The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

Parts of this book are very, very interesting; other parts less so. The author covers habits from 3 perspectives: personal, corporate, cultural/societal. The section on how habits function in our personal lives was quite compelling–aren’t we always fascinated by how our own brains operate? Duhigg takes apart the triggers and rewards that create habits. I now feel like I have the tools to understand how habits are formed and how they can be broken–there are a few of my own I’m ready to tackle. The section on corporate habits was also very interesting–the Alcoa story was particularly fascinating. I’m bogged down in the final section on cultural stuff; somehow I think it’s more complex than the author’s explanations. I’m listening to the book and not sure I’ll be able to finish the last 2 CDs–the narrator’s not great so I’ve been slogging through despite lackluster narration, but now it’s really grating.