Julie
Asato
CST
300 Writing Lab
October
16, 2018
7
Habits of Highly Effective People
Book
Report
The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People is
a book that focuses on the seven habits that can make a person highly effective:
be proactive, begin with the end in mind, putting first things first, think win/win,
seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize and sharpening the
saw (Covey,
2003).
The main focus today, will be on the skills and ideas that can be learned and
cultivated to make a more effective computer science student who then becomes a
more effective computer science professional. The author starts with the idea
of Character Ethic and how it relates to Personality Ethic. He then writes
about the inside-out approach contrasted to the outside-in approach. He
discusses the Maturity Continuum and how it relates to us and others. He coins
the P/PC balance in management and how it relates to us utilizing our assets responsibly.
He
introduces the idea of solution selling and how it can be used to become a
useful person. He touches the idea of proactivity and how it relates to our
behavior.
The
author introduces the older idea of the Character Ethic as the foundation of
success which included "integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage,
justice..." (Covey,
2003).The
book focuses on working on these qualities rather than the newer Personality
Ethic: "public image, attitudes and behaviors, skills and techniques"
(Covey,
2003).
He then introduces the idea of a paradigm which is a model or frame of reference
by which we view the world (Covey,
2003).
If we can change the paradigm or model of how we view the world, we can create
change in our lives.
The
inside-out approach focuses on making and keeping promises to ourselves a
priority before promises to others (Covey,
2003).
The author states that this leads to more independence and more effective
interdependence (Covey,
2003).
If someone wants others to recognize
their talent, they should focus on having a very good character. This contrasts
with the outside-in approach which focuses on the weaknesses of other people
and the circumstances that lead to their failure (Covey,
2003).
The main belief of the outside-in approach is that they are not the problem and
if the outside force is fixed, then the problem will not be there anymore (Covey,
2003).
To illustrate the outside-in approach, if
a student was going to learn algorithms doing the bare minimum, they might blame the teacher for not teaching
them anything. In the inside-out approach, if the same student does extra
readings outside of class, practices algorithms on whiteboards, and finds outside
resources to practice algorithms they would succeed in learning algorithms.
The
Maturity Continuum incorporates the paradigms: dependence, independence, and
interdependence. The dependence paradigm focuses on other people, when there is
a failure it is another person's fault (Covey,
2003).
The independence paradigm centers on the self to get work done (Covey,
2003).
The paradigm of interdependence is of us; you and I to work together to achieve
the most success (Covey,
2003).
The worst paradigm to be in is dependence
and the best is interdependence. When we are interdependent, we combine our efforts
and skills into one grand project. An independent paradigm is good but the
author purports that they will not be able to be good leaders or team players because
that is interdependence (Covey,
2003).
A dependent person can work on the first 3 habits to become independent, then
the next 3 habits to become interdependent. The last habit is constantly
happening to ensure the process keeps progressing. In an online computer
science group, all team members should work together in the interdependent
fashion so everyone's talent can shine through rather than one independent
person doing all of the work not letting others learn or contribute to the team.
Production/Production
Capability Balance is finding a balance between the results and the asset that
produces those results (Covey,
2003).
To understand this, he introduces the idea of assets: physical, financial and
human. These assets are part of the production capability; the assets that produce
those results. For instance, if a computer science group all had terrible
computers and had to work at the library during library hours (physical), they
may not see much production or results. Likewise, if the team leader wanted
everyone to put 200% into every assignment, they are sacrificing their human
asset for production. The team would slowly
put gradually put less effort into the assignment eventually burning themselves
out.
Covey
introduces the idea of solution selling; studying an industries specific
problems and showing how your abilities can solve their problem (2003). In his example, the author told the story about
the very independent boss and the interdependent worker. The very independent boss would just tell
people how to enact his plans which were generally good but did not ask for
input from others (Covey,
2003).
The interdependent worker focused on working with the bosses strengths and counterbalancing
for his weaknesses by finding his concerns and presenting his analysis and recommendations.
The worker was able to study specific problems and using his abilities to solve
them. A computer science student could live this idea by finding the strengths
and weaknesses of each team member and having everyone contribute with their
strengths.
Proactivity
is taking action and choosing a response for your life no matter the conditions
(Covey,
2003).
A computer science who is proactive will
be able to take initiative for projects and work no matter what is going on in
their personal lives. Their behavior is based on the values they choose to have
and not what was instilled in them as a kid. People who say "that's just
how I was raised" are not being responsible and are choosing to behave in
the way they are.
In
conclusion, the author gives useful tools in the 7 habits of highly effective
people. He rejects the idea of Personality Ethic as the foundation of success
and supports the idea of Character Ethic as the foundation of success. The
author believes the outside-in approach is the source of many conflicts and
people should step away from blaming others for their failure. The Maturity
Continuum is a model of dependence, independence and interdependence where the
7 habits can create interdependent workers out of dependant workers. P/PC
Balance needs to be upheld or the assets will deteriorate. When working on a
team, members should work interdependently compensating for the weaknesses of
others and utilizing their strengths. When living, people can choose to be
proactive and choose their responses based on their values.
Critique
The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change is
written by Stephen R. Covey, a writer and professor who specializes in
organizational effectiveness. This book was tied for #1 Most Influential
Business Book of the Twentieth Century by Chief Executive Magazine's readers as
of 2003. The purpose of the book is to use principles to solve personal and professional
problems (Covey,
2003).
The seven habits of highly effective
people is a book that focuses on the seven habits that can make a person highly
effective: be proactive, begin with the end in mind, putting first things
first, think win/win, seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize
and sharpening the saw (Covey,
2003).I
enjoyed this book and I have seen these principles in people in my life. I can
see where certain people I know fall in the Maturity Continuum. It is difficult
to see where I personally fall in it, probably somewhere between dependant and independent.
The
author gives useful tools in the 7 habits of highly effective people. He
rejects the modern idea of Personality Ethic as the foundation of success and
supports the older idea of Character Ethic as the foundation of success which
the 7 habits are based on. The Maturity Continuum is a model of dependence, independence
and interdependence where the 7 habits can create interdependent workers out of
dependant workers if they work to change. When working on a team, members
should be understanding of the weaknesses of others and utilizing their strengths.
P/PC Balance, like the work/life balance needs to be upheld or the workers will
burn out. The author believes the inside-out approach is the solution to the outside-in
approach, where people should improve themselves to avoid failure. When failure
does happen, people can choose to be proactive and choose their responses based
on their values.
References
Covey, S. R. (2003). 7 habits of highly effective
people:restoring the character ethic. New York: FREE PRESS.
