By Kathy Andrews

In his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg suggests that understanding how habits work is the key to losing weight, giving up smoking, becoming more productive, improving organizational performance, and leading successful social movements.

As an investigative reporter for The New York Times, Duhigg presents a wide array of interesting anecdotes to make his case, a sampling of which includes: Claude C. Hopkins, an advertising guru who turned Pepsodent into the first bestselling toothpaste; how Target can tell which of its female customers are pregnant; how Michael Phelps’ coach instilled habits that made him an Olympic champion; and how Tony Dungy turned the Indianapolis Colts into a Super Bowl-winning team.

Scientists say that habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save on effort. An efficient brain allows us to stop thinking about basic routines, such as walking or choosing what to eat, so we can devote mental energy to things like troubleshooting or product innovation.

Framing Habits: Cue, Routine, Reward
Duhigg presents a simple framework for understanding how habits work. It is based on a straightforward neurological loop at the core of every habit, a loop that consists of three parts: a cue, a routine and a reward.

Source: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Appendix), by Charles Duhigg, 2012. Retrieved from http://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work

The cue for a habit triggers our brain to go into automatic mode (e.g., time of day or familiar surroundings). A habit’s routine is the behaviour you wish to change or reinforce. The routine can be physical, mental or emotional; the reward is the reason the brain decides the previous steps are worth remembering for the future.

The “Golden Rule” of habit change notes that you can never quite remove a bad habit. Instead, you need to substitute a new routine between the old cue and the reward. Bad habits are overcome by learning new routines and practicing them over and over again.

Although the author acknowledges that some habits are harder to break than others (such as compulsions or addictions), he presents this framework as a place to start.

Starting a Chain Reaction
Duhigg describes the concept of “keystone habits,” which are those habits that have the power to start a chain reaction, changing other patterns, and, over time, ultimately leading to significant transformation.

Making your bed every day, for example, is correlated with greater productivity, a greater sense of emotional well-being, and stronger skills at sticking with a budget. This is an encouraging idea, as “keystone habits” don’t require us to get everything right, but, instead, rely on identifying a few key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers for change.

A Caveat for Organizational Application
It’s not always clear from Duhigg’s book how we should translate these individual examples into a prescription for change at the group or organizational level. Habitual behaviours and cultural norms come in many different forms. Looking at them all through the same lens fails to account for the nuances of how to change organizational or societal behaviour effectively.

Nonetheless, The Power of Habit is a worthwhile and enjoyable book, and readers will find useful advice about how to change at least some of their habits.

Kathy Andrews, MA, PIDP, is a Vancouver-based strategic organizational development consultant with 15 years’ experience in progressive human resource practices, leadership development, and organizational change. She is currently working on changing several habits! She can be reached at kathy@thecoachingstudio.ca or 604-506-7455. Or visit www.thecoachingstudio.ca for more information.