When the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and New York Times best-selling author took the stage at INBOUND16, the audience was in for a real treat. As soon as Charles Duhigg took the stage, he made it clear that he is going to talk about the science of productivity.
.@cduhigg “I’m not going to talk about the election today… not yet anyway. I’m going to talk about the science of productivity.”#INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/JIwkPcZlAK
— Alex Plaxen (@APlaxen) 10 November 2016
He started by drawing a comparison between our spouses and smartphones.
.@cduhigg “We’re more intimate with our smartphone than the person sleeping next to us.” #INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/w8asn2ebOk
— Alex Plaxen (@APlaxen) 10 November 2016
And then he said something which not many multi-taskers would like to hear:
.@cduhigg “Multi-tasking is something our brain evolved to do, but now we can multi-task and get nothing done.” #INBOUND16
— Alex Plaxen (@APlaxen) 10 November 2016
The session was a disappointment for people who were looking for productivity hacks, tips or tricks. During the session, no productivity hacks were shared. Rather, Charles focused on redefining productivity and related elements like thinking, innovation, and focus.
He began with thinking and talked about the importance of contemplative routines.
‘We need to think most when we’re most busy.’ @cduhigg on contemplative routines #INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/ncRwgSgQqx
— Katrina Too (@katrinatoo) 10 November 2016
You know which is ‘THE’ productivity app? Well, you don’t need to search your app stores.
@cduhigg#INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/xUu4Gis0Yi
— INBOUND (@INBOUND) 10 November 2016
After making the audience think about thinking, he moved to creativity and innovation. He pointed out the patterns observed in ventures which are innovative to the audience by citing the example of the musical, West Side Story.
.@cduhigg “If you’re watching West Side Story you’ve seen all these cliches but never seen it like this before.” #WestSideStory#INBOUND16
— Alex Plaxen (@APlaxen) 10 November 2016
He called creativity an export-import business!
“Innovation is taking old things and combining them in new ways. Creativity is an export import business.” @cduhigg#INBOUND16
— PHR Students (@PHR_Students) 10 November 2016
And to be an innovation broker you ought to have a contemplative routine.
‘A contemplative routine is a routine that feels like work and forces you to make sense of what you’ve seen that day.’ @cduhigg#INBOUND16
— Katrina Too (@katrinatoo) 10 November 2016
Once, you establish a contemplative routine and start exposing yourself to varied experiences you become a better, smarter, faster innovation broker.
How to become a smarter, better, faster Innovation Broker from @cduhigg#INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/FCVVcCqWSI
— INBOUND (@INBOUND) 10 November 2016
He also talked about situational awareness and focus.
Focus is visualizing what ought to happen … and then challenging yourself! @cduhigg#INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/GjjrgJaXon
— INBOUND (@INBOUND) 10 November 2016
“The most successful people tend to obsessively tell themselves stories about what they expect to occur.” @cduhigg#INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/1DSq1M6kF6
— INBOUND (@INBOUND) 10 November 2016
You expect people to get motivated after such inspiring sessions. And that’s exactly what happened:
I think I’m about to get my #lazy ass kicked into gear…thanks @cduhigg#INBOUND16pic.twitter.com/pPPUAHaPow
— Ben Karklins (@BKarklins) 10 November 2016
So that was all from Duhigg. Looks like it’s time to create our own routines.
Looking for other awesome sessions that happened at INBOUND16? Check our INBOUND16 coverage for great session recaps and more.
