The Power of Habit

I've been interested in neurodidactics for a while now so when I heard about this book I was immediately sold. I picked "The Power of Habit" mainly out of curiosity but reading it was an interesting and rewarding experience. Charles Duhigg, New York Times business reporter, deals with the issue of habit forming and changing using a down to earth approach.

Many individual cases as well as wider studies are presented and reflected on in order to deepen the understanding of how this phenomenon works. Duhigg also writes about various habits within well structured organizations and goes through different stages that take place as these change. I found his observations very insightful and potentially useful for my work. Duhigg's book also encourages to look critically at many aspects of commercialized culture.
According to the author, in order to change a habit (both on individual and global level), three stages must take place:

1. There must be a cue that triggers certain action.

2. An action must be repeated every time the cue happens.

3. There must be some kind of reward at the end.

This observation, along with many other, may be seen as some kind of common general knowledge but an in-depth look he offers is intriguing and thought-provoking.