felt like I had experiences both from the end user side from a process change management standpoint and also from a coaching side, as a coach coaching others through change. And so this has been a great inspiration for me to be a part of this conversation with you, Cristina, and kind of give you that background behind me.
Cristina Amigoni (04:30): Yeah, you and I have had these conversations many, many times. why it's change so hard. What's the actual real human journey when we're going through change? And my background, I started in learning and development. And I it took me until probably until I became a coach, five or six years ago, seven years ago. I can't count. To realize that I've always been in the change industry, because even in learning and development, it was all about helping people change to, be whether the new skills or new way of showing up. And then in consulting, same type of background as you, focusing really on the process part, on the project part of the change, and really seeing that it wasn't quite as easy as it seemed on paper. And when I got my coaching certification, that's when Everything connected, the light bulb went off, and it's humans going through change.
Aaron (05:20): Mm, mm.
Cristina Amigoni (05:21): You can't just put it on a piece of paper and expect everybody to have the same experience. And so what is that human experience of change? And how do we activate change as individuals, as leaders, as teams, as an organization, so that we can get to the destination that we want, so that the Rider, the elephant, and the path do align. we're gonna have all sorts of different conversations at every level. We're going to have guests. Some of our first few episodes actually that we've already been recording are with a guest. We're going to unpack what's the human readiness piece of AI, the AI world that now we're in, and then have All sorts of other different conversations, just the two of us and with other people on the podcast, to kind of really understand how how do we have a better experience going through change? What's stopping us? Where's the friction? How can we be not just aware of that, but also bring intentionality? what's the gap between intentions and actions? Cause that's a lot of what. having a change feels like, I can wake up every morning and think I'm gonna have a salad for lunch and then as soon as I'm in the kitchen and the path shows me cookies all around me, I'm gonna start with a cookie and then forget about the salad. Cause the elephant is gonna just grab the cookie and shove it in my mouth.
Aaron (06:43): Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And if we think about just thinking about when we look at just in our own world, in our own work world, and we have, big strategic documents that really don't have, and that's that's really just the sort of the rational side of the person going through the change. And then when you have the path itself, which is truly not clear as far as how you're going to get there and what are the steps that are going to be necessary for you individually to be able to get and undergo that change with clarity and having some direction on where you're going and what you're doing. all critically important as we kind of really have a deeper conversation about the change experience with the human and how to really help guide through that change and help to provide you with some tools and support around how to activate change in those moments, especially when, the rider is off or the elephant is off from an emotional perspective, or even just understanding what missing supportive conditions might be necessary in order to h to help add clarity to your change. you know, that's really where we wanted to have conversations around and really be able to understand well, what's the drag and what are the solutions overcoming that drag as we move through change together and help you activate it.
Cristina Amigoni (07:56): So until the next episode, maybe ask yourself that question. What's a change that I have to go through? It's been imposed on me, or I want to go through. And where's that friction? Is it the rider? Is it the elephant? Is it the path? Is it a misalignment of the three? What's actually going on? We will also provide a very quick assessment for understanding and creating a journey or a map of understanding does the Rider know what's what to do here? Is the rider clear? Is the path clear? Is it the elephant that's in the way? Is it that I don't know what path the elephant is supposed to be on? So we'll have a very quick checklist to figure that out that we'll provide on the same place where you can find the podcast on our website. So happy listening.
Aaron (08:42): Thank you.