Following Through: A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start
Authors: Steve Levinson, PhD and Pete C. Greider, MEd
"We want the facts to fit the preconceptions. When they don't, it is easier to ignore the facts than to change the preconceptions." - Jessamyn West (lead-in quote to Chapter 3.
I found this book frustrating to read. It was full of example and filler to fill out 223 pages when the useful content could be summarized into a typical general women's magazine article. So to spare you the time and frustration of reading this book yourself, subscribe to Ladies' Home Journal, or read the below summary of the "revolutionary new model":
Levinson and Greider have come up with something they call the Design Flaw theory (which they finally describe on p.50):
1) "We have two guidance systems operating at the same time. Although both systems are designed to steer us in the right direction, the two systems often have very different ideas of what the right direction is. One functions like a learned professor; the other like a shark. The modern system, the Intelligence-Based Guidance System, uses intelligence to figure out the best course of action. It's designed to make sure we behave in accord with our well-thought-out conclusions about what's best for us. In contrast, the Primitive Guidance System is vigilant, reactive, and present-oriented. It's designed to make sure we respond to immediate threat or opportunity.
2) Each guidance system does its own thing. There's absolutely no cooperation between the two systems - no mechanism in place to make sure they work together for our benefit.
3) In the contest to control our behavior, the Primitive Guidance System has a distinct advantage. It's more powerful. Whenever the professor and the shark have different ideas of how we should behave (which is often), the shark is more likely to get its way."
On p. 58, they share the revolutionary model:
"Following through requires both intelligent guidance and power. The Intelligence-Based Guidance System has plenty of intelligent guidance but no power. The Primitive Guidance System has plenty of power but no intelligence. We follow through only when the two systems work together - when the Primitive Guidance System pushes us in the same direction that our intentions tell us to go."
With the model finally presented, Levinson and Greider continue to pad the book with single-issue case examples of how to force the intelligence-based intention into the more powerful primitive guidance system. This is done by deliberately creating situations, or arranging one's environment, to make the intelligence-based intention "squeak louder" than the primitive tendency to put it off. They describe this process at Step Two.
Step Two strategies are many, both negative and positive. The person who wants to follow through will integrate as many of these strategies as necessary into creating behavior that gets the intention done. They include:
Ø Spotlighting: ways to keep your intention before you, not "out-of-sight, out-of-mind"
Ø Willpower Leveraging: taking certain action now that makes it very difficult to reverse later
Ø Creating Compelling Reasons: such as making it matter now, eliminating wiggle room, and making sure it fits you
Ø Leading the Horse to Water: getting started with the easy part of an intention to build momentum for the hard part
Ø Going Too Far/Right Before Wrong: making poor follow through a problem even the primitive guidance system wants to correct.
Ø Strike While the Iron Is Hot: following through on a fleeting intention before the inspiration fades.
In conclusion, I believe Levinson and Greider's follow through model is logical and achievable. The case studies and examples are necessary in helping the reader identify his/her own intentions and possible Step Two strategies. Unfortunately, burying their nuggets of information within the many case studies made this book nearly impossible for me to read, and worse, I still procrastinate.
Review by Christopher Jones, Arizona Cooperative Extension, Gila County
October 21, 2003