Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

by Charles Duhigg

  throughout the firm Thompson, Hochwarter, and Mathys, “Stretch Targets,” 48–60.

  Thinsulate William E. Coyne, “How 3M Innovates for Long-Term Growth,” Research-Technology Management 44, no. 2 (2001): 21–24.

  “broad search, or playfulness” Sitkin et al., “Paradox of Stretch Goals,” 544–66.

  the researchers wrote Jeffrey, Webb, and Schulz, “The Effectiveness of Tiered Goals Versus Stretch Goals.”

  University of Waterloo Ibid.

  University of Melbourne Thompson, Hochwarter, and Mathys, “Stretch Targets,” 48–60.

  our in-box Gil Yolanda et al., “Capturing Common Knowledge About Tasks: Intelligent Assistance for To-Do Lists,” ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems (TiiS) 2, no. 3 (2012): 15; Victoria Bellotti et al., “What a To-Do: Studies of Task Management Towards the Design of a Personal Task List Manager,” Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (2004): 735–42; Gabriele Oettingen and Doris Mayer, “The Motivating Function of Thinking About the Future: Expectations Versus Fantasies,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83, no. 5 (2002): 1198; Anja Achtziger et al., “Metacognitive Processes in the Self-Regulation of Goal Pursuit,” in Social Metacognition, ed. Pablo Briñol and Kenneth DeMarree, Frontier of Social Psychology series (New York: Psychology Press, 2012), 121–39.

  throughout corporate America Critics of stretch goals say that, if unconstrained, they can negatively impact an organization. For more, please see Lisa D. Ordóñez et al., “Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Overprescribing Goal Setting,” The Academy of Management Perspectives 23, no. 1 (2009): 6–16. And the response of Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, “Has Goal Setting Gone Wild, or Have Its Attackers Abandoned Good Scholarship?” The Academy of Management Perspectives 23, no. 1 (2009): 17–23.

  investigators concluded The Commission of Inquiry, The Yom Kippur War, an Additional Partial Report: Reasoning and Complement to the Partial Report of April 1, 1974, vol. 1 (Jerusalem: 1974).

  all to blame Mitch Ginsberg, “40 Years On, Yom Kippur War Intel Chiefs Trade Barbs,” The Times of Israel, October 6, 2013; “Eli Zeira’s Mea Culpa,” Haaretz, September 22, 2004; Lilach Shoval, “Yom Kippur War Intelligence Chief Comes Under Attack 40 Years Later,” Israel Hayom, October 7, 2013.

  “You are lying!” Ibid.

