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

Sep 14, 2012 Robert Chapman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-development

This is great book, and you need to read it. How is that for a definitive opening line? The reason it’s such a good book is because it uses research to explain how habits are formed and changed. Everyone knows someone who was out of shape, or was a smoker, and then in what appeared as if almost overnight, changed themselves in a short period of time. How did they do that? They formed new habits and changed old ones, that’s how.

Do something enough and it becomes a habit, good or bad. This is expl...more This is great book, and you need to read it. How is that for a definitive opening line? The reason it’s such a good book is because it uses research to explain how habits are formed and changed. Everyone knows someone who was out of shape, or was a smoker, and then in what appeared as if almost overnight, changed themselves in a short period of time. How did they do that? They formed new habits and changed old ones, that’s how.

Do something enough and it becomes a habit, good or bad. This is explained in the book by research on memory loss. For example, the research found that patients suffering from memory loss could not show someone where the kitchen is when asked, but once they got hungry the would get up and go to the kitchen automatically.

This is made possible by the habit loop of cue, routine, and reward. The cue makes the brain find the routine as it anticipates the reward. A classic example is stress and smoking, the cue is stress, the routine is smoking, the reward is the feeling the cigarette brings.

I was most interested in how the book described changing a habit. Let’s face it, we all have habits we want to change. To accomplish this we need to keep the cue and reward, but change the routine. I’ll use an example from my own life to illustrate. I love chocolate, and to make it worse I love to eat at it night. Well I love to eat at night because that is how I formed the habit some time ago. I used the guidance from this book to change that habit. I kept the cue and reward, but I changed the routine to use apples instead of chocolate.

This logic flows into much larger problem sets such as organizations and communities. Focus on changing one thing, the keystone habit from which a cascade of other habits will form. The author illustrates this example by discussing how the company Alcoa was transformed by the keystone habit of a singular focus on safety.

The book flows really well and uses research throughout to substantiate the concepts presented. The audience who can benefit from this book is vast, from individuals to corporates to governments.(less)

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Jun 10, 2012 Tara Litzenberger rated it 2 of 5 stars

I learned less from it than I was expecting to. It did have some good info around what makes a habit and how to change them, but I got bogged down on the parts about willpower and self-discipline.

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Jul 25, 2012 Johnny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: psychology, sociology

Judging from the prologue of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, the first thing necessary in modifying one’s behavior is to note the actual components of that behavior. The author cites a visit with a military officer in charge of normalizing a village (Kufa) in Iraq. The officer started by observing video of how riots began and noticed that the trouble usually broke out after people had milled around for a while and food trucks and spectators arrived. He changed the...more

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Apr 02, 2012 K rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: journalism-pop-nonfiction, cookingcraftshowto

Read this because of fascinating NYT magazine excerpt on how Target tracks our buying habits. The rest of the book is not as compelling -- anecdotes sometimes don't support particular arguments he's attempting to illustrate (the Hey-Ya examples being the most egregious), and his section on how social movements occur is weak and unconvincing, and not really about habits, per se. Style and structure were often clunky, and the book seems a bit muddled as its ultimate purpose. I dunno, I guess I was...more

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Jul 17, 2012 sleeps9hours rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just read Kelly McGonigal's "The Willpower Instinct", so I can't help but compare the two.

Duhigg is an investigative reporter for the NY Times, while McGonigal is a research psychologist, and the differences come across in the writing. McGonigal has a much better grasp on the research and how to apply it, while Duhigg brings in stories that are entertaining but stretch his powers of interpretation. His most annoying stylistic problem is that he breaks his stories up, stopping one to start anot...more

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May 28, 2012 Rhianna rated it 2 of 5 stars

This may be a crappy review since its going up via iPhone. Sorry.

First caveat: I work in research. A big part of my job is creating these habit loops and seeing if they can be altered or enhanced via medication.

Second caveat: I'm a nerd and love journal articles, scientific writing, and technical reading, even off the job.

Third caveat: I only got to chapter eight.

I honestly don't know what I was expecting. By far and large, when there's big buzz about a book I inevitably dislike it with very...more This may be a crappy review since its going up via iPhone. Sorry.

First caveat: I work in research. A big part of my job is creating these habit loops and seeing if they can be altered or enhanced via medication.

Second caveat: I'm a nerd and love journal articles, scientific writing, and technical reading, even off the job.

