“Few [books] become essential manuals for business and living. The Power of Habit is an exception.”—Financial Times
A WALL STREET JOURNAL AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
In 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
“Few [books] become essential manuals for business and living. The Power of Habit is an exception.”—Financial Times
A WALL STREET JOURNAL AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
In 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
Reviews-
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April 30, 2012
Duhigg explores how habits influence individual, societal, and organizational experience and describes the social and psychological factors that create, maintain, and break habits, using a series of reinforcing anecdotes to bring his point home. Mike Chamberlain narrates this audio edition in a congenial, welcoming voice. This judgment-free approach is effective as Duhigg’s findings will likely cause listeners to reflect on their own habits—both good and bad. Most important, Chamberlain’s tone captures the mood of the book as it shifts from engaging and curious anecdotes to more academic studies, and his pacing maintains listener interest throughout. The only aspect of Chamberlain’s performance that could be improved is his rendering of quotations: sometimes his reading of quotes misses the mark and sounds inauthentic or overly dramatic. However, this is only a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent performance. Random House hardcover. -
October 1, 2011
Cue, routine, reward: that's how habits are formed. Duhigg, a George Polk Award-winning business reporter for the New York Times, relies on scientific research, classroom experiences, and business case studies to explain how habits are acquired, how they can be changed, and how changing just one can radically remake your life. Lots of media interest from places like the Today show, plus rights to 15 countries; it may sound like just another self-help title, but this one is looking big.
Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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January 1, 2012
According to Duhigg (investigative reporter, New York Times), if people can understand how behaviors became habits, they can restructure those patterns in more constructive ways. He presents information on habit formation and change from academic studies, interviews with scientists and executives, and research conducted in dozens of companies. Three sections deal with the neurology of habit formation in individuals, the habits of successful companies and organizations, and the habits of societies and tough ethical issues. Duhigg offers a fascinating analysis for the college-educated reader. [See Prepub Alert, 9/11/11.]
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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December 15, 2011
According to this instructional text for readers habituated to unhelpful ways, changing those bad habits for good habits isn't rocket science--it's brain science. New York Times investigative reporter Duhigg demonstrates how automatic behavior, good or bad, can grow from a repeated decision that gets lodged in the basal ganglia. The result is a fixed loop of cue, routine and reward. Animal trainers are already familiar with this information. For improvement, the trick is to keep the cue and reward, but change the routine. The belief that acquiring a new "keystone habit" can really be achieved is necessary, and that's why support groups, like AA, are valuable. To clarify his points, Duhigg offers some simplistic diagrams with many cautionary stories of surgeons, baristas, gamblers, sex addicts and football coaches, as well as the selling of toothpaste, aluminum and room deodorizers. Along with tales of paragons of corporate management, we learn how supermarkets are arranged, how Target stores target consumers, how Marin Luther King Jr. managed the Montgomery bus boycott and how Rick Warren organized his monumental Saddleback Church. Even with such varied exemplars, the skilled narrative remains accessible. Unlike other exhortations with titles that promise empowerment, this admonitory entry is supported by interviews, neurological studies and empirical histories. Copious notes and a "Reader's Guide to Using These Ideas" are appended. For self-help seekers, a more convincing book than most.(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
- Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of Drive and A Whole New Mind "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."
- Bloomberg Businessweek "Entertaining . . . enjoyable . . . fascinating . . . a serious look at the science of habit formation and change."--The New York Times Book Review "Cue: see cover. Routine: read book. Reward: fully comprehend the art of manipulation."
- Associated Press "A fresh examination of how routine behaviors take hold and whether they are susceptible to change . . . The stories that Duhigg has knitted together are all fascinating in their own right, but take on an added dimension when wedded to his examination of habits."
- USA Today "There's been a lot of research over the past several years about how our habits shape us, and this work is beautifully described in the new book The Power of Habit."--David Brooks, The New York Times "A first-rate book--based on an impressive mass of research, written in a lively style and providing just the right balance of intellectual seriousness with practical advice on how to break our bad habits."--The Economist "I have been spinning like a top since reading The Power of Habit, New York Times journalist Charles Duhigg's fascinating best-seller about how people, businesses and organizations develop the positive routines that make them productive--and happy."--The Washington Post "An absolutely fascinating . . . book [that explores] a startling and sometimes dismaying collision between the increasingly sophisticated scientific understanding of habits--how they're formed, how they can be disrupted and changed--and, among other things, companies' efforts to use that knowledge to steer your habits and money their way."--Wired "If Duhigg is right about the nature of habits, which I think he is, then trying to get rid of these bad habits won't work. Instead, what is needed is to teach the managers to identify the cues that lead to these bad habits and rewards, and then learn alternative routines that lead to similar rewards, i.e. business and personal success."--Forbes "The Power of Habit is chock-full of fascinating anecdotes . . . how an early twentieth century adman turned Pepsodent into the first bestselling toothpaste by creating the habit of brushing daily, how a team of marketing mavens at Procter & Gamble rescued Febreze from the scrapheap of failed products by recognizing that a fresh smell was a fine reward for a cleaning task, how Michael Phelps' coach instilled habits that made him an Olympic champion many times over, and how Tony Dungy turned the Indianapolis Colts into a Super Bowl--winning team."--Los Angeles Times "Duhigg clearly knows that people do not like, or even buy, the idea that we're not creatures of choice. He carefully explains each step of habit building, using science and--the best part--a slew of interesting anecdotes."--The Seattle Times "Duhigg argues that much of our lives is ruled by unconscious habits, good and bad, but that by becoming consciously aware of the cues that trigger our habits and the rewards they provide, we can change bad practices into good ones."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Duhigg's revelation that Target had developed a model to predict whether female customers were pregnant ignited a firestorm after an excerpt from his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business,
