Who is the author of Smarter Faster Better?

The author of Smarter Faster Better is Charles Duhigg.

Career & Success

Smarter Faster Better Book Summary - Smarter Faster Better Book explained in key points

Listen to the Intro

00:00

Smarter Faster Better summary

Name: Smarter Faster Better
Rating: 4.1 (433 reviews)
Author: Charles Duhigg

Charles Duhigg

The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

4.1 (433 ratings)

14 mins

Brief summary

Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg teaches readers how to improve productivity and achieve success by using effective goal setting, motivation, decision-making, and teamwork strategies.

Topics

Simplify Podcast Career Progress Networking

Table of Contents

Smarter Faster Better
Summary of 6 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Stick to your goals and become a more productive person.

We all know people who stick to a schedule, no matter what. Despite illness or injury, they make sure to meet their goals or deadlines.

Sure, most of us aren’t like this. We may have wonderful ideas but never find the time to realize them. Or if we do pursue a particular goal, we easily get sidetracked, time and again.

The good news is that you can learn how to stick with a plan, even if the world keeps throwing distractions your way. These blinks will give you helpful and easy methods to stay on track and realize your most lofty goals – smarter, faster and better.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

how to become a marathon runner even if you’ve never run a mile;
why two researchers read 17.9 million papers in a quest to understand creativity; and
why storytelling can help you reach your goals.

Stay motivated by letting yourself make choices and reminding yourself of long-term goals.

Have you ever been excited to start a new project, only to have that excitement fade over time? This is a common problem. Let’s look at some tips for keeping your spirits high as you stay on track.

You can maintain motivation by making choices to benefit yourself, your team or your project. Researchers at Columbia University found that people feel more motivated when they have greater control over a situation. Basically, people get excited when they get to make choices! A sense of control and responsibility can also help you recover from any setbacks during the process.

In fact, neuropsychologist Mauricio Delgado at Columbia found that one of the brain’s “motivation centers” lights up whenever a person has an opportunity to make a choice – even something as simple as selecting a colored key in a video game.

So make this phenomenon work for you! If you’re stuck with a task, let yourself make a decision. Even mundane choices can help to pick you back up. If you have 40 emails to read, for instance, just pick four and look at the rest later.

Making choices isn’t always enough to give you a boost, however. You also need to remind yourself how your choices contribute to the project and your overarching goals.

Remembering the big picture is another important element in staying motivated. Even if a task doesn’t feel rewarding on its own, you’ll feel good when you know it plays a part in something more important.

Let’s say you want to develop a drone. You start reading an essay about drone building, but it’s terribly dry, and your attention starts to wane. You’d rather stop and do anything else to keep from falling asleep!

What do you do in this situation? How do you get yourself back on track to focus on your goal?

Consider this simple trick. At the top of the essay, write in bold letters: ”Reading this will help me make the drone.” In short, remind yourself of what you want. When you do this, the essay that will bring you one step closer to your goal won’t seem so boring anymore.

Set an ambitious goal then break it down into smaller, easily achievable parts.

Now that we’ve reviewed the power of choice, let’s go over some tips for bringing your ideas to life.

Start with stretch goals, or your biggest ambitions. Don’t be afraid to dream! Studies have shown that people are more creative when they reach for higher, bigger goals.

A 1997 study revealed that after Motorola had incorporated stretch goals into its management training, engineers were able to develop new products in a tenth of the time it took previously.

This same philosophy can be applied to personal goals, such as an obese person wanting to lose a lot of weight. Even if the ultimate goal of shedding 100 pounds isn’t realized, aiming high can push a person to still achieve impressive results.

Stretch goals by definition are goals that are out of reach, so sometimes they can feel overwhelming. If your goal seems too much, that’s where a SMART goal can come in handy.

SMART goals break up your stretch goal into more manageable parts. They are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

Let’s say your stretch goal is to run a marathon. First, you’ll want to break this goal into smaller, more specific steps, such as “be able run six miles without stopping.”

Then figure out how to measure yourself: “I’ll run six laps on my local track.”

Next, ask yourself if your goal is achievable. If you combine running with biweekly visits to the gym, it just might be. Remember to be realistic, too. You might tell yourself, “This will be tough and take time, but I can do it!”

Finally, figure out the most effective way to schedule how long you’ll need to reach your goal. Maybe you’ll start running two miles the first week and aim to add a mile each week after that.

Another good thing about SMART goals is you get an extra motivation boost each time you complete a stage. The more progress you make, the more excited you’ll be to keep going!

Stay focused on your goals by anticipating any potential distractions.

Life is unpredictable. Even if you outline your stretch and SMART goals, unexpected events always pop up and draw your attention away.

So how do you stay focused? One good way is to create mental models: positive stories that prevent distraction and keep you excited about the future.

Mental models prepare you for upcoming projects or conversations. Let’s say you have a stressful week ahead. Get yourself through it by imagining how you’ll conquer, step by step, each challenge.

Imagine you’re a journalist and have to write an article for a travel magazine on three top SLR cameras. First off, you might make a list of ten cameras, to later narrow down.