Third caveat: I only got to chapter eight.

I honestly don't know what I was expecting. By far and large, when there's big buzz about a book I inevitably dislike it with very few exceptions. I was hoping for something smart and eye opening; a different, more personal take on habits and addiction (which is really what a habit is if you think about it), and I was let down mostly by the writing and anecdotes. I realize this book isn't intended for scientific review, but when there were so many teasing moments of talking about the research going on, I guess I just expected a little more substance in laymans terms.

The biggest problem I had with the book was that I probably could have only read the first few chapters and have a total grasp of the theory. While some stories were interesting, they reminded me of Grandpa Simpson's storytelling. I don't think we needed so many examples that all said the same thing. Think of all the trees that could have been saved if a few were omitted.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad read. People with a non-neuroscience background can enjoy it and will learn something from it. Although how to apply it to your life is pretty much missing from the book (unless it was in the chapters I didn't get to yet). Yeah, find a new reward to break bad habits, but how? It would have been interesting to see those suggestions.

Overall, not horrible. Had it not been a book club read I wouldn't have picked it up of my own volition, but I'm not upset that I read most of it. I am upset that I kept reading hoping to get something different in the next chapter, which didn't happen. Just save the time and money and read his NY Times article (at least I think it was there) instead. (less)

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Feb 19, 2013 Arda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Enjoyable. The book presents a framework of understanding how habits work, and serves as a guide to show how to change habits.

“Once you choose who you want to be, believe you want to change, and it becomes real.” “Visualize the kind of person you would like to become, focus on one habit you would potentially develop, and transform that into what would become natural; requiring no effort or thinking.” “To modify a habit, you must decide to change it. You must consciously accept the hard work of...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Scott Christensen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Duhigg's Power of Habit offered a staggering statistic about our lives: 40% of what we do is habitual. 40 percent! That means that a huge majority of what we do in our lives is practically unconscious and habitually helping us progress or digress.

The major takeaways for me include two main insights. First, identifying your habit's cues and rewards gives one understanding of why we do what we do. For example, when analyzing my habit of running, there are specific cues and rewards that both initi...more

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May 21, 2012 Mary Helene rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a great story teller! and these stories have been spreading. Every time I talk with someone about this book, they've already heard one of the stories! (Is Mr.Duhigg all over the airwaves or are his stories just re-tellable?)

In light of the recent rebuke of American nuns, I'd like to point out to the bishops that these ladies pop up prophetically in remarkable places, including p.229 in this text. (I misread my notes. The nuns show up earlier; this is a section where the author underestimat...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Jin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: business, personal-growth

Excellent read to kick of the new year (with my habit changing resolutions). With interesting anecdotes on scientific research as well as real life examples to back up his theme around habits. Also provides some tools on identifying habits and changing them. Takeaways:
- all habits have a cue , routine, and reward system. Harder part is identifying the cues and rewards that drive the habit.
- making your bed and exercising will improve your life in many ways beyond the obvious.
- writing a detaile...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Rob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: change, business

It's a fascinating read, combining some very accessible medical science with insights into human behaviour. Duhigg's an entertaining writer as well as an extensively-researched one; he uses suspense to superb effect at several points, and his revelations on the predictive power of Big Data in identifying our habits are startling. The first half and concluding sections are especially compelling, particularly with his recipe for changing old habits into new ones.

I'm less convinced by his look at o...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Sue rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The title of this book may be misleading if you want to lose weight, stop procrastinating, or get to appointments on time. It would be easy to think you’d found a self-help book. Okay, maybe it could help a reader break an unwanted habit. Duhigg does try to analyze those behaviors. There are a few good stories of people who quit smoking or started exercising.

But it is more accurately about patterns of behavior in groups as well as individuals: in corporations, the military, and the marketplace....more The title of this book may be misleading if you want to lose weight, stop procrastinating, or get to appointments on time. It would be easy to think you’d found a self-help book. Okay, maybe it could help a reader break an unwanted habit. Duhigg does try to analyze those behaviors. There are a few good stories of people who quit smoking or started exercising.

But it is more accurately about patterns of behavior in groups as well as individuals: in corporations, the military, and the marketplace. I had never thought of corporations instilling habits, but we hear all the time about corporate culture, and that is an amalgam of habitual behaviors. This book is broadly organized around the concept of habits (with a number of fun stories) and around the endlessly entertaining custom (habit?) of observing human nature.

