Science of Habit
We all have habits. It drives our daily lives. Some are good that we want to develop, and others we know are bad and try to get rid of. Good habits are our best friends. They help us achieve constructive results which are sustainable- leading to a healthy and happy life. However, bad habits results in losses and sometimes excruciating pain both mental and physical. Lately, I became very interested in this topic. The objective was to understand why we behave the way we do (procrastination, haphazardness, alcoholism etc), and what can we do to inculcate good habits? So I started researching this subject and looking for material to read. I found some very good books which explain the "science of habit", and more importantly, concluded that all habits can be changed if one is conscious of its existence and work earnestly towards altering them.
The book that has greatly enhanced my understanding is authored by Charles Duhigg called "The Power of Habit". I am deeply moved by its content. It has dealt with the subject most scientifically and has dwelled into all aspects of habit - be it individual, organizations or societies.
How brain powers habits?
A habit is powered by the tissue in our brain called "basal ganglia". This part of the brain controls all automatic behaviors, such as breathing, and our impromptu reactions triggered by an external threat. Unlike the other parts of the brain the "basal ganglia" consumes very little energy and drives actions effortlessly. According to one estimate, almost 40% of the activities that we do daily are driven by "basal ganglia". Thus leaving the brain with enough energy for other important activities, like acquiring new skills, driving innovations and inventions. This significantly enhances the working efficiency of the brain and has a spillover impact on other parts of the body - which otherwise would have to be increased in size to handle a larger food intake to power a much bigger brain (25% of the total energy generated by the body in consumed by the brain alone).
How habits work?
As per Charles Duhigg, a habit is processed within our brain in a three-step loop. First, there is a "cue", a trigger that tells the brain to go into automatic mode and which of the habit (actions) to use. Second is the "routine", which can be physical, mental, or emotional. Finally, there is a "reward", which helps the brain to decide if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future. This process of a cue, routine and routine if repeated sufficiently become more or less automatic and effortless - resulting in a powerful sense of anticipation for reward described as "craving". It is this sense of craving, which is an anticipation of a reward (presence of a specific cue), more than the reward itself, drives the habit loop.
How to inculcate habits?
The Pepsodent Example
Managing the "Craving Brain" is the key to inculcating habits. To illustrate this fact the Charles has described how Claude Hopkins turned Pepsodent into one of the best-known products on the earth and in the process helped Americans pick up the toothbrushing habit. At that time, poor dental hygiene was widely acknowledged as a national problem. Claude Hopkins was a marketing guru and had successfully pushed up the sales of many other consumer products. To promote the sales of Pepsodent Hopkins claimed that brushing regularly with Pepsodent will remove the "film" that grows naturally over teeth with time and discolors it. This was the reward that he promised and he decided to leverage the natural craving of each one of us for beautiful teeth. However, Hopkins was not alone in making such claims. In past others also tried making similar claims but failed. Then what was so different in the case of Hopkins? Unlike other pastes of the period, Pepsodent contained citric acid, as well as doses of mint oil and other chemicals. These created a cool, tingling sensation on the tongue and gums. It seems the folks using Pepsodent were craving for this feeling as if it wasn't there their mouth did not feel clean. Over time, other brands have also discovered this secret and now all bands are using chemicals to trigger the sensation of craving.
The Febreze Example
The P&G's experience with the product "Febreze" is a fantastic example of a habit loop in action. Scientists working at P&G invented a substance called HPBCD which had the potential of removing all kinds of smell (animals, cigarettes, bad odor etc). The marketing department at P&G positioned the product as one that removes all kinds of smell, but no one picked on it. The sales dwindled. On investigation, it was found that the folks who were targeted as potential customers never really felt the need to get rid of the smell, as their olfactory capacities got damaged due to prolonged exposure to an odor of a particular kind (no cue to trigger the habit loop). Hence, the product was relaunched by adding a unique fragrance which one is likely to crave. It was positioned as a psychological reward that the brain expects at the end of a cleaning routine (end of cleaning process was the cue, and the reward was the sense of satisfaction emanating out of the unique fragrance). The sales exploded, and later P&G also informed their client that, in addition to smelling good, Febreze can also kill bad odors.
Cravings are what drives habits, and the key to inculcating a habit is to identify the craving that one is looking for. It can be either physical or emotional (like feeling good about something).
How to change habits?
Imprints of old habits never get erased from the brain, so as per Charles in order to change a habit one must keep the old cue and the reward, but insert a new routine. In order to explain this golden rule, Charles describes the story of a past addict named Bill Wilson - who later ran a world-renowned agency called Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the most well-known and successful habit-changing organization in the world. What is strange though is the methods used by Bill (now famously called the twelve steps), do not have any scientific basis whatsoever. The reason it works is the ability of the program to inculcate a "belief system" in them (apart from changing routine) that convinces the addict to stay sober by making reworked habit loop permanent. It seems for Bill the "belief system" is the key to overcoming the enticement of constant craving for alcohol and the enormous willpower that gets consumed in the process required to stay focused.