Be sure to consider potential distractions, like a full email inbox. Perhaps you’ll turn on your email blocking software before lunch, to give yourself some uninterrupted thinking time.

Once you’ve picked your top five cameras from your list, imagine yourself experimenting with them. Then imagine yourself choosing the best three, and writing out the results of your survey.

Now you’ve envisioned the whole article, from start to finish, so you can write it in a snap. In sum, once you figure out how you want your week to go, you start working toward it!

Granted, even the best plans can be interrupted, so consider how you’ll handle these ahead of time. Think about possible distractions and how likely each is during a work day.

Maybe your partner will invite you out to lunch, for example. How could you spend that time in a way that doesn’t disrupt your entire day? You might want to go to a self-service restaurant near work, or pack a lunch together in advance. This way your meal will take 45 minutes instead of two hours.

Enhance your team’s performance by making sure each person feels safe and valued.

What’s the recipe for a great team? A group of overachievers or superstars? Not exactly.

Google’s Project Aristotle spent two years researching what makes a team great. The project found that even a team of average performers can accomplish great things if the team has the right dynamic.

But what’s the “right” dynamic? Well, the most important factor is whether team members feel psychologically safe. Team members feel safe when they know they won’t be ridiculed for making mistakes or suggesting ideas. Project Aristotle found that safe teams were more likely to perform better, envisioning more innovative products or meeting sales targets.

Psychological safety enhances performance because it allows team members to admit mistakes, which means any issues can be quickly addressed. Team members also feel more comfortable sharing unconventional ideas, which makes the team as a whole more creative.

“Safe” teams also thrive in an environment that is, in general, caring and respectful. Project Aristotle found that the safest teams are made up of empathetic individuals, which shouldn’t come as a surprise: it’s easier to trust people when they care about you.

Team members also feel safe when they’re encouraged to contribute to a project’s success. Such encouragement shows each member that he or she is an important part of the group with opinions that are highly valued.

Naturally, team leaders are tasked with fostering this psychological safety. So if you’re a leader, make sure all your team members have their voices heard at least once in every meeting.

If you notice a team member is upset, encourage the person to share what’s wrong and make sure other members respond in a caring way. Resolve any conflicts in the open and never interrupt team members when they are speaking. Make sure everyone feels valued and respected!

Fostering a commitment culture increases your company’s overall success.

During the boom times in Silicon Valley in the 1990s, many CEOs felt that HR departments and other “company culture” ideas were irrelevant to the startup world. Developing ground-breaking ideas and products were all that mattered.

Were they correct? Not at all. An exhaustive study has shown that company culture is deeply important to the success of any firm. And a “commitment culture” is the most successful kind of culture you can nurture at a company.

In a commitment culture, management focuses on building trust and attachment to the company. Commitment culture companies rely on trust, care and the emotional connections between the organization and its employees. Such companies don’t necessarily aim to hire the smartest, highest achieving individuals. Instead, firms look for people who fit their larger team and company vision.

In 1994, Stanford Business School professors James Baron and Michael Hannan started a study of nearly 200 Silicon Valley technology start-ups, in an attempt to understand more about the relationship between company culture and profit.

The team found that of the five different company cultural styles they identified, commitment culture companies consistently proved to be the most successful. Not one commitment culture firm went bankrupt; they were the fastest to go public; and they maintained the highest profitability ratios.

There’s another benefit to supporting a commitment culture, in that it allows a company to maintain fewer middle managers. Commitment companies hire driven, high-quality specialists who are usually good at managing themselves. That means a company’s middle management ranks can be leaner.

Your company is more efficient when specialists can address questions or problems directly. A mid-level operations manager might not know which server to choose, for example, but an IT specialist can make the right choice immediately.

Find new applications for old ideas and let your emotions guide your creative work.

Innovation isn’t always about starting from scratch. After all, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to develop a groundbreaking new car!

So instead of trying to create something completely new, strive to use old ideas in new ways.

Behavioral economics is a good example of this phenomenon. The pioneers of behavioral economics combined psychological and economic models to try to understand why humans so often make decisions counter to their interests. People decline deals if they perceive them as unfair, for instance. This runs against the idea of rational behavior, which holds that people make decisions purely for gain, put forth by traditional economists.

Behavioral economists thus managed to gain groundbreaking insight by finding new applications for old concepts.

Brian Uzzi and Ben Jones, business professors at Northwestern University, in 2011 analyzed a range of creative academic papers. Using an algorithm, Uzzi and Jones evaluated 17.9 million papers and found that in the most creative papers, 90 percent of the content had already been published elsewhere.

The innovative papers were considered groundbreaking because they approached existing concepts from new angles, not because they developed new concepts alone.

Here’s another good way to boost creativity: tune into your feelings. Let emotions and intuition guide you. How you feel about a situation or idea will tell you whether you’re dealing with something great or just run-of-the-mill.

Disney Animation President Edwin Catmull uses this strategy with his writers. When his team was working on the movie Frozen, for instance, he had them explore their emotional connections with siblings. Doing so allowed the writers to portray the relationship between the characters Anna and Elsa in a raw, authentic and relatable way, one big reason for the film’s sweeping success.