  CHAPTER FIVE: MANAGING OTHERS

  shoo them away As mentioned in the chapter, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Frank, Christie, and Colleen Janssen were all provided with summaries of this chapter and asked to respond to the details of this reporting. The FBI declined to comment, except as specified below. The Janssen family did not reply to repeated attempts to seek their comments by telephone and mail. The sources used in reporting details of the Janssen case include interviews as well as documents from United States of America v. Kelvin Melton, Quantavious Thompson, Jakym Camel Tibbs, Tianna Daney Maynard, Jenna Martin, Clifton James Roberts, Patricia Ann Kramer, Jevante Price, and Michael Martell Gooden (nos. 5:14-CR-72–1; 5:14-CR-72–2; 5:14-CR-72–3; 5:14-CR-72–4; 5:14-CR-72–5; 5:14-CR-72–6; 5:14-CR-72–7; 5:14-CR-72–8; 5:14-CR-72–9), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Western Division; Affidavit in Support of Application for a Court Order Approving Emergency Interceptions, in the Matter of the Application of the United States of America for an Order Authorizing the Interception of Wire and Electronic Communications, no. 5:14-MJ-1315-D, filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina Western Division; United States v. Kelvin Melton, Criminal Case no. 5:14-MJ-1316, filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina; United States v. Clifton James Roberts, Criminal Case no. 5:14-MJ-1313, filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina; United States v. Chason Renee Chase, a/k/a “Lady Jamaica,” Criminal Case no. 3:14-MJ-50, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, and other court filings related to the alleged Janssen abduction. Details also came from Alan G. Breed and Michael Biesecher, “FBI: NC Inmate Helped Orchestrate Kidnapping,” Associated Press, April 11, 2014; Kelly Gardner, “FBI Now Investigating Wake Forest Man’s Disappearance,” WRAL.com, April 8, 2014; Alyssa Newcomb, “FBI Rescued Kidnap Victim as Suspects Discussed Killing Him, Feds Say,” Good Morning America, April 10, 2014; Anne Blythe and Ron Gallagher, “FBI Rescues Wake Forest Man; Abduction Related to Daughter’s Work as Prosecutor, Investigators Say,” The Charlotte Observer, April 10, 2014; Michael Biesecher and Kate Brumbach, “NC Inmate Charged in Kidnapping of DA’s Father,” Associated Press, April 12, 2014; Lydia Warren and Associated Press, “Bloods Gang Member Who Is Serving Life Sentence ‘Masterminded Terrifying Kidnap of Prosecutor’s Father Using a Cell Phone He’d Smuggled in to Prison,’ ” Daily Mail, April 11, 2014; Lydia Warren and Associated Press, “Gang Members Who ‘Kidnapped Prosecutor’s Father and Held Him Captive for Days Had Meant to Capture HER—But They Went to Wrong Address,’ ” Daily Mail, April 23, 2014; Ashley Frantz and AnneClaire Stapleton, “Prosecutor’s Dad Kidnapped in ‘Elaborate’ Plot; FBI Rescues Him,” CNN.com, April 10, 2014; Shelley Lynch, “Kidnapping Victim Rescued by FBI Reunited with Family,” FBI press release, April 10, 2014, https://www.​fbi.​gov/​charlotte/​press-​releases/​2014/​kidnapping-​victim-​rescued-​by-​fbi-​reunited-​with-​family; Scott Pelley and Bob Orr, “FBI Told How Its Agents Rescued a North Carolina Man Who Was Kidnapped by Gang Members and Terrorized for Five Days,” CBS Evening News, April 10, 2014; Marcus K. Garner, “Indictment: Kidnapping Crew Had Wrong Address, Took Wrong Person,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 22, 2014; Andrew Kenney, “Prisoner Charged in Kidnap Conspiracy May Have Had Phone for Weeks,” The Charlotte Observer, April 11, 2014; “Criminal Complaint Filed Against Kelvin Melton in Kidnapping Case,” FBI press release, April 11, 2014, https://www.​fbi.​gov/​charlotte/​press-releases/​2014/​criminal-​complaint-​filed-​against-​kelvin-​melton-​in-​kidnapping-​case; Colleen Jenkins and Bernadette Baum, “Two More Charged in Gang-Linked Kidnapping of N.C. Prosecutor’s Father,” Reuters, April 16, 2014; “McDonald’s Receipt Leads to Arrest in Wake Forest Kidnapping,” The News and Observer, April 17, 2014; “Prosecutor—Not Her Father—Was Intended Victim in Wake Forest Kidnapping, Officials Say,” The News and Observer, April 22, 2014; Patrik Jonsson, “N.C. Prosecutor Kidnap Plot: Home Attacks on Justice Officials on the Upswing,” The Christian Science Monitor, April 23, 2014; “NC Kidnapping Victim Writes Thank-You Letter,” Associated Press, April 29, 2014; Thomas McDonald, “Documents Detail Kidnapping Plot of Wake Prosecutor’s Father,” The Charlotte Observer, July 23, 2014; Daniel Wallis, “Alleged Gangster Admits Lying in North Carolina Kidnap Probe,” Reuters, August 29, 2014; Spink John, “FBI Team Rescues a North Carolina Kidnapping Victim,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 11, 2014.

  Melton’s daughters Some observers of the Janssen case have suggested that authorities used a device known as a “stingray,” which can identify the precise location of a cellphone, in this investigation. The FBI, when asked about use of a stingray in this case, replied with a response the agency has provided about cell site simulators to other media requests: “Location information is a vital component of law enforcement investigations at the federal, state and local levels. As a general matter, the FBI does not discuss specific techniques used by law enforcement to obtain location information, as they are considered Law Enforcement Sensitive, the public release of which could harm law enforcement efforts at all levels by compromising future use of the technique. The FBI only collects and maintains information that has investigative value and relevance to a case, and such data [are] retained in accordance with controlling federal law and Attorney General policy. The FBI does not keep repositories of cell tower data for any purpose other than in connection with a specific investigation. The collection of cell tower records is only performed after required FBI approvals are received in the specific investigation, and only after the ap
propriate order is obtained from a court. If the records obtained are deemed relevant, the specific records are made part of the investigative case file. The FBI retains investigative case files in accordance with NARA-approved file retention schedules. If the FBI believes the use of any technology or technique may provide information on an individual where case law dictates that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, it is FBI policy to obtain a search warrant.”

