Smarter Faster Better

Pages: 400

New York Times?best seller

From the author of?The Power of Habit?comes a fascinating book that explores the science of productivity, and why managing how you think is more important than what you think – with an appendix of real-world lessons to apply to your life. At the core of?Smarter Faster Better?are eight key productivity 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 painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently. They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

A young woman drops out of a PhD program and starts playing poker. By training herself to envision contradictory futures, she learns to anticipate her opponents’ missteps – and becomes one of the most successful players in the world. A group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function, and find that how a group interacts is more important than who is in the group – a principle, it turns out, that also helps explain why Saturday Night Live became a hit. A Marine Corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp – and discovers that instilling a “bias toward action” can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers.