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Narrated by Mike Chamberlain
Charles DuhiggUnabridged — 10 hours, 22 minutes
Narrated by Mike Chamberlain
Charles DuhiggUnabridged — 10 hours, 22 minutes
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New York Times best seller ¿ From the author of The Power of Habit comes a fascinating book that explores the science of productivity, and why managing how you think is more important than what you think¿with an appendix of real-world lessons to apply to your life.
At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key productivity concepts¿from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making¿that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics¿as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters¿this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don't merely act differently.
They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.
A young woman drops out of a PhD program and starts playing poker. By training herself to envision contradictory futures, she learns to anticipate her opponents' missteps¿and becomes one of the most successful players in the world.
A group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function, and find that how a group interacts is more important than who is in the group¿a principle, it turns out, that also helps explain why Saturday Night Live became a hit.
A Marine Corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp¿and discovers that instilling a "bias toward action" can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers.
The filmmakers behind Disney's Frozen are nearly out of time and on the brink of catastrophe¿until they shake up their team in just the right way, spurring a creative breakthrough that leads to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
What do these people have in common?
They know that productivity relies on making certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to drive innovation; the way we interact with data: These are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.
In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity, deep reporting, and rich storytelling to explain how we can improve at the things we do. It's a groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help anyone learn to succeed with less stress and struggle, and to get more done without sacrificing what we care about most-to become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do.
Many of the stories are terrific; my favorites were about the early seasons of Saturday Night Live, F.B.I. agents racing to rescue a kidnapping victim, and a poker player competing in a $2 million winner-take-all tournament. And Duhigg is a pleasure to read. Unlike a lot of contributors to this genre, he's a journalist, not a professor, and it shows in his prose…Duhigg's skill as a storyteller makes his book so engaging to read.
02/15/2016
Journalist Duhigg (The Power of Habit) shares his conversations with productive people in this manual for increasing productivity. From this fieldwork he draws eight commonalities, treated in individual chapters. He places particular emphasis on the importance of individual agency and engagement: according to him, success comes from proactive transformation, as opposed to passive acceptance. The book's major source consists of the interviewees' stories, so it makes sense that the discussion is more narrative than data-driven. Many examples are recent, relevant, and fresh—such as the story of creative triumph that was the development of the hit film Frozen. The narrative can feel like one under-analyzed anecdote after another, but Duhigg's accessible prose comes across as appropriate for the subject matter, since it ensures that his points about behaving proactively can be absorbed quickly and easily. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Mar.)
A pleasure to read . . . [Charles] Duhigg’s skill as a storyteller makes his book so engaging to read.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Not only will Smarter Faster Better make you more efficient if you heed its tips, it will also save you the effort of reading many productivity books dedicated to the ideas inside.”—Bloomberg Businessweek
“Duhigg pairs relatable anecdotes with the research behind why some people and businesses are not as efficient as others. . . . He takes readers from inside the cockpit of a crashing plane to the writing room of Disney’s Frozen.”—Chicago Tribune
“The book covers a lot of ground through meticulous reporting and deft analysis, presenting a wide range of case studies . . . with insights that apply to the rest of us.”—The Wall Street Journal
“[Duhigg] looks at the numerous ways that people can become more effective, whether in improving motivation, setting goals, making decisions or thinking creatively . . . [He’s] an effective storyteller with a knack for combining social science, fastidious reporting and entertaining anecdotes.”—The Economist
“Engagingly written, solidly reported, thought-provoking and worth a read.”—Associated Press
“Charles Duhigg is the master of the life hack.”—GQ
“A gifted storyteller, Duhigg . . . combines his reporting skills with cutting-edge research in psychology and behavioural economics to explain why some companies and people get so much done, while some fail. Almost all books written in this genre are full of case studies and stories, but Duhigg’s storytelling skills make this book memorable and persuasive. Duhigg succeeds in challenging our mindsets and existing thought processes. It is not just another productivity book. It is about making sense of overwhelming data we live with.”—The Financial Express
“There are valuable lessons in Smarter, Faster, Better. . . . Duhigg is a terrific storyteller, and a master of the cliffhanger.”—Financial Times
