This summary and review of the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, was prepared by Chris Roig while a management student in the College of Business at Southeastern Louisiana University.
Executive Summary
Stephen Covey has tapped into an entirely different way of relating to other people both in personal and professional settings. In this book he teaches the difference between an attempt at a quick fix to solve a problem and a way to truly see things differently and to solve problems on a much higher level.
If you want to solve a problem effectively you must first change yourself. If you want to change yourself you must first change your perspectives. In his research, Covey found that people today operate from a different paradigm, or pattern of thought, than people did 200 years ago. People used to operate from the paradigm he calls the character ethic. This is a paradigm that emphasizes things like honesty, integrity, justice, patience, modesty, and the Golden Rule. Recently there has been a shift to a new paradigm he refers to as the personality ethic. This paradigm puts emphasis on quick fix influence, power strategies, communication skills and positive attitudes. Covey does not suggest that these are not great and sometimes essential traits, but he does suggest that they are secondary traits not primary.
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For a person to have a true positive attitude, a real winning strategy, and great communication skills there are some traits that must be developed personally for these other traits to show themselves. If you try to use human influence strategies to get other people to do what you want, while your character is flawed and marked with duplicity and insincerity, then in the long run you will never be successful. The traits that make up the character ethic are the key to true happiness and success. How you can master them yourself is outlined in this book.
Habits 1, 2, and 3 are private victories. That is, they are to be mastered by you although no one else may notice a change in you. Habits 4, 5, and 6 are public victories. People will see the change in how you treat them. But, to try and use the later habits without mastering the first three will result in failure in the long run. It will be just the same as using the personality ethics.
Habit 1 is ‘Be Proactive’. Proactivity is more than merely taking initiative. Proactivity is the opposite of reactivity. It means deciding how to handle a problem before there is one. Habit 2 is ‘Begin with the End in Mind’. Know what outcome you want before you begin. Habit 3 is ‘Put First Things First’. Do what is most important now and stop letting important things become urgent. These are the private victories.
Habit 4 is ‘Think Win/Win’. Take it as far as we both win or there will be no deal. Habit 5 is ‘Seek First to Understand… Then to Be understood’. See someone else’s point before making your own. Habit 6 is ‘Synergize’. Work together so well that you will accomplish more as a team than if you were to all work alone.
Habit 7 is ‘Sharpen the Saw’. Commit, Learn, Do and repeat.
The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
1. Don’t worry about the things you cannot control. If it is out of your control, don’t waste time and energy worrying.
2. If you adopt a pattern of life that focuses on golden eggs and neglects the goose, you will soon be left without the asset that produces the golden eggs. But, if you only take care of the goose with no regard for the eggs, you be will left with no means to feed yourself or the goose.
3. Define your principles and live a life centered on those principles.
4. Remember, there is always a decision to be made. We are response-able human beings.
5. Always picture the end result before beginning a project. Then, let decide how to proceed at each juncture based on where you would like to be at the end of the journey
6. Do the important things now before they become urgent. Less and less urgent issues will cross your path in the future.
7. Think about how every deal effects all who are involved. If everyone comes out better after making a deal, in the long run this will benefit you greatly.
8. Others are more willing to listen to and see your point of view after they truly see that you understand theirs.
9. Working together we all accomplish more. Two pieces of wood together can support more weight than the sum of what they can support alone.
10. Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.
Full Summary of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Inside Out
In the many years of working people, Covey has come into contact with many individuals who have achieved outward success, but that struggle with an inner hunger, a need for real growing personal relationships with other people. The problems they have are not unique, but they are real and painful issues, the kind of problems that a quick fix cannot solve.
In his studies, Covey has identified two distinct paradigms, or patterns of thought, which will help people become successful. The first is called the personality ethic. This is the paradigm that has become very popular over the course of the last several decades. It focuses primarily on social image consciousness, techniques, quick fixes, and social band-aids to fix problems. Sometimes these techniques appear to work, but they do not solve the problem. They leave the problem to sit and fester and lay in wait until it can present itself again in some new fashion. These superficial techniques stunt human relationships and will never yield true success.
The other paradigm predates the personality ethic. It is referred to as the character ethic. It put the focus on things like integrity, temperance, courage, patience, honesty, and the golden rule as the foundation of success. The character ethic teaches that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and happiness as they learn to integrate the principles into their basic character. This is what this book teaches us to do.
To exemplify the importance of seeing things through a different paradigm, let us look at an example problem and attempt to solve it using the personality ethic. Suppose you are in Chicago and are trying to get a specific location. But, because of a printing error you have the wrong map. Using the personality ethic, you could work on your behavior and try harder or move quicker. You could improve your attitude, think positively. These skills are important, but until you have the correct map they are virtually worthless. Without having principles in your basic character techniques are all but worthless. There are principles that govern human effectiveness that are just as real as gravity is in governing the physical world. These principles are encompassed in the seven habits.