Want more?
Read or listen to the key ideas
from 7,500+ titles

Key ideas in Smarter Faster Better

More knowledge in less time

Read or listen

Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.

Find your next read

Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.

Shortcasts ^New

We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

What is Smarter Faster Better about?

Smarter Faster Better (2016) combines personal stories and business research to show that being productive isn’t just about managing your to-do list, but about making the right choices and maintaining the right mindset. These blinks offer advice on how to stay motivated, keep yourself on track and work in teams effectively to maximize your creativity, productivity and success.

Smarter Faster Better Review

Smarter Faster Better (2016) is a captivating book that offers valuable insights on how to improve productivity and achieve success in both personal and professional life. Here's why this book is definitely worth reading:

It provides practical strategies and actionable advice that can be implemented to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in various areas of life.
By combining real-life stories, cutting-edge research, and in-depth analysis, the book engages readers with its informative and thought-provoking content.
With its intriguing exploration of the science behind motivation, goal-setting, and decision-making, the book ensures that readers are never bored, fostering a genuine desire for self-improvement.

Best quote from Smarter Faster Better

When people believe they are in control, they tend to work harder and push themselves more.

—Charles Duhigg

Who should read Smarter Faster Better?

Leaders looking to motivate a team
Business people who want to energize a company or employees
Anyone with a serious, long-term goal

About the Author

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the New York Times. His first book, The Power of Habit, stayed on the Times’ bestseller list for over 60 weeks.

Categories with Smarter Faster Better

Career & Success

Book summaries like Smarter Faster Better

Successful Time Management

Patrick Forsyth

How to be Organized, Productive and Get Things Done

The Fight to Master Our Greatest Opponent

Fortune Favors the Brave

Finding the Path to Your True Self

21 min

4.3

The Self-Made Billionaire Effect

John Sviokla and Mitch Cohen

How Extreme Producers Create Massive Value

14 min

4.1

The Obstacle is the Way

Ryan Holiday

The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph

31 min

4.6

The Productivity Project

Chris Bailey

Proven Ways to Become More Awesome

How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection

Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

27 min

4.3

The Daily Stoic

Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman

366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art of Living

33 min

4.7

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management

Kevin Kruse

The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs.

The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management

Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done

11 min

3.7

The Replaceable Founder

Ari Meisel

Learn how to let go of the reins and allow your business to soar without you

25 min

4.3

Marriage Be Hard

Kevin and Melissa Fredericks

12 Conversations to Keep You Laughing, Loving, and Learning with Your Partner

A Brief History of Humankind

The “How To” book that gives YOU a “Check Up” from the “Neck Up” to eliminate “Stinkin Thinkin” and AVOID “Hardening of the Attitudes”

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene

What affects your day-to-day life

29 min

4.5

Building Your Money Machine with ChatGPT

Larry Wheeler

Use AI to Generate Ideas, Automate Marketing, and Build Profits

Break the Cycle, Alter Your Thoughts and Create Lasting Change

Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

20 min

4.5

Living In Your Top 1%

Alissa Finerman

Nine Essential Rituals to Achieve Your Ultimate Life Goals

How to Adapt to the Speed of Change

An Essential Guide to Life

6 Mindsets to Become Who You Were Created to Be

The Cold Water Swimming Cure

The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth

16 min

3.6

Creativity, Inc.

Ed Catmull with Amy Wallace

Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

What Ancient Philosophers Teach Us about How to Live

18 min

4.6

Anatomy of a Breakthrough

Adam Alter

How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most

Little Things That Can Change Your Life… And Maybe The World

11 min

4.0

Charismatic Leadership

Kevin Murray

The Skills You Can Learn to Motivate High Performance in Others

21 min

4.6

My Morning Routine

Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander

How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired

27 min

4.1

Day Trading Attention

Gary Vaynerchuk

Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World

The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos

19 min

Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill

The secrets of 40 millionaires' wealth, revealed

15 min

4.4

Who Not How

Dan Sullivan with Benjamin Hardy

The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork

A Philosophical Journey Into Alienation

How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress without Losing My Edge and Found Self-Help That Actually Works

Simple Principles for an Extraordinary Life

15 min

4.0

The Anxious Generation

Jonathan Haidt

How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

Brave work. Tough conversations. Whole hearts.

How to Nurture Our Most Valued Connections

17 min

4.1

The ONE Thing

Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

The surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results

18 min

4.6

On the Origin of Species

Charles Darwin

By Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

23 min

4.6

The Upside of Your Dark Side

Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener

Why Being Your Whole Self – Not Just Your “Good” Self – Drives Success and Fulfillment

23 min

4.1

Extreme Ownership

Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

15 min

4.5

How to Become a People Magnet

Marc Reklau

62 Strategies for Powerful Relationships and Positive Impact

20 min

4.4

The Checklist Manifesto

Atul Gawande

How to Get Things Right

16 min

4.0

People ❤️ Blinkist

Sven O.

It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

Thi Viet Quynh N.

Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

Jonathan A.

Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

Renee D.

Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.