Supercommunicators

Title:  Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Author:  Charles Duhigg

Publication Information:  Random House. 2024. 320 pages.

ISBN:  0593243919 / 978-0593243916

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "If there was one thing everyone knew about Felix Signal, it was that he was easy to talk to."

Favorite Quote:  "... listening means letting someone else tell their story and then, even if you don't agree with them, trying to understand why they feel that way."

Reading a book on communication is a double edged sword. On the one hand, many of us read and receive training on the topic - in school, on the job, through self-education, and through experience. Thus, reading another book about the ideas can sometimes feel like it rehashes the same thoughts and skills. On the other hand, our modes of communication may have changed, but human nature has not. Individual needs to be heard and understood remain constant. As such, even though the concepts of such a book may not be new, reading another's interpretation of it and another packaging of it can sometimes teach me something new - a new way of looking at the same thing. For that nugget of truth, a book such as this proves its value.

This book is structured around three kinds of conversations:

• "What's this really about conversation?"
• How do we feel conversation?"
• Who are we conversation?"

The first may be practical. The second is emotional. The third is about identity. The concern with this structure is that is any conversation truly about only one of these facets or is it always a mix of all three? Likely the latter. However, perhaps, it can be understood that the primary focus of the conversation may just be one.

The book set out four conversation rules:

• Rule one:  Pay attention to what kind of conversation is occurring.
• Rule two:  Share your goals, and ask what others are seeking.
• Rule three:  Ask about others' feelings, and share your own.
• Rule four:  Explore if identities are important to this discussion.

Again, the ideas are not new. Think listening triangle. Think Stephen Covey's "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Think about many other books and articles that have been written about this topic.

Beyond the ideas are the stories the author uses to anchor the framework to situations. As may be expected, some I relate to. Some I do not.

What I love best about this book is actually captured in its subtitle. Communication is about connection. Particularly, as communication shifts to media that are remote and electronic, connection remains at the heart of it. That reminder is the lesson I will take.

As with other books such as this, I will take what works for me and leave the rest. Your value will vary based on what you bring to it.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

Smarter Faster Better

Title:  Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

Author:  Charles Duhigg

Publication Information:  Random House. 2016. 400 pages.

ISBN:  081299339X / 978-0812993394

Book Source:  I received this book as a publisher's galley through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "My introduction to the science of productive began in the summer of 2011, when I asked a friend of a friend for a favor."

Favorite Quote:  "Productivity isn't about working more or sweating harder ... Rather, productivity is about making certain choices in certain ways."

The title of this book reminds me of the Olympic motto - three Latin words that translate to Faster - Higher - Stronger. I do not know if that connection is behind the naming of the book, but with the three words, the image of a person running towards a goal, and the intent of helping people improve performance, the connection does occur to me.

I am not quite sure what to say about this book. I enjoy reading it. I enjoy the variety of the case studies presented. Yet, at the end of it, I am not quite sure what I learn from it. This book address a topic often addressed - productivity - but does so in with broad philosophical brush.

I can best explain with a comparison that takes a completely different approach to the topic. In the world of self improvement literature, it becomes a question of what works better for you.

David Allen's book Getting Things Done:  The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is by title and stated intent about the same topic - productivity. That book lays out flowcharts, tools, and very specific and concrete processes about how to manage workload and to accomplish goals in a productive manner.

This book, in comparison, lays out "the eight ideas that seem most important in expanding productivity": motivation, teams, focus, goal setting, managing other, decision making, innovation, and absorbing data.  An introduction provides a little background on how the book came to be and an appendix applies the eight ideas to the author's process of writing the book itself. In between, eight chapters address each idea in turn.

Each chapter is more a compilation of case studies that illustrate the idea than a cohesive piece on what that idea entails. For example, the chapter on absorbing data uses case studies based on Cincinnati Public Schools, Chase Manhattan Bank, and a high school freshman by the name of Delia Morris. The case studies are quick and easy to read; the author is very much a storyteller in this regard.

Some are more successful than others in illustrating the ideas and adding to the value of the book. No surprises in finding case studies from Google and Disney in a book about productivity and creativity. These organizations are cited in almost every recent book on the topic. Thus, while interesting to read again, they don't bring new information. Others such as the Cincinnati schools, the crash of airline jet, and the FBI investigation of a kidnapping are new to me, and, as such, make the book stand out from the others already written on the topic.

The case studies are presented in an intermingled fashion - pieces of one, sections of another, then perhaps back to the first, and so on. Not all the chapters then pull the ideas into a cohesive statement of ideology, but rather leave the reader with the lessons of the case study itself. The chapters themselves seems to stand independently rather than as pieces of the productivity puzzle. As such, the book is somewhat like reading a collection of well written, well told, and easily read stories rather than a cohesive powerful message on productivity.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.

The Power of Habit

Title:  The Power of Habit

Author:  Charles Duhigg

Publication Information:  Random House. 2012. 400 pages.

Book Source:  I received this book through the GoodReads First Reads program free of cost in exchange for an honest review. The book came as a paperback advance reader's copy.

Favorite Quote:  "All habits....have three components....There's a cue...a routine...and a reward."

The Power of Habit is subtitled Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. It presents one approach to why individual and organizational habits form and what can be done to change them. It presents the idea of the habit loop - a trigger, a routine or habit, and the reward.

The book presents numerous examples of the application of this habit loop at a personal and corporate level. Examples range from army operations in Iraq to Pepsodent toothpaste and Febreeze, from a person's mid-afternoon snack to the operations of large companies like Starbucks and Alcoa.

The idea is a conceptually simple one. Change the routine in a way to respond to the trigger and get the same reward. Practice it over and over again until you do it without thinking - in other words, until it becomes a habit. I find it a useful framework to keep in mind but not a magic solution to changing all bad habits. Implementing this idea is the real challenge. The examples in the book provide a glimpse of how individuals and companies have successfully done so.

I really enjoyed reading this book. At a basic level, the book is an entertaining read, and the example stories are a fun look at our culture and some people and companies that are household names. At a more thinking level, the framework in the book provides a valuable tool for personal growth. It is not the answer for every bad habit, but definitely for many. Now the question is, can I apply it effectively in my life to change some habits? Can you?