From Dependence to Interdependence

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
by Stephen R. Covey
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989


From Dependence to Interdependence

Our character is a composite of our habits. Changing habits is hard, but can be done by tremendous commitment. A (good) habit can be defined as the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. Change is a cycle of being and seeing (visualization). Our objective is to move progressively on a maturity continuum from dependence to independence to interdependence. Although independence is the current paradigm of our society, we can accomplish much more by cooperation and specialization. However, we must achieve independence before we can choose interdependence.

Habits 1, 2 and 3 (Be Proactive, Begin With The End In Mind, Put First Things First) deal with self mastery. They are the “private victories” required for character growth. Private victories precede public victories. Habits 4, 5 and 6 are the more personality-oriented “public victories” of Teamwork, Cooperation and Communication. Habit 7 is the habit of Renewal, creating an upward spiral of growth. Effectiveness lies in balancing our Production (P) with building Production Capacity (PC).

Organizationally, the PC principle is to always treat your employees as you want them to treat your best customers. We must understand that the best contributions of our employees their hearts and minds are as volunteers, because they want to. This process of growth will be evolutionary, but the net effect will be revolutionary.








The following posts have been summarized by Michael Gray.