“As he did in The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg melds cutting-edge science, deep reporting, and wide-ranging stories to give us a fuller, more human way of thinking about how productivity actually happens. He manages to reframe an entire cultural conversation: Being productive isn’t only about the day-to-day and to-do lists. It’s about seeing our lives as a series of choices, and learning that we have power over how we think about the world.”—Susan Cain, author of Quiet
“A brilliant distillation of the personal and organizational behaviors that produce extraordinary results. Duhigg uses engaging storytelling to highlight fascinating research and core principles that we can all learn and use in our daily lives. A masterful must-read for anyone who wants to get more (and more creative) stuff done.”—David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
“Charles Duhigg has a gift for asking just the right question, and then igniting the same curiosity in the rest of us. In Smarter Faster Better he finds provocative answers to a riddle of our age: how to become more productive (by two times, or even ten times) and less busy, how to be more effective in the world and more in control of our lives. Duhigg has rendered, yet again, a great service with his sharp, lucid prose.”—Jim Collins, author of Good to Great
03/01/2016
Everyone is busy, but not everyone is productive, says New York Times reporter Duhigg (The Power of Habit), who here explores the hows and whys of eight ideas that he feels are most important to expand effectiveness in the workplace. By using case studies, research reports, and experiences from a variety of industries, the author hopes to make everyone smarter, faster, and better at what needs to be accomplished, and to understand why some people and companies are more efficient than others. While the chapters deal with such topics as motivation, psychological safety in teams, focus, goal setting, and absorbing data, the examples are so enjoyable that Duhigg's point often tends to get lost. Other concepts include creative desperation, information blindness, reactive thinking, and cognitive tunneling. Even the notes section at the end makes for a compelling narrative. VERDICT Although a fascinating read in which the pages turn quickly, the author's goals may not have been realized. For readers who enjoy their business lessons disguised as entertaining stories, although in this case, absorbing the main arguments will require diligence.—Bonnie A. Tollefson, Rogue Valley Manor Lib., Medford, OR
Mike Chamberlain engagingly narrates the author’s look at productivity and how people get things done. While Duhigg does examine eight ideas that increase productivity, this is really more of an exploration of the topic itself than a guidebook for how to achieve greater productivity. As the text winds through different areas, including neuroscience, probabilistic thinking, goal setting, and decision-making, Chamberlain provides a straightforward and evenly paced delivery. His consistent narration style adds continuity as Duhigg’s examples intertwine and are revisited. E.N. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
★ 2016-01-02
Why some people are more productive than others. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Duhigg follows up his bestselling The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (2012) with a revealing, brightly written exploration of the ways in which successful people make the right choices necessary to succeed with less effort. Drawing on research studies and innumerable interviews with neurologists, businesspeople, government leaders, and psychologists, the author identifies a series of key ideas that help expand productivity. In absorbing stories from every corner of life, he shows how these ideas explain why some people get so much done. Each chapter offers a remarkable blend of anecdotes and science illustrating concepts that clearly have much to offer individuals and companies striving for greater productivity. In Marine Corps training and nursing homes, he finds people are more motivated when they feel in control. Teams like the original group that created Saturday Night Live thrive in a place made safe for risk-taking. In accounts of the experiences of FBI agents, educators, airline pilots, and others, Duhigg explains the importance of creating mental models ("we must take control of our attention"), having large ambitions and realistic plans (rather than "achievable but inconsequential goals"), and managing people successfully in a culture of commitment and trust. In making decisions—in poker, for instance—we must see the future as having multiple possibilities. In innovating, we must be mindful that fast originality often lies in using proven ideas from elsewhere in new ways. Finally, in workplaces inundated with information, we can learn from data by actually doing something with it, as happened in the recent overhaul of the Cincinnati public school system. In each instance, Duhigg shows an uncanny ability to find just the right exciting example of productivity-boosting methods, leaving readers to nod in recognition that they might act in the same way to improve their lives and work. Highly informative and entertaining and certain to have wide appeal.
| BN ID: | 2940172107764 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 03/08/2016 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 411,676 |
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Excerpted from "Smarter Faster Better"
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Copyright © 2016 Charles Duhigg.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
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