Welcome back to The Lead Agency’s Book Club – part of our ongoing commitment to support and encourage self-improvement throughout the business.

We have a growing collection of titles on business, leadership, tech, marketing and more that help the team to learn and grow both in and outside of their roles.

So what else is sitting on our book shelf? As part of our regular series of five-minute book summaries, TLA Developer Liam Moorcroft looks at The Power of Habit. Why we do what we do and how to change. By Charles Duhigg.

In less than 100 words, what was the book about?

The book explores what habits are and how they impact your personal life every day, how they make massive companies eye-watering amounts of profit and what impact they have on society as a whole.

Habits make up a large portion of your day and you probably don’t even realise they are happening! They take advantage of your internal reward system which means you probably wouldn’t use the toothpaste you have at home if it didn’t leave that tingly mint taste at the end of brushing despite giving you no real benefit. Huge companies prey on creating new habits and hooking into your internal reward system to make their products intrinsic to all your consumption decisions.

What were the key takeaways for you?

That although bad habits can lead you to always ordering a pizza every Friday night after finishing work, by understanding what they are and how you can take control can they be unravelled and replaced to make you more happier, productive and successful in life.

Who do you think would enjoy reading it?

Anybody who is looking to be more productive in work, nail down going for that run every day which they’ve always wanted to do or figure out what exactly is going on in their head every time they see a tray of donuts pass by the office!

What have you read lately? Let us know what books have inspired you.