The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit was the first book I completed reading in 2019 and it definitely did not disappoint.

Maybe it was because the topic was something that tied in with my New Year’s Resolution perhaps – ‘To get rid of habits which I considered as non-value adding and I added new behaviors in replacement.’

An easy to read book, I was most intrigued by its simplicity in explaining some of its key concepts.

1)     The Habit Loop or the Habit Cycle

According to the research conducted by Charles Duhigg, he described habit to be stimulated by 3 important elements. The Cue, the Routine and the Reward. For example, a person may be stressed at the office (that is his Cue), he then starts smoking (activity) and his reward is the satisfaction he derived from the activity of smoking. Once this cycle repeats a few times, it becomes a craving and after sufficient time, it becomes a habit which is embedded in the DNA of the individual.

He explains that it is not always easy to break the cycle once it becomes a habit it becomes hardcoded in a person’s DNA. This means without even realizing it, a person will follow the habit cycle.

However, if someone is to break the cycle, they need to change the action rather than the Cue or the reward. E.G. If I was feeling stressed after work (which is my Cue), I needed to find something that would substitute smoking. Personally, I turned to ‘exercise and fitness’ as my action. I would work out extra hard on days when I was most stressed and consistently use exercise to change my mindset. The result would remain the same which is the satisfaction of getting over my stress. Once this is repeated continuously, this becomes a craving (so much that when I miss a day at the gym, I feel incomplete) and eventually this craving becomes a habit which is my new autopilot.

2)     Social Aspects of Habit Change

Charles Dunhigg describes us as social animals and our habits can be formed or influenced by culture and society. You are strongly influenced by the people you spend time with.

One example he points out is that of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This is one of the most successful groups that has helped millions of people get rid of their alcoholic addiction. Yes, there have been many organizations specializing in rehabilitation but this particular group owes its success to the way it functions.

Meetings are held a few times a week where alcoholics spend time with other alcoholics in their quests to finally get rid of the bottle. The power in group gatherings is far greater in changing habits than someone trying to give up alcohol in isolation.  It follows the principal of safety in numbers.

As Rap Artist Pit bull once said “Show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.”

This is the same concept where you interact with people who are on the same mission as you. You support and provide strength to each other in an attempt to override your alcoholic addiction. You find ways together as a team to substitute your actions and because you are spending more time in a sober environment, you are more likely to abstain from visiting the local pub.

3)     Keystone Habits in the Corporate World

Sometimes changing one key habit is causing you much grief and pain may have the potential to elevate other aspects of your life as well. The trick is to identify your keystone habit.

For example: If you are known to be a bad listener, perhaps this one characteristic is effecting a number of other elements in your professional and personal life.

This is also the case in Corporate Organizations where one good or bad key stone habit may be dictating the environment of the company.

Charles Duhigg spoke about a metal manufacturing firm. They had recently hired a new CEO who was expected to transform their business into a profit making machine. Whilst most of its shareholders anticipated this new Executive to drill new processes and strategies into the system – the change was somewhat unfamiliar to them. This particular CEO stated what their new priority in the organization was increase safety standards. How is this relevant you may ask? His commitment into making it the safest place to work (in a highly dangerous work environment) brought a lot of admiration and fostered commitment among his teams. They knew their CEO saw his human resource pool as the company’s greatest asset and in turn felt obligated and motivated enough to give back 100% to the firm. This is an example how one keystone habit could affect a lot of other things.

Still not convinced? Let me give you one more example. Where I work in the field of HR, the stereotype for this function normally revolves around how laid back this profession is. It is considered to be bound by protocols, red tape and rigid processes that takes time to generate an outcome. When you look to increase value to the function, you can think of a million initiatives to increase productivity. However, the way I approached this was to simply change one keystone habit. Let us be known for ‘speed’. Whatever is asked from us, we will deliver faster than anyone expects of us. If you require an employment letter, we will give it to you in a few hours. If you need a copy of your offer letter, we will give it to you now. By changing this one habit – it creates a ripple effect that cascades into other areas of the function. We don’t need to change everything, we just need to change what is important and from an HR perspective, time is vital.

4)     Analysis of Habits for Competitive Advantage in the Corporate World

If you remember back in the day, Marketing Gurus spoke about how it was important to study consumer behavior in order to predict patterns. This hasn’t changed that much, but the manner in which this has evolved is something intriguing.

Phycologists spent time at supermarkets, telling the staff how to position their products. Some products were places in the isles, some near the cash counters and others in positions that were in line with consumer habits. When we look back on it today, we notice that the phycologists used broad definitions to assume patterns. However, its accuracy was limited to the stereotypes that fell within this range.

‘Target’ was one of the pioneers in data analytics to predict shopping patterns of individuals. Information was collected through Loyalty Cards and other data capturing mechanisms. Programs were designed to analyze information that was available on digital platforms and a science of predicting shopping patterns for was born. The difference between this method and the original assumptions made by phycologists was that this program identified behavior on an individual basis rather than stereotyping data.

Target was now able to predict that women were going to get pregnant even before their own pregnancy was confirmed.

5)     How habits form Organizational Culture

Starbucks is the example given in this book that highlights how good habits transform organizational culture. This coffee house is known for its great service and exceptional customer experience.

But how did they get there? Was it simply giving gym memberships and benefits to its employees?

Hmm.. maybe to an extent but it was not the overriding reason.

Even though employees were given training on customer service and people management, they were often left in situations where they were thrown off their guard. For example: A hostile customer may raise their voice and intimidate even the most experienced of baristas. What employees needed were clear instructions about how to deal with inflection points. So the company developed new training materials that spelled out routines for employees to use when they hit rough patches. The manuals thought workers how to respond to specific cues, such as a screaming customer, or a long line at a cash register. Managers drilled employees, role-playing with them until their responses became automatic.

Starbucks taught their employees how to handle moments of adversity by giving them willpower habit loops.

6)     Our habits and patterns are deeper than our consciousness

Our habits filter down to our sub consciousness after our brain get used to a particular pattern. The reason for this is that it conserves energy that could alternatively be used to solve more complicated tasks such as problem solving.

One of the best examples of this is our breathing. We don’t have to concentrate on every breath we take because our sub conscious mind has its software continuously running even when we are not thinking about it.

Through the years, companies like Pepsodent were instrumental in creating habits that lasted lifetimes and generations. If you are not familiar with the brand name, Pepsodent first commercialized toothpaste. Today, 90% of the planet follow daily routines of brushing their teeth. We don’t think about it, but our autopilot programs us to brush our teeth as soon as we wake up. That’s over 6 billion people!

The point is that once we start doing something over and over again – our autopilot eventually kicks in and we are able to complete tasks without even thinking about it.

Remember – our conscious mind is fed on logic where as our sub conscious mind breathes on repetition.