I was speaking to our Art teacher, Mr. Horn, about our book study. He has read the book and isn't too impressed. He believes Stephen Covey's 7 Habits are nothing but common sense and you shouldn't need a book to figure it out.
Here's your question: Are the 7 Habits merely common sense? If so, why, if you can figure it all out on your own, do you believe this book is so popular? If you don't believe it is just common sense, which of the habits made you think, "I never thought of that!"?
Be sure to answer both parts of the question.
Response to this post is due by Sunday, November 16th @ noon.
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55 comments:
I agree with Mr. Horn, these habits are merely common sense. The reason it is so popular is becuase most people are too lazy to commit to these habits and need a book to do so. These habits are kind of like losing weight. Its common sense that in order to lose weight you need to eat right and live a healthy lifestyle but most people need to join programs or buy books in order to actually commit to losing the weight.
I think all 7 habits are common sense and that this book should not be very popular and it's only popular becasue some people like to be told what to think, and i don't.
I think that the 7 habits are common sense and that people buy this book to just find ways to become richer in the business industry later in life.
the 7 habits are really just common sense. but i think what makes the book so popular is that it makes you think about how you work and what you can do to work more effectively.
I think that the 7 habit book is common sense but also some things in it are very helpful. For example, time management is common sense and we dont really need a book to tell us how to manage our time.
I think the book is common sense. While reading through it, I felt like I was not only wasting my time but also my money. I think I can figure out on my own how live my life and I don't need a book to help me. I already knew everything thing that I read it was complete common sense.
i think the book is just common sense but people buy it because it organizes all his thoughts on common sense wich people sometimes need to see in writting to help them further use their common sense
I beleive that the 7 habits are common sense. However, I think that the book helps people realize these themes of common sense. Cognitively people know these habits and the book helps apply them to their life. That is why the book is so popular.
The 7 habits are common sense that have been thought very deeply about. This book is so popular because it relates to everyone.
Yes, I believe that the 7 Habits are common sense. I think the book is popular because the habits are hard to put into words, which Stephen Covey successfully conveys. For example, a successful person who is punctual and thinks ahead is proactive, as Stephen Covey puts it, but that person may not say that about him/herself because they cannot find the right word to use.
Yes they are just common sense! I think that the book is so popular because the people people that buy it only know that it promises success and don't bother to look through it first.
I am so pleased with the thoughtful responses posted by 9:20 on 11/14. I especially like the comparison between the 7 Habits and dieting being common sense. I had never thought of an analogy like that. Good job.
I definitely agree that the habits are common sense. The reason the book is so successful is because people want to feel like they have someone there to hold their hand and feel like they actually are improving their life by reading the book. In reality though, they could do all the things the book says on their own.
Of course the 7 Habits are common sense. The only reason people buy the book is because they feel they need the help or they think the 7 habits in the book are something they dont know or have. i agree with greg benson this book should not be so popular.
I think the 7 habits are all comon sense and this book will help the people who neeed to be told what to do and how to do it.
I think everything about this book is common sense and I have no idea why the book is popular. The only reason could be that some people need extra guidance to be successful, but still, you dont need a book to tell you how to work hard in order to be successful.
I too agree with Mr.Horn all the 7 habits are common sense. Maybe the reason people purchased the book was because they thought the key to becoming sucessful was a bit more complicated.
Becuase people are foolish sheep.
These are all common sense there was no wow moment. The only reason this sells is because one person freaked out and decided it was good and wanting to look good to peers the next person agreed and so the trend conintued.
Do you leave your electronics outside or do you bring them inside just in case it rains.
Good job you're pro active not reactive. Man, you must be a successful sonofva gun.
The book is so popular because it may be just a part of common sense. The book helps bring about the details of each habit so you can have a better understanding of how to apply it. Not everyone is born with common sense so maybe it is needed by those who have never worked in that sort of envirnoment to help them succeed.
I think that the 7 habits are just common sense. There should be no reason why this book is popular it doesn't say anything that everyone knows. This is a quack!
i think the 7 habits are common sense, and works more as a guideline to get someone on the right track. that is why i think the book is so popular. So therefore I would have to agree with Mr. Horn.
Of course it's all about common sence. That's why we can relate to it so easily. If the frame is too small what do u do? U buy a bigger one. This book is more of a refrance than anything else, a refrance of common sence that need pointing out to.
I believe that the 7 habits are all common sense. I believe that the main reasaon that this book is so popular is because most people dont have the motivation to go out and figure these things out on their own. Many people also are very dependent on taking direction from other people. They need to be told what to do to get what they need to do accomplished. There are those few that are intelligent and independent who dont need this direction and list of "rules" to follow and they can still get what is important accomplished.
