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Business. Psychology. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � This instant classic explores how we can change our lives by changing our habits. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal � Financial TimesIn The Power of Habit, award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Distilling vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives that take us from the boardrooms of Procter & Gamble to the sidelines of the NFL to the front lines of the civil rights movement, Duhigg presents a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, being more productive, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. As Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives. With a new Afterword by the author �Sharp, provocative, and useful.��Jim Collins �Few [books] become essential manuals for business and living. The Power of Habit is an exception. Charles Duhigg not only explains how habits are formed but how to kick bad ones and hang on to the good.��Financial Times �A flat-out great read.��David Allen, bestselling author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity �You�ll never look at yourself, your organization, or your world quite the same way.��Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind �Entertaining . . . enjoyable . . . fascinating . . . a serious look at the science of habit formation and change.��The New York Times Book Review.… (more)
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The first section is about the habits of individuals, and how they
Part two is about habits of successful organizations. The story that began this section was about Paul O'Neill and his transformation of Alcoa Aluminum company. It talks about how he made worker safety a corporate habit, and the changes that needed to be made to make it a habit. Many of the components were familiar thanks to another corporate internal improvement process that I know as the Corrective and Preventative Action (CPAS) process.
The final section is about habits of societies. He tells the story of the rise of the Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA, and interprets the Rosa Parks story of the Civil Rights Movement in terms of habits of societies. I found it fascinating!
The book is not presented with footnotes, so one might wonder at its scientific rigor. However, there are sixty pages of endnotes that key on various statements in each chapter, and provide the citations that back it up. For instance, a footnote to the discussion about Alcoholics Anonymous introduces the more technical psychological terminology of "cognitive behavioral therapy" and provides a paragraph introducing the technical approaches to the study of habits, with journal citations. A note keyed to "These organizational habits -- or 'routines' " cites further reading materials of books and scholarly articles for three and a half pages, ranging in publication dates from 1964 to 2005. So the underpinnings of the book are clearly presented for the more serious reader investigating habits, without confusing the more casual reader.
The Appendix on "The Reader's Guide to Using these Ideas" was not present in the edition I read, but if it is as down-to-earth as the rest of the book, it will be dynamite.
I give the book 5 stars, and Highly recommend it. I note that it was mentioned in a feature story in either Time or Newsweek last week.
This is a book that anyone, anywhere can get something out of. While Duhigg doesn’t provide specifics of how to change habits in my ARC, (there will be an appendix in the final addition that may do so) there is still ample evidence in the examples of things that you can do and think about as ways to change/modify the habits you’ve built over a lifetime. Overall this is a fascinating book that made me think more about why I do what I do and how I might be able to change it.
In spite of celebrating the likes of Claude C. Hopkins, I kept listening. After a while I got the impression of a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on. For the most part, this book wants to be a statistical how-to manual for reforming individuals and businesses, but underneath all the rationality lurks a dark side. It's one thing to bite your nails and wish you could stop, but it's another thing entirely to wield the power of habit to manipulate others. More on this in a moment.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg breaks down the structure of a habit into three parts: cue, action and reward. He goes on to show how it's overwhelmingly easier to alter a habit rather than cease doing it entirely. For the bad habits, one need only change the destructive part of the habit, the action, and keep the other parts intact. This works provided an appropriate substitute is found.
The most influential parts for me were the sections on small winds and weak ties. Small winds are like a controlled butterfly effect -- small changes leveraged in the present so that bigger changes can be enacted later on. Weak ties relate to the relational bonds between people. There are family and friends and there are complete strangers, and somewhere in between are the weak ties. A surprisingly strong connection, these are the people you may know of, but not very well. Or you may not know them at all even though they belong to your community, church, etc. Movements are born and political campaigns are won using these weak ties.
The section on corporate retailers (Target being the given example) takes us to more uncomfortable territory. Here they mine consumer buying data to predict a customer's future buying needs. Hardly innocuous coupon advertising; this is big brother stuff, and to the book's credit, it admits the same thing. Profits are up! But so are intrusions of privacy! (Jekyll and Hyde.) We all know this is going on, but to what extent?
The last section ventures into the territory of habit versus free will with biting examples of gambling addiction and committing involuntary manslaughter... while asleep! This isn't your feel good biz org manual anymore. It's this dichotomy that seals the deal for The Power of Habit being one of the most important reads this year.
Habits have a form: craving, stimulus, behavior, reward. It is easiest to modify habits rather than eradicate them.
Duhigg expands and examines this habit system for all facets of our lives, from social movements, to alcoholism, gambling, religion and of course marketing, which is built on our habitual backs. This was all interesting stuff but I mostly wanted more guidance for “me”. Selfish? Probably. Maybe that’s another habit I should shake. Ooh, look… cookies!
"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Romans 7:15 ESV).
Why do we persist in doing what we don't want to do? Why do we bite our nails, eat in front of the television, and check our social media
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains the habit cycle and suggests ways to co-opt that cycle for good.
A habit loop consists of three elements.
1. Cue: This is something that triggers the habit. For an overeater this might be sitting in front of the television.
2. Routine: This is the content of the habit—smoking, drinking, eating, name your vice.
3. Reward: This is the feeling of satisfaction you receive when the habit is temporarily satiated.
The more times we run a certain routine, the deeper the habit is ingrained in lives.
The key to changing these is understanding what triggers the cue and substituting a different routine that delivers the same reward. Say the bad habit is biting your nails. The trigger might be boredom when you have spare time. Substituting a healthier routine such as having a book on hand to reach for may give you the same sense of satisfaction as a set of nails closely bitten.
Duhigg doesn't stop with personal habits, he carries the theme on to the organizational habits. What cue-routine-reward cycles do we mindlessly run through in our churches?
Changing habits is hard work, but understanding how they work is a healthy first step on the path.
But I'm not sure all of these anecdotes really add up to anything coherent. Duhigg's concept of what constitutes a "habit" -- basically, a prompt leading to an action leading to some expected reward or benefit -- is so broad as to encompass practically all of human behavior, and, rather than a close examination of the concept of habits, the book feels more like a loose collection of stories drawn semi-randomly from the fields of psychology, business and sociology. Which is interesting enough, but not really very satisfying.
This is also a big eye opener about how businesses use our data to advertise to us. Did you know Target can often tell when
But by the same token, as soon as I put the book down for a day or so, I find myself dreading picking it back up. I'm sure that says more about me and my ambivalence for change (and the implied expectation I've placed on myself to use this book as a mechanism to change some entrenched behaviors that I've struggled with for years). I have a feeling this book will haunt me for a while, and that I'll pick it up again and again, as I work my way to a healthier, more balanced life.
Definitely worth the read.
A multitude of real
I highly recommend this book. It is very readable but packed with enough research to make you take it seriously.