preview

Essay on 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

Better Essays

Stephen R. Covey’s self-help book is an influential communication for personal change. He advises building from the inside-out and offers a plan for moving from dependence to independence and then to interdependence. The inside-out approach starts first with one self, which includes paradigms, characters, and motivations. To improve relationships with others, we have to first improve ourselves by putting character ahead of personality. Covey prefaces the book by explaining paradigms and principles. Paradigms are maps that guide us and affect the way we interact with people. He states, “We see the world not as it is, but as we are or as we are conditioned to see it” (page 28). Paradigms have a greater impact over effectiveness than any …show more content…

Covey states that effectiveness is based on a principle he called the P/PC balance. This P/PC balance principle lies in the balance of production of desired results to the production capabilities. The PC principle is to “always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers” (page 58). Covey states that the P/PC balance is the essence of effectiveness: “It’s the definition and paradigm of effectiveness upon which the seven habits in this book are based” (page 58). Covey calls those things that we have no control over the circle of concern. Those that we can control fall into the circle of influence. He describes three areas that problems fall into. They are direct control, indirect control and no control. Direct control problems involve our own behavior. There are addressed in the three habits. Covey explains that private victories precede public victories. Private victories are solving problems by working on our own habits. Indirect control problems are solved by changing our methods. Public victories are discussed in Habits 4, 5 & 6 and involve learning new methods of influence. No control problems are those that we can do nothing about but accept them so that “we do not empower these problems to control us” (page 86). It is how we change our habits, methods and

Get Access