Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)

It’s been at least a week since I finished reading (listening to) this book. This morning, as I flipped through the pages of the hard copy, getting ready to write this review, I was struck by how much of the points and stories of this book came back to me so easily. I think there are three reasons that makes it so.

• The points the author makes are so simple and fundamentally and indisputably true, that you understand it readily. At the same time, they are presented with anecdotes, analogies, explanation and information that make them more interesting and memorable.
• The book is organized well. Each point leads naturally to the next, making the structure of the book obvious.
• Within each section, the main points and supplemental anecdotes/analogies/explanation/information are easy to tell apart. This makes it easy to look for the information you want, when reviewing the book.

The main points of the book are summarized in many articles and blogs – this one, I thought did a thorough and conscientious job.

As a prescriptive nonfiction writer, my 7 takeaways from Covey’s effective writing were the followings.

• It’s not about the beauty of prose, but the clarity of points
• It’s not about me as a writer, but about the readers
• Write to help the readers connect what they already know to the beneficial information I am offering
• Drive the points home repeatedly in various ways:
  • as statements of fact
  • as analogies
  • as anecdotes
  • as academic findings
• Clarify WHY these points are relevant and useful to the readers
• Repeat the key phrases word-by-word.
• Be authentic in my personal anecdotes, my convictions and motives for wanting to share them, and my vulnerability.

On the last point about authenticity… Stephen Covey – the author of “7 Habits…” really moved me when he started the book by sharing his personal anecdote about his family. How in struggling to deal with his son’s difficulties as a parent, he identified the distinction between “Personality Ethic” vs. “Character Ethic.”

“Personal Ethic“, he explains, focuses on human and public relations techniques, and positive mental attitude. Much of the success literature of the last 50 years, including – I suppose – “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (1936) I wrote about in my previous book review – focuses on these “social Band-Aids” that “left the underlying chronic problems untouched to fester and resurface time and again.”

“Character Ethic,” on the other hand, define success as a natural result of “integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty and the Golden Rule.” The author states that “there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.” He lists Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography as an example of these “success literature” based on Character Ethic, published pre-WWI. I find that Alfred Adler’s teachings also resonate with this way of thinking.

The other thing that author makes clear is that our ultimate goal is the ability to build win-win relationship of productive interdependence. People are born dependent, and they grow to gain independence, but true social maturity is the capacity and perspective that enable us to build relationships that are mutually beneficial, and that continues to generate synergy.

Lastly, the author explains the title of the book by defining each word in it. I think this is important.

Habits are “the intersection of knowledge (how to do), skill (what to do) and desire (want to do).” We need all three to build a habit. In order to build a new habit often requires a shift in our paradigm. This can be painful, as it means admission to our old paradigm having been ineffective in some ways. The change has to be “motivated by a higher purpose, by the willingness to subordinate what you think you want now for what you want eventually.”

And the author stresses how his book is not titled “7 Habits of Highly Successful People,” but “Effective People.” What does he mean by effectiveness?

You need to not only take care of the goose (PC) in order to get the golden egg (P), but also care for the goose: appreciate it, and understand the goose’s paradigms (perspective). This is true in building a relationship with another person, managing an organization, but also maintaining your own health and life.

This is one of the few books I own, and will continue to refer to. I am so glad I read it.