Duhigg told the following story, which he claims hooked him on the subject of habits. An army officer in Iraq observed that violence in the small town where he was stationed occurred in a particular plaza. People gathered, food vendors arrived, then someone would throw a rock or bottle. He asked the town’s mayor one evening to keep the food vendors away. The crowd showed up, got restless and hungry, and eventually left – defused – because the street vendors were absent. Duhigg, then a reporter in Baghdad, asked the officer how he had analyzed this situation. The US military, the officer said, is an experiment in habit formation. “Understanding habits is the most important thing I’ve learned in the army.”

This story did not initially meet my usual understanding of what constitutes a habit. But the habit of a kebab dinner supported the assembling of a large and restless crowd. At least for the duration of this book, I broadened my definition of a habit.

But in case you really crave the self-help part of this book, here is Duhigg’s description of personal habit formation: A cue triggers a routine, which is the behavior you may want to change. There’s a reward inherent in that routine. Figure out what reward you really want, then change the routine to get it. The cue (an emotion, a time of day) will still be present, but you’ll respond with a different routine.

Corporations make appearances in a couple of ways. The story of Paul O’Neill at Alcoa is one in which he sought to transform a poorly performing company by instilling a culture of safety. Employees were led to respond to dangerous situations with ingrained safety procedures. In other words, they learned new habits of response. Altering one important habit of all employees, in a highly disciplined manner, changed the culture of the corporation.

But corporations also want to know about customer habits. If you shop at Target, consider yourself warned. The store knows more about you than you can possibly imagine. Uncomfortable territory. Your habits are known!
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Dec 01, 2012 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

A full executive-style summary of this book is available here: http://newbooksinbrief.com/2012/03/18...

It is often said that we are creatures of habit, in that many of our daily activities end up being a matter of routine rather than direct deliberation (just think of your morning run-through). While this is no doubt true, author Charles Duhigg insists that this is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact that habits have on our daily lives. Indeed, in his new book `The Power of Ha...more A full executive-style summary of this book is available here: http://newbooksinbrief.com/2012/03/18...

It is often said that we are creatures of habit, in that many of our daily activities end up being a matter of routine rather than direct deliberation (just think of your morning run-through). While this is no doubt true, author Charles Duhigg insists that this is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the impact that habits have on our daily lives. Indeed, in his new book `The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business' Duhigg argues that habits not only pervade our personal lives, but that they have an integral role to play in the businesses and other organizations of which we are a part, and that they are also at the heart of social movements and societies at large.

The first part of the book focuses on the role that habits play in our personal lives. Here we learn about the habit loop consisting of cue, routine, and reward, and how the elements in this loop can be manipulated to help modify our habits (say from crashing on the couch with a bag of chips, to heading out for a run). We also learn about the power of particular habits called keystone habits (which include exercise, as well as eating together as a family) that help initiate a domino effect that touches all of the other aspects of our lives. Also, we learn about the power of belief--and the importance of social groups in helping create this belief--that stands behind successful habit transformation programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

The second part of the book concentrates on how habits help shape businesses and organizations. Here we learn that the formation of habits and routines within organizations is unavoidable; what's more, that it is always best for the leadership of a group to make a deliberate effort to shape the habits of their organizations, and in a way that ensures a high degree of equality and fairness for its various members, while nonetheless making it clear who is ultimately in charge of each particular aspect of the operation. Second, we learn that keystone habits--which are at the center of our personal lives--are also pivotal when it comes to larger organizations (and how a particular keystone habit was applied to resurrect the once great but flailing American aluminum company Alcoa). We also learn about the greatest keystone habit of all: willpower, and how this habit can best be cultivated (and how companies such as Starbucks are employing these lessons to help train employees successfully). Finally, we learn about how companies such as Proctor & Gamble and Target instill habits in their customers.

The third and final part of the book examines the importance of habits in social movements, such as the civil rights movement of the 1960's. Here we learn that movements tend to follow a three-part process. To start with, a movement tends to begin with a group of close acquaintances and friends. The movement tends to grow when these people spread it to the broader communities of which they are a part. Finally, in order to really take hold and spread, the movement must be guided forward by an effective leader who lays down new habits for the movement's adherents in a way that allows them to gain a sense of identity.

