Friday Feature: Is Covey Still Relevant?

Every fall, I teach a first year seminar and every fall, we study Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This fall, I realized with a jolt just how many years before my students were born this book was published. Does it hold up?

I think it does. In fact, I'd go one step further, asserting that, in a class where we focus on defining and achieving a personal definition of success, Covey is required reading. Or, as I approach it, required studying.

I'm not alone in my opinion. In her article, "Revisiting the Habits of Highly Effective People," Melody Wilding brings Covey's 1989 text into the 21st century, pointing out that in our highly distracting, fast-paced world, some of Covey's considerations are more important than ever. Personally, I think that in my Year of No, "Put First Things First" might just take on even more significance than before.

The funny thing is, I was a hard sell. My Covey training was mandatory and on my own time, which placed two strikes against it from the outset. But the trainings were better than I expected and the thing I came to like about Covey is that he's not trying to sell productivity at all costs. He was proponent of work-life blend before we were debating the terminology.

Next week, my students present Covey's habits. I can't wait to see how they bring them into the 21st century -- the only century they've ever known.