Overview of the book
Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is a book on business and self-managerial strategies aimed at providing the reader with seven basic rules that are supposed to become the everyday habits if someone wishes to be efficient in business and daily life. The author’s agenda is that people lack effectiveness in their work because they do not always see things from different perspectives and concentrate on the aspects over which they have no influence, thus wasting the effort.
Presumably, Stephen Covey’s seven rules of self-help are supposed to show the readers in the form of imperative pieces of advice on how to widen the perspective and increase the scale of perception, evaluating and dealing with different aspects of life. The habit number one, according to Covey, is “Be Proactive”. It means admitting one’s responsibility for the situation a person is in, rather than finding fault in genetics, life circumstances, etc. Covey (2013) believes that to be “responsible “response-able” [means] to control our lives and to powerfully influence our circumstances by working on what we are” (p. 97). Proactive people work only on the things they can influence and change.
The second habit is, to begin with, the end in mind. Such an approach presupposes the presence of the structured plan of the actions rather than just a vague idea because the abstract understanding is not an achievable goal, and the first habit steers the readers to aim only for the achievable objectives. It also requires a certain amount of imagination (Covey, 2013), since it is important to conceptualize the vivid image in the mind. The habit number three, in many ways, is the precedent of the second habit. The third habit is “Put first things first” (Covey, 2013), which again, as habit number two, reminds about the necessity of planning the actions in their logical succession, as well as evaluating the importance of both business, and routine daily tasks.
The fourth habit is titled “Think Win-Win”. It presupposes that to be effective in the interaction, including business interactions, the person is to look for the optimal solution that is beneficial both for the individual and the people he or she deals with, always to look for mutual gain. Such an approach requires integrity, abundance mentality, and maturity (Covey, 2013). The fifth habit is also antecedents by the fourth one; it is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. In such a way, it requires very open interactions based on sharing feelings and commitments. It also sends the readers back to the general agenda of the book, which is to widen the perspective, try to see what other people see.
The sixth habit is to do with synergizing. To synergize is to cooperate in a mutually beneficial manner so that the interaction is open and is made on a fair basis. It is a genuinely important principle that works not only for self-management or business but also for social, governmental and state organizing. This principle states that the whole is something bigger than the sum of its components (Covey, 2013). It is the basis of teamwork and cooperation. The things that cannot be achieved separately become possible if they work for their realization together. The final seventh habit is called “Sharpen the saw.” Metaphorically, it implies that a person is his or her own treasure and the resource for success. This is why to be efficient and to handle business and daily challenges, one needs to take good care of health, professional and personal growth, and spiritual balance.
The author’s purpose
The main objective of the author was to present the perspective of the principle of the efficient handling business and everyday-life challenges, which he considers universal. The purpose of the book is a didactic self-help guiding for personal growth. The author tries to present his view and to convince the readers that his approach is universally employable. The intended audience of the book is rather vast because it claims to meet the demand for solving all kinds of challenges, from self-managing and self-awareness in daily life to assist in business interactions. However, as much as the author would like, there are reasonable doubts about the universality of this book, because it depicts in some cases culturally narrow-minded perspective.
Evaluation of the book
The author’s presentation of his idea is quite strong, mainly because all the points, the habits he describes, are interconnected, the book has integrated and cohesive structure and is united by the general agenda and purpose. Nevertheless, there are culturally-biased elements of the author’s perception, even though his book is claimed to be a universal guide. The arguments and evidence are based on the proposition that the most profitable collaboration is the mutually profitable one.
Perhaps, the original and strongest argument, in my opinion, is the benefits of synergizing in any kind of context, either daily, or business-related. The least convincing and somewhat left out part is the connection with the habit number seven. This last Covey’s principle is all about an individualistic perspective, in which a person is his or her own asset. It is not oriented for the collectivistic cultures and does not stand in cohesiveness with the rest of the book.
The book is useful for some of its original suggestions, but not for universal usage. It is helpful as the basis on which one can build his own principles. To personal life, it has quite a strong argument of reminding how important it is to be able to see things from the perspectives of other people. This principle also concerns a business life; the successful business person always has to understand the possible benefits of every interaction for each of the parties. In relation to the culture, the principle number seven in the book is quite culturally biased because it represents the world from a very individualistic, Western approach. It is not the crucial flaw of the book, but it is less integrated with the rest of the book. Especially, with the principle of synergizing, the concept of the united whole that is bigger than its parts. This conception is valuable for my personal, business, and cultural perception.
Summary
In general, the book reflects on relevant for everyone’s ideas of seeing things from the perspective of other people and helps to create a basis for one’s own habits and principles for effective work and balanced life. I would advise reading this book since it may not have the universal advice, but, at least, it encourages readers to rethink and critique the ideas. I would rate this book 7 out of 10 for there were minor issues at the end of it.
References
Covey, S. (2013). The seven habits of highly effective people. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.