The Power of Habit

Duhigg presents the habit loop, consisting of cue, routine and reward, with craving as the mechanism that makes the loop automatic. He argues that habits are stored in the basal ganglia and continue to run even when the parts of the brain responsible for memory and decision-making are damaged, which is why habits persist without conscious involvement.

The book has three sections covering individuals, organisations and societies. The individual section explains the golden rule of habit change, which is that a habit cannot be eliminated but its routine can be replaced while the same cue and reward remain. He uses Alcoholics Anonymous and habit reversal therapy as examples, and adds belief as a necessary component for change to hold under stress.

The organisational section is the part most relevant to operators. Duhigg introduces keystone habits, meaning single changes that cascade into others, using Paul O'Neill's focus on worker safety at Alcoa, which he argues transformed the company's communication structures and financial performance. He also covers institutional habits at Rhode Island Hospital and at London Underground during the King's Cross fire, where organisational routines determined outcomes, and Starbucks' training in self-discipline through the LATTE method.

The third section covers Target's pregnancy prediction from purchase data and Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott, which is the weakest application. The research is reported secondhand and some of it has weakened. The willpower-as-muscle material rests on ego depletion, which has largely failed to replicate. The keystone habit concept is not an established finding but a narrative device. The habit loop itself is well supported. Clear's Atomic Habits gives more practical instruction and less explanation.