Breaking radio silence at long last - I need to work on developing a blogging habit, I think.
Which links nicely with my most recent read, "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business", by Charles Duhigg. It's a fairly comprehensive view of how habits work, both on an individual level and at a more corporate culture level. The author covers research into habits, both historical and recent, and details how they drive an awful lot of what we do as individuals, as consumers, and as employees. The core of the book is the three-step habit loop - the Cue, the Routine, the Reward - that forms the basis of every habit from brushing one's teeth to default conversational gambits to "muscle memory" when driving to work. After covering the neuropsychology of habits and the trails they leave in the brain, Duhigg covers the process of creating new habits, how habits drive business success and/or failure, how businesses take advantage of habits, and how habits can operate at a societal level. In the book's appendix, he also covers how to analyze, test, and change habits. This last bit is now available in handy flow-chart form at Duhigg's website.
