I devoted many, many hours to learning about McLean. I wrote several drafts of his story, determined to fit it into this book.
In the end, however, none of them worked. The lesson he offered—that a single-minded devotion to an idea can spur massive change—turned out not to be as universal and important as the other concepts I wanted to explain. McLean’s story was interesting but not vital. What worked for him doesn’t work for everyone. There’re lots of examples where fanatical devotion has backfired. His insight wasn’t big enough to be included among the other eight ideas in this book.
And yet the time I spent researching McLean was worth it, because discarding that work helped me understand the mechanics of focus. My mental model of this book kept conflicting with what I was learning about McLean. My SMART plan for the McLean story didn’t match up with my stretch goal of describing universally applicable lessons. In other words, researching McLean helped me figure out what this book was supposed to be about. It served as a valuable reminder of how productivity actually functions: Productivity doesn’t mean that every action is efficient. It doesn’t mean that waste never occurs. In fact, as Disney learned, sometimes you have to foster tension to encourage creativity. Sometimes a misstep is the most important footfall along the path to success.
But in the end, if you learn how to recognize certain choices that, to many, might not be obvious, then you can become smarter, faster, and better over time. Anyone can become more creative, more focused, better at framing their goals and making wise decisions. Schools can be transformed by changing how people absorb data. Teams can be taught how to learn more from mistakes, or use tension to their advantage, or make what seems like misspent hours into lessons getting them closer to their goals. Schools can be remade by empowering the people closest to a problem. The lives of senior citizens can be remade by teaching them to become subversives.
We can all become more productive. Now you know how to start.
To Harry, Oliver,
Doris and John,
Andy,
and, most of all, Liz
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The truth of the matter is that most of my own ability to become smarter, faster, and better relies on the kindness of other people, and so there are many of them I wish to thank.
This book exists because Andy Ward willed it into existence by, at first, buying an idea and then, over two years, helping mold it into a book. Everything about Andy—from his graceful editing, to his unyielding demands for quality, to his genuine and heartfelt friendship—inspires the people around him to become better and to want to make the world more beautiful and just. I’m incredibly thankful that I have a chance to know him.
I am also incredibly fortunate to have landed at Random House, which operates under the wise and steady guidance of Gina Centrello, Susan Kamil, and Tom Perry, as well as the superhuman efforts of Maria Braeckel, Sally Marvin, Sanyu Dillon, Theresa Zoro, Avideh Bashirrad, Nicole Morano, Caitlin McCaskey, Melissa Milsten, Leigh Marchant, Alaina Waagner, Dennis Ambrose, Nancy Delia, Benjamin Dreyer, and the ever-patient Kaela Myers. And I owe a huge debt to all of the people who are so talented at taking these words and putting them into people’s hands: David Phethean, Tom Nevins, Beth Koehler, David Weller, Richard Callison, Christine McNamara, Jeffrey Weber, David Romine, Cynthia Lasky, Stacy Berenbaum, Glenn Ellis, Allyson Pearl, Kristen Fleming, Cathy Serpico, Ken Wohlrob, and everyone else in Random House Sales. I am equally lucky to work with Jason Arthur, Emma Finnigan, Matthew Ruddle, Jason Smith, Nigel Wilcockson, and Aslan Byrne at William Heinemann and Martha Konya-Forstner and Cathy Poine in Canada.
I am also indebted to Andrew Wylie and James Pullen at the Wylie Agency. Andrew is steadfast in his desire to make the world safer for his writers, and I am grateful for his efforts. James Pullen has helped me understand how to get published in languages I would have almost certainly failed in high school.
I owe a tremendous amount to The New York Times: A huge thanks goes to Dean Baquet, Andy Rosenthal, and Matt Purdy, whose leadership and examples help guide my personal choices daily. Arthur Sulzberger, Mark Thompson, and Meredith Kopit Levien have been great friends and make it possible for the pursuit of truth to occur. I’m so thankful for the time I’ve spent with Dean Murphy, business editor, and Peter Lattman, deputy business editor, both of whose friendship, advice and patience allowed me to write this book. Similarly, Larry Ingrassia’s guidance on nearly every issue is indispensible. Gerry Marzorati has been a great friend, as has Kinsey Wilson, Susan Chira, Jake Silverstein, Bill Wasik, and Cliff Levy.
A few other thanks: I’m indebted to my Times colleagues David Leonhardt, A. G. Sulzberger, Walt Bogdanich, Sam Dolnick, Eduardo Porter, David Perpich, Jodi Kantor, Vera Titunik, Peter Lattman, David Segal, Joe Nocera, Michael Barbaro, Jim Stewart, and others who have been so generous with their ideas.
Similarly, I’m thankful to Alex Blumberg, Adam Davidson, Paula Szuchman, Nivi Nord, Alex Berenson, Nazanin Rafsanjani, Brendan Koerner, Nicholas Thompson, Sarah Ellison, Amanda Schaffer, Dennis Potami, James and Mandy Wynn, Noah Kotch, Greg Nelson, Caitlin Pike, Jonathan Klein, Amanda Klein, Matthew and Chloe Galkin, Nick Panagopulos and Marissa Ronca, Donnan Steele, Stacey Steele, Wesley Morris, Adir Waldman, Rich Frankel, Jennifer Couzin, Aaron Bendikson, Richard Rampell, David Lewicki, Beth Waltemath, Ellen Martin, Amy Wallace, Russ Uman, Erin Brown, Jeff Norton, Raj De Datta, Ruben Sigala, Dan Costello, and Peter Blake, who all provided crucial support and guidance along the way. The book’s cover and interior graphics sprung directly from the mind of the incredibly talented Anton Ioukhnovets. Thank you, Anton.
Thank you, as well, to my stalwart fact checkers—Cole Louison and Benjamin Phalen—and Olivia Boone, who helped format and organize the endnotes.
I am indebted to the many people who were generous with their time and knowledge during the reporting of this book. Many are mentioned in the notes, but I wanted to give additional thanks to William Langewiesche, who provided guidance on the mechanics (and writing) of flight, and Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace, who made the Disney chapter happen.
Finally, my deepest thanks are to my family: Katy Duhigg, Jacquie Jenkusky, David Duhigg, Dan Duhigg, Toni Martorelli, Alexandra Alter, and Jake Goldstein have been wonderful friends. My sons, Oliver and Harry, have been sources of inspiration and joy. My parents, John and Doris, encouraged me from a young age to write.
And, of course, my wife, Liz, whose constant love, support, guidance, intelligence, and friendship made this book possible.
—November 2015
A NOTE ON SOURCES
The reporting in this book is based on hundreds of interviews, papers, and studies. Many of those sources are detailed in the text itself or the endnotes, along with guides to additional resources for interested readers.
In most situations, individuals who provided major sources of information or who published research that was integral to reporting were provided with summaries of my reporting and offered the opportunity to review facts and offer additional comments, address discrepancies, or register issues with how information is portrayed. Many of their comments are reproduced in the endnotes. (No source was given access to the book’s complete text; all comments are based on summaries provided to sources.) Independent fact-checkers also contacted major sources and reviewed documents to verify and corroborate claims.
In a small number of cases, confidentiality was extended to sources who, for a variety of reasons, did not wish to speak on a for-attribution basis. In three instances, some identifying characteristics have been withheld or slightly modified to conform with patient privacy ethics or for other reasons.
NOTES
CHAPTER ONE: MOTIVATION