Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business
From the author of the New York Times bestselling phenomenon The Power
of Habit comes a fascinating new book that explores the science of
productivity, and why, in today’s world, managing how you think—rather than
what you think—can transform your life.
A young woman drops out of
a PhD program and starts playing poker. By training herself to envision
contradictory futures, she learns to anticipate her opponents’ missteps—and
becomes one of the most successful players in the world.
A group of
data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams
function, and find that how a group interacts is more important than who is in
the group—a principle, it turns out, that also helps explain why Saturday
Night Live became a hit.
A Marine Corps general, faced with low
morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp—and discovers that instilling a
“bias toward action” can turn even the most directionless teenagers into
self-motivating achievers.
The filmmakers behind Disney’s Frozen
are nearly out of time and on the brink of catastrophe—until they shake up
their team in just the right way, spurring a creative breakthrough that leads
to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
What do these
people have in common?
They know that productivity relies on making
certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we
embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to
drive innovation; the way we interact with data: These are the things that
separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.
At the core
of Smarter Faster Better are eight key concepts—from motivation and goal
setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and
companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience,
psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs,
educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and
Broadway songwriters—this painstakingly researched book explains that the most
productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act
differently.
They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly
different ways.
In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning
journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster
Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity, deep reporting, and rich
storytelling to explain how we can improve at the things we do. It’s a
groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help
anyone learn to succeed with less stress and struggle, and to get more done
without sacrificing what we care about most—to become smarter, faster, and
better at everything we do.
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