The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
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''The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People'', first published in 1989, is a business and
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
book written by
Stephen R. Covey Stephen Richards Covey (October 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012) was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is '' of Highly Effective People''. His other books include '' First Things First'', ''Pr ...
. Covey presents an approach to being
effective Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Etymology The ori ...
in attaining
goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...
s by aligning oneself to what he calls "true north" principles based on a character ethic that he presents as universal and timeless. Covey defines effectiveness as the balance of obtaining desirable results with caring for that which produces those results. He illustrates this by referring to the fable of the ''goose that laid the golden eggs''. He further claims that effectiveness can be expressed in terms of the P/PC ratio, where ''P'' refers to getting desired results and ''PC'' is caring for that which produces the results. This best-known book of Covey has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide since its first publication. The audio version became the first non-fiction audio-book in U.S. publishing history to sell more than one million copies. Covey argues against what he calls ''the personality ethic'', that he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He promotes what he labels ''the character ethic'': aligning one's values with so-called universal and timeless principles. In doing this, Covey distinguishes principles and values. He sees ''principles'' as external
natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
s, while ''values'' remain internal and subjective. Our values govern our behavior, while principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of
habits A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
, manifesting as a progression from dependence through
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
on to
interdependence Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...
.


The 7 Habits

Covey introduces the concept of
paradigm shift A paradigm shift, a concept brought into the common lexicon by the American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn, is a fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline. Even though Kuhn restricted t ...
and helps the reader understand that different perspectives exist, i.e. that two people can see the same thing and yet differ from each other. Covey also introduces the ''maturity continuum''. These are three successive stages of increasing maturity: ''dependence'', ''independence'', and ''interdependence''. At birth, everybody is dependent, and characteristics of dependence may linger; this is the first and lowest stage of maturity. Each of the first three habits is intended to help achieve independence. The next three habits are intended to help achieve interdependence. The final, seventh habit is intended to help maintain these achievements. Each of the seven habits has a chapter of the book (or a section of the videotape or DVD) devoted to it:


Independence

The first three habits surround moving from dependence to
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
(i.e., self-mastery):


Habit 1: "Be proactive"

Proactivity Proactivity or proactive behavior refers to self-initiated behavior that endeavours to solve a problem before it has occurred. Proactive behavior involves acting in advance of a future situation, rather than reacting. It refers to taking control o ...
is about taking responsibility for one's reaction to one's own experiences, taking the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation. He postulates that "between stimulus and response lies your ability to choose" how to react, and that nothing can hurt you without your consent. Covey discusses recognizing one's ''circle of influence'' and ''circle of concern''. Covey discusses focusing one's responses and focusing on the center of one's influence.


Habit 2: "Begin with the end in mind"

Covey discusses envisioning what one wants in the future (a
personal mission statement A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...
) so one can work and plan towards it, and understanding how people make important life decisions. To be effective one needs to act based on principles and constantly review one's mission statements, says Covey. He asks: Are you—right now—who you want to be? What do you have to say about yourself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises changing one's life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer". Grow and stay humble, Covey says. Covey says that all things are created twice: Before one acts, one should act in one's mind first. Before creating something, measure twice. Do not just act; think first: Is this how I want it to go, and are these the correct consequences?


Habit 3: "Put first things first"

Covey talks about what is important versus what is urgent. Priority should be given in the following order (in brackets are the corresponding actions from the
Eisenhower matrix Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. It involves of various demands upon a person relating to work, ...
, which
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
attributed to a former college president): * Quadrant I. Urgent and important (''Do'') – important deadlines and crises * Quadrant II. Not urgent but important (''Plan'') – long-term development * Quadrant III. Urgent but not important (''Delegate'') – distractions with deadlines * Quadrant IV. Not urgent and not important (''Eliminate'') – frivolous distractions The order is important, says Covey: after completing items in quadrant I, people should spend the majority of their time on II, but many people spend too much time in III and IV. The calls to delegate and eliminate are reminders of their relative priority. If habit 2 advises that "you are the programmer", habit 3 advises: "write the program, become a leader". Keep personal integrity by minimizing the difference between what you say versus what you do, says Covey.


