Broken Cultures, Small Changes and Really Good Books

Welcome to my Weekly Thoughts Newsletter, where you'll find my take on the week's news stories, my favorite pieces on how we can thrive even in our stressful world, and some fun and inspiring extras.

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Turbulence: The deadly crashes of two Boeing jets have shattered public trust in the iconic company. In The New York Times, David Gelles sheds light on the broken culture inside Boeing that led to catastrophe. Boeing’s internal communications reveal employees referring to the 737 Max as “a joke,” admitting they don’t trust others at the company, and dismissing airlines that requested additional training as “idiots.” Reading it made me think of “Succession,” the T.V. series I’m currently obsessed with, and its characters’ cavalier dismissals at every turn of morals and ethics and other people’s lives. If there was ever a testament to the importance of building a healthy company culture for employees, shareholders and all stakeholders, this is it. Read More on Thrive: 10 Ways to Actually, Finally Improve Company Culture

Goodreads: The New York Public Library revealed the 10 most checked-out books in its 125-year history, featuring such titles as The Cat in the Hat, 1984 and Charlotte’s Web. Goodnight Moon received an honorable mention. It’s such a psychologically fascinating book, and I’ve always loved how it helps kids (not to mention the exhausted adults reading to their kids) transition from daytime to sleep time. I did my own audiobook parody of it for Audible called “Goodnight Smartphone,” which you can download here.

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The Biggest Book of 2020 Is All About Taking Tiny Steps

B.J. Fogg and me in front of Thrive’s Microstep Wall.

Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, by B.J. Fogg, was published on the final day of 2019, but I’m going to go ahead and call it the best book so far of 2020. Because at a time when, as Fogg writes, there is “a painful gap between what people want and what they actually do,” Tiny Habits is a blueprint for redefining our approach to self-improvement. The habits are tiny, but the results are big. 

 “There’s no need to work toward big, ambitious goals,” he writes. “By going tiny, you can discover for yourself the changes that will change everything.”

Fogg is the founder and director of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford, and his central insight is as timely as it is radical. We’re now in that annual period of flagging enthusiasm when people are realizing that maybe they’re not actually going to keep up with the enormous, you-must-change-your-life resolutions that seemed so doable on New Year’s Day. Indeed, a study from the University of Scranton found 92% of us fail to keep our New Year’s resolutions, and another found that 80% of us have already failed by the second week of February.

Over the past decade, Fogg and his research team have tested his approach to behavior change on more than 40,000 people. What they’ve learned is that most of us have been going about it all wrong: we set the bar too high, get discouraged, judge ourselves and give up.

That’s why, as much as anything, Tiny Habits is a book about joy. 

“What I knew from coaching people,” he writes, “was that it makes you happy. It’s very simple. You’re helping people change their lives, and you see the positive impact of that every day.” 

It’s why one of Fogg’s fundamental steps of behavior change is celebrating each tiny new habit, so that your brain associates it with positive feelings. 

In one of my favorite passages, he shows how our individual tiny habits can spark a positive impact beyond just ourselves:

“Habits may be the smallest units of transformation, but they’re also the most fundamental. They are the first concentric circles of change that will spiral out. Think about it. One person starts one habit that builds to two habits that builds to three habits that changes an identity that inspires a loved one who influences their peer group and changes their mindset, which spreads like wildfire and disrupts a culture of helplessness, empowering everyone and slowly changing the world. By starting small with yourself and your family, you set off a chain reaction that creates an explosion of change.” 

Of course, I love Tiny Habits even more because it so perfectly corresponds with Thrive Global’s own behavior change approach, which is all about what we call Microsteps: small, science-backed steps you can take to make immediate changes in your daily life. Tiny Habits and Microsteps may be small, but all the evidence shows they have the power to bring about big, big changes.

Read More on Thrive: The Biggest Book of 2020 Is All About Taking Tiny Steps

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Before You Go

Neologism of the Week (new words, terms or phrases that define our time): “Techlash” — the growing skepticism of Silicon Valley giants, especially on college campuses. Not so long ago, recruiters for companies such as Facebook and Google swept onto America’s top campuses, wooing the best and the brightest, who were only too happy to accept jobs at companies that let them feel like they were making the world a better place. But as public perception of Big Tech has soured, the picture has shifted. Today, as The New York Times puts it, “Many students still see employment in tech as a ticket to prosperity, but for job seekers who can afford to be choosy, there is a growing sentiment that Silicon Valley’s most lucrative positions aren’t worth the ethical quandaries."

Podcast of the Week: Reid Hoffman is the co-founder of LinkedIn and an investor with Greylock, and there are plenty of places you can go to find his insights on tech, business and entrepreneurship. But in this week’s episode of “Meditative Story,” he delves into different territory: how he experiences friendship. He reveals why genuine connections with friends are his number one joy trigger, and how he particularly loves friends who share his curiosity about life’s big questions. More than his latest business success or groundbreaking idea, it’s friendship that he treasures and that helps him evolve into the best version of himself. Listen to the episode here. Read More on LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman on how his spiritual home is not entrepreneurship but how he experiences friendship

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Dad of the Week: Diego, the giant tortoise whose superhuman (supertortoise?) sex drive helped save his species from extinction. Diego is more than 100 years old, and the Galápagos National Park has announced that he has entered retirement. Time to recharge, Diego. You’ve earned it!