How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life)

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life)

by Dov Seidman
Released June 2007
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780471751229

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Book description

The flood of information and unprecedented transparency reshaping today's business world has dramatically changed the rules of the game. It's no longer what you do that sets you apart from others, but how you do what you do. Whats are commodities, easily duplicated or reverse-engineered. Sustainable advantage and enduring success—for both companies and the people who work for them—now lie in the realm of how, the new frontier of conduct. For more than a decade, Dov Seidman's pioneering organization, LRN, has helped some of the world's most respected companies build "do it right," winning cultures. Seidman's distinct vision of the world, business, and human endeavor has enabled more than ten million people doing business in over 100 countries to outbehave the competition. In HOW: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life), Dov Seidman shares his unique approach with you. Through entertaining anecdotes, surprising case studies, cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, and revealing interviews with a diverse group of business leaders, experts, and everyday people on the front lines, this book explores how we think, how we behave, and how we govern ourselves to uncover the values-driven "hows" of 21st-century success.

Divided into four comprehensive parts, this insightful guide:

  • Exposes the forces and factors that have fundamentally changed the world in which business operates, placing a new focus on the hows with which we conduct ourselves

  • Provides frameworks to help you understand these hows and implement them in powerful and productive ways

  • Helps you channel your actions and decisions to thrive uniquely within today's new business realities

  • Sheds light on the systems of how—the dynamics between people that shape organizational culture—and introduces a bold new vision for winning through self-governance

The qualities that many once thought of as "soft"—trust, integrity, values, and reputation—are now the hard currency of business success and the ultimate drivers of efficiency, productivity, and profitability. With in-depth insights and practical advice, HOW will help you bring excellence and significance to your business endeavors—and your life—and refocus your efforts in powerful new ways. If you want to stand out, to thrive in our fast changing, hyperconnected, and hypertransparent world, open this book and discover HOW.

Dov Seidman's professional career has focused on how companies and their people can operate in both a principled and profitable way. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of LRN. Leading companies such as Disney, Dow Chemical, eBay, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Raytheon, and 3M turn to LRN to help management govern more effectively and workers do the right things the right way, even in the most challenging of situations. Dov is a Harvard Law School graduate who also earned a bachelor's and master's degree in philosophy from UCLA, and a BA with honors in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University. For more on this book, visit www.HowsMatter.com.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Preface
  3. PROLOGUE: Making Waves
  4. I. HOW WE HAVE BEEN, HOW WE HAVE CHANGED
    1. 1. From Land to Information
      1. 1.1. LINES OF COMMUNICATION
      2. 1.2. GETTING FLATTENED
    2. 2. Technology's Trespass
      1. 2.1. THE TIES THAT BIND US
      2. 2.2. DISTANCE UNITES US
      3. 2.3. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
      4. 2.4. THE AGE OF TRANSPARENCY
      5. 2.5. THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY
      6. 2.6. THE INFORMATION JINNI IS OUT OF THE LAMP
    3. 3. The Journey to How
      1. 3.1. JUST DO IT
      2. 3.2. THE CERTAINTY GAP
      3. 3.3. THE LIMITATIONS OF RULES
      4. