The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg

Presented by: Nicholas Miller

You a

re a

Hig

h

Sch

ool D

ropout!

Imagine yourself in this

situation. Your parents

were also drug addicts

that recently passed

away and you can’t hold

on to a job… Would you

ever expect that one

simple opportunity

would change your life

forever?

Who?

Travis Leach experienced just that

situation and struggled with

everyday living… He would often

break down and cry during his

shifts, or would call in sick. And if a

customer said anything “off” to

him, he would lose control…

https://survivalguideforsalesassociates.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/ecard.jpg

When a

nd

Where

?

Travis was working for

Hollywood Video in his early

adulthood. One day, a regular

customer who happened to

work for Starbucks told Travis

he should apply to work at a

new location. Little did Travis

know his world would change

forever.

What a

nd H

ow

?Just like all new employees,

Travis received an employee

manual, a temporary

mentor, and on the job

training. All of this focused

on teaching him good habits

that would help him under

pressure. Travis would go on

to manage several stores

and hundreds of

employees…

How though?

Let’s Rewind

• How difficult was it for you to try reading the previous slides?

• Normally, presentations are nice and easy to read… Like this!

• Who told us this is the normal way to read or write something?

• NOBODY.

• Why then is this “normal”?

• HABITS

Outline

• Intro

• Do I have your attention???

• Body

• Anatomy

• The Habit Loop

• Examples

• Exactly how to change habits

• Conclusion

• Recap

• Tony Dungy

The Anatomy of Habit Making

Where does habit formation reside?

Hippocampus

Associated with memory

Basal Ganglia

Associated with HABITS

magnet.fsu.edu

The Habit Loop

Experiment• Julio the Monkey

• Shapes on a screen• Pull a lever• Get juice

• After a while, Julio began to anticipate the reward before starting the routine

• When this happened, researchers delayed or retained the reward.

• Julio was NOT happy!

The Habit Loop

Experiment• Mice

• Click• Go straight, look left/right• Get Chocolate

• When the reward became anticipated, the mice would eat the chocolate

• Even if it would meant being poisoned or shocked!

What about us?• Texting

• Trigger: text tone

• Routine: check phone

• Reward: social interaction

• Do you realize how much action is involved in leaving home?

• Get in car• Insert key• Turn ignition• Press brake• Put car in reverse

• Look behind you• Let off brake• Slowly pull out• Put car into gear• Drive

• You do all of this with little to no conscious effort

• Was it always like that? NO!

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Example: Claude Hopkins• Asked to help advertise Pepsodent

• At the time, few Americans brushed their teeth

• The product failed at first

• New ad: “Feel that nasty film on your teeth? Get rid of that and get a Pepsodent smile!”

• Brushing teeth became a national habit

• Cue: Film, bad breath, etc.

• Routine: Brush teeth

• Reward: minty breath, beautiful smilehttp://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/smiling-molar-tooth-15800675.jpg

Example: Alcoa• A aluminum fabrication company that was

starting to fail

• Also one of the most dangerous companies in America to work for…

• New CEO Paul O’Neil: “I am going to make Alcoa the safest company in America.”

• Alcoa became one of the safest in the world and raised capitalization by $27 billion

• Cue: unsafe activity

• Routine: stop, report, learn

• Reward: pride, efficiency, profit

Surely It’s Not That Easy…

• YOU ARE RIGHT!

• Are you willing to put in the time in effort?

• Step one: Identify.

• Cue?

• Routine?

• Reward?!

OK, Now You are Aware…

• Step 2: Replace

• The cue will not go away! You cannot change this!

• The reward has to be the same!

• How could you convince yourself to do it if it doesn’t achieve the same thing?

• The routine is the only thing that can change

• The challenge is finding a routine that is activated by the same cue and achieves the same reward

That’s It? … Wrong!

• Step 3: BELIEVE!!!

• If you don’t believe in your change, it won’t stick during times of crisis

• If it wasn’t necessary, why would you work hard to change it?

• If you liked the old routine more, it will prevail.

• If you don’t think your new routine will work in the long run, you won’t keep doing it.

• With belief however, crisis can bring strengthening instead of weakening

Recap

• Habits are formed in the basal ganglia

• They consist of a cue, a routine, and a reward

• People and companies have used the habit loop to start new trends, save failing companies, and change the lives of themselves and of others

• Changing a habit is tough: identify, modify, and believe!

Tony Dungee• Bucaneers coach (1996-2001)

• Focused on changing habits of his players

• Brought the team from a losing reputation to several years of playoffs

• Despite the improvement, was fired because the team couldn’t capitalize at the playoffs

• Colts coach (2002-2009)

• Same results

• Son died, he took time off, and team begged him to return

• The crisis brought the team together, bolstered their belief, and they went on to win a super bowl

IT’S OVER!!!