Smarter Faster Better

February 15, 2016
Journalist Duhigg (The Power of Habit) shares his conversations with productive people in this manual for increasing productivity. From this fieldwork he draws eight commonalities, treated in individual chapters. He places particular emphasis on the importance of individual agency and engagement: according to him, success comes from proactive transformation, as opposed to passive acceptance. The book's major source consists of the interviewees' stories, so it makes sense that the discussion is more narrative than data-driven. Many examples are recent, relevant, and freshâsuch as the story of creative triumph that was the development of the hit film Frozen. The narrative can feel like one under-analyzed anecdote after another, but Duhigg's accessible prose comes across as appropriate for the subject matter, since it ensures that his points about behaving proactively can be absorbed quickly and easily. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency.

March 1, 2016

Everyone is busy, but not everyone is productive, says New York Times reporter Duhigg (The Power of Habit), who here explores the hows and whys of eight ideas that he feels are most important to expand effectiveness in the workplace. By using case studies, research reports, and experiences from a variety of industries, the author hopes to make everyone smarter, faster, and better at what needs to be accomplished, and to understand why some people and companies are more efficient than others. While the chapters deal with such topics as motivation, psychological safety in teams, focus, goal setting, and absorbing data, the examples are so enjoyable that Duhigg's point often tends to get lost. Other concepts include creative desperation, information blindness, reactive thinking, and cognitive tunneling. Even the notes section at the end makes for a compelling narrative. VERDICT Although a fascinating read in which the pages turn quickly, the author's goals may not have been realized. For readers who enjoy their business lessons disguised as entertaining stories, although in this case, absorbing the main arguments will require diligence.--Bonnie A. Tollefson, Rogue Valley Manor Lib., Medford, OR

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2016
Investigative reporter Duhigg defines productivity as attempting to realize the most meaningful rewards with the best uses of our energy, intellect, and time by learning to succeed with less effort and stressand by efficiently accomplishing tasks without sacrificing other priorities. His eight concepts to expand productivity include innovation, motivation, mental models, and the correct way to set goals. A skillful storyteller, the author weaves his thought-provoking ideas into lessons learned from interviews of businesspeople, government leaders, psychologists, and others. One standout anecdote tells how, under enormous time pressure, with its creative team spinning, Disney promoted an underling to be, effectively, a film's codirector. This shake-up launched the all-time highest-grossing animated film, Frozen. We also learn about the world's most famous woman poker player, whose mastery of decision making stems from leaning to live with uncertainty and constantly updating her assumptions while thinking probabilistically having the ability to hold multiple conflicting outcomes in your mind and estimate their relative likelihoods. This is an excellent book, suitable for most public libraries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)