I have never read a self help or personal development book. No, that's not quite correct. I've read most of "How to read a book" and "How to read a poem" completely, although they mainly try to help one read literature better, than help one develop oneself in general.
So what made me consider a personal development book, at this point ? Because, I am fortunate to live in an era when one can live life to the maximum, as long as one remains relevant, and keeps oneself updated. Professionally too, I am involved in a field that reinvents itself every few years. It was around 4-5 years back, I learned the fundamentals of Software defined Storage, after making a name for myself as a Storage Specialist, in the traditional sense in the computing world. Now it is time to master code as infrastructure - and it posing more challenging than ever, more so because I've never been a pure coder. Besides I found that with my daily commitments towards family, my habits of indulging in reading and listening to music for pleasure, as well as times just chilling, ate up whatever time I need to spend on reinventing myself ( professionally ). I felt that if I can overcome certain habits, and stick to the endless time tables I draw for myself, that it should facilitate myself, in efficient usage of limited time. It is with this intent I started reading this book. ( I wrote the above since I had to sideline certain advice from some of my friends who said that "self help books need to be avoided like the plague" - a notion that I too had agreement towards till now. But I need to address certain issues.
So does this book help ? Well, yes, in a way that it stresses on the message that there is no "one model fit all" for habit breaking or rearranging, but that with enough passion, commitment and careful observing that it can be done. It is also true, that what the author states here could possibly said in clear indication in a 30 page document. But then, the author doesn't restrict himself to writing a "how to?" kind of book. He attempts to explain psychology behind habits, and the psychology that you must comprehend to overcome those habits. He doesn't restrict himself to elaborating in fighting undesirable habits at a personal level - he extends it to corporate habits and how to break them, examples of exploitation of habits by the corporate of the gullible millions thanks to the new gold - information, and how the brain behaves with respect to habits such that sleep walkers can commit murder and are pardoned by the law understanding the basic traits behind it and, how gamblers too come near a similar definition.
Certain important concepts are covered in some detail, during the journey of this book. Keystone Habit is one such, where one pattern had to addressed, in order to reprogram the other routines in life, as well. This can be addressed at corporate level too, as the example of Alcoa shown here explains.At an individual level it helped Michael Phelps become an Olympic champion, as his coach Bowman firmly believed that he needed to target a series of behaviours, for Phelps to become a champion, since he was a born swimmer. In academic literature, Keystone habits are referred to as "small wins".
The basic premise of habits is this:
"Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness, or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission, but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts."
In terms of "fiddling" with them, there are some good historical records of how it succeeds. Pepsodent toothpaste is one such which changed the dental habits of the whole nation, where a certain craving in the brain feeds a habit loop.
Tony Dungy, who became the first Afro-American coach to win a Super Bowl, used the strength of habits in his coaching. He had identified that the behaviour of the habit could be changed as long as the cue and the reward stayed the same. Alcoholics Anonymous has many success stories, since they follow a similar strategy, as it helps alcoholics use the same cues and get same rewards, but tries to shift the routine."There are no organizations without institutional habits."
"If you follow the established patterns and abide by the truce, then rivalries won't destroy the company, the profits will roll in, and, eventually, eventually everyone will get rich."
Although, I started reading this book with the aim of tweaking my personal habits, the section on corporate habits and how tweaking them when necessary leads to major positive changes, was an interesting read. Especially the example on top 40 music was of special personal interest to me.
"People listen to Top 40 music because the want to hear their favorite songs or songs that sound just like their favorite songs. When something different comes on, they're offended. They don't want anything unfamiliar.",
John Garabedian who hosted the syndicated top 40 stated, since "Hey Ya" by OutKast which was predicted by "Hit Song science", an analytical program, to do more than just well, had failed. For it sounded a little different with its fusion of funk, rock, hip hop and Big band swing. Despite this prediction by the program, those n the industry soon realised that most hated the song. This was while bands like 3 doors down, bands which were so featureless, critics and listeners created a new category, "bath rock" to describe their tepid sound. I found this very interesting, for most o fthose who claim to "love music" simply don't put the necessary effort to discover new music. Rather they consider new music to be what is served among the pool of the top 40 songs. Here this:
"When Celine Dion releases a new song- and it sounds like every other song she's sung, as well as most of the other songs on the radio - our brains unconsciously crave its recognizability and the song becomes sticky."
It was this - the unfamiliarity of "Hey ya" was turning listeners off from the song, although Hit Song science predicted it to be a hit.
"Radio listeners didn't make a conscious decision each time they were presented with a new song. Instead, they wanted to to follow a habit. Much of the time, we don't actually choose if we like or dislike a song. It would take too much mental effort."
"Hey Ya" had to sandwiched between already popular songs, so that it became part of an established listening habit.
It is here I like to digress a bit. Although I am well aware of music fans who listen to a wider array of music that I do ( for I give hip-hop, genre wide miss) , I too usually end up listening to about 40-45 new music albums per year, listening to each 4-5 time at least to see whether they have potential to end up classics. I even compile an year end top 20 each year ( am in the process of compiling it these days). I am not knowledgeable about the finer details of music, but I know that upon 4-5 listens, most music prove to be either to my liking, or of no special interest - sometimes 1-2 listens is all it takes to embrace an album, or delete it from my files for good. This effort I put, almost daily as I try out new music, since I have come to realise that to familarise myself with new music, which doesn't sound like all other music, an effort is needed. Honestly, I wouldn't even consider listening to new music as enjoyment in the everyday sense, for it involves a workman like effort, till it starts make sense to you - either liking it or not liking it ( am listening to the new "Doves" album, to make me realise whether I like it enough to land it in the top 20, or whether it might miss it. )
Other interesting anecdotes included here, is one on Rosa Parks (1955) which led to the subsequent abrogation of bus seating segregation according to colour. The power of weak ties is explained as the fundamental behind the Rosa Parks episode. It feeds a sense of obligation, leading to peer pressure.
The last chapter of the book discusses the neurology of free will, where a sleep walker who "accidentally" kills his wife, and a habitual gambler, who had been fed on by a gambling house are taken as examples.
"...in the eyes of the law Bachman is responsible for her habits, and Thomas isn't. Is it right that Bachman, a gambler, is guiltier than Thomas, a murderer? What does that tell us about the ethics of habit and choice?"The book concludes with a useful APPENDIX on how to use these ideas. It proposes a framework:
- Identify the Routine
- Experiment with Rewards
- Isolate the cue
- Have plan
An important observation on cues mentioned here is,
"reason why it is so hard to identify the cues that trigger our habits is because there is too much information bombarding us as our behaviors unfold."
All in all it was a useful read, and it has given me enough pointers to work on my initial interest. Probably for the better, that it has no very clear indications ( although it sure does come close in the Appendix ), on how exactly any habit tweaking can be done, although what is said enough for one hungry enough to work on them. Maybe in a few months, or a year or so on from now, there will be an added note to this write up to report, if it is a success. A failure might even see me not returning to the post.
Genre - Self Development / Psychology
No comments:
Post a Comment