Book Review
Genre- Non Fiction self help book
Rating- The rating of any self help book depends on the mood of the reader! When he or she is in need of help then its 5/5 and when he or she feels that he or she does not need any help then its much less!
Since my mood was fluctuating the rating remains average though this particular book does not need any rating! This along with the book called How to win friends are the Bible for management gurus and studies all over! Motivational speakers all over the world especially in English would have read it over and over!
This book has sold more than 25 million copies and the Audio book is the first non fiction book to sell more than a million copies!
The book begins with a introduction on how it was written ages ago but the principles is still valid today and maybe forever!
He starts with the famous Goose that laid the golden egg stories goes to explain a theory of effectiveness called the P vs PC ratio. In that P is the preferred result and PC is the caring which gets the result.
The first three habits are told in such a way that they are dependent to each other and this is a real eye opener! The first habit is to be proactive or in better words taking control of your life and the second is an extension of this which urge you to begin with the end in mind! When you get these habits in place then you can get to choose which is first!
This third habit is familiar to many of us who have seen it in some management seminar or the board of a motivational speaker! This involves the classification of the work in a table! The first table is work which is both urgent and important which you must do as early as possible! The second is work which is important but not urgent which you must plan to do as soon as possible! The third is work which is urgent but not important which you must delegate without delay! While the last is work which is not urgent and neither important! This must be eliminated as soon as possible!
The first three habits are like things which you must develop within while the other habits are in your interaction with others!
Which brings us to the fourth habit called the Win win! This implies that you must always try to have a win win deal with others which is the only effective way to deal! That is the only situation where everyone is happy!
Of course to do this you must go to the next habit which is to understand others! See the point of view of others! Then you will be in a position to make your point put across so that the other person can understand you! This is apparently greatly emphasised in the Greek Philosophy as Ethos, Pathos and Logos! In short you must be empathetic!
Once you master the above then you can go for the next habit which is Synergize! Which is of course a cool term for team work! And finally you have the habit of Sharpen the saw or continuous growth!
In between all these Covey gives amazing narration from his own experience on how he delegated the lawn cleaning work to his son and how it faltered at first but then picked up! How his attention to his younger son gets a surprising response from his elder son! How many of his participants interact with him! How he demonstrated the win win situation! How he had a very healthy relationship of trust and open talk with his wife!
He also gives importance in one of the habits on the importance of physical exercise and how at least one hour a day must be reserved for that! Then he also gives us examples of many great thinkers and of stories which he comes across while doing his presentation much like the book how to win friends! You can understand that the author is a laid back teacher like god fearing person and this is a sermon of sorts but for the modern times!
It is a good read and as audio book a great book to listen to especially during the long drives of Bengaluru traffic! This 16 hours mammoth finished so fast that like a good movie which you want to end but when it does you miss it!
Give it a go if you have not read or listened to it especially while you are doing some other work and the soothing voice of the narrator will be helpful without a doubt!
Happy reading or listening!!
ramadocblog 