The book and the author are well known. It is a classic after all. Many have read it and many others will. This review can be used as a precursor to a full reading or a quick refreshment of the last read. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People covers a lot of ground. Its pages are dense with practical and useful advice and information which can return enormous benefits when implemented, unlike other books that sell under the category of self-improvement. However, as it is for knowledge in general, all of it is useless unless implemented. Some say that ‘Seven Habits…’ is one of the best books of its kind, we don't say that but we do believe that it’s worth reading and implementing. Fortunately, with an entire gamut of paraphernalia, Dr. Covey makes the seven habits easier to implement.
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen F. Covey
An 8020CEO Point of View ____________________________________________________________________ |
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Overview |
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Seven Habits are the seven key principles that govern the consequences of all human actions. Dr. Covey enlightens us about these seven natural principles and how to integrate them into our habits. These Seven Key Principles or Habits of Personal Effectiveness help us grow through three paradigms, viz. Dependence, Independence and Interdependence. The book is divided into seven chapters with each chapter being devoted to a key habit. Habit 1 Be Proactive,
Principles of Personal Responsibility Habit 2 Begin with the End in Mind, Principles of Personal Leadership Habit 3 Put First Things First, Principles of Personal Management Habit 4 Think Win-Win, Principles of Mutual Respect Habit 5 Seek First to Understand Then to Be Understood, Principles of Mutual Understanding Habit 6: Synergize, Principles of Creative Cooperation Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw, Principles of Balanced Self Renewal The book is divided into four parts, Part 1 is about ‘Paradigms and Principles’, Part II is about Private Victory, Part III is about Public Victory and finally Part IV deals with the Constant Renewal of all these principles. |
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Covey Plan |
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| Knowledge Knuggets (KK) | |||
| Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is not about success but about being effective. It is different from success. Fundamentally, the book is about balanced living through which you produce to the best of your capabilities while living in harmony with self and others. The biggest contribution of the book is in pointing out that there is a structured approach to living. That living is an art which can be mastered. Covey's way is simple and non-controversial. It is not the only way and it’s not perfect. But it has considerable substance. Where it fails to deliver as well as we would have liked it to, in our view, is in pointing out that our goals are hard to define. They change as we change. Hence, one must invest energy in understanding the self before we can do anything else. A deep rooted understanding of what we truly are. Of course, that requires a life time of study, some say. We believe that once you have found your calling... you are on your way to greatness. | |||
| PERSONAL VICTORY | |||
| There are those who have been lucky, as will always be the case. They are not good examples. They mislead and misdirect you. Investor Business Daily comes up with the incredibly successful investor of the day and that person never repeats his success. Mr. Buffett on the other hand is never as successful as these people but he is consistently successful and incredibly so. As such the only driver you have for your success is yourself. So you should focus on first becoming ready to succeed. You should be aware of your traits that are detrimental to success. Fix them first. You can't win a drag race in a Yugo. | |||
| KK1: Be Proactive | |||
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There is a story about this guy who is always praying to God to have him win a lottery. He is a good man of the Lord. As time goes by without success, he prays harder and harder. Then he starts losing faith and gets upset with God, and goes on a fast till death. Out of sheer frustration the Lord has to reveal himself. The man says... Why my lord!! I have never asked you for anything and have prayed every day.... Why can't you do this little thing for me? The Lord says... My Dear ... I wanted to reward you but you should buy the ticket at least for one of the lotteries. This may not sound like you but if you think about it… if you are not as successful as you would like to be, chances are that you are not moving the levers of success. In short, you are not being proactive. Proactivity means ‘taking initiative’; but Dr. Covey uses this term to assert the natural principle of responsibility, which states that we are responsible for our own actions as we have absolute freedom to choose a positive response to our circumstances and experiences. Dr. Covey elaborates this concept by saying that there are certain things we can really do something about; those are the things that fall in our "Circle of Influence". By taking responsibility for all actions and experiences that are within the limit of ‘our circle of influence’, we can actually expand our Circle of Influence. Thus proactive people become agents of change and by being proactive they develop four unique human gifts, self awareness, conscience, imagination and independent will. |
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KK2: Begin With The End In Mind |
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Think of yourself in a complex maze which you are not aware of on a day to day basis. How easy would it be to get distracted and misdirected! Your child goes to bring the screwdriver and starts fixing his toy up there. This happens with us all the time. We may simply want to send out 100 mails but end up setting a complete direct marketing system, which may be an over kill. The purchase of Skype by eBay is a good example. Now imagine yourself in a multidimensional maze with multiple goals, pursuing all of them simultaneously. Dr. Covey starts this session with a beautiful example of ‘visualizing my own funeral service”. This mental visualization technique is so effective that we wouldn’t miss the learning. We learn the importance of having a purpose of life. Importance of having a personal mission! Dr. Covey goes on to say that ‘All things are created twice - first mentally and then physically. By taking control of our mental creation, we can control what we bring into physical existence’. Dr. Covey helps us practice this principle by teaching us how to develop a personal mission statement. |
