Smarter, Faster, Better

From the author of the New York Times bestselling phenomenon The Power of Habit comes a fascinating new book that explores the science of productivity, and why, in todays world, managing how you thinkrather than what you thinkcan transform your life. At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key conceptsfrom motivation and goal setting to focus and decision makingthat explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economicsas well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwritersthis painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations dont 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 misstepsand 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 groupa 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 campand discovers that instilling a bias toward action can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers. The filmmakers behind Disneys Frozen are nearly out of time and on the brink of catastropheuntil 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; the way we interact with data: These are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive. In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity, deep reporting, and rich storytelling to explain how we can improve at the things we do. Its a groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help anyone learn to succeed with less stress and struggle, and to get more done without sacrificing what we care about mostto become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do.