Review: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

I'm kind of tired of the Gladwellian psychology books that have hit the market. Oh, you have a journalism degree and an MBA? You're totally an a-ok source for a psychology book.

Why is it that psychology books are written by journalists and Kaku, Cox, Greene and Hawkings write actual physics books? I'll never understand.

Anyways, this book isn't bad. It starts with talking about habits that people have, habits that companies have, and habits that society has and questions the ethics of knowing about habits. The first two parts are good. Duhigg has an MBA and he writes about businesses well. But suddenly veers into talking about how habits created the civil rights movement-- by changing habits.... uhh, what? Like, Gladwell already talking about Dr. King and Birmingham. Dead subject. Let's stop exploring it from a weird psychological angle, please.

When discussing the ethics of habits, he talks about how gamblers have a habit. He tries to create this sympathetic story for a stay-at-home mom who gambled all her money away. We're supposed to feel sorry for her, and generally, question whether or not she is in the ethical wrong because she was driven by corporate manipulation. I don't know, Duhigg should really just say, "No, don't feel sorry for her. By doing a bad thing that could form a habit in the first place, she let it into her life. I've shown throughout this book that creating a habit is like allowing an angel or a demon into your life. She asked a demon into her life."

Perhaps the most important part of this entire book is the appendix, which actually brings it all together: it talks about how to kick or create habits and gives a self-guided way of doing so. That's pretty spectacular and it is written well. Now go eat a cookie.