The Seven Habits An Overview

In 1989, Stephen Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People started a landmark revolution in how we think about time and life management. In this book, Covey presents seven principles for developing effectiveness in our private and public lives. By developing these habits, one moves from being dependent on other people to being and acting independently. Then we learn how to move to the more advanced state of interdependence and successful Cooperation. As a part of the seven habits. Covey introduces important and powerful techniques of time management under the habit of "Put First Things First." It is necessary to understand (and Practice) all seven habits so that the tools of time management can be learned and practiced in their natural setting. What follows is a basic overview of these ideas presented so you can take better advantage of this tool you hold in your hands.  

The habits themselves are based on some important principles. One such principle is that of P/PC Balance. "P" refers to production of desired results (such as achieving a particular grade in a course). "PC" refer to production capability or the ability to produce successful results. In managing our lives, we must be careful to balance not only the productivity of our lives but also the abilities to achieve these results. For example, we cannot ignore the activities which help build or maintain our health, finances, relationships, ability to learn etc., in our quest to do more, achieve more, and do all of this faster and more efficiently. Burnout is the inevitable result of P/PC imbalance!  

Another basic principle important to understand the 7 habits is the Maturity Continuum. The 7 habits serve as a set of integrated approaches allowing us to move along the maturity continuum from dependence to independence to interdependence. Being dependent means that you depend on other people to take care you and your problems ("You take care of me"). Being independent means that you have taken charge of your life ("I am self-reliant"). Being interdependent means you combine your talents with others to create something greater together than any of you could do alone ("We can do it"). The first of these habits focus on achieving "private victories" which help move us from being dependent to being independent. The next of these habits relate to "public victories" which move us into the realm of interdependence where we can work effectively with others. The last habit ( Sharpening The Saw) encompasses all the others and ensures we engage in activities of personal renewal so that we can maintain our PC abilities! With these concepts as a background, we are now ready to review the habits.  

Habit 1 : Be Proactive. The Habit of Personal Vision. According to Covey, this habit reflects our innate ability to take charge of our lives. We are not simply products of in-grained stimulus- response reflexes. We have the ability to take charge, plan ahead, and focus our energies on things we can control instead of reacting to or worrying about things over which we have little or no control. This habit allows us to rise above the ebbs and flows of the tides of our day-to-day lives and direct our lives.

Habit 2 : Begin With the End in Mind. The habit of personal leadership. In this habit, we begin each day, week, project, etc. with a clear vision of our direction and destination. This habit inculcates the ability to create our desired results mentally first in accordance to our guiding principles, and then maintain this vision throughout our daily activities. Part of the process of developing this habit is to develop a personal mission statement, philosophy, or creed. This mission statement focus on what you want to be and do. Your planning activities then can always be refer back to this mission statement so you can maintain a proper perspective on where you are headed and how you hope to get there. This habit is called Personal Leadership because Leadership is considered to be the first creation of your vision which is then managed in your planning and daily activities.  

Habit 3 : Put First Things First. The habit of personal management. First Things are those things you find most worth doing according to your personal vision of your mission. We use these priorities to manage our time and events so that every day we are sure to keep these first things first in our lives. A key concept related to this habit is "Quadrant II Planning." The diagram at the end of this section is what Covey calls a "Time Management Matrix." The top of the matrix divides the blocks into things that are Urgent, and Not urgent, and the left side divides the matrix into Important and Not important. Here is a summary of the quadrants.  

Habit 4 : Think Win-Win. The habit of Interpersonal Leadership. In this habit, Covey advises us to get out of our win/lose way of looking at interpersonal relations ( I get mine you don't) and move towards a win-win attitude (How can we both get what we want). Too often we think of ourselves succeeding in terms of someone else failing. This has been promulgated by the competitiveness of our culture. Unfortunately in the real world., we have to cooperate a lot more than we have to compete. A win-win attitude seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. In your courses most of them will not be graded on a fixed curve where only a set number of "A's", "B's" etc. will be given out. Most courses have a fixed grading scale where you are guaranteed a grade if you meet certain performance objectives no matter how many other students do the same. In this situation it is to your advantage to form wisely chosen study groups so that everyone in the study group is in a win-win situation. Hence everyone benefits from the association. Obviously sometimes this doesn't work out and someone in the group doesn't carry their weight. In that case you can spend some Quadrant II time in explaining to the person the benefits of thinking and acting win-win so that they (and yourself benefit). Other times the best win-win is to ask them to leave the group. They get a big hint about the consequences of their actions which could lead them to improve there activities and the group benefits as well. Covey suggests establishing a win-win agreement as a tool for creating an effective, long-term foundation. This agreement seeks to make explicit the following items: u Desired results - What is to be done and when (not how!) u Guidelines - The guidelines governing how the results are to be accomplished u Resources - Human, material, and other help available u Accountability - What are the standards for evaluating the performance and times of evaluation. u Consequences - What will happen as a result of achieving and not achieving the results. Many students do not perceive their interactions with professors as a win-win situation, but rather as a confrontational one. Believe it or not, the overwhelming majority of us are not "out to get you"! We have certain policies, exam structures, office hours, etc. to establish a win-win situation with you. We really are much happier when you succeed in our classes! In fact, look at your syllabi this coming semester and notice how much in them is representing a win-win agreement. It may begin to cause you to look at your classes in a different light!  

Habit 5 : Seek first to understand, then to be understood. The habit of communication. We can't listen while we are talking! Unfortunately when we interact with people, we really do not listen in order to understand. Rather as the other person is talking, we are already framing our replies. In effect we are talking while they are talking. We are not listening. Covey suggests we engage in "Empathic Listening" which we do our best to get inside another person's frame of reference and see the world the way they do. This takes tremendous courage and ability, because we have to suspend our own frame works to do this. We in effect, make ourselves vulnerable to change. Keep in mind, however, that empathic listening does not have to mean you agree with the other person's views, just that you make an all out effort to Understand them. Before we can effectively make ourselves understood, we must first understand where the other person is coming from. Then and only then are we in a position to communicate in a way such that our own views can be understood. As an example, suppose you find yourself in a confrontation with an instructor over a grade. You should first give the instructor a opportunity to tell their side and try to truly understand their side. Perhaps there is a central piece of information you truly didn't understand about how the grade was going to be assigned, or why it was being done that way. Many times an instructor who sees that a student truly didn't understand is willing to encourage in a win-win agreement to resolve the situation. Complaining, and not listening usually gets you nowhere.  

Habit 6 : Synergize. The habit of Creative Cooperation. Synergy refers to the fact that in most situations 1+1<>2 but 1+1=3 or more! That is, through creative cooperation(not giving in or compromise) two or more people can produce results far better than either could do alone. This habit draws upon the previous five. It allows us to be effective in an interdependent setting! The key to developing this habit is to value differences among people. We must have the humility to recognize that our own views are limited and preconceived, and that interactions with others of different values and mind sets allow us to reach creative solutions that are far better than what we could have achieved on our own. Inculcation of this habit removes bigotry and prejudice from our thinking and replaces it with respect and caring. A truly good liberal arts education is aimed at instilling just this very principle. College should be about having you confront your own pre-conceptions about the world and see that not everyone shares your views, that in many cases their views are equally valued, and in some cases better than yours! Intellectual, emotional, and philosophical arrogance is replaced by humility and cooperation.  

Habit 7 : Sharpen the saw. The habit of Self-Renewal. This habit involves engaging in those activities which are aimed at preserving and maintaining ourselves! We should seek to have a balanced, systematic program of self-renewal in essentially four areas : physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual.