Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People and "Centers"

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Covey's Seven Habits book is very useful for a philosophical type like me. Having just come to the end of the tail-end of an interdisciplinary program in philosophy, I have become accustomed to contemplating what it is I am actually doing! The following come to mind as important observations that relate to Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People, as well as other Covey books (Seven habits of Highly Effective Teens, The Eighth Habit): It is entirely possible that this is the only life I get, and, relatively-speaking, it ain't gonna be long, even if I live another 70 years; At any given moment I am doing something, cannot be helped; Assuming I am still going to be here in the future, it makes sense to do things now that improve my future self's lot; People, relationships, are a massive part of what life entails, so learning to appreciate others and treat them well can only be good for myself in the long-run; In any case, people should not be seen as means but as ends.

Covey, then, stresses focusing on what we think is important, acting in ways that promote those priorities, spending most of our time on those things, and putting those things ahead of other demands. On the other hand, the Seven Habits is not a Carte Blanche for choosing any old priorities based on whims, because Covey believes that some priorites "naturally" have negative effects on the actor. In other words, he advocates a "Principle Center."

Covey's idea is that we all tend to focus in "centers." Centers may include making money as an ultimate goal, keeping your boyfriend no matter what the cost emotionally, serving some religion or national movement despite the negative consequences, or promoting some cultural, social or economic philosophy while being blind to its "downside."

Covey suggests learning to make ethical principles your "center." This does not mean becoming a member of the Salvation Army, but it does mean treating people and projects as if seen through an ethical lens to as great a degree as possible. An example may be considering the notion that an invasion of Iraq, despite ridding a people of a leader who consciously and deliberately modelled himself on Stalin and Hitler, is not worth one child's life and is therefore untenable. (Of course, such questions, where one good is set against another, deserve extremely weighty and sophisticated deliberation and an understanding of the "technology" of moral philosophy which most people are not taught, unfortunately). An example of a center not aligned with the timeless, self-evident principles Covey is talking about, would be that of "The National Interest". This, warns Covey, might actually work out to be self-defeating, as there is pretty obviously a principle of interdependence between nations, and attempting to further one's own country's interests for no other reason than benefit for oneself and one's countrymen "naturally" tends to invite trouble.

Whether any of this really is applicable to geopolitics is not a decided question, of course. But it does interest me that Covey's book can be used to generate a certain kind of debate about modern political situations, as readily as it can about "company cultures" or family dynamics and problems.
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Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People: How to "Internalize" Them

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Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People seem to make a lot of sense. One question I would have is, While there is a lot of sense in the seven habits, what do we do with our natural propensity to gravitate towards the path of least resistance? That is, What do we do about the great forces of avoiding pain and approaching pleasure as we try to "internalize" what, for me, are principles which make sound sense?

Covey has some answers, though I'm not sure how specific he is. Certainly he points out that a "quick-fix" approach is liable to scuttle the whole endeavour. Adopting new habits and breaking old ones, as everyone knows, can be an exacting affair. Like quitting smoking, however, the pay-off can be colossal. (This is what Albert Ellis, founder of REBT, the forerunner of cognitive behavior therapy, calls "long-range hedonism," the understanding that pain now is fine if it will lead to greater and more lasting pleasure in the future -- His question to phobics undergoing exposure therapy: "Do you want to feel better (now, in this moment, get relief by escaping), or get better?")

Covey's ideas may come up against just such a conceptual dichotomy common in our culture: If I adopt a disciplined, thought-out lifestyle, I am a drag or a nerd, whereas if I am the life of the party, I am cool. This kind of thinking needs to be examined more closely, however. Is it true? Can I not be cool or the life of the party and still live Covey's principles?

Seven Habits philosophy often comes across as being all about business management and highly-organized lifestyles. But this is a misconception. Surely any endeavour needs sound organizational principles which bow to unchanging principles like those that the seven habits hghlight. If I am the organizer of a rock band tour, won't foresight help me in bringing my music to the people, for example? Doesn't the principle of treating people with respect apply to roadies and bar-managers? If I don't pay attention to my health on the road, aren't I risking my career in the rck business?

The Seven Habits and Covey's general thrust should not be seen as hokey, nerdy or "straight", then, because everyone, even anti-capitalistic activists, say, or teens playing a local basketball tournament, can apply the principles and reap benefit. Covey is not simply a business or management guru... The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People applies to construction workers, cops, classical musicians, anyone who plans to do more than "go with the flow" and hope for the best.
Stephen Covey's Seven (7) Habits of Highly Effective People system requires organizing and planning in detail, and in an ongoing way. Maybe something found by clicking on this line of text might help you with this...
Bookmark Me or Put Me in your Favorites, to see what else I may think of to say about Stephen Covey.