The Power of Habit - Review

The pattern of your day will determine the shape of your life. This the theme behind Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit. Readers examine the profound influence that habit has over individual, corporate, and societal living. Duhigg deduces that automatic responses to minor things have a major impact on how we live and the type of people, organizations, and societies we become.

The pattern of your day will determine the shape of your life.

The book is organized into three clear sections which address the power of habit over individuals, organizations, and society. The evidence produced by Duhigg is mostly anecdotal. His arguments are sound but his evidence is weak. Each argument is story driven and makes use of a variety of real world examples. These examples place the reader in the front row before unfolding dramas where an unsolvable problem becomes solved through minor interventions.

I would not recommend reading this book. The back flap will give you all you need to know here. It serves as a minor motivational piece to make small changes that may have great impact. But the overall impression was lacking. I kept waiting for the proprietary insight. Everyone knows that small things matter. Duhigg makes this point abundantly clear over the course of 416 pages. It would have been nice to see less scope and more sequence.