The cooperation of NASCAR - or any other system, it turns out - persists only when everyone believes he has the opportunity to win.

The same process that makes AA so effective—the power of a group to teach individuals how to believe—happens whenever people come together to help one another change. Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.

Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.

Between calculated risk and reckless decision-making lies the dividing line between profit and loss.

The cooperation of NASCAR - or any other system, it turns out - persists only when everyone believes he has the opportunity to win.

The best agencies understood the importance of routines. The worst agencies were headed by people who never thought about it, and then wondered why no one followed their orders.

Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness, or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission, but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts. They shape our lives far more than we realize—they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.