Smarter Faster Better

By: Charles Duhigg

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the international best seller 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, rigorous reporting and rich storytelling to explain how we can get better at the things we do. The result is a groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity.

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 much more important than who is in the group.

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.

The filmmakers behind Disney's Frozen are on the brink of catastrophe - until they shake up their team in just the right way, spurring a creative breakthrough that leads to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

What do these people have in common? They know that productivity relies on making certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to drive innovation: these are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.

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 behavioural eco­nomics - as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, 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.

©2016 Charles Duhigg ; 2016 Random House AudioBooks

Awesome Practical Insights

Loved the book. Kept making sure that everyday made time to listen to it. Narration was great.

Very practical and engaging from the word Go.

I've listened to it for a second time. My first time listen proved that I was a different person compared to this second one. Looking forward to a third listen.

Great book with wonderful ideas. I recommend this book to anyone looking for ways to maximize productivity.

Insightful

Great book and great Insights to daily tricks all ties in at the end loved it. Listening to a few chapters many times over

A lot of stories with some real gems

A nice book and some very good insights and practical approaches around work and productivity. But filled with too widely knit stories and sometined difficult to connect. Overall a gid book.

Excellent!

Good stories
Interesting insights
Scientific approach
Very helpful for starting my own business give me the motivation I need.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Content not bad

The content isn't bad, but the interpretation and the excessively long stories make it boring and hard to effectively pull out useful notions.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Rambling with No Real Message

Not sure what the point of this book was. Never really gives any actual ways of incorporating the ideas. The ideas presented are a bit high level and vague.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Very interesting narrative but not very actionable

I have very mixed feelings about this book, but it comes down to two key thoughts:

The stories in that illustrate the books narrative are insightful and interesting, and for the most part unique to this book - Which makes a refreshing change from the usual retellings of the same studies over and over - So if you're looking for something new in that area, this book might suite you.

On the other hand, there isn't really much actionable content, and the book jumps all over the place and while it raises some interesting topics and highlights some real world examples it falls short of bringing the ideas together cleanly in one place.

So, when you're reading books like this if you're drawn to the narrative and storytelling side of the books, or want to explore a new style of writing, maybe give this a go.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Dissapointed

Examples very long winded. Needs more what you personally can do. Was hoping for more.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable

I enjoyed this audiobook. Some of the examples are quite long winded when he illustrates his point but he makes all of the ideas interesting and accessible.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Listen to audio samples before buying audiobooks

Would you try another book written by Charles Duhigg or narrated by Mike Chamberlain?

Not likely.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have someone else read it.

Would you be willing to try another one of Mike Chamberlain’s performances?

Most certainly not.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

I'd probably attempt reading the book.

Any additional comments?

It wasn't easy to enjoy listening to this audiobook because of the narrator's fast, broken pace, and overly enthusiastic yet somehow monotonous manner of reading. Had to stop 2 hours into the book because of that...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great book

the book is full of interesting stories that help the reader understand how focus and structured approach to goal setting and attention help us keep up the motivation to achive great results

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Light bulb 💡

Have been dealing with alot of these concepts as part of corporate mandated new ways of working.

Which has been taking a long time to take off.

I love the stories used to convey the insights in this book, It's given me the inspiration to look at our corporate tool kit differently.

I know that this could help my team set and achieve stretch targets together.

got to read

Having listened to the first one - I had no hesitation in listening to this one and I was not let down.
Great story telling, great examples. As a marketer I feel there is so much stuff in here I could use (or test)
If you are not a marketer - then its just a great listen to understand why we do what we do.