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title: "Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity"
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# Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity

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## Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators and “master of the life hack” ( GQ ) explores the fascinating science of productivity and offers real-world takeaways to apply your life, whether you’re chasing peak productivity or simply trying to get back on track. “Duhigg melds cutting-edge science, deep reporting, and wide-ranging stories to give us a fuller, more human way of thinking about how productivity actually happens.”—Susan Cain, author of Quiet In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity and rich storytelling to how we can improve at the things we do. 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 book reveals that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently. They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways. Smarter Faster Better is a story-filled exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help us learn to succeed with less stress and struggle—and become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do.

Review: An important read and a precious addition to my library! - The examples, real time stories demonstrating the scientific idea the author is delivering is pure perfection, science through your head through storytelling, interesting real-life examples, and not the boring scientific jargon The book covers: Motivation, Teams, Focus, Goal Setting, Managing Others, Decision Making, Innovation and Absorbing Data. This Chapter was exceptionally helpful on a personal level; I used it to update and adapt flow charts to my yearly and monthly plans. On Teams, I was so happy to see it in writing, that is how managing people should be. And it is the ONLY way for success and CONTINUITY “The way business treats workers, was critical to success. No matter how great the product or loyal the customers, things would eventually fall apart unless employees trusted one another.” The studies given are important and interesting, especially the discovery of the importance of norms on the functioning of successful and coherent teams. On Focus, The goal setting chapter was what I needed, I used the additional knowledge, provided though real-life examples and charts. I adapted my yearly and monthly plans to the flow chart sample. On Decision Making, there are certain characteristics you can find about yourself and use for your own personal development and what came to me as number one was the part about probabilistic thinking, it is easily explained with the Good Judgment Project and poker story, really impressive. The innovation process lights a spark in the reader’s head. The notion of creativity and creative people are described as middlemen; they have learned how to transfer knowledge between different industries or groups. Many examples from industries are given to emphasize the idea. On Absorbing Data, finally is the ability of our brain to analyze data in modesty and not in abundance, when we surround ourselves by too much data to analyze, we go into a state of information blindness. The example given is an inspiring story of the South Avondale Elementary School. An inspiring story of how data turned into knowledge led to changing the lives of children in a hopeless environment.
Review: Lots of advice that can help you be more productive - I’ve tracked my own personal productivity by one means or another since I was in my teens. I’m now 70. So, I’ve learned a lot along the way. But there’s always more to learn. I picked up Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business to learn more. I read Charles Duhigg’s book on habits when it came out, so I was prepared for something good. This book was better than Habits for me. The introduction includes this quote, which will tell you everything you need to know about the purpose of the book: “Productivity, put simply, is the name we give our attempts to figure out the best uses of our energy, intellect, and time as we try to seize the most meaningful rewards with the least wasted effort. It’s a process of learning how to succeed with less stress and struggle. It’s about getting things done without sacrificing everything we care about along the way.” I think the basic definition of productivity is good, but I also like the fact that Duhigg calls it “a process of learning.” That’s how it’s been in my life. Here’s what I liked and didn’t like about the book. What’s in the book After the introduction that sets out the basic purpose, Duhigg moves to eight chapters on key subjects. Let’s look at them one at a time. Chapter one is titled “Motivation.” That’s probably not the most accurate title. I suggest you think of this chapter as about control. For the last couple of decades, we’ve been learning about how important it is for people to feel like they control their surroundings. This chapter will give you some ideas about how to feel more like you’re in control. Chapter two is all about teams. There are two key examples here. One is the example of Saturday Night Live. The other, and the one that’s probably more meaningful for business people, is the results of Google’s research into what makes a successful team. The most important thing here for me is the discussion of psychological safety. Another thing which seems obvious once it’s stated, but which has not been at the forefront for most of my working life. Duhigg titles chapter three “Focus.” He talks about cognitive tunneling and airline disasters. For me, the most interesting part was the discussion of mental models. Mental models have been a feature of a lot of thinking about productivity. You’ll find an excellent discussion of them in Anders Ericsson’s book Peak. Chapter four is all about goal setting. I thought this was the weakest chapter of the book. There’s a lot about GE’s experience with goals and a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of SMART goals. The chapter missed the mark for me, I didn’t identify a takeaway that I could use. Duhigg’s appendix about how he learned to set goals helped, but not enough. “Managing Others” is the title for chapter five. There’s a lot here about some changes in FBI culture that made it more possible for a team to solve a particular kidnapping. It was interesting and helpful. I’d use this chapter as a starting point to apply lean and agile thinking to managing a team. But I suggest that you go to Jeff Sutherland’s book, Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time for more details that you can use in your own life and work. Chapter six is about decision-making, specifically about forecasting the future. The primary story is about learning to play poker at a professional level. It’s a good story, but the big learning point here is about what Duhigg calls Bayesian psychology. I learned it back in my college days as Bayesian inference. It’s a way to improve your forecast as you go. There are some great insights here about why so many of us are so bad at forecasting. Duhigg says that chapter seven is about innovation. I guess it is, but for me it was more about how the entire creative process plays out and interacts with the way that individuals get a job done. The core story here is about creating Disney’s “Frozen. This chapter is mostly about the way we structure our human activities to create something new. If that’s innovation, so be it. Now we come to chapter eight. Duhigg titled it “Absorbing Data: Turning Information into Knowledge in Cincinnati’s Public Schools.” That’s true as far as it goes. There’s a belief that if we give people more data and information they can make their lives or their work better. That’s true, but as this chapter points out, that’s only true if people know how to use what they get. That becomes a matter of perception and process. There are two important bits of information in this chapter. The first is about how to structure data so that it’s most likely that people will be able to understand it and use it to make a difference. The second important idea is that process is important. The chapter describes what Duhigg calls the engineering design process, but which I learned in college as simply the engineering process. It describes a structure for analyzing data and prototyping so that you come up with a good result. It’s as effective for analyzing new products as it is for figuring out how to fix a problem with the brakes on a car. It’s also the essence of what is now popularly called “design thinking.” Bottom Line There’s a lot of good stuff in this book. Your best strategy might be to read the introduction then pick a chapter or two that you want to dig into. Later, you can come back and cover the stuff that you missed. Most of the content is five-star-worthy, but there are pockets that are only OK, so I'm giving the book four stars. Even so, it's one of the best I've read this year.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #59,228 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #17 in Occupational & Organizational Popular Psychology #81 in Time Management (Books) #144 in Popular Social Psychology & Interactions |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,603 Reviews |

