To start off analyzing the interesting things that the book has to offer, we can see it in

For the book review assignment, I will be reviewing a book written by James Clear titled Atomic Habits. Atomic Habits was the instant New York Times bestseller.. The book has a very positive review rating as high as 5 stars given by its audience. James Clear wrote the book with the intention of introducing the thought of an atomic habit being a regular practice which is not only easy to do but has a lot of benefits to it. In his book, he would elaborate and explains the different ways to build good habits and getting rid of bad ones. Therefore, in this book James focuses a lot of the emphasis on how small changes could eventually be compounded into larger problems if it’s being ignored in the first place.
It gives a very clear and distinctive example of the path and ideas governing the different philosophies that the book has. The book also promotes its reader to have good habits that they need to view it as a compounding interest of self-improvement. By doing so, only you can help improve yourself to help others. I enjoyed reading the book by James Clear over the course of taking the class when I found out we had to do a book review. It was very refreshing and educational for me to view other perspectives on things that I am currently studying. The book has some approach to organizational behavior that we can see later to be very similar to our course material. Moreover, Atomic Habits also talks about the four laws of behavior change that it has observed to help to build better habits which are, making it satisfying, making it easy, making it obvious, and making it attractive.
To start off analyzing the interesting things that the book has to offer, we can see it in
Chapter 1 of the Atomic Habits book titled “The surprising Power of Tiny Habits”. It talks about how success for everyone should be viewed as a product of your daily habits but now a once in a lifetime transformation. By having this mindset embedded in an individual, they are bound to be successful and experience change as they go. In addition to that, the chapter also highlights a graph that talks about the plateau of latent potential which talks about the perception of people versus time and result. We can see how it has a resemblance to chapter two, Job Performance. As task performance is being divided into several aspects of employee behavior, it can be a useful indicator of how time can affect the results of the employee in job performance referring to Atomic Habits. Therefore, the book emphasizes that if you are struggling to find or build a good habit yourself, it is not your ability to improve or perceived has failed you. You have yet to meet the plateau of latent potential for job performance improve.
Secondly, the book talked about how motivation is overrated and the environment often matters more than motivation. Often time, the environment at the workplace will have more contribution to the work efficiency of a firm. By creating an environment that is not only efficient and healthy but promoting communication among one another. It is often an invisible factor in a firm that a lot people would ignore. In relation to the chapters in our textbook, we can see that Chapter 3 Organizational Commitment has a lot of similarities to how creating an environment that is comfortable for its employees to work at would contribute to the desire of the employee to remain a member of the organization. Often time, it is a lot easier to build a new habit or behavior in a new environment because you are not surrounded by familiar people or old cues as mentioned in the book. Atomic Habits mentions that make the cues of a good habit be visible in your environment to encourage others to follow and be a role model for them.
The secret of self-control and self-improvement varies from one individual to another.
Different people have different perspectives and methods on how to improve one's ability to interpret, contribute and educate in a professional environment. Thus, self-control is crucial for any individual working for a firm should have because it helps the firm to grow. Therefore, referring to the chapters in our material that we had studied, I believe it is very similar to Chapter
9, Personality and Cultural Values. As Chapter 9 highlights that The Big Five that relates to Personality, we can see how conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience and extraversion. One of the important notes that Atomic Habits highlights were that people with high self-control are always spending less time in tempting situations. By being open to opinions and experiences from people that are more experienced than you, it is bound to have an effect on your life moving forward advancing in the professional career.
As we are bound to run into obstacles in your life, the book taught us to walk slowly but never backward. It is the third law in the Atomic Habits of behavior change which is making it easy. As you progress reading Atomic Habits, you will develop a better understanding of the different theories and teaching that will help an individual develop better habits at the workplace which can help to contribute to better organizational behavior. In chapter 8 of our textbook, learning and decision making is a great chapter to relate to how the book describe walk slowly, but never backward. In a professional setting, the most effective way of learning is by practice and not planning while others should focus on taking action and not being in the motion with the constant rush to reach the goal. By progressing slowly, you will have a better understanding of the experience while not rushing through missing out small details that are important in helping to develop the special potential that others need. Explicit knowledge in a firm is generally more suitable for others to learn as information is made readily available and easily transferred through verbal communication. By communicating with one another on a professional level, better ways of conducting in the firm would contribute to a more effective workplace.
Motivation is a trouble for many firms that want to have the perfect organizational behavior practice in the workplace. Atomic Habits talks about the goldilocks rule that when humans experience peak motivation if they are assigned with tasks that are right on the edge of their current capability. Putting each individual to a test pushing their own limitations will motivate each individual to bring out the best in them. The book illustrates it with a bell curve with the middle being the peak motivation which is known as the goldilocks zone. As we refer to the materials in the book, Chapter 6, Motivation talks a lot about how motivation affects the ability of individuals working. Looking at figure 6-4 in the textbook, we saw how the higher difficulty of goals would contribute to the highest task performance of the employee. A direct relationship of material from the textbook and Atomic Habits that help contribute to the understanding of how the employee works best and motivated when they are put to doing tasks that are on the edge of their own capability.
Upon completing the book, there were a couple of things that did not make sense to me.
But, one thing that bothers me the most was when James in his book mentioned how Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery. It was confusing for me understanding the meaning behind it while incorporating the examples that were given in the book. Overall, the book was very insightful to read and has a lot of similarities with the textbook that we have been studying throughout the semester. It was a very unique experience putting a different view on things that we are studying. It has taught me to look at things from a different perspective and not be blinded by only doing things one way. At the end of the day, I will definitely recommend this book to my peers that are taking the class as it will give them a different view of perspective from my own experience. The book has many interesting quotes and theories that you can easily relate to the chapters from the textbook. Hence, this is a must-read for any student that is taking the class.
This assignment has definitely enhanced my understanding of Organizational Behavior as an important element in every firm to help contribute to a better society and environment for everyone to work in