Principles of Personal Vision
Habit 1 is ‘Be Proactive’. Being proactive involves more than just taking initiative. Humans are unique in that we have self awareness, or the ability to think about our thought process. We are not our feelings or our mood. Self awareness allows us to examine the way we see ourselves. And the way we see ourselves becomes our map of the basic nature of human kind. We must examine our paradigms and ensure that they are reality based and not conditional or condition based.
Every time our mind senses a stimulus, there is response that follows. But, it does not have to be an immediate reactive response. Between stimulus and response we have the power to choose. Without being self-aware we will simply react without giving our response a thought. But, we are response-able. Reactive people make decisions based on previous conditioning and existing conditions. Proactive people make are influenced by the same conditions, but because they are principle centered, their decision will not be made based on these conditions. Instead, the very principles they have chosen to live by will guide their decision making.
Our basic nature is to act, not to be acted upon. This is the key to being proactive. Proactivity is recognizing our responsibility to make things happen. By understanding that we are able to choose our response, by being proactive, we are able to handle problems in a much more effective manner. Furthermore, we must realize what is inside of our circle of influence and what is not. We can only control a limited number of things and this is where we must focus our energies. Proactive people focus on what they can control and make their circle of influence expand.
Principles of Personal Leadership
Habit 2 is ‘Begin with the End in Mind’. The essential principle to understand is that all things are created twice. First, there is a mental creation and second there is a physical creation. For example, if you were going to build a new house, you would begin with a picture in your mind of what you would like that house to look like. This is the mental creation. Then you would put that on paper in the form of blue prints and hire a crew to build the physical structure, this is the physical creation.
It is a principle that all things are created twice, but not all things are created by conscious design. If we are not proactive we can allow social programming or circumstance to dictate our mental creations, that is, how we see a problem ending. The essence of beginning with the end in mind is focusing on how we want things to end up. And if we focus on this we can see the big picture. If we focus on how we can best accomplish things with no regard for how we want them to end and allow our social program to show how they will end up, we will never feel in control nor will we accomplish the things that are most important to our personal success.
The most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to write a personal mission statement. Then, by being proactive in our decision making, we can judge each alternate decision in light of our mission and what effect each decision will have on our ultimate goal. Our mission statement must come from a principle centered self.
Principles of Personal Management
Habit 3 is ‘Put First Things First’. Habit two is the mental creation. Habit three is the physical creation. By being proactive and principle centered we can decide for ourselves what things are important. Through habit three we can ensure that these things are done first.
There are four basic types of activities; urgent/important activities, urgent unimportant activities, important/not urgent activities, and unimportant/not urgent activities. Urgent means it requires immediate attention. Importance on the other hand has to do with results. If something is important it contributes to your mission, your values, and your high priority goals.
We react to urgent activities such as a phone call or ringing door bell; activities that require attention now. We must act to seize opportunity to take care of important but not urgent activities. By focusing on these activities we will reduce the amount of time and energy we expend on urgent activities. By doing this we will have less stress in our lives and will be able to accomplish more things that help us achieve our ultimate goals instead of spending our time reacting to urgent activities other people think are important.
By focusing our time and energies on important activities we will be more able to politely refuse invitations to spend our time on other unimportant activities we may have previously felt pressure to participate in. By putting first things first we will harness the power to move other activities to the “back burner.”
Principles of Interpersonal Leadership
Habit 4 is ‘Think Win/Win’. There are six basic paradigms of human interaction. They are win/win, win/lose, lose/win, lose/lose, win, and win/win or no deal. Win/win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human reactions. Win/lose is the paradigm that states If I win, you lose. It comes from the principle of scarcity. Since there is not enough for every one you must lose so that I can win. Lose/win comes from the paradigm that focuses on social acceptance. If I give you what you want then you will like me. So I will lose so you can have your way and I can be accepted socially. Lose/lose occurs when two win/lose people get together. When both people must win, the result is that both will lose. If I can’t win then I will make certain that you cannot win either. Win is a very selfish paradigm in which a person is only concerned with winning and gives no regard what happens to anyone else in the process. Win/win or no deal states that if we cannot find an acceptable solution that benefits both of us we will agree to no deal. With no deal as an acceptable option, a person is truly operating from a principle centered character ethic. This is not a technique to fool the other person. With no deal as an option, it is clear that all parties are truly looking for a win/win outcome. Win/win solutions can only be achieved with win/win processes.
Principles of Empathic Communication
Habit 5 is ‘Seek First to Understand… Then to Be Understood’. Seek first to understand involves a very deep paradigm shift. Typically we seek first to be understood. Most people listen with the intent to reply, not with the intent to understand. We must learn to listen empathically, to listen with the intent of understanding. We must learn to listen without injecting our own autobiography into what the other person is saying.
Empathic listening takes time, but it does not take near the time it takes to back up and correct misunderstandings. And as we learn to listen empathically, people will feel more comfortable opening up to us and telling us what is really on their mind. And when people feel that you truly understand and care about their point of view, they will be much more willing to listen to and accept yours. When you can present your own ideas clearly, specifically, visually and in the context of their concerns you significantly increase the credibility of your own ideas.
