Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg Review

I picked this up because I enjoyed The Power of Habit by the same author. This follows the same formula of many self-help books: pick a few topics as the chapters, back each concept up with stories and research. However, the vague title of this book sort of sets it up for a jumbled table of contents. The topics it covers range from managing others and team dynamics to absorbing data and staying motivated. I can’t say it’s not exactly what I expected, but it wasn’t super engaging, and the stories weren’t as intriguing as they were in The Power of Habit.

See, I like self-help books. This review isn’t just to complain about self-help books as boring or mid or dumb. It’s coming from a place of “I read self-help, and there are better ones out there, but this one isn’t bad if you have nothing else to do.” I think self-help is useful if you go into it wanting it to be helpful and wanting to gain something from it. But if you’re going into it with the expectation that it’ll be a mid white man yapping in your ear about how to be a better cog in the capitalist machine, then you’ll probably stomp off with the urge to pick up a high fantasy YA novel instead. I understand both sides of the love and hate, and I think I stand somewhat on the side of the former—but I don’t identify as a young adult or teenage boy, the stereotypical audience of these sorts of books, so take from that what you will.