By training herself to envision contradictory futures, she learns to anticipate her opponents’ missteps-and becomes one of the most successful players in the world.Ī group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function, and find that how a group interacts is more important than who is in the group-a principle, it turns out, that also helps explain why Saturday Night Live became a hit.Ī Marine Corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp-and discovers that instilling a “bias toward action” can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Businessįrom the author of the New York Times bestselling phenomenon The Power of Habit comes a fascinating new book that explores the science of productivity, and why, in today’s world, managing how you think-rather than what you think-can transform your life.Ī young woman drops out of a PhD program and starts playing poker. 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.Īt 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. 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 visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains.

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.Īlong the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight.

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.

The power of habit