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| KK3: Put First Things First | |||
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One way to look at it is to say, if you do not change your direction you will reach where you are going. Another would be to say, putting first things first is the physical creation. Habit 3 is all about the power of independent will. It is about three basic principles - Prioritize, Organize around Priorities and Discipline yourself. The main thing is to keep the main thing. Dr. Covey includes a template of ‘Time Matrix’ for our practical application of this principle. He assures us that there are five advantages of this organizer: 1) Its principle-centered - it enables us to see our time in the context of what's important and what's effective. 2) Its conscience directed - it enables us to organize our life around our deepest values. 3) It defines our unique mission, including values and long-term goals. 4) It helps us balance our life by identifying roles. 5) It gives us greater perspective through weekly organizing. |
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PUBLIC VICTORY |
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At the most fundamental level, public is that which is not private. Hence, anything for which we need to work with others is public. Simplicity is the hallmark of this book. How do you work with people? Understand them and help them help themselves to the best of their capabilities. |
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| KK4: Think Win Win | |||
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Thinking win-win is a frame of mind that seeks mutual benefit in all interactions. Thinking win-win encourages conflict resolution and helps individuals seek mutually beneficial solutions. It’s sharing information, power, recognition and rewards. With a win-win model all parties feel good about decisions and feel committed to given action plans. There are five dimensions of the Win/Win model: Character, Relationships, Agreements, Supportive Systems and Processes. Character is the foundation of Win/Win. Relationships are the focus of Win/Win. Performance agreements give definition and direction to Win/Win and one can only achieve Win/Win solutions through Win/Win systems and Win/Win procedures. Win/Win is not a personality technique. It's a total paradigm of human interaction or mutual understanding. | ||
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KK5: Understand Before Being Understood |
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Communication is the most important skill in life. There are four forms of communication - speaking, writing, reading and listening. Among these skills, listening particularly ‘empathetic listening’, plays a crucial role in the development of the 5th Habit. When we listen with the intent to understand rather than with the intent to reply we begin true communication and relationship building. We should first take time to deeply understand the problems presented to us. Dr. Covey repeats the importance of ‘Empathetic Listening’ time and again. He says that the skill of emphatic listening must be built on a character that inspires openness and trust, and high emotional bank accounts. The 5th Habit 5 is powerful because it focuses on the expansion of our circle of influence, which in turn acts as the key to influencing others and thus become the stepping stone to the 6th Habit, Synergy. | ||
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KK6: Synergize |
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Synergy is a state in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The essence of synergy is to value the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people. The key to valuing these differences is to realize that all people see the world, not as it is, but as they are. A highly effective person has the humility to recognize his own perceptual limitations and to appreciate the knowledge available through the principle of creative cooperation. | ||
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BALANCED RENEWAL |
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| KK7: Sharpen The Saw | |||
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The 7th Habit is about taking the time to sharpen all the above principles by renewing the four dimensions of our nature - physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional. The physical dimension involves caring for our physical body - eating the right food, getting enough rest and relaxation, and exercising on a regular basis. The spiritual dimension is our center, our commitment to our value system. It draws upon the sources that inspires and uplifts us and ties us to timeless truths of humanity. The Mental Dimension is an important aspect, and it is very important to keep our mind sharp by reading, writing, organizing and planning. The Social/Emotional Dimension is about our commitment to building lasting and trustworthy relationships. The physical, spiritual and mental dimensions are closely related to Habits 1, 2 and 3 i.e. personal vision, leadership and management. The social/emotional dimension focuses on Habits 4, 5 and 6, i.e. the principles of personal leadership, empathetic communication and creative cooperation. | ||
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Conclusion |
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While concluding the book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Dr. Covey affirms his personal conviction that he believes that these seven habits are nothing but timeless, self-evident natural principles and that ‘God’ alone is the only source of them. He chooses T.S. Eliot’s words to close this beautiful book “We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time”. |
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Acheiving High Performance In A Multi-Polar World by Accenture 