On the negative side, the organization of the book is somewhat muddled, as there is significant overlap in the parts on individuals and organizations. Also, the section on social movements rests on a precious few examples, and therefore, the theory seems less convincing than it might otherwise be. Still, though, there are many things to be learned here and the book is well worth the read. A full executive summary of the book is available here: http://newbooksinbrief.com/2012/03/18...
A podcast discussion of the book is also available.(less)

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Jul 12, 2012 Ellen Brandt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-grownups, nonfiction, ebook

Fascinating stories and studies about how we humans really ARE creature of habits, and in ways that we are probably not aware of. Do you know why grocery stores put the produce section first? or why large retailers go out of their way to determine which women are pregnant? (and may figure it out before friends and family know!) or why a simple focus on safety has made failing corporations and hospitals into successful ones?

I initially picked this up to try out my public library's new ebook servi...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Suzi rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: EVERYONE

Recommended to Suzi by: nobody... just saw it at the library

This book is not only an effective tutorial for changing life one step at a time, it's also a powerful motivator and cheerleader for one's journey into personal growth and greater happiness. The real-life examples in here were so moving, reading this book gave rise to feelings one has during peak experiences! I truly recommend that everyone read this book. I can't wait to buy myself a copy so I can re-motivate myself when I slip back into old patterns. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

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Mar 26, 2013 Rolando Gill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A lot of great stories. At the end of the book the author mentions that many people that read this type of book are looking for concise answer to the question, How do I change a habit. The author gives us the framework of habits and then some good ways to identify and modify them. This book I think is better than most because it sets realistic expectations that habit change is going to take work. It also gives us tools to identify what a habit looks like and where exactly to apply the efforts to...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Bernadette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, adult-non-fiction

I received an Advanced Reader's Edition of this book from the Goodreads Giveaway program.

This is a fascinating look at what seems at first to be a straightforward subject - habits. Duhigg takes readers through the neurology of personal habits and how to change them, the organizational habits of businesses and teams, and the power of habits to promote change in societies. He even touches on ethical dilemmas involved with the habits of sleep terrors and gambling. Not so much a step-by-step guide t...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Marie-Clare rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I found this fascinating and couldn't stop harping on about what I learned while listening.

It's interesting not just from the point of view of wanting to learn how to change habits that you're unhappy to have, but also to understand the habits of society as a group.

I liked the fact that examples used in the book were from different points in history and from different countries.

All in all, I learnt a lot and am thoroughly glad to have downloaded this great audiobook originally on a bit of a whi...more

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May 19, 2013 Kdorman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Reflections on the power of habit likely precede even Aristotle’s “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Wordsworth noted “Habit rules the unreflecting herd.” Most of the axioms you have ever heard about habit are true. Often times we hear these ‘self-evident’ truths and proceed with our days. It is not until we are trying to change a lifestyle or habit that we shake our heads, thinking that all of these parables are nice but wonder how can we take that inf...more

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May 12, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Wall Street Journal • Financial Times

A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product cal

...more

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Wall Street Journal • Financial Times

A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern—and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year.

An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees—how they approach worker safety—and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones.

What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.

They succeeded by transforming habits.

In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.

Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nation’s largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death.

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work.

Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

Amazon.com Review

A Q&A with Author Charles Duhigg

What sparked your interest in habits?
I first became interested in the science of habits eight years ago, as a newspaper reporter in Baghdad, when I heard about an army major conducting an experiment in a small town named Kufa.

The major had analyzed videotapes of riots and had found that violence was often preceded by a crowd of Iraqis gathering in a plaza and, over the course of hours, growing in size. Food vendors would show up, as well as spectators. Then, someone would throw a rock or a bottle.

When the major met with Kufa’s mayor, he made an odd request: Could they keep food vendors out of the plazas? Sure, the mayor said. A few weeks later, a small crowd gathered near the Great Mosque of Kufa. It grew in size. Some people started chanting angry slogans. At dusk, the crowd started getting restless and hungry. People looked for the kebab sellers normally filling the plaza, but there were none to be found. The spectators left. The chanters became dispirited. By 8 p.m., everyone was gone.

I asked the major how he had figured out that removing food vendors would change peoples' behavior.

The U.S. military, he told me, is one of the biggest habit-formation experiments in history. “Understanding habits is the most important thing I’ve learned in the army,” he said. By the time I got back to the U.S., I was hooked on the topic.

