Summary and Analysis | Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg / FlashBooks Book Summaries

This is a book summary of Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg.

Description:

From the author of the New York Times best-selling 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. 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.

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.