I love the title of this book. Doesn’t everyone want to be Smarter, Faster and Better? I know I do. I read this book and pulled some great habits out of it. I found the writing reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell who I also enjoy and I liked the case studies that were used to illustrate points.

52 Weeks of Book Reviews. Week #38 – Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg @cduhigg

It’s tough to not like a book that was so well thought out and researched. I liked the use of case studies and they all illustrated the issues very plainly. The content and style did indeed remind me of Malcolm Gladwell (apparently i read his Blink in week 5 of this year) which isn’t a bad thing, the use of case studies seems similar, however I prefer how Charles would introduce the case study but not revisit it until he had made his point. He often dives right into the case study without much setup and then once I’m engaged in the case study’s narrative he pulls out to frame the rest of the story within the story. It’s a good trick, it kept my attention and even though I knew what was happening I still looked forward to understanding what would happen in the case study.

In a book like it’s all about the spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. There is actually a small amount of medicine in this case, but it is powerful. The stories and case studies are all sugar, they serve to open up the mind and tease it with some brain candy, then POW here is the message. I get it. This book is written for the folks who might not read this type of stuff regularly and it needs to be palatable. I listened to it on Audible at 150% speed and found it very engaging, time well spent. I love to hear about people that have accomplished great things, done above and beyond what was expected and maintained that extraordinary difference. It can be done, and it’s not particularly difficult. I’ve noticed that long term consistency and focused effort in just about any category of activity will provide extraordinary results. Those results can be achieved in a shorter time with extraordinary effort and sometimes it’s all about the team and surroundings. I’d like to think that we all Manufacture our own success. Read the book and set up your own manufacturing plant. The rules aren’t difficult, but they require effort. You can take a small amount of effort over a long time or a ridiculous amount of effort over a short time, but you’ll get there.