The notion that success is a simple matter of following routine and sticking to good habits isn’t exactly new. But in his just-released book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg explains why. An investigative reporter at the New York Times who also has an MBA, Duhigg taps into insights from biology, sports, consumer products marketing and manufacturing.

How do people kick smoking? How did Procter & Gamble turn Febreze into an also-ran into a big seller? How did Tony Dungy turn his National Football League defenses into champions? How did Paul O’Neill (the executive, not the baseball player) succeed at Alcoa? It all comes down to understanding the power of habits, Duhigg argues. “In the last ten years, our understanding of how habits work has been totally transformed, and companies take advantage of that,” he said.

People, like animals studied by scientists in laboratories, tend to see a feedback loop in their behavior. They are cued or prompted to act in a certain way, respond with a routine behavior, and then receive a reward for the behavior. “If you identify the cues and rewards, you can change the routine,” Duhigg writes. (more…)