How have your own habits changed as a result of writing this book?
Since starting work on this book, I've lost about 30 pounds, I run every other morning (I'm training for the NY Marathon later this year), and I'm much more productive. And the reason why is because I've learned to diagnose my habits, and how to change them.

Take, for instance, a bad habit I had of eating a cookie every afternoon. By learning how to analyze my habit, I figured out that the reason I walked to the cafeteria each day wasn't because I was craving a chocolate chip cookie. It was because I was craving socialization, the company of talking to my colleagues while munching. That was the habit's real reward. And the cue for my behavior - the trigger that caused me to automatically stand up and wander to the cafeteria, was a certain time of day.

So, I reconstructed the habit: now, at about 3:30 each day, I absentmindedly stand up from my desk, look around for someone to talk with, and then gossip for about 10 minutes. I don't even think about it at this point. It's automatic. It's a habit. I haven't had a cookie in six months.

What was the most surprising use of habits that you uncovered?
The most surprising thing I've learned is how companies use the science of habit formation to study - and influence - what we buy.

Take, for example, Target, the giant retailer. Target collects all kinds of data on every shopper it can, including whether you’re married and have kids, which part of town you live in, how much money you earn, if you've moved recently, the websites you visit. And with that information, it tries to diagnose each consumer’s unique, individual habits.

Why? Because Target knows that there are these certain moments when our habits become flexible. When we buy a new house, for instance, or get married or have a baby, our shopping habits are in flux. A well-timed coupon or advertisement can convince us to buy in a whole new way. But figuring out when someone is buying a house or getting married or having a baby is tough. And if you send the advertisement after the wedding or the baby arrives, it’s usually too late.

So Target studies our habits to see if they can predict major life events. And the company is very, very successful. Oftentimes, they know what is going on in someone's life better than that person's parents.

Review

Praise for *The Power of Habit*

“Entertaining, an enjoyable book…a serious look at the science of habit formation and change.” —New York Times Book Review

"Duhigg brings a heaping, much-needed dose of social science and psychology to the subject, explaining the promise and perils of habits via an entertaining ride that touches on everything from marketing to management studies to the civil-rights movement… a fascinating read.”—Newsweek Daily Beast

“A fascinating exploration of our pathologically habitual society — we smoke, we incessantly check our BlackBerrys, we chronically choose bad partners, we always (or never) make our beds. Duhigg digs into why we are this way, and how we can change, both as individuals and institutionally.” —The Daily

“Charles Duhigg’s thesis is powerful in its elegant simplicity: confront the root drivers of our behavior, accept them as intractable, and then channel those same cravings into productive patterns. His core insight is sharp, provocative, and useful.”
—Jim Collins, #1 bestselling author of Good to Great and* Built to Last

“The Power of Habit is not a magic pill but a thoroughly intriguing exploration of how habits function. Charles Duhigg expertly weaves fascinating new research and rich case studies into an intelligent model that is understandable, useful in a wide variety of contexts, and a flat-out great read. His chapter on ‘keystone habits’ alone would justify the book.”
—David Allen, bestselling author of *Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

“Charles Duhigg masterfully combines cutting-edge research and captivating stories to reveal how habits shape our lives and how we can shape our habits. Once you read this book, you’ll never look at yourself, your organization, or your world quite the same way.”
—Daniel H. Pink, author of #1 New York Times bestselling Drive and A Whole New Mind

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May 11, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Charles Duhigg curates various ideas and scientific studies on habit and presents them in an entertaining and highly thought-provoking format.

However, this book isn't meant for academics. Some of the stories will feel familiar to fans of the pop-sci genre. People who majored in or have read extensively in the psychology arenas will be disappointed.

For people looking for motivation but aren't deeply versed in the protocols of motivation and human habit, this book will be very fascinating. The sto...more

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May 04, 2013 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Many of us have wondered why we do the things we do. Duhigg states that the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allow our mind to function without constantly having to think about every action we take. He states that we all learn habit in a three-step loop that includes a cue, routine and reward. Duhigg examines how our habits control our lives, social groups and organizations. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat she triggered a civil rights protest tha...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, magazine-article-as-book, nonfiction

