About the Author

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D., is a social psychologist, speaker, and author of "Succeed." She is the associate director for the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia University Business School.
E. Tory Higgins, Ph.D., is the Stanley Schachter Professor of Psychology at Columbia University and professor of management at the Columbia Business School, where he also serves as director of the Motivation Science Center.

Reviews

Praise for "Focus: "
"Nothing has changed the research conversation in social psychology in the last decade as much as Tory Higgins' ideas about promotion and prevention. This book shows how promotion and prevention touch every aspect of our daily life from work to parenting." --Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of "Switch "and "Made to Stick "
"In anything-but-routine fashion, the authors describe a fundamental difference in the way we seek and achieve success. Their description is so wide-ranging yet integrative, so entertaining yet instructive that I am able to offer an assertion of my own: If you are one of those people who want to be successful, you should read this book." --Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., author of "Influence "
""Focus "is an exciting and important new book that brings motivational science to life in a remarkably practical way." --Daniel Gilbert, Ph.D., author of "Stumbling on Happiness "
"Insightful, thought-provoking, and highly practical, "Focus "is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants more deeply to understand how to motivate others." --Gretchen Rubin, author of "The Happiness Project"
"Every once in a while a book comes out that changes the way you see yourself, other people, and the world. This is one of those books. Read it." --Peter Bregman, author of "18 Minutes "
""Focus "lifts up the hood on the motivational system and shows how competing motivations to achieve positive outcomes and avoid negative ones influence work, love, and parenting in unexpected ways. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand why they behave as they do." --Art Markman, Ph.D. author of "Smart Thinking "
"For leaders and managers of people, this is must reading: it's like finding the missing link in human evolution or the Rosetta Stone in language translation." --Ken Shelton, editor, "Leadership Excellence" magazine
""Focus "is an engaging, highly practical guide that makes complex ideas at the forefront of motivational science accessible to a wide audience, offering surprising insights and applications for dealing more effectively with everyday work and life challenges. It will be an eye-opener for people who thought they understood motivation." --Walter Mischel, Past-President, Association for Psychological Science
"How do we actually motivate people to disrupt or drive change? In their eye-opening book "Focus," social scientists Heidi Grant Halvorson and Tory Higgins provide a comprehensive toolkit for motivating yourself and those you lead." --Whitney Johnson, "Harvard Business Review "contributor and author "Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream "
""Focus "is a clear and engaging tour of central ideas in the study of motivation. Written by Tory Higgins, one of the world's leading experts on the topic, together with Heidi Grant Halvorson, it provides a powerful lens for understanding what makes friends, bosses, co-workers and spouses tick. After you read it, your relations with other people will never be the same." --Barry Schwartz, author of "The Paradox of Choice" and "Practical Wisdom" (with Kenneth Sharpe)
"Why do some people succeed at attaining goals, and others do not? Why do some products sell, whereas others lie on the shelf? "Focus" addresses these questions (and many more) in a deeply thoughtful, highly practical, and completely engaging way. This book is necessary reading for anyone interested in the fundamentals of persuasion and motivation." --Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor of Marketing at Stanford, author of "The Dragonfly Effect."
"This great book makes science fun--providing an empowering look at evidence-based research on how to optimize our motivational focus. It's packed with big ideas that give us insight into how we can apply this wisdom to all aspects of our lives." --Brian Johnson, Founder + CEO of en*theos Academy for Optimal Living
"Focus is brilliant. Two of the leading researchers on success and motivation, Heidi Grant Halvorson and Tory Higgins, have teamed up to give us an extraordinary gift of clear thinking, clever writing, and enjoyable reading about a topic of vital concern to all of us-- what drives our thinking, our choices and our actions. It's an absolutely fascinating read, and I learned more from this book than from any other I've read in a long, long time. And so will you. Focus is full of stunning insights, illuminating examples, practical advice, and solid and surprising research. It's a fascinating new perspective on motivation, and it has lessons in it for managers, parents, teachers, coaches, students, researchers, writers, coworkers...even film buffs and romantics. Buy this book and gain a whole new perspective onyour life, your work, your family, and your community. It is that good." --Jim Kouzes, coauthor of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge and The Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University

Praise for "Focus"
"Insightful, thought-provoking, and highly practical, "Focus" is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants more deeply to understand how to motivate others."
- Gretchen Rubin, author of "The Happiness Project"
""Focus" is an exciting and important new book that brings motivational science to life in a remarkably practical way."
- Daniel Gilbert, Ph.D., author of "Stumbling on Happiness"
"In Focus," Tory Higgins and Heidi Grant Halvorson explore the difference in motivation orientation between those who are optimistically going for the win (Promotion) and those who are pessimistically avoiding the loss (Prevention)--and how the difference in focus plays out in their work, family, and decisions. The key to focus: find the motivational fit. For leaders and managers of people, this is must reading" it's like finding the missing link in human evolution or the Rosetta Stone in language translation."
- Ken Shelton, editor, "Leadership Excellence" magazine
"In anything-but-routine fashion, the authors describe a fundamental difference in the way we seek and achieve success. Their description is so wide-ranging yet integrative, so entertaining yet instructive that I am able to offer an assertion of my own: If you are one of those people who want to be successful, you should read this book."
- Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., author of "Influence: Science and Practice"
"Every once in a while a book comes out that changes the way you see yourself, other people, and the world. This is one of those books. Read it."
- Peter Bregman, author of "18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done"
"Most people think that motivation gets them energized to act. "Focus "lifts up the hood on the motivational system and shows how competing motivations to achieve positive outcomes and avoid negative ones influence work, love, and parenting in unexpected ways. The book is fille