Although the skills of empathetic listening can be learned easily, unless the principles are there underlying the skills, there can be no success. If used as a personality ethic technique people will sense that you are not sincere and will close up. When used improperly, this habit can have the opposite of the desired effect.
Principles of Creative Cooperation
Habit 6 is ‘Synergize’. Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It means that one plus one equals three. That more is accomplished together than that which could be accomplished had each person acted alone. Synergy is the highest activity in all life. Synergistic thinking is a very creative process. When you communicate synergistically, you are opening your mind and heart to new possibilities, new alternatives, and new options. The end you begin with in mind is not perfectly clear, but you know that in the end it will be significantly better than before.
Synergy is exciting. Synergy is the highest form of win/win. It produces solutions far better than those originally proposed and all parties know it. Synergy is fishing for the third alternative. Better than a compromise. It is very different from the either/or mentality and it produces very different results.
Synergy comes from a high level of trust. When people are allowed to be creative without fear of condemnation, synergy can take place. As each person thinks of a new idea, everyone builds upon that idea. This can result in new better ideas than any one person could have thought of on their own.
The essence of synergy is valuing the differences. It is to realize that all people see the world differently and to realize the value in this. We must recognize the possibility that we are both right. Without this recognition we can never realize the third alternative.
Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal
Habit 7 is ‘Sharpen the Saw’. More specifically, it is taking the time to sharpen the saw. It is renewing the four dimensions of your nature. They are your physical, social/emotional, spiritual, and mental dimensions. The physical dimension can be renewed through exercise, nutrition, and stress management techniques. The social/emotional can be sharpened with service for the community, through empathy or synergy. It can also be renewed with intrinsic security. The spiritual dimension requires value clarification, commitment, and study and meditation time. The mental dimension can be sharpened with visualization exercises. Reading and writing also help to replenish the mental dimension as well as planning.
Personal Insights
Why I think:
· The author is one of the most brilliant people around because what teaches in this book can be applied to any aspect of life. By practicing the seven habits and changing our paradigm we can become happier more successful people. If all we focus on is techniques on how to solve the symptoms of a problem we will never solve the underlying issues. This books deals with the problem itself. And it starts by changing ourselves, not by trying to change other people or by trying to change how other will react to us or our new bag of tricks. By practicing these habits we can achieve lasting growing relationships with other people, not just have fake conversations about nothing of true value. By living a principle centered life we can define what we want and go out and get it.
· If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:
1. I would have condensed the book. There were too many examples to make same points. At parts, he gets to be a bit wordy.
2. I would have used more examples dealing with adults in business type situations and less examples of how these habits help in parenting.
3. I would have dove into the main material much faster and cut down on the amount of introductory material.
· Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:
1. I now realize that true success is not measured in dollars or physical possessions and success is a relative term.
2. Without having the correct principles at heart, all the best people skills will not get you anywhere in the long run.
3. Activities that seem urgent are not always what are important. And by spending time on the important things I can decrease the amount of urgent ones.
· I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:
1. Forming a personal mission statement based on principles and define success for myself.
2. Not trying to fix problems with personality ethic techniques, but rather fix the root of the problem based on the end I want to achieve and the principles that are important.
3. Focusing more of my down time on accomplishing important activities before they become urgent.
· Here is a sampling of what others have said about the book and its author:
“Dr Stephen Covey is a hugely influential management guru, whose book The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People, became a blueprint for personal development when it was published in 1990. The Seven Habits are said by some to be easy to understand but not as easy to apply. Don’t let the challenge daunt you: The Seven Habits are a remarkable set of inspirational and aspirational standards for anyone who seeks to live a full, purposeful and good life, and are applicable today more than ever, as the business world becomes more attuned to humanist concepts. Covey’s values are full of integrity and humanity, and contrast strongly with the process-based ideologies that characterised management thinking in earlier times.”
“Despite having sold many millions of copies, Stephen Covey’s groundbreaking book remains as fresh, helpful, and important as when it was first published. Such longevity is a testament to the quality of the insights that Covey offers: Eschewing easy fixes and simple-minded formulas, his writings offers a comprehensive and highly detailed program for invigorating your career as well as other aspects of life. You won’t be able to breeze through this book (the writing is sometimes complex and involved), and you won’t be able to apply Covey’s ideas half-heartedly (the vision outlined requires serious effort to realize), but if you’re willing to do the work, you’ll reap the enormous benefits that many other readers have discovered and put into action.”
Bibliography
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey, Book – Barnes & Noble.” Barnes & Noble.com. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. .
“Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Review.” Businessballs. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.
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Contact Info: To contact the author of this “Summary and Review of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” please email Christopher.Roig@selu.edu.
David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/.
Originally published http://bookstove.com/book-talk/summary-and-review-of-the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by-stephen-covey/
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