This book has a worthwhile kernel of information on how habits are formed in our brains and fun diagrams that show how that works. Unfortunately, like so many other books in this genre ("popular science of how your brain works," quite the trend these days), it takes a solid magazine article's worth of content and expands it in all sorts of less relevant directions, which both muddies the point and is redundant. At this point I'd estimate that I've read ten accounts of the marshmallow test in the...more This book has a worthwhile kernel of information on how habits are formed in our brains and fun diagrams that show how that works. Unfortunately, like so many other books in this genre ("popular science of how your brain works," quite the trend these days), it takes a solid magazine article's worth of content and expands it in all sorts of less relevant directions, which both muddies the point and is redundant. At this point I'd estimate that I've read ten accounts of the marshmallow test in the past three years. I generally enjoyed this author's writing and anecdotes even when I didn't fully appreciate their supposed relevance, e.g. the section about the compulsive gambler and the sleep-terror induced murder, but I couldn't really advocate this book if you've already read, for example, Willpower, unless you have a direct, personal reason to seek the maximum amount of information on this topic.

There's an appendix to the book about breaking habits, in which Duhigg describes how he analyzed and changed his habit of going to the office cafeteria to get a cookie every day at 3:30, which is better than any of the examples in the main text of the book. The cue is something that sets you on the path of following your habit, like the time of day or being hungry. The routine is the action that's so ingrained you follow it almost without thinking. The reward isn't a conscious reward (like the cookie) but rather the good feeling that reinforces the habit. One example of a reward is the tingly feeling you get after brushing your teeth, which isn't dentally necessary but somehow satisfying. The reward solidifies the habit. So Duhigg realizes that he gets antsy in the mid-afternoon, and he's not actually hungry but craves conversation, so instead of getting a cookie and running into colleagues in the cafeteria, he gets up every afternoon and visits a colleague for a chat instead. By recognizing the cue and directing it to an equal reward, he breaks the habit.

The biggest tease comes when he describes someone quitting biting their nails without actually explaining how it worked. In the example, the person cures their nailbiting by making a hashmark on a card every time they're tempted and by the end of the week, there are 28 hashmarks. If you are only tempted to bite your nails four times per day, you don't even know what nailbiting is. And he never explains what the reward is or how the hashmarks are equally good at getting it.

Also, while I'm indulging in miscellaneous critiques, I did not agree with the conclusion to the section about the compulsive gambler (who was found liable and had to pay her debts) and the night-terrors sufferer (who was found not guilty of having murdered his wife due to his having been unaware and not in control at the time). Duhigg says that the difference between them is the gambler was aware of her habits and should have taken care of them and that the night-terrors sufferer was not, and that is why their punishments were just. But this seems demonstrably untrue in light of his own account of their stories. The gambler tried to move to a state where gambling is illegal, which seems like a significant commitment to change, if an ineffective one given that the casino started sending her flight and hotel vouchers to get her to come back. And the night-terrors sufferer and his wife were aware of his condition and had made adjustments; she slept in a different room, with the house keys under her pillow, to prevent him getting out. No, the actual difference between these two cases is whether any restitution was even possible. The gambler could, in theory, pay the money back, and so was required to. Nothing the night-terrors sufferer could have done would bring his wife back, and surely he would have done anything if it were possible, so the judge saw no utility in punishing him further. And, at any rate, this chapter on compulsive behavior didn't seem strictly relevant to a book on habits and routines.(less)

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Apr 21, 2013 JoLee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, audio, bookclub

The Power of Habit was a great book club pick. Habit is much more instinctual and gripping than most of us realize. The anecdotes and evidence in the book are really interesting: Charles Duhigg writes about how Target can tell women are pregnant before they make the big announcement, how Febreze is marketed, why Rosa Parks was the spark that ignited the Civil Right movement, how one individual functioned on habit alone. He writes about why habits are so powerful and what can be done to override...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Cook Memorial Public Library rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, audiobook

Have you ever given much thought to all those little things (and bigger things) that you do on a daily basis without even thinking much about them---your habits? Probably not, but lots of other folks have given it lots of thought and businesses spend big bucks every year figuring how to create products that they hope will become part of your routine.