I also agree that the 7 habits is common sense. The majority of people are dependent, where they feel like they need to have guidlines to follow in order to have an assurance that their doing the right thing. In reality we all could figure out what it takes to be successful, but having a scource to fall back on is a relief to most which has made the book popular.
Greg Benson is absolutely right! I like to think on my own, and this book is common sense. People only use this book to get help if they don't believe in their own ability to be successful.
I would have to agree with everyone else who has posted so far. The 7 habits are truely common sense. Society today is driven by what writers and politicians and reporters say. People don't think for themselves anymore.
I will actually have to agree with Mr. Horn, I believe that the 7 Habits are pure common sense. I think the book is popular because I honestly believe people in our society just don't take things as seriously as they should and by reading about it, it makes common sense things seem purely more realistic, also i agree with bmorris, I also think people are just lazy...
I agree with Mr Horn. I think most people knmow about these 7 habits, but not every one applies them to everything they do. I think this book is popular because it reminds us what we should do.
I think that the book is also just common sense. The problem is however, that there are always people who lack this common sense, or feel the need to reassure themselves of that. There are plenty of irresponsible people out there who cannot manage their time or be proactive (not counting the fact that if they're buying the book, they're atleast trying to be proactive), but they won't be the ones spending their time reading the book. Rather than begin with the end in mind as is advocated, their only thought IS the end. Not the goal, but the demolition of another thing added to their to-do list. People today have lost sight of what life is truly meant for: happiness and enjoyment, along with which should easily come success, because having a happy and fulfilling life...well isn't that what success means? How is it that for thousands of years, the human race has succeeded without any self help books or seminars, but the last 100 or so years have seen a marked increase in these, to which people flock like geese. The reason, is that we are greedy. That is why the book is so popular. As the recent crash of the stock market and its repurcussions has shown, it is now our nature to want more money, and more success. And with our gullible nature, we buy books like these which tell us the things we already know, and only list it in an easy form that gives the impression you will be instantly successful if you follow them.
It is true that it is common sense, but this is why the book is so successful. Similarly, when we find our performance slacking, one of the best things we can do is return to the basics. If you learn to master the simple common sense traits, everything else falls into place. As for Mr. Horn's statement, a heck of a lot of people out there will give anything for a step by step guide for living.
I happen to agree with Mr. Horn, but I'd like to take a different approach. Consider your habits like animals being affected by natural selection. If you develop a habit that is doing nothing but hurting you than more often than not a driven person will expel that habit from ther ways. In the meantime, the effective habits, whether there be seven or seventeen stick around and slowly help you become more effective yourself. If you are determined enough to filter through the good and bad habits you naturally form, then you don't need a book to tell you what they are. Each person is different, I don't need to tell you that, it has been preached to us since we were kids. Therefore our habits should be different as well.
I think the book is helpful because even though the habits are common sense, he does a good job of breaking it down and putting it into perspective.
i think the book is very helpful, because even though the habits are common sense i think he does a good job of putting them into perspective and breaking them down to where its easy to actually incorporate into your life
“The Seven Habits of Highly effective People” to me is nothing but mere common sense. It is much similar to before the time where Isaac Newton had discovered Gravity, we had all knew gravity existed but no body had ever clearly defined it. In the book, Mr. Stephen R Covey, a name I am sure is instantly recognized all across the universe, defined, organized and selected some of the vital points to success. But however, the definition of success is, first of all, differs from man to man. Second of all, some of the most successful people in this world such as Warren Edward Buffett, Bill Gates, etc… had perhaps never read his book before they made billions of dollars. Then how’d that happen, how can people be successful without realizing some of the vital points to success? I’m sure we already know the answer. From generation to generation the virtue of saving time, manage time wisely, blah blah blah…had already imprinted in most of the people’s mind in virtually every single part of the planet, and here comes Mr. Covey selected from more than a gazillion different kind of strategies to success and summed it up in seven sentences. It is like writing an orange tag on an orange; I mean haha what’s the deal?
I believe that the 7 Habits are common sense. The only reason this book is so popular, is because people don't like to be challenged. They like for the answers to be given to them, and not have to work for what they get.
I think that 7 habits are mostly common sense. However, it can be hard to think about them all the time so the book is there to remind and refresh our memory to make good of our lives. Sometimes we don't always think or come up with the use of these habits so that is why the book is popular. The book is very beneficial.
Mr. Horn has got the right idea with this book. Although I admire Mr. Covey for his yearn to teach others about how to be successful in their lives, I do not think truly successful people need a book to tell them what to do. These habits are things that any successful person does subconsciously without thinking about them. Although I do believe that Mr. Covey brings up some interesting spins on these traditional ideals, the overall idea is just something that people should be able to know without reading a book
I agree with Katie. I believe it is mostly common sense, but that it makes you keep it in mind and people like being told what to do and think. That is probably the main reason why it sells so good - people love reading about how you can be better in whatever subject.
