In 1989, Steven Covey published the book 'the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,' where he breaks down the abstraction of principles into concrete habits.
Covey is able to develop a coherent system where individuals can learn the content that builds upon itself in a developmental and sequential framework.
“If you want to achieve your highest aspirations and overcome your greatest challenges, identify and apply the principle or natural law that governs the results you seek.” (Covey 2013. 7HHEP 15)
"Congruence with paradigms, behaviour and attitudes...to change outward attitudes and behaviours does very little good in the long run if we fail to examine the basic paradigms from which those attitudes and behaviour flow." (Covey 2013. 7HHEP 36)
"You are not your habits. You can replace old patterns of self-defeating behaviour with new patterns, new habits of effectiveness, happiness, and trust-based relationships." (Covey 2013. 7HHEP 69)
He begins the book discussing the value of Kuhn's Paradigm Shift. If we truly want to change our attitudes and behaviour it is best to look within ourselves to the deepest part, our perspective or paradigms. Covey's 'Inside-Out' approach creates a notion of personal responsibility and the beginning of an assessment of our values.
The 7 Habits:
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Covey first discusses the importance of self-awareness as a precursor to making informed decisions for ourselves. He utilizes a model of the sphere of control and influence to distinguish where our efforts are best spent.
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Covey uses the notion of self-aware proactivity to determine what we want from our lives and if our decisions are leading us to our desired direction. He distinguishes between management as efficiency and leadership as effectiveness. Covey argues that the best center to derive our wisdom, security, guidance and power is a principled center.
Habit 3: Put First Things First
The third habit is focused on prioritizing and investing our time for essential things that are not urgent but important. Covey suggests that a flexible weekly schedule that accounts for the development of our roles and duties is the best method to achieve growth.
Habit 4: Think Win/ Win
Covey moves into the realm of interdependence and communicates that in every interaction we have a choice to act in a way that benefits all parties involved. He recommends not seeing life through a competitive, adversarial paradigm. In the long term our personal and professional relationships do better through cooperation.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
The 5th habit is focused on how to present information to others by first understanding their paradigms. Once we understand how others see the world we can adjusting our communication styles to suit them.
Habit 6: Synergize
The essence of group brainstorming and collaboration is best when others are able to be involved and participate. Covey discusses how we can create better ideas with many minds instead of one when focusing on defining a problem or creating solutions.
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
The last habit is an acceptance of relearning and reapplying the previous principles and habits as we grow and change. To master anything, it is best to be able to understand how that thing works from all perspectives and continually train our basic skills.
Covey's work is a very useful tool in understanding oneself and where one is going.
AJ 6.2.18, 14.3.18, 16.5.18, 5.6.18, 19.7.18, 27.3.20
Amazon Link to Steven Covey's 'the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People':
https://www.amazon.ca/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/1451639619/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517961337&sr=1-1&keywords=7+habits+of+highly+effective+people
ISBN: 978-1451639612
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