5 minute read

A collection of stories about how habit works and impacts out everyday life.

My comments on the book:

  • The book shows examples of where a habit is coded in the human brain and how it is formed and deformed.
  • The best takeaway from the book is the habit loop of “cue –> routine –> reward”. Identifying and acknowledging it is the first step to reshaping or forming a habit.

Part 1: The habit of individuals

The habit loop: How habits work

  • Eugene Pauly case is special. He formed new habits unconsciously but he could not retrieve information of his new habit from the concious part of the brain.
  • Basal ganglia is the part in the centre of the brain that stores habits.

    Habits are like compiled binary files stored in a safe place. You call them in the right context.

  • If we change some cues in the
  • We perform a countless number of habits in our daily life. It saves us a lot of energy for making decisions (from small actions like dressing, brushing to driving, cooking).
  • In the first time we learn something new, the brain works hard to figure out the right way. Then after time and time when you find the right course of action with rewards, the brain activities will reduce every time you take the action and a new habit is formed.

The craving brain: How to create new habits

  • Claude C. Hopkins made millions from Pepsodent by persuading millions of American to start a new daily ritual. His formula of a successful ad is: first, find a simple and obvious cue (the tooth film); second, clearly identify the reward (beautiful teeth).
  • Drake Stimson tried the same formula as Hopkins did but failed to succeeded. He tried to promote a smell removing product called Febreze of P&G. The problem is that people who have smells with their body or in their places are psychologically blind to it. Thus, the formula of cues and rewards does not work here. The third secret ingredient for a success marketing campaign is craving. When you exercise, the reward of long term health is not enough but the endorphins that your brain releases at the end is like something that you crave. The same trick was applied to save the P&G product. They changed the product from odor removal to air freshing. The scent of the Febreze is like what people crave after efforts paid to clean the house.
  • Hopkins actually used the trick of craving without realising it. The Pepsodent uses mint to create a cooling effect in people tongue and mouth after they brush their teeth. It creates the feeling that our brain craving. Eventually, cravings drive habits. Thousands of products around us using this strategy. Shampoo and detergent do not need foam but the foam is a huge reward as consumers want to see that the products do something.

The golden rule of habit change: why transformation occurs

  • From the formation of habits, we could find a way to change a bit. The loop of a habit is: a cue -> routine -> reward. What we have to do to change the habit is to identify the first and change the second. For example, for smoking addiction. The cue could be that your brain feels bored. But instead of pulling out a cigarette, you could have a coffee. The reward will be similar, you got caffeine instead of nicotine.
  • Facts that we have to accept:
    • A bit cannot be eradicated completely, they can only be changed.
    • An old habit could come back in the time of pressure even it has been replaced with the new habit for a while.
    • No matter how much you practice a new habit, you need belief to keep the new habit through the pressure or the desire of come back to the old habit. The belief could be religion or an important event in life. Gather with a community that have the same mindset could help you raise your belief. (think about the case of additions, alcoholism).

Part 2: The habits of successful organizations

Keystone habits, or the ballad of Paul O’Neil: which habits matter most

  • A story of Paul Henry O’Neil transformed Alcoa from changing the safety management of the firm.

Starbucks and the habit of success: when willpower becomes automatic

  • A story of Starbuck and one if its employee named Travis.
  • Delay gratification or willpower is not a skill but it’s like muscles, they could get tired and out of our control. Despite how much training provided, employees who work in F&B service could lose their temper after long hours of work.
  • Those situations that customers get angry and yelling at employees can be anticipated and brought into training programs to make it becomes a habit so that employees could automatically react to those adversities appropriately. (Think about how Michael Phelps could swim blindly when he got into an unexpected issue with his goggles during the race. He was trained for this situation before). And at Starbuck, the mantra for that situation is LATTE (Listen, Acknowledge, Take action, Thanks customer and Explain why it happens).
  • Howard D. Schultz started from a very low position as Travis, his willpower was built by his mother who always believes that he could make them proud of him.

The power of a crisis: How leaders create habits through accident and design

  • Crises increase pressure to make organisational changes. Case study: the bad habit of doctor authority in Rhode Island hospital.
  • Designed crisis: London Underground Risk Management

How Target knows what you want before you do: when companies predict (and manipulate) habits

  • The case of Target to predict someone getting pregnant but try not to let them know that the company knows it.
  • The case of making the ‘Hey Ya’ song be familiar with radio listeners and make them enjoy it.

    When we listen to a new song with unfamiliar rythms to our favourite style while we are working on other tasks (e.g. in the case of listening to radio), we’re likely to feel uncomfortable and switch to some songs that we are familiar with. But if we are relaxed and focus on watching a new MV on Youtube, it’s easier for us to enjoy it.

  • The case of changing the way of cooking to make Americans familiar with organs in their diets.

Part 3: The habits of societies

Saddleback Church and the Montgomery Bus Boycott: how movements happen

  • Story of how Rosa Park with her friends and weak-tied black community could create a historic civil rights movement in American history.

The neurology of free will: are we responsible for our habits?

  • Compare the case of a sleepwalker and a pathological gambler, both commit crimes by following their habits. The sleepwalker follows his habit of self-protection and do it unconsciously but the gambler forms her habit gradually. This habit is close to addiction.

Summary

Framework for reshaping a habit:

  • Identify the routine
  • Experiment with rewards
  • Isolate the cue
  • Have a plan

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