How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything, Expanded Edition

CHAPTER 12

The Leadership Framework

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.

—Aristotle

We have probed in great detail the fundamental influences that fill the spaces between us. We've considered HOW we think, HOW we behave, HOW we govern ourselves as groups, and HOW the world has changed to put new emphasis on these ideas. If you agree with the view I have presented, you no doubt have already begun to notice the HOWS around you through a different lens (unless you've read this through in a single sitting). Perhaps you have noticed how something the boss said set off voices in you that you recognized as distracting, or perhaps you noted some dissonant messages coming from your work group. Perhaps you reexamined an e-mail you received or sent and took an extra moment to think about how it affected you or would affect another person. Maybe you were treated at a store in a way that made you feel richer or poorer for the experience, and you began to think about why, or that there might be a better way. These perceptions are the first step in your journey up the Hill of A toward a deep and meaningful understanding of the HOWS with which we fill the interpersonal synapses in the world, and others do as well.

But I am also cognizant of the fact that you might still be wondering what this all means, or more precisely, how do you do HOW? I wouldn't blame you for that. After all, you have worked through a couple of hundred pages of a book, and I almost ...