Published January 2005

Learn from others
but stay true to yourself

Every business has its traditions.

In television we have the “lost episodes,” which are subsequently marketed. And in the music business, after the death of a popular music idol, it seems that studios, band members, agents, surviving spouses and distant relatives turn up “previously undiscovered” recordings by the now-departed star — and will share them with us for only $49.95 for the boxed set.

In that sense, there is something faintly familiar in management idol Stephen Covey’s new book. It seems that the author of the phenomenally popular “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” has discovered an “eighth habit,” which he will share with us for $26.

The analogy doesn’t fit perfectly, of course. Covey is undoubtedly an idolized management author, but he is very much alive, and was thus forced to make the discovery of the “eighth habit” himself. And, if that didn’t ruin the analogy enough, his status as a management guru and the worship attached to his words make it different from some studio technician turning up an old Beatles practice session tape. It’s more like Moses announcing that he had made a math error: There was an 11th commandment.

Another reason the analogy doesn’t fit right is that the motivational/self-help industry isn’t like any other. It occupies a point inside a triangle formed by management theory, entertainment and religion. And it has elements of all three of these things — which management gurus and motivational speakers, like chefs, measure out in various proportions to make their product.

Some motivational/self-help meetings, especially those related to sales, bear an eerie resemblance to old-time revival meetings. Others are anchored more in management theory and have an academic flavor. Almost all reveal close family ties to the entertainment industry and use entertainment techniques — sometimes as a condiment and sometimes as the main course.

Covey is actually one of the best in the motivation/self-help industry. His books, unlike most in that area, actually have thought-provoking content. Even the recently unearthed eighth habit — “Find Your Voice” — is worth thinking about. Whether it is worth $26 is another question.

It is clear that Covey’s eighth habit contradicts the other seven — you can’t be yourself and like someone else at the same time. When we consider the total seven-plus-one package, it combines the best and worst of all the advice given to us by our parents. Somehow, as kids and teens, we were supposed to figure out how to balance the contradiction in the parental demands of “Why can’t you be more like Michael?” and “Just be yourself.”

The original “Seven Habits” are really an elaborate form of “be like Michael.” The whole premise of the book — and, of much of the motivation/self-help industry — is to make a list of what characteristics high-achievers and leaders have in common. Then, if we adopt those characteristics and copy their habits, we will become like them.

The eighth habit is like the one our parents pulled out later, after they tired of our pale, often comical, attempts to imitate our peers, movie actors and sports heroes. “Find Your Voice” is simply a way of repeating the advice we got from Mom: “Be yourself.”

Mom was right. Following the habits of successful people is a good thing, but if we aren’t careful, it can be very much like putting on a costume. We can learn things from George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, from CEOs, from sports figures, and even from movie stars and entertainment celebrities. But imitating their habits will not make us them, any more than chewing tobacco and patting colleagues on the butt will make us able to hit a big-league curveball. We have to be ourselves. We have to find our own way in this world.

There are no documented cases of anyone being hurt by reading a self-improvement book. And there is certainly no harm in our trying to improve ourselves by adopting good habits. This form of self-improvement is an integral and time-honored part of the American economic meritocracy and all the wonderful prosperity it has brought us.

Still, there is an immutable chain of causality in human affairs. Our thoughts lead to words, our words lead to actions, our actions to habits, our habits to character, and character to destiny. Habits clearly play a central part in this, but they are only a part of the larger picture. Habits without thought will never help us find our character — and find our destiny.

If reading about and pursuing Covey’s seven, or eight, habits make you think, you are on the road to being a better manager, perhaps even a better person. But in the end, it is your thoughts, not his, that will make the difference.

James McCusker, a Bothell economist, educator and small-business consultant, writes “Your Business” in The Herald each Sunday. He can be reached by sending e-mail to otisrep@aol.com.

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