I think the 7 habits are all common sense and that the book only organizes the common sense into 7 different habits which makes it appealing to the reader but it really isn't something that special.
I agree with Mr. Horn. I think the 7 habits are nothing but common sense and all the author talks about is himself. I think that people buy this book out of assignment purposes. I mean we all had to buy the 7 habits for teens, and it definitely was far from intentional. Honestly, this book does nothing for me, especially as a teen.
the 7 habits are common sense. the reason it is so popular is because some people have trouble sorting their own lives out. they think its easier to buy a book and read about excuses for why they cannot succeed instead of figuring it out for themselves.
While I do agree that a few of the habits are common sense, there are a few that are not. It is easy to say that, in today's society, in which these ideologies are ingrained into our minds at a very young age, finding win-win solutions and seeking to understand before being understood are, in fact, common sense. However, I argue that while this is a common perception, I believe these to be against our innate nature. I do admit though, that I'm not very optimistic about the human condition in terms of instinctual morality. It seems to me that the first thought an unconditioned person would have would be " Win! Who cares about them!" and " No, you don't understand, so I will make you understand". Or, at least, that's what one would come to understand from thousands of case examples in history.
It's easy to say that these things should come naturally when we live on solid ground with a policeman on one corner and a butcher on the other, but even today, there are places where thinking like this could get you killed. If one was to wake up every morning to a bowl of gun-powder oatmeal and an AK-47 a few feet away, with their adult figures expecting only for them to kill as many of those dogs outside as possible, thinking "Win/win" would be the last thing on one's mind. On the opposite end of the spectrum, "Sharpening the Saw" is a faint glimmer in the back of a wealth inheritor's, or welfare liver's mind, as when one can exist without work, there can only be recreation, and in these situations, it is rare to find one who would rather better themselves than watch others live and die for their amusement.
Personally, as an American of this day in age in which Covey's ultimately famous book had been out for decades, none of these concepts are really new to me. This book is popular as it embodies our current values as businessmen and people today. Where "Mein Kamph" defined life for the Nazis, and "The Communist Manifesto" defined life for the soviets, our "7 Habits" define life for Americans.
Again, some very insightful comments. Thanks for really considering your responses.
All the 7 habits are common sense. It's just that no one wants to come up with a plan on their own to become more productive and need Stephen Covey or some other creative mind to do it for them.
I would have to agree with Mr. Horn i belive that the 7 habits are all just common sense and the reason why its popular is because people want to have stuff they already know from a person that was succesful when all they need to do is think.
The seven habits are completly commom sense. the only reason that the book is so popular is the belief that the book wight dive deepe into each topic. This allows more insight for the reader.
I agree with Mr. Horn because I feel that the 7 habits are easy to comprehend and are pretty much all common sense topics that are instilled through the media, and other types of things, into or minds on a daily basis.
I agree with mr. horn also. Most of the habits are common sense to the average person and should just be common known practices among workers. I also dissagree with mr. horn because this book does offer many ways to improve ones habits.
I agree with Mr.Horn. The 7 habits is a book that is all common sense to people like me. Its common sense for those of us who aren't lazy, and the 7 habits is popular because people in life get confused and don't know what to do
I'm sorry this is late, but I just found out about this since I was out of town. I believe that the seven steps revealed in Steven Covey's 7 Habits book are mostly common sense. The problem is however today's society is often too lazy to put effort into improving itself and has come to accept mediocrity. Thus, this book reiterates the fact that we should all innately know already in order to improve ourselves.
The 7 habbits are common sense. the only reason the book is popular is because people do not want work hard at things they dont have to.
I agree completly with Mr. Horn in the way that most of the 7 habbits are common sense. However I beleive that by reading the book, one is able to re-accuire the knowledge of the 7 habbits. When we are simply walking through life, we do not thinkk of these on a daily basis. This is why the book can help us.
Since I don't see my first post...the habits are all common sense. I mean everyone grows up knowing this stuff they're just sometimes too stubborn to actually use them. But with a book, they have reason to use them and feel like they are doing a 'good deed' and doing it to make themselves better when they've really had these qualities all along. Hopefully this one gets posted.
These 7 habits are not common sense. I had to idea what kinda of a center i was. You know what you have to do, covey tells you how to do it correctly.
Of couse the book is all common sense.. I dont know if the book is popular or not but i wouldnt read it and i havent.. I dont really like to read about things that tell me how i should live my life. or how i should think.
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