Interdependence

The next three habits talk about
interdependence Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...
(i.e., working with others):


Habit 4: "Think win–win"

Seek mutually beneficial win–win solutions or agreements in your relationships, says Covey. Valuing and respecting people by seeking a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way. Thinking win–win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique; it is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration, says Covey.


Habit 5: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood"

Use
empathetic Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, cog ...
listening to genuinely
understand Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object ...
a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to be influenced. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem-solving. Habit 5 is expressed in the ancient
Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empir ...
of three
modes of persuasion The modes of persuasion, modes of appeal or rhetorical appeals (Greek: ''pisteis'') are strategies of rhetoric that classify a speaker's or writer's appeal to their audience. These include ethos, pathos, and logos, all three of which appear in A ...
: #
Ethos Ethos ( or ) is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to ...
is one's personal credibility. It's the trust that one inspires, one's "emotional bank account". #
Pathos Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...
is the empathetic side, the alignment with the emotional trust of another person's communication. #
Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, wikt:λόγος, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive ...
is the
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, the reasoning part of the presentation. The order of the concepts indicates their relative importance, says Covey.


Habit 6: "Synergize"

Combine the strengths of people through positive
teamwork Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way. This concept is seen within the greater framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individual ...
, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone, Covey exhorts.


Continual improvement

The final habit is that of
continuous improvement A continual improvement process, also often called a continuous improvement process (abbreviated as CIP or CI), is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. These efforts can seek "incremental" improvement over time or "breakth ...
in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence.


Habit 7: "Sharpen the saw"

Covey says that one should balance and renew one's resources, energy, and health to create a
sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
, long-term, effective lifestyle. He primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer, and good reading for mental renewal. He also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal. Covey explains the "upward spiral" model. Through conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, an upward spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in ''The 7 Habits'' at progressively higher levels at each iteration. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and one will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The upward spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do. According to Covey, one must be increasingly educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power, says Covey.


Reception

''The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People'' has sold more than 40 million copies in 40 languages worldwide, and the audio version has sold 1.5 million copies, and remains one of the best selling nonfiction business books in history. In August 2011 ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' listed ''7 Habits'' as one of "The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books". U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
invited Covey to
Camp David Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwe ...
to counsel him on how to integrate the book into his presidency.


Abundance mentality

Covey coined the term ''
abundance Abundance may refer to: In science and technology * Abundance (economics), the opposite of scarcities * Abundance (ecology), the relative representation of a species in a community * Abundance (programming language), a Forth-like computer prog ...
mentality'', or ''abundance mindset'', a way of thinking in which a person believes there are enough resources and successes to share with others. He contrasts it with the ''
scarcity In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good. ...
mindset'' (i.e., destructive and unnecessary
competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
), which is founded on the idea that if someone else wins or is successful in a situation, it means "you lose", because you are not considering the possibility of all parties "winning" in some way or another in a given situation. Individuals having an abundance mentality reject the notion of
zero-sum game Zero-sum game is a mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation which involves two sides, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the other. In other words, player one's gain is e ...
s and are able to celebrate the success of others, rather than feel threatened by them. The author contends that the abundance mentality arises from having a high
self-worth Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
and security (see habits 1, 2, and 3), and leads to the sharing of profits, recognition and responsibility. Similarly,
organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
s may also apply an abundance mentality when doing business. After ''The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People'' was published, the business press have discussed the idea.Carolyn Simpson, ''High Performance through Negotiation''.


Formats

In addition to the book and
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
versions, a VHS version also exists.


Adaptations

Sean Covey, Stephen's son, has written a version of the book for teens, ''The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens'', which simplifies the 7 Habits for younger readers to make them easier to understand. In September 2006, Sean Covey published ''The 6 Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make A Guide for Teens'', which highlights key times in the life of a teen and gives advice on how to deal with them. In September 2008, Covey published ''The 7 Habits of Happy Kids'', a
children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
illustrated by Stacy Curtis which further simplifies the 7 Habits for children and teaches them through stories with
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
animal characters.


References


External links


Official Stephen Covey homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, The 1989 non-fiction books Business books Self-help books Personal development Free Press (publisher) books Time management