The Power of Habit (2012) (edit title/settings)

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“A thought provoking book that I recommend for anyone.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Great book, you'll enjoy it!”

• Rated 4 stars

“Great book into the psychology of habits.. how habits are formed and how they can be changed”

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“Great book! - great real life examples:individual, organizational and community wide. Totally worth the read! A simple 3 step model (what is it about 3's?) that's easy to keep "in my head". Made me think where shifts are possible. ”

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“Colleague has read the book on a Kindle. How to change habits in small increments that can have really large lasting impacts. The book starts with changing personal habits but companies can do this to. Case studies for Pepsident from the 1800s and Febreez uses the study of habits to influence their product design. Author diagnosed habit of mid-afternoon work day cookie to need to talk to colleagues, then changed the habit to going to co-worker's cubicles instead of the cafeteria and taking in unneeded calories.”

• Rated 3 stars

“The sub-title of the book "Why we do what we do in life and business" was enough to get me to read it, most especially because I am doing a project related to individual, personal change and looking for new material. Duhigg explores the habit cycle of "cue-routine-reward" and provides some compelling case examples of why this is a cycle dynamic that is lasting as well as changable. I find myself thinking about some of the cases at random moments, like the famous salesman (Hopkins) who single handedly makes toothpaste use a habit (only 7% of households prior to his marketing had toothpaste - 7%!). Or the case of O'Neill at Alcoa - and the identification of keystone habits. This is certainly an important concept, and links well with other theory such as in complex systems where small things can lead to large change.

Hands down my favorite was the Febreze case. I did not own a can of Febreze until reading this book, but now I do. Not only is it more than just a pretty smell, but the process the marketing team had to go to get people to buy it I found intriguing. That case, as well as several other chapters in the book illustrate that while the simple
cue-routine-reward cycle drives habits, deconstructing the elements of a particular habit can be very difficult. Finding the keystone habit or figuring out just what to do to change a habit is possible, but might take insight, luck, stubborn perseverence, or some combination of all of these.

I appreciated the physical cognitive material. My only criticism of the text was a couple cases that seemed a stretch in the application, but overall a book I will be adding into my "Map It - Use It" shelf which smells fabulous due to a generous application of Febreze in my office.
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• Rated 3 stars

“Nicely written, but a bit too heavy on the story and too light on the science.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Easy read, quite general but gets you thinking.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Useful book. Sometimes goes into too much detail but still a good read. Helps understand habits and how to change them both individually and organizationally.”