Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Smarter Faster Better

  • The Secrets of Being Productive
  • By: Charles Duhigg
  • Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
  • Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (632 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Smarter Faster Better cover art

Smarter Faster Better

By: Charles Duhigg
Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

168 Hours cover art
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People cover art
Getting Things Done cover art
Good Strategy/Bad Strategy cover art
The Coaching Habit cover art
The Lean Startup cover art
End Credits cover art
Peak Performance cover art
Lean In cover art
Made to Stick cover art
The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business cover art
Get Smart cover art
What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 - 10th Anniversary Edition cover art
Thinking in Bets cover art
The Five Elements of Effective Thinking cover art
The Like Switch cover art

Summary

In the international best seller The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity, rigorous reporting and rich storytelling to explain how we can get better at the things we do. The result is a groundbreaking exploration of the science of productivity.

A group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function and find that how a group interacts is much more important than who is in the group.

A marine corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp - and discovers that instilling a 'bias toward action' can turn even the most directionless teenagers into self-motivating achievers.

The filmmakers behind Disney's Frozen are on the brink of catastrophe - until they shake up their team in just the right way, spurring a creative breakthrough that leads to one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.

What do these people have in common? They know that productivity relies on making certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to drive innovation: these are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.

At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key concepts - from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making - that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology and behavioural eco­nomics - as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, airplane pilots and Broadway songwriters - this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies and organizations don't merely act differently.

They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

©2016 Charles Duhigg ; 2016 Random House AudioBooks

What listeners say about Smarter Faster Better

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    347
  • 4 Stars
    181
  • 3 Stars
    60
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    22
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    319
  • 4 Stars
    147
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    299
  • 4 Stars
    142
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    20

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Rambling with No Real Message

Not sure what the point of this book was. Never really gives any actual ways of incorporating the ideas. The ideas presented are a bit high level and vague.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

Good stories
Interesting insights
Scientific approach
Very helpful for starting my own business give me the motivation I need.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Dissapointed

Examples very long winded. Needs more what you personally can do. Was hoping for more.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Content not bad

The content isn't bad, but the interpretation and the excessively long stories make it boring and hard to effectively pull out useful notions.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Listen to audio samples before buying audiobooks

Would you try another book written by Charles Duhigg or narrated by Mike Chamberlain?

Not likely.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have someone else read it.

Would you be willing to try another one of Mike Chamberlain’s performances?

Most certainly not.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

I'd probably attempt reading the book.

Any additional comments?

It wasn't easy to enjoy listening to this audiobook because of the narrator's fast, broken pace, and overly enthusiastic yet somehow monotonous manner of reading. Had to stop 2 hours into the book because of that...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting narrative but not very actionable

I have very mixed feelings about this book, but it comes down to two key thoughts:

The stories in that illustrate the books narrative are insightful and interesting, and for the most part unique to this book - Which makes a refreshing change from the usual retellings of the same studies over and over - So if you're looking for something new in that area, this book might suite you.

On the other hand, there isn't really much actionable content, and the book jumps all over the place and while it raises some interesting topics and highlights some real world examples it falls short of bringing the ideas together cleanly in one place.

So, when you're reading books like this if you're drawn to the narrative and storytelling side of the books, or want to explore a new style of writing, maybe give this a go.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

I enjoyed this audiobook. Some of the examples are quite long winded when he illustrates his point but he makes all of the ideas interesting and accessible.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great book

the book is full of interesting stories that help the reader understand how focus and structured approach to goal setting and attention help us keep up the motivation to achive great results

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great content...

Great content... but at the half way mark it get boring. I also think duhigg lost his own voice - the one that made Habit such a good read - by copying his hero Atul Gawande's formula (which as well as masterly prose and deep expertise includes being personal, using well documented examples and bringing these to life by using the first person and seeing the drama from the mundane! I know because I also wish I could write as well as Gwande.) overall it is a good book and recommended. If i could spend the time listening again I would start with the appendix (chapter 10) for an overview and understanding of how to apply the ideas and then use the text selectively to reinforce the information. didn't like the narration (sorry! ) found it a bit monotone and lacking pace - i could only cope with listening to it at 1.25 speed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting and worth reading again

Really good tips on improving productivity. I enjoyed the stories which brought colour to the chapters.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!