However, recognizing the cue which triggers the habit is the first step. As only then one can make a conscious effort to alter the routine with a new activity. Hence, every deaddiction program starts with an awareness training. As often one really do not understand the craving that is driving the routine unless one consciously looks for it.
What are Keystone Habits?
Often one encounters the challenge of simultaneously changing many existing habitual routines in order to achieve objectives, like losing weight, improving academic performance, or enhancing business outcome etc. The situation that we are currently in is an aggregation of many bad habits (eating fatty foods, lack of exercises, disorganized behavior etc) which we aspire to change. As per conventional wisdom, in order for us to achieve the desired result, we need to transform our behavior radically, otherwise, gains will erode. However, attacking all routines simultaneously for change can be very overwhelming and will consume a lot of willpower. It has been observed that folks (attempting a change) quickly give up and fold themselves back into their previous routine. Hence, instead of pushing for a radical change focusing on "Keystone Habits" can be very effective. The reason these "Keystone habits" are important, as the success, doesn't depend on getting every single thing right, but instead on identifying a few key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers for transformation.
In the book, Charles describes how O'Neill (new CEO) of Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America) revived its fortunes by just focusing on just one single objective, i.e "worker safety".Bowman's (Michael's coach) focus on targeting a few specific habits of Michael Phelps, which helped him win Gold Medal (in world record time) in the Beijing Olympics even when Michael swam the last lap virtually blind (water had entered his goggles). Similarly, one attempting to lose weight has been greatly benefited by "food journal" (maintaining a diary record of their day to day menu). Exercising is considered as a keystone habit, due to the spillover impact of other aspects of life, like increased work efficiency, better food habits etc.
How to manage willpower?
As per Charles willpower is not a skill but it is a muscle, like all other muscle in the body it can be worked to make it stronger and it can get tired if it is overworked. Folks with stronger willpower are better empowered to alter their habit loop compared with folks with weaker willpower. The student with stronger "willpower" do better in studies and all other aspects of life. The good news is that we all can consciously work to strengthen our willpower. The book describes how Starbucks succeeded in teaching the kind of life skills that schools, families and communities have failed to provide. Starbucks adopted a unique system of training employees called the LATTE method. They Listen to the customer, Acknowledge their complaint, Take action by solving the problem, Thank them, and then Explain why the problem occurred. This made Starbucks one of the most successful companies in the world and helped outperform its competitors.
How habits get manipulated (The familiarity loop)?
We all know that companies are able to predict consumer behavior due to the enormous amount of data they end up collecting. The book gives an example of US retail store called Target as to how its data crunching system was able to identify pregnant women (based on their past buying pattern) far quicker than any of their nearest competitors. The challenge was how to send them buying coupons without triggering anti-privacy laws and inviting consumer wrath. So Target camouflaged its coupons (of pregnancy products) with along with other items which no pregnant women will buy, and their sales sore. This is almost similar to what music companies did when they tried to sell a song called "Hey Ya", which was so different from conventional songs that no one liked it at the first instance. The idea was to leverage the important aspect of the human brain which tends to converge to objects/sounds which appear familiar. The radio stations sandwiched the song "Hey Ya" between two already hit numbers. This prevented the listener from switching stations when the song "Hey Ya" was played. Constant repetition made the song familiar and turned "Hey Ya" into a hit so much so that it ended up winning grammy.
How habits impact societies?
In the book, Charles describes how habits of a community and the weak ties between its members hold neighbor and clans together. Peer pressure can drive these social habits into a mass movement. He describes how bus segregation laws which resulted in the arrest of Rosa Park (African American women) in Montgomery led to a mass movement even pulling Martin Luther King into the struggle. But, nothing similar happened in past despite similar arrests and torture. Unlike others, Rosa Park was popular and had deep ties and relationships in the community. This also explains why a particular community behaves in a particular way compared to others.
Are we responsible for our habits?
This is the concluding chapter and the most interesting part of the book. It tries to answer the complex question that since habits are driven subconsciously by the brain (conscious part of the brain shuts down), should we be responsible for our actions emanating due to our habits? It gives two examples, one of a guy called Thomas who killed his wife subconsciously while sleep-walking. The second was of Angie Bachmann who lost her fortune gambling. Thomas was acquitted by the court as he was not even aware of his actions while committing the crime. Whereas in a bankruptcy case against Angie's lenders, the court found Angie fully responsible for her actions as she was fully aware of the consequences and made no real effort to change it (her gambling habit).
This book is a fantastic reference which provides us with new insights into the "Science of habits". It describes all the tools that we can use to change our habits leading to a successful and happy life.