Habits are developed gradually and they all have a pattern. First there is a trigger which causes your non-thinking brain to engage in its habit. W...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Farnoosh Brock rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book had been on my wish list for a while. I write about "smart habits for rich living" on my blog, and have been studying habits for a long time. And this book is exceptional in what it offers, compared to all that I've read and learned so far about habits. I happen to love Duhigg's writing voice and style: funny, engaging, and clear, with a little bit of "freakonomics" or "hidden side of everything" attached to his case studies, but not too much that it turns it into a Malcolm Gladwell ki...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Richard Barlow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

An interesting and fun non-fiction read. The science behind how habits are formed, and where they are stored in the brain and how they can be formed and/or changed has really accelerated in the last 20 years. Essentially all habits follow the pattern of CUE ---> ROUTINE ---> REWARD, but the neurological mechanisms are just only now being fully understand. The author addresses each of these three areas, exploring how cues work with reward and also how routines are formed and changed. He's i...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Richard Block rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tasty, but not very filling

The remarkably named Charles Duhigg takes his one idea - the habit loop - and runs with it and runs with it. Written in the pop science style of Malcolm Gladwell, the book contains a few ideas dressed up in some detailed journalism; human stories that bring slightly different aspects of the core message to life.

If you don't fancy reading the whole thing, this is it. We are creatures of habit. Habits have three parts, like a good story - a beginning (cue) middle (habit...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Raima Larter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although this book, "The Power of Habit," by Charles Duhigg was published over a year ago, and although I received a pre-publication copy even before it came out, I am only now getting around to reviewing it. The reason is not that I have a terrible habit of procrastinating (well, okay, I do) and it's also not that I never get around to writing blog posts (well, okay, that's true, too).

The reason I am only now reviewing this book is simple: I started reading it and was so inspired by what I was...more Although this book, "The Power of Habit," by Charles Duhigg was published over a year ago, and although I received a pre-publication copy even before it came out, I am only now getting around to reviewing it. The reason is not that I have a terrible habit of procrastinating (well, okay, I do) and it's also not that I never get around to writing blog posts (well, okay, that's true, too).

The reason I am only now reviewing this book is simple: I started reading it and was so inspired by what I was learning, that I stopped reading and started putting its lessons to the test in my own life. The book got laid aside, except for occasional dips in to remind me how it is that people change old habits and start new ones, and I only recently picked it up again and read through to the end.

I know it's a horrible cliche to say this, but it's true: this book changed my life. For the better. With the insight provided by this book, I was able to break some old habits I didn't want anymore and also to start some new good habits that are now firmly established as part of my day-to-day life.

This is not a small thing. I'm a person who has always been very good at establishing good habits and sticking with a new program of activity I want to add to my life. I believe I inherently understood the habit loop of "Routine/Reward/Cue" that Duhigg so clearly describes in this book. And, yet, having his explanation, in both language and diagrams, for what I already knew how to do helped me refine my own process and understand myself better. It also helped me see why it was that I was a pro at establishing good habits, but not very good at breaking bad ones, even ones I wanted to change.

When this book came out last year along with great media coverage and dozens of reviews in prominent places, I wondered if I was reading the same book everybody else was talking about. The angle taken in almost all these publicity pitches was almost exclusively about marketing and understanding how business has exploited the new scientific understanding of habit formation to persuade (some might say manipulate) us to buy their stuff.

Since Duhigg is a business reporter for the New York Times, I suppose this explains the bias in the coverage. The business world knows his work and his "platform," as they call it in the publishing biz, is squarely in this area.

While the coverage by the media may have done its job for the publisher and pushed up sales of the book, it seems to me that it's done the book, and its author, a disservice. Although "The Power of Habit" includes plenty of stories and examples taken from the business world, it is primarily a book about the science behind habit formation and change. I don't know where bookstores shelve it, but it ought to be in the "popular science" section.

This book is a good, excellent even, piece of science writing. I am no expert on the neuroscience that Duhigg so deftly explains, but he has clearly done his homework in this area. The book is filled with extensive notes and references to the original literature and the explanations within the chapters themselves are clear and informative. He's visited the labs, met with the scientists and their patients, and explained all this work in an entertaining way. The book also has a valuable appendix with a detailed explanation of how an empirical approach can be used to figure out the roots of one's own bad habits.

I highly recommend this book to anybody struggling to break some bad habits or wishing to establish new good habits. But beware: it might very well change your life.(less)

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Mar 23, 2013 David Yoon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Falling into that well mined territory of Levitt & Dubner, Gladwell and Pink - The Power of Habit was another great, heavily researched and thoughtful read about the science of habits.

I loved discovering Target's investment in data driven analysis. Motivated by how a pregnancy can make consumers more susceptible to marketing and flexible about their purchasing habits, Target saw a goldmine in identifying pregnant shoppers. An uptick in skin creme and vitamin purchases along with a myriad of...more

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