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An important read and a precious addition to my library!
*by A***A on February 18, 2026*

The examples, real time stories demonstrating the scientific idea the author is delivering is pure perfection, science through your head through storytelling, interesting real-life examples, and not the boring scientific jargon The book covers: Motivation, Teams, Focus, Goal Setting, Managing Others, Decision Making, Innovation and Absorbing Data. This Chapter was exceptionally helpful on a personal level; I used it to update and adapt flow charts to my yearly and monthly plans. On Teams, I was so happy to see it in writing, that is how managing people should be. And it is the ONLY way for success and CONTINUITY “The way business treats workers, was critical to success. No matter how great the product or loyal the customers, things would eventually fall apart unless employees trusted one another.” The studies given are important and interesting, especially the discovery of the importance of norms on the functioning of successful and coherent teams. On Focus, The goal setting chapter was what I needed, I used the additional knowledge, provided though real-life examples and charts. I adapted my yearly and monthly plans to the flow chart sample. On Decision Making, there are certain characteristics you can find about yourself and use for your own personal development and what came to me as number one was the part about probabilistic thinking, it is easily explained with the Good Judgment Project and poker story, really impressive. The innovation process lights a spark in the reader’s head. The notion of creativity and creative people are described as middlemen; they have learned how to transfer knowledge between different industries or groups. Many examples from industries are given to emphasize the idea. On Absorbing Data, finally is the ability of our brain to analyze data in modesty and not in abundance, when we surround ourselves by too much data to analyze, we go into a state of information blindness. The example given is an inspiring story of the South Avondale Elementary School. An inspiring story of how data turned into knowledge led to changing the lives of children in a hopeless environment.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lots of advice that can help you be more productive
*by W***K on September 20, 2016*

