WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK... UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE CHALLENGED TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE, YOUR ORGANIZATION, AND MAYBE ALL OF SOCIETY

The Power of Habit: A Book Review

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a well...powerful read, recommended to anyone looking to understand more about why we do the things we do, and how to control or influence that. I found it to be an especially insightful read for any leader who might be hoping to understand ‘the habit loop’, and can thereby begin the process of turning self-discipline into an organizational habit.

Contrary to how you feel when you look at the cover and title of this book, it’s actually a very easy, fun and interesting read. Charles Duhigg introduces a ton of information, studies and science in an incredibly readable and digestible package--maybe he just needs some better cover design for the next edition.

The book is split into three sections: The Habits of Individuals, The Habits of Successful Organizations, and The Habits of Societies. He explains what he calls ‘The Habit Loop’, the process of cue, routine, reward that all humans (and even other animals) follow consciously or subconsciously. The whole point of this book is this: if you can understand the habit loop enough to be able to elevate your habit actions to the conscious level, then you can change any behavior, no matter how ingrained.

The habit loop is a powerful tool, it can be used to create new habits, and also to change existing habits. This is useful information to be armed with if you are an individual, but also has repercussions in the business word, or in disciplines such as marketing--as he demonstrates in the case of the toothpaste Pepsodent. What’s more, while almost everything that we do fits into some kind of habit, we all also have ‘keystone habits’ those which, when we change one thing, help to change others. Quitting smoking or beginning an exercise regimen can be easily recognizable keystone habits that help folks to also improve their eating habits, time management, sleep patterns, and many other seemingly unrelated habits. Keystone habits are real, and I’m a testament to changing both of these in my life, and seeing their far-reaching effects.

Mr. Duhigg spends a lot of time on will-power, as can be expected for a book on habit, all from a scientific angle. He explains how scientists and researchers have long tried to understand will power, and various key studies have shown a few interesting things. 1) Will power is a muscle. 2) As a muscle, will power gets tired, meaning that it’s harder to flex when you’ve already been using will power for a lot of other things that day. This is the reason that many of us struggle to go to the gym after a long day of work. 3) A sense of agency greatly affects the way that people experience the will power (or self control) muscle fatigue--in English, if you give your employees more choices over their work, they will work much harder. 4) Like any muscle, will power can be strengthened over time, you just have to build in the habits.

Just as human beings have a pattern of habits, whether they realize it or not, organizations are built on habits as well, we usually call them patterns, processes, or ‘the way things have always been done’. Charles explains how, “Destructive organisational habits can be found within hundreds of industries and at thousands of firms. And almost always, they are the products of thoughtlessness, of leaders who avoid thinking about the culture and so let it develop without guidance. There are no organizations without institutional habits. There are only places where they are deliberately designed, and places where they are created without forethought, so they often grow from rivalries or fear.” It’s a sobering thought for any true leader--how much time do you spend thinking about your organizations habits? Do you know what they are? Could you diagram them out into the habit loop and explain to others the ‘cue, routine and response’ that your employees operate with? Could you identify some keystone habits? And, most importantly, are the organizational habits in line with your values and desired culture? Or are they just accidental?

In the final section of the book, Duhigg brings it around to the habits of societies, with the example of how the Montgomery bus boycott helped to kick the civil rights movement into gear, and eventually end segregation and help to change the culture in a significant way. He describes how ‘strong ties’ and ‘weak ties’ work within a community or culture, and how leaders who understand habit, peer pressure and human beings’ communal nature can affect large scale change, even across the nation or the world. We’re going through a pretty exciting time of cultural change right now, and all of us should learn to better lead within this movement.

The author leaves the book with some interesting food for thought: How responsible are we for our habits? You’ve been given a powerful tool--the ability to understand habits. “This framework is a place to start. Sometimes change takes a long time. Sometimes it requires repeated experiments and failures. But once you understand how a habit operates--once you diagnose the cue, the routine and the reward--you gain power over it.” As in the whole book, Charles introduces case studies, examining two interesting stories--that of a sleepwalker who murders his wife during a fit of night terrors, and that of a woman who gambles away more than a million dollars. Society holds one responsible for their own actions, and absolves the other. “That, in some ways, is the point of this book...once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom--and the responsibility--to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work.”

So, Bottom Line Up Front (because I’ll never stop being an Army Officer at heart): This book is not an easy, self help read. In fact, DO NOT read this book unless you want to find yourself extremely motivated and armed with tools to change your own life, change things in your organization, and just maybe, to help change our society. You have been warned.

DANIELLA YOUNG IS AN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND CULTURE CONSULTANT, A TEDx SPEAKER AND AN ALWAYS IMPROVING WRITER. SHE SURVIVED A BRUTAL CHILDHOOD IN A RELIGIOUS CULT, AND THEN CUT HER TEETH IN THE WORLD AS A MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER IN THE US ARMY, GOING TO WAR SEVERAL TIMES. THESE DAYS SHE RUNS HER OWN BUSINESS AND BUNKER LABS SEATTLE, A NON-PROFIT THAT HELPS VETERANS AND MILITARY SPOUSES BECOME LEADERS IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION. SHE’S MARRIED TO A SORT OF COOL SPECIAL OPERATIONS HELICOPTER PILOT AND OWNS A VERY PRECOCIOUS TRILINGUAL THREE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER.

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