68 pages • 2 hours read
Stephen R. CoveyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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The character ethic espouses the notion that all real change comes from within. It argues that people must radically change their underlying attitudes and beliefs if they hope to solve the external problems that confront them. Covey believes the founding fathers of this country embraced the character ethic before it was supplanted by the personality ethic of later generations. In writing his book, the author hopes to shift the reader’s perspective away from the personality ethic and back to the character ethic.
The circle of concern consists of subjects that predominantly occupy our minds. We worry about these subjects constantly without necessarily having any ability to affect their outcome. For example, worrying about whether it’s going to rain or not is pointless. The weather is under no one’s control. Therefore, it is a waste of energy to spend much time in this sphere.
In contrast to the circle of concern, the circle of influence includes those conditions over which a person has some control. The author recommends that the reader should focus the majority of their attention in this sphere and actively find ways to expand the circle of influence. This is the area in which a person can effect positive change in their life.
All individuals relate to others using one of these three modes. Dependent is the least mature since it places the subject at the mercy of circumstances and other people. The next step in personal evolution is to become independent. Such a person chooses how to react to negative conditions and the bad behavior of others. The final and most desirable state is that of interdependence. You cannot achieve it until you’ve reached independence first. An interdependent person knows how to function well as part of a group without trying to dominate its other members.
Just like a financial bank account, an Emotional Bank Account (EBA) records deposits and withdrawals. One person makes a deposit into the EBA of another with behavior that offers love, understanding, and good advice. Conversely, criticism and abuse will deplete an Emotional Bank Account between two people. The balance an account holds over time will be of use on those occasions when one individual temporarily wrongs another. The EBA holds a large enough positive balance to forgive the injury and move past it.
The author explains fourth-generation time management concepts in terms of quadrants of activity. There are four: urgent and important, not urgent but important, urgent but not important, and not urgent and not important. Covey makes the distinction between urgency and importance. Responding to urgent tasks places a person in reactive mode. Important tasks are more productive because they invoke a proactive response. The author advises that the greatest value can be gained by spending the most time engaged in Quadrant II activities, which consist of not urgent but important tasks.
P stands for production, and PC stands for production capability. In the fable of the golden goose, the golden egg represents production (P), while the goose is production capability (PC). When the farmer kills the goose, he destroys his production capability. Covey stresses the importance of maintaining the P/PC balance in all of a person’s relationships and resources.
Covey uses this term to describe most mainstream self-help methods, which usually involve a quick fix based on some external behavior modification. This particular method for improving personal and business problems has been popular in America for at least a century. The author views it as a superficial way of tackling a problem. He compares it to a band-aid that masks, rather than heals, the underlying wound.
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