Dan Heath, renowned for his practical insights and engaging style, recently unveiled his latest literary masterpiece, Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. In this thought-provoking book, Heath delves into the reasons behind our tendency to react to problems rather than proactively preventing them. Through captivating storytelling, he highlights the accomplishments of exceptional leaders who have successfully averted major issues and unveils their innovative approaches. Alongside his brother Chip, Dan has co-authored several highly acclaimed business books, such as Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments. Their pragmatic approach has garnered them a wide-ranging audience and earned accolades from numerous sources. Moreover, Dan holds the position of Senior Fellow at Duke University's CASE center and has been recognized as one of the world's most influential management thinkers. With his captivating speaking style, he has captivated diverse audiences around the world.
Some experiences are vastly more memorable and meaningful than others: A moment of extraordinary service that a customer can’t stop talking about. A moment of insight that helps a group of employees embrace a new vision. A moment of compassion that makes a patient’s burden feel lighter. Everywhere you look, people are trying to craft memorable experiences—from customer experiences to patient experiences. Leaders are working hard to boost employee engagement, student engagement, and parishioner engagement. But these discussions have been dominated by a focus on fixing problems (what Dan Heath calls “filling pits”), rather than creating memorable experiences (“raising peaks”). Yet Heath’s research suggests that it’s far more valuable to build peaks.
Why do some big changes happen easily while many small changes prove impossible? The answer hinges on some of the most fascinating findings in psychology. Our mind is divided into two different systems—an analytical mind and an emotional mind—that are often in conflict, particularly in situations of change. Building on this research, and based on the book, Switch, which spent 47 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, Dan will reveal a simple, three-part framework that will help you change things in tough times.
Dan Heath asks, in a world drowning in information, how do you make your idea stand out? It’s hard enough just to get an audience for your idea—and much harder still for it to be memorable and meaningful for your listeners. How much do you remember from the last PowerPoint presentation you saw?
So often in our organizations and communities, we fall into a cycle of reaction. A problem happens, and we respond. We fight fires. We contend with emergencies. Researchers call this “tunneling”: We don’t see the big picture, and we don’t think about the future, we just keep pushing forward from one crisis to the next. What if instead we could shift our energies upstream — uncovering and addressing the source of those problems?
Would you like a workshop customised to meet your organisation’s specific needs and hosted by your chosen expert? Designed for your use case and supported by experienced facilitators, these interactive programs combine theory with real-world experience and provide leaders with practical skills that can be immediately applied. This approach fosters authentic behavioural change, improves leadership capabilities, and upskills your people across various subject areas. Get in touch with PepTalk today to learn how your team can benefit.