I’ve tracked my own personal productivity by one means or another since I was in my teens. I’m now 70. So, I’ve learned a lot along the way. But there’s always more to learn. I picked up Smarter, Faster, Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business to learn more. I read Charles Duhigg’s book on habits when it came out, so I was prepared for something good. This book was better than Habits for me. The introduction includes this quote, which will tell you everything you need to know about the purpose of the book: “Productivity, put simply, is the name we give our attempts to figure out the best uses of our energy, intellect, and time as we try to seize the most meaningful rewards with the least wasted effort. It’s a process of learning how to succeed with less stress and struggle. It’s about getting things done without sacrificing everything we care about along the way.” I think the basic definition of productivity is good, but I also like the fact that Duhigg calls it “a process of learning.” That’s how it’s been in my life. Here’s what I liked and didn’t like about the book. What’s in the book After the introduction that sets out the basic purpose, Duhigg moves to eight chapters on key subjects. Let’s look at them one at a time. Chapter one is titled “Motivation.” That’s probably not the most accurate title. I suggest you think of this chapter as about control. For the last couple of decades, we’ve been learning about how important it is for people to feel like they control their surroundings. This chapter will give you some ideas about how to feel more like you’re in control. Chapter two is all about teams. There are two key examples here. One is the example of Saturday Night Live. The other, and the one that’s probably more meaningful for business people, is the results of Google’s research into what makes a successful team. The most important thing here for me is the discussion of psychological safety. Another thing which seems obvious once it’s stated, but which has not been at the forefront for most of my working life. Duhigg titles chapter three “Focus.” He talks about cognitive tunneling and airline disasters. For me, the most interesting part was the discussion of mental models. Mental models have been a feature of a lot of thinking about productivity. You’ll find an excellent discussion of them in Anders Ericsson’s book Peak. Chapter four is all about goal setting. I thought this was the weakest chapter of the book. There’s a lot about GE’s experience with goals and a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of SMART goals. The chapter missed the mark for me, I didn’t identify a takeaway that I could use. Duhigg’s appendix about how he learned to set goals helped, but not enough. “Managing Others” is the title for chapter five. There’s a lot here about some changes in FBI culture that made it more possible for a team to solve a particular kidnapping. It was interesting and helpful. I’d use this chapter as a starting point to apply lean and agile thinking to managing a team. But I suggest that you go to Jeff Sutherland’s book, Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time for more details that you can use in your own life and work. Chapter six is about decision-making, specifically about forecasting the future. The primary story is about learning to play poker at a professional level. It’s a good story, but the big learning point here is about what Duhigg calls Bayesian psychology. I learned it back in my college days as Bayesian inference. It’s a way to improve your forecast as you go. There are some great insights here about why so many of us are so bad at forecasting. Duhigg says that chapter seven is about innovation. I guess it is, but for me it was more about how the entire creative process plays out and interacts with the way that individuals get a job done. The core story here is about creating Disney’s “Frozen. This chapter is mostly about the way we structure our human activities to create something new. If that’s innovation, so be it. Now we come to chapter eight. Duhigg titled it “Absorbing Data: Turning Information into Knowledge in Cincinnati’s Public Schools.” That’s true as far as it goes. There’s a belief that if we give people more data and information they can make their lives or their work better. That’s true, but as this chapter points out, that’s only true if people know how to use what they get. That becomes a matter of perception and process. There are two important bits of information in this chapter. The first is about how to structure data so that it’s most likely that people will be able to understand it and use it to make a difference. The second important idea is that process is important. The chapter describes what Duhigg calls the engineering design process, but which I learned in college as simply the engineering process. It describes a structure for analyzing data and prototyping so that you come up with a good result. It’s as effective for analyzing new products as it is for figuring out how to fix a problem with the brakes on a car. It’s also the essence of what is now popularly called “design thinking.” Bottom Line There’s a lot of good stuff in this book. Your best strategy might be to read the introduction then pick a chapter or two that you want to dig into. Later, you can come back and cover the stuff that you missed. Most of the content is five-star-worthy, but there are pockets that are only OK, so I'm giving the book four stars. Even so, it's one of the best I've read this year.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Smarter, Faster, Better - Insight Into How We Can Achieve More
*by D***Y on December 26, 2016*

In this book the author takes a detailed look at the habits and practices that improve personal and team performance. What makes this book stand out are the case studies and the scientific research that is explored. He explores motivation, team work, focus, goal setting, managing others, decision making, innovation and absorbing data in new and insightful ways. This book is not a rehash of the valid but often repeated principles of success. It is an investigation into what has been scientifically demonstrated to enhance success. He explores the rebelliousness of a retirement home resident, a successful businessman who suffered a rare form of brain damage that changed his brain’s ability to be motivated teaching us how motivation works in the brain. He looks at what motivation lessons come from the military. What kinds of people make up the ideal team? Should they be alike or diverse? How does diversity in personality types strengthen a team? What have hospitals and airlines learned about team work that can save lives? How does focus, too much or too little, affect performance? What have we learned from aircraft crashes about how focus and cognitive tunneling can cripple decision making in a crisis? What are mental models and how can they be used by anyone to improve focus and analysis of a difficult situation? How did a young woman win the National Poker Championship and what did she know about Bayesian psychology that anyone can take advantage of? What has the business world learned about effective goal setting? How are SMART goals effective and in what ways are they ineffective? What do you have to add to SMART goals to make them more effective? Duhigg provides insight into all these questions and many more. This book will provide you with a unique and provocative analysis into how we can perform smarter, faster and better. What I found useful about this book: Careful analysis of how people perform both on an individual level and as teams has provided us with considerable insight into what works best. While the traditional principles of success remain valid there is more to the story than that. Readability/Writing Quality: The book is very well written and engrossing. It is written as a series of stories that hold attention and teach at the same time. Notes on Author: Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer prize winning journalist with the New York Times. He is an author who digs deeply into his subjects. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale College. Other Books by This Author: The Power of Habit Related Website: Charlesduhigg.com Three Great Ideas You Can Use: 1. Teams function most effectively when made up of diverse people with different approaches, attitudes and personalities. 2. Goal setting must be a combination of measurable and achievable goals with stretch goals to prevent limited performance. 3. By developing a mental model of what we want to achieve we can avoid cognitive tunneling and achieve more. Get the book here: Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

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*Last updated: 2026-10-26*