sw-motivate

name	sw:motivate
description	Design Elephant-focused interventions -- find the feeling, shrink the change, and grow your people. Reads the diagnosis and produces a plan to motivate the emotional mind. Use after /sw:diagnose, or for focused revision of Elephant interventions.
argument-hint	[optional: focus area -- feeling, shrink, or identity]

<motivate_context> #$ARGUMENTS </motivate_context>

Motivate the Elephant

Design interventions for the emotional mind. The Elephant needs to feel the change, see it as achievable, and identify with the new behavior.

When to Use

• After /sw:diagnose when you want to focus on Elephant interventions specifically
• Revising or deepening Elephant interventions after an /sw:intervene pass
• When the diagnosis ranks Elephant as the primary sticking point
• "People understand the change but aren't doing it", "The team is overwhelmed"

Before Starting

Check for diagnosis

Read docs/switch/current-diagnosis.md. Hard redirect if missing (see references/shared-enforcement-prompts.md).

Check Elephant ranking

Read the sticking point section. If Elephant is "not a major factor," warn (see references/shared-enforcement-prompts.md -- Sticking Point Mismatch). Do not block.

Check for prior Elephant interventions

Search docs/switch/interventions/ for files with type: intervention-elephant. Surface relevant ones.

Check for missing dimensions

If Rider and Path intervention files don't exist, note this and recommend /sw:intervene for full coverage.

Accept context

If arguments specify a focus area, jump to that step. Otherwise, work through all three.

The Sequence

---

Step 1: Find the Feeling

"Knowing isn't enough. People need to feel the need for change. What experience, story, or demonstration would make the target group feel -- viscerally, not intellectually -- why this change matters?"

What you're looking for:

• A specific emotional trigger (not a slide deck of data)
• An experience that could be staged or delivered (site visit, customer call, demonstration of the problem)
• Connection to the target group's values and fears
• The target emotion: fear, excitement, pride, urgency

Enforcement triggers: See references/enforcement-prompts.md Step 1.

---

Step 2: Shrink the Change

"The Elephant is easily overwhelmed. How can you make the first step so small it feels trivial? The goal isn't to complete the change -- it's to start moving. What's the 5-minute version?"

What you're looking for:

• A first step that's laughably small (that's the point)
• Why this specific first step creates momentum (not just any small step)
• An "already done" reframe -- what progress has already been made that people don't recognize?
• The domino chain: how the small step leads naturally to the next

Enforcement triggers: See references/enforcement-prompts.md Step 2.

---

Step 3: Grow Your People (Identity)

"Does the change align with how people see themselves? If not, can you cultivate the identity that makes the change natural? 'I'm the kind of person who...' is more powerful than any incentive."

What you're looking for:

• The current identity (how the target group sees itself)
• The needed identity (what identity would make the change natural)
• A bridge between them (how to frame the change as an expression of existing identity)
• Growth mindset framing -- "we're learning" vs. "we're failing"

Enforcement triggers: See references/enforcement-prompts.md Step 3.

---

Assembling the Elephant Intervention Plan

After all 3 steps:

1. Read the template from references/elephant-intervention-template.md
2. Fill in all sections
3. Check alignment with diagnosis: does each intervention address a specific Elephant problem identified in the diagnosis?
4. Present for review

"Here's your Elephant intervention plan. Does the emotional trigger feel authentic? Is the first step small enough?"

Saving

• Write to docs/switch/interventions/elephant-{slug}-{date}.md
• Set frontmatter: type, tags, diagnosis reference, diagnosis date, status (designed), confidence (ask user), created date, source

After Saving

Use AskUserQuestion:

Question: "Elephant intervention plan saved. What next?"

Options:

1. Run /sw:direct -- Design Rider interventions (clarity and critical moves).
2. Run /sw:shape -- Shape the Path to support the change.
3. Run /sw:compound -- Save what you learned.
4. Revise the diagnosis -- Run /sw:diagnose if the interventions revealed gaps.
5. Done for now.

Important Rules

• Feelings, not facts. If the intervention involves presenting data or making arguments, it's a Rider intervention, not an Elephant one.
• Shrink the change radically. If the first step takes more than 5 minutes, it's too big.
• Identity bridges, not identity transplants. Build on existing pride, don't manufacture a new identity.
• The "already done" reframe is underused. Always look for progress that exists but isn't recognized.

Pipeline Mode

When invoked with disable-model-invocation context:

• Skip all AskUserQuestion prompts
• Use diagnosis Elephant assessment as input
• Make reasonable assumptions, flag them in output
• Write output file without waiting for confirmation