  directed by Melton himself As noted in the chapter, the details regarding Kelvin Melton, Tianna Brooks (who also allegedly goes by the name Tianna Maynard), and other alleged kidnappers or those allegedly connected to the Janssen kidnapping are contained in court documents or interviews. At the time of writing, Melton, Brooks, and others implicated in this crime have been indicted, but have not gone to trial. Until a trial is conducted and a verdict rendered, allegations remain just that, allegations, and the crimes described in this chapter have not been proven in a court of law. In January 2016, Melton told a court that he was not responsible for the Janssen kidnapping. Other alleged kidnappers are also expected to deny responsibility or guilt. Melton’s attorneys, as well as Brooks’s attorney, were presented with synopses of all details in this chapter and asked to inquire if their clients, who are incarcerated on other charges or awaiting trial, wished to respond. Brooks’s lawyer did not reply. Melton’s lawyer, Ryan D. Stump, in an email wrote: “We are under a court order not to discuss the details of Mr. Melton’s case and what is contained in the discovery. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions, we are not able to make any comments on the case.”

  predecessors decades before In response to a fact-checking email, a spokeswoman for the FBI said that the bureau’s system prior to Sentinel, in addition to using index cards, also used an electronic indexing system. Interviews with agents confirmed this, but said that the electronic system was often incomplete and thus unreliable.

  rolled out Sentinel In response to a fact-checking email, a spokeswoman for the FBI detailed Sentinel this way: “Sentinel is a tool that manages records; it documents case activities and investigations, the information we own and produce. Sentinel provides a piece of the puzzle. It documents the FBI’s work products and is used in conjunction with information we collect or access through other partnerships in order to further data.”

  “agile programming” The words “lean” and “agile” have come to mean different things in different settings. There is, for example, lean product development, lean start-ups, agile management, and agile construction. Some of these definitions or methodologies are very specific. In this chapter, I generally use the phrases in their most global sense. However, for more detailed explanations of the various implementations of these philosophies, I recommend Rachna Shah and Peter T. Ward, “Lean Manufacturing: Context, Practice Bundles, and Performance,” Journal of Operations Management 21, no. 2 (2003): 129–49; Jeffrey K. Liker, Becoming Lean: Inside Stories of U.S. Manufacturers (Portland, Ore.: Productivity Press, 1997); J. Ben Naylor, Mohamed M. Naim, and Danny Berry, “Leagility: Integrating the Lean and Agile Manufacturing Paradigms in the Total Supply Chain,” International Journal of Production Economics 62, no. 1 (1999): 107–18; Robert Cecil Martin, Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2003); Paul T. Kidd, Agile Manufacturing: Forging New Frontiers (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995); Alistair Cockburn, Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Addison-Wesley, 2006); Pekka Abrahamsson, Outi Salo, and Jussi Ronkainen, Agile Software Development Methods: Review and Analysis (Oulu, Finland: VTT Publications, 2002).

  “aphrodisiac in Northern California” Rick Madrid passed away in 2012. For my understanding of Mr. Madrid, NUMMI, and General Motors, I am deeply indebted to Frank Langfitt of National Public Radio, Brian Reed of This American Life, and other reporters from various newspapers and media organizations who were kind enough to share notes and transcripts with me, as well as Madrid’s former colleagues, who shared memories of him. Details on Madrid, including his quotes, draw on a variety of sources, including tapes of interviews with him, notes and transcripts from interviews he gave to other reporters, and recollections of colleagues. In addition, I relied upon Harry Bernstein, “GM Workers Proud of Making the Team,” Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1987; Clara Germani, “GM-Toyota Venture in California Breaks Tradition, Gets Results,” The Christian Science Monitor, December 21, 1984; Michelle Levander, “The Divided Workplace: Exhibit Traces Battle for Control of Factory,” Chicago Tribune, September 17, 1989; Victor F. Zonana, “Auto Venture at Roadblock: GM-Toyota Fremont Plant Produces Happy Workers, High-Quality Product—and a Glut of Unsold Chevrolet Novas,” Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1987; “NUMMI,” This American Life, WBEZ Chicago, March 26, 2010; Charles O’Reilly III, “New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI),” Stanford Business School Case Studies, no. HR-11, December 2, 1998; Maryann Keller, Rude Awakening: The Rise, Fall, and Struggle for Recovery of General Motors (New York: William Morrow, 1989); Joel Smith and William Childs, “Imported from America: Cooperative Labor Relations at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.,” Industrial Relations Law Journal (1987): 70–81; John Shook, “How to Change a Culture: Lessons from NUMMI,” MIT Sloan Management Review 51, no. 2 (2010): 42–51; Michael Maccoby, “Is There a Best Way to Build a Car?” Harvard Business Review, November 1997; Daniel Roos, James P. Womack, and Daniel Jones, The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production (New York: HarperPerennial, 1991); Jon Gertner, “From 0 to 60 to World Domination,” The New York Times, February 18, 2007; Ceci Connolly, “Toyota Assembly Line Inspires Improvements at Hospital,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2005; Andrew C. Inkpen, “Learning Through Alliances: General Motors and NUMMI,” Strategic Direction 22, no. 2 (2006); Paul Adler, “The ‘Learning Bureaucracy’: New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.” Research in Organizational Behavior 15 (1993); “The End of the Line For GM-Toyota Joint Venture,” All Things Considered, NPR, March 2010; Martin Zimmerman and Ken Basinger, “Toyota Considers Halting Operations at California’s Last Car Plant,” Los Angeles Times, July 24, 2009; Soyoung Kim and Chang-ran Kim, “UPDATE 1—Toyota May Drop U.S. Joint Venture with GM,” Reuters, July 10, 2009; Alan Ohnsman and Kae Inoue, “Toyota Will Shut California Plant in First Closure,” Bloomberg, August 28, 2009; Jeffrey Liker, The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003); Steven Spear and H. Kent Bowen, “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System,” Harvard Business Review 77 (1999): 96–108; David Magee, How Toyota Became #1: Leadership Lessons from the World’s Greatest Car Company (New York: Penguin, 2007).

  covered his tattoos Keller, Rude Awakening, chapter 6.

  the Fremont plant In a statement sent in response to fact-checking questions, a spokesman for Toyota wrote: “Toyota can’t speak to any of the descriptions of the Fremont facility while it operated prior to the independent joint venture with GM. While the broad descriptions of Toyota’s philosophy and certain historical facts are consistent with our approach and understanding of events—such as the use of the andon cord, the trip for former GM workers to Japan and the improvement in product quality following the formation of NUMMI—we are unfortunately unable to confirm or provide any other feedback on the specific accounts you provide. However, we can provide the following statement from the company on the NUMMI joint venture, which you are welcome to use if you so choose: ‘NUMMI was a groundbreaking model of Japan-U.S. industry collaboration, and we are proud of all its considerable achievements. We remain grateful to all of those involved with NUMMI, including the suppliers, the local community and, most of all, the talented team members who have contributed to the success of this pioneering joint venture.’ ” In a statement, a spokeswoman for General Motors wrote: “I can’t comment on the specific points you shared re the experience at Fremont and NUMMI in the early 1980s, but I can absolutely confirm that is not the experience in GM plants today….GM�
�s Global Manufacturing System is a single, common manufacturing system that aligns and engages all employees to use best processes, practices and technologies to eliminate waste throughout the enterprise….While it is true that GMS has its roots in the Toyota Production System (TPS) that was implemented at NUMMI in 1984, many components of GMS grew out of our efforts to benchmark lean manufacturing around the world….While all principles and elements are considered crucial to the successful implementation of GMS, one principle is key to GMS’s adaptability, and that is Continuous Improvement. By engaging our employees, we have seen them use GMS to improve our production systems, ensure a safer work environment and improve product quality for our customers.”

  low costs in Japan In a fact-checking email, Jeffrey Liker, who has studied and written extensively about Toyota, wrote: “Toyota realized that to be a global company they needed to set up operations overseas and they had little experience doing it outside of sales. They believed that the Toyota Production System was vital to their success and it was highly dependent on people deeply understanding the philosophy and continuously improving in an environment of trust. They saw NUMMI as a grand experiment to test whether they could make TPS work in the United States with American workers and managers. In fact, in the original agreement with GM they planned on only making Chevy vehicles and when these did not sell because of the negative image of the Chevy brand they brought over the Toyota Corolla. For GM the main attraction was to get some small cars built of good quality profitably and learn how to do this. They seemed to have a passing interest in TPS. For Toyota NUMMI was considered a critical milestone to their future and they studied what was happening every single day to learn as much as they possibly could about operating in the US and developing the Toyota culture overseas.”