Stories
Stories
Inside the Bestseller List with Charles Duhigg
Charles Duhigg (MBA 2003)
(photo via LinkedIn)
Charles Duhigg (MBA 2003)
(photo via LinkedIn)
It was building spreadsheets as an HBS intern at a private equity firm that convinced Charles Duhigg (MBA 2003) that his future was in journalism. While he worked, he listened to episodes of This American Life. “I should just go tell those stories,” he remembers thinking. After graduation, he took an internship at the Washington Post. He’s now a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative business reporter at the New York Times.
Long-form journalism naturally led Duhigg to books, first The Power of Habit in 2012, which harnessed science to understand and change habits, and this year’s Smarter Faster Better, on the science of productivity. Both were bestsellers, and both have lessons for aspiring writers.
After researching the science of goal setting for Smarter Faster Better, Duhigg says, “The way I write my to-do lists is very different, specifically tailored to what science says is the right way to write a list. You put your stretch goal—your biggest aspiration—at the top of the page. Under that, you break that down into tasks, so you know exactly what to do next.” The goal is a book; today’s task is writing just five pages.
On the need to develop good writing habits, he says: “I’d been a professional writer for 10 years when The Power of Habit came out. I’d been practicing writing incessantly. The difference between writing a good book and a really great book oftentimes is simply how much time you’ve spent practicing and thinking about writing.”
Return to The Year in Books 2016Post a Comment
Related Stories
-
- 01 Jun 2025
- HBS Magazine
Alumni and Faculty Books
Re: Charley Ellis (MBA 1963); Maria Ellis (OPM 32); Anson Frericks (MBA 2011); Don Gillis (PMD 66); P.J. Kirby (MBA 1978); Larry Lepard (MBA 1983); Mike Mears (MBA 1975); John Travers (MBA 2002); Lee Wilson (MBA 1978); Matthew C. Weinzierl (Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling Professor of Business Administration Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research); Arthur C. Brooks (Professor of Management Practice); Ranjay Gulati (Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration); Gunnar Trumbull (Philip Caldwell Professor of Business Administration) -
- 01 Mar 2025
- HBS Magazine
Alumni and Faculty Books
Re: Chinwe Ajene (MBA 2003); Andrew Brodsky (PHDOB 2017); Brian Buxton (MBA 1977); Kweilin Ellingrud (MBA 2005); Anne Fonte (MBA 1992); Steve Ossad (MBA 1976); Aaron Poynton (AMP 195); Gregory Slayton (MBA 1990); Karen Swanson (MBA 1990); Teresa M. Amabile (Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration, Emerita); Alison Wood Brooks (O'Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration); Jeffrey J. Bussgang (Senior Lecturer of Business Administration) -
- 15 Dec 2024
- HBS Magazine
Alumni and Faculty Books
Re: Kavita Bhatnagar (SELP 11); Amar Bhide (MBA 1979); Siri Chilazi (MBA 2016); Christopher Cox (MBA 1997); Gurcharan Das (AMP 91); Maria Ellis (OPM 32); Brooks Fenno (MBA 1962); Sue Hemphill (PMD 47); Frank Lorenzo (MBA 1963); John Lotz (MBA 1971); Ron May (AMP 165); Rusty McClure (MBA 1975); Allie Nava (MBA 2002); Wilbur Ross (MBA 1961); Garry Sanderson (AMP 175); Ken Wilcox (MBA 1983); Rick Williams (PMD 33); Michael Horn (MBA 2006); Max H. Bazerman (Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration); Ethan S. Bernstein (Edward W. Conard Associate Professor of Business Administration); Malcolm S. Salter (James J. Hill Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus); Feng Zhu (MBA Class of 1958 Professor of Business Administration) -
- 01 Sep 2024
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Ink: Framing the Full Picture
Re: Amy Chu (MBA 1999); By: Jen McFarland Flint
Stories Featuring Charles Duhigg
-
- 01 Jun 2024
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Again and Again
Re: Charles Duhigg (MBA 2003); Michael I. Norton (Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration Unit Head, Negotiation, Organizations & Markets) -
- 30 May 2024
- Skydeck
How to Have Effective Conversations
Re: Charles Duhigg (MBA 2003) -
- 01 Jan 2022
- Harvard Magazine
Reporting, with an MBA
Re: Charles Duhigg (MBA 2003)
More Stories Featuring Charles Duhigg
