The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: A Critical Review

Introduction to Covey's Seven Habits

Stephen Covey first published The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in 1989. Over twenty years later, many of his concepts still apply to the modern business world, whereas others have been eclipsed by less idealistic modes of thinking. The book is based on seven principles that Covey sees as essential for successful organizational and personal leadership. These seven principles are:

Habit 1: Be Proactive — Principles of Personal Vision
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind — Principles of Personal Leadership
Habit 3: Put First Things First — Principles of Personal Management
Habit 4: Think Win/Win — Principles of Interpersonal Leadership
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood — Principles of Empathic Communication
Habit 6: Synergize — Principles of Creative Cooperation
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw — Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal

The first three principles, or habits, are classified as "private victories" because they are based on setting and achieving personal goals. The next three habits are categorized as "public victories" and "paradigms of independence" because they extend outside the self and have a liberating effect. The final principle is classified as a "renewal" because it encourages an ongoing state of rebirth and revelation.

Habit 1: Be Proactive — Principles of Personal Vision

The notion of being proactive — that is, acting instead of simply reacting — is perhaps even more applicable today than it was twenty years ago when Covey designated it as his first principle of leadership success. His emphasis on self-awareness and environmental determinism in this chapter lays the groundwork for his equation of the terms proactive and effective. Covey explains that being proactive means more than just getting ahead of the game or taking an offensive stance. It is actually about taking responsibility for our actions and decisions and not blaming external stimuli for the situations we end up in. The mantra "Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions" (71) effectively sums up the sentiments of Covey's proactive model.

In the 21st century, this model could go a long way in teaching executives to stop deflecting blame for their managerial failures and take personal responsibility for the decisions they have made. Government bailouts are just a band-aid for the real problems of mismanagement, corruption, and the omnipresent "blame game" that permeates the modern business environment. Unfortunately, Covey may be thinking a bit too idealistically, considering that it seems to be human nature to deny responsibility when things go wrong and demand it when things go right. Of course, Covey is not attempting to paint a picture of the world as it is; he is trying to show readers how it could be if they were to follow his formula. In that sense, the level of idealism is warranted.

Covey also makes a point in this chapter about how to use proactive language, as opposed to reactive language, to achieve better results. The way we phrase things, according to Covey, can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of just about any situation. Language is something we can control, and therefore it is our responsibility to use it effectively. If we do not make the effort to do so, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Some examples he provides include saying "Let's look at our alternatives" instead of "There's nothing I can do," or telling yourself "I control my own feelings" rather than complaining that "he makes me so mad" (78). Covey claims that once people begin to practice these proactive ways of thinking and speaking, they will become habits — that is, they will come naturally rather than requiring conscious effort. This is important, Covey asserts, because reactive language can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

At the end of the chapter, as in all of his chapters, Covey provides "application suggestions" that show how this principle can be used in everyday life. While they come across as homework assignments, the intent seems to be to demonstrate the viability of being proactive in a variety of real-world situations.