Customer Reviews

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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This is a great book about the power of habit and what we can do to change our habits in business, life, and society. The book is divided into three sections, first focusing on the individual, then companies, and finally societies.

The first three chapters are my favorite, and really make up the heart of the book.

Chapter 1, "The Habit Loop" explains exactly what a habit is. Some estimate, according to the author, that habits make up 40% of our daily routine. Favorite quote from this chapter: "This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which behavior to use. The there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is the reward . . ." (19)

Chapter 2, "The Craving Brain" includes the story of Pepsodent and lays out a simple formula for creating new habits in others. "First, find a simple and obvious cue. Second, clearly define the reward." (37) The rest of the chapter will fill you in on the missing part of this formula and you will learn how Febreze went from near bust to a product bringing in over a billion dollars a year.

Chapter 3, "The Golden Rule of Habit Change" is my favorite chapter. In this chapter you will learn what part of the habit loop to modify and how you should go about doing it. You will also learn how Tony Dungee reinvented the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Indianapolis Colts by instilling habits into his teams. Very good information, if you read one chapter in this book, make sure it is this one. Of interest to everyone, from smokers to businessmen to nail-biters to football coaches.

The remaining two sections of the book were not quite as strong as the first. They consist mainly of anecdotes and examples of how companies and societies (and a church) changed habits in others successfully. They are worth reading, but not as good as the first third of the book. The Starbucks story of instilling willpower in their employees and the story of Rosa Parks and Saddleback church were the most interesting.

All in all, this book is definitely worth picking up. I was a little disappointed by the last couple of sections of the book and thought that one of the anecdotes the author used in the first chapter was overused (same story, same person covered thoroughly in Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything if you have read it). The core of the book that explains what habits are and how to change them make this book a valuable read. Recommended.

The Power of Habit was an amazing book. I have been reading several books that try to explain why we do what we do and this book explains all of them. It also explains why books like Sink Reflections are set up to help you form new habits and, when they do, are successful. I didn't find a step-by-step process to go through to change habits I would like to change, but it did increase my awareness of how habits drive my life and awareness is the first step to change.

Even if I hadn't picked up this book to get ideas on how to facilitate change, I would have still enjoyed reading this book. Duhigg grabbed my attention from the beginning with the stories of the brain injured people who were able to form habits without remembering them. I have a friend who has had 5 brain surgeries and radiation and it has had an effect on his memory. It has made me think about how habits could benefit him. Moving on to making different products, such as Pepsodent and febreze, a necessary product in our lives was quite interesting. I'm not a football fan, but still learned a lot from Tony Dungy's coaching strategies.

Who would have thought focusing on safety could change so much for a company and how business is done in general? Target's decision to draw in new parents is brilliant. It's also kind of disturbing to think we can be profiled so easily. With every page, I wondered what I would learn on the next. There was so much information in this book. I knew about the experiment with young children and the marshmallow to test will power. I had not thought about teaching a child to resist temptation. I had also not considered sports and music lessons would help to teach self-regulatory strength. I am also passing on to my kids to use with their kids the idea of asking how they are going to know when they are prepared for a test rather than just asking if they have studied.

I enjoyed reading about the CEO of Starbucks, even though I have never been to one (I don't drink coffee). How they train their employees should be a model for other companies. The examples of Rosa Parks and the Saddleback Church were entertaining. To have insight into addictions like gambling was quite interesting. As you can see, I found The Power of Habit to be a fascinating read. I have a feeling I will be buying additional copies to share with others. I don't want to loan mine because I will be rereading sections I have flagged.

I had no trouble staying awake reading this book - I found the subject matter fascinating. It is written in an easy to read, understandable style and the author stays true to the theme of the book: illustrating just how powerful habits are in our lives. Of course since they are habits, we go about them without really giving them much thought; the key is to indeed recognize and give them thought, and work on how to improve ourselves by changing or modifying those habits.

The author provides interesting and relevant examples of major behavior changes brought about by recognizing habits, and also provides us with the key to how to change them. I found this book useful not only for examining my own behavior, and providing the motivation (and the means) for changing my own bad habits, but also found it useful to think about how others are trying to do the same thing to me - in other words, how others (such as advertisers) are attempting to manipulate my behavior.

Like I said, fascinating reading. This book was definitely worth my time. Another reviewer said it was dull reading, and to each his or her own but there was never a dull moment as far as my own reading was concerned.

Mostly, I read for entertainment. However, I am hopelessly fascinated by books that examine why we do what we do. I've read almost all of Malcolm Gladwell's books and, I lent my copy of this book to a friend and she said, "This is as good as The Tipping Point! Maybe better!" (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference also a great book)
The awesome thing about this book is that Charles Duhigg writes this book in a way that the stories just flow, they hold your attention, the scientific facts don't go over my head, nor are they dry and dull. Mr. Duhigg weaves anecdotes with facts so that you feel "I must turn the page to find out how this could possibly be!"
This is for readers that are fascinated (as I am) with how our brain works (what a miracle - I mean seriously, we take our brains for granted!).
This is also for people who want to improve their lives by changing their habits. It CAN BE DONE. And The Power of Habit is such a fascinating study on how the brain works- with great true stories to back it up.
I've read many books about this sort of subject, and to me, these books are like walking around a yard that is barren and dry - the earth cracked.
The Power of Habit is like strolling through a yard that is astoundingly green and vibrant with hyacinths and sweet lilac trees - it's a treat to all your senses and is beautiful, fascinating, and educational and informative all at the same time.
And to be honest, when it comes to giving reviews - I rarely like much that I review - so - if that doesn't get my point across, nothing will!
Awesome. Loved It!

In a sentence - this book will be a big seller and you should read it.

Why? Because it's the latest in a series of books similar to Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point." In other words, "Things we didn't know about ourselves until new psychological research showed us."

Now a book on habit could just deal on how habits control our life, and how we rely on them to get by. If we had to be in control of everything we're doing, we couldn't do it. Driving a car has become so easy for us, we can sometimes make a journey and have no idea what happened during the drive.

But Charles Duhigg is interested in the dark side of habits. He looks at the habits we wish we could lose, and at the amazing stories of the people who actually changed their bad habits. All of these stories are amazing - the woman who gave up smoking, the U.S. major who realized that Kebab vendors were the key to Iraq violence, how Proctor and Gamble got people to buy Febreze, and how Target knows who you are and what you buy. All of these stories and plenty more go against conventional wisdom, but Duhigg makes you see how obvious they are.

He talks about the unlikely ways that people like Starbucks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rick Warren's Saddleback Church found success. Even something as basic as an NFL league team can be turned around. You'd think teams knew everything about the game, but Tony Dungy found a different way that propelled the Indianapolis colts to success, and using habits worked for people as disparate as Paul O'Neil's changing Alcoa's corporate mentality and Michael Phelps's winning Olympic swimming medals.

I wish I could put down here what you needed to do to make these changes in your own life, and after reading the book you'll have a pretty good idea. Unfortunately, we reviewers get early versions of some books that are don't have items like an index. There's a missing appendix called "A reader's guide to using these ideas," which will be in the version you can buy at Amazon or in the bookstore.

I was astounded when I read this book - and I've read it twice - and I think Duhigg is really onto something, something very important. In fact, although having read over ninety percent of the finished book twice, I intend to buy it, to get those few nuggets of information that will only be in the final book. I suggest you buy the book for yourself, and you'll be as impressed as I was.

Don't miss this one.

Excellent book. I usually have a hard time getting through "self-help" books. While this one doesn't exactly fall into that genre, it's close, and it certainly does help. The author looks at habits from a variety of perspectives: personal, institutional, and societal being the three main divisions of the book. There's plenty to think about scattered throughout. Lots of cool insights here as the author explores his various well-researched case studies. Plenty of bibliography and references as well, if you'd like to track down original sources.

I find myself wondering now about my own habits: the good, the bad, and the neutral. While the focus isn't self-help, there's enough info in the book to recreate the habits of your life should you be in need of some kind of fix. If you find yourself leading a company (or any other group) and wondering how you can improve things, there's plenty here for those situations as well. Even if you're not in charge of anything, and don't feel a need to change anything about yourself, I'd still suggest the book, as it'll help you understand what makes you (and others) do the things you do.

This book really spoke to me. Almost five years ago, I went through bacterial spinal meningitis and survived with some permanent brain damage. Considering that my brain completely shut down and for three days I was expected not to survive, well, it's a miracle.

Habit, and knowing how to form habits and how to prompt myself to remember things made a massive difference. This book explains some of the things I did. How neat to read about it as it has been researched!

A lot of what I learned about habits through the years came through living with and training with and handling my dogs. How do they learn? Working on understanding that, well, that has been priceless experience.

And it is still is priceless experience, because I have an assistance/service dog who is absolutely brilliant. He has a non-stop sense of humor. And guess what? He loves routine!!! That is part of the secret of using habit to brilliantly live your life! And my dog does that!

I totally recommend this book!

This book was supremely interesting. I love delving into the whys and hows of psychology-type topics. As a result, this book was perfect for me.

The first third of the book is dedicated to Individuals. The author details how habits work, how to create new habits, and why these changes happen. Concrete examples back up everything that is said, including the classic rodent in a maze scenario. This makes reading and understanding the concepts very easy - it's not a new concept, it's just laid out before you, ready for you to take in the knowledge. Because this part of the book was far more relatable, it was by far my favorite.

The middle portion of the book focuses primarily on businesses. Again, concrete examples reign, making for an easy read. This section details more on leadership and teamwork, automating habits, and how to recognize habits of others.

The final section of the book is specifically about societies at large. While less interesting still, the points made are still interesting and well-thought-out.

I very much enjoyed this book. I hope to put my new-found knowledge to good use in the near future.

Working in Market Research I absolutely LOVED reading the stories in this book, the predictive models, the habits of consumers, GREAT stuff! The stories of Febreeze and Target and Saddleback Church - LOVE that stuff!

But this book is more than that. In a lot of ways you can use it as your own personal self-help book. The author Charles Duhigg steps you through the process of catching yourself in your habit loop and re-designing a better habit loop. Do you even know you have a habit loop? It's comprised of three pieces - the CUE, the ROUTINE and then the REWARD.

You can not QUIT a habit, you have to replace it just so - almost like a surgery. Keep this piece and this piece and swap out that piece. This is your cookbook to do so. It covers the gambit, the way you talk to your kids (powerful message that includes Howard Schultz, Starbucks, about how his mom spoke to him - hint: ..."You're going to make us all proud..."); Gambling, Eating, you name it, the book has your habit covered. Duhigg goes on to explain Habits in our company cultures and then Habits in our society. This is a very interesting book, well worth reading. And if you need more on his website where he continues to write about habits: [...]

This is a must have book if you are a business owner. The author provides case studies that show the power of habits and how habits can make a difference in your life and business. He also supplies excellent ideas on how to change negative habits. The book is well-written and the core concepts are easy to understand. You'll come away with a new appreciation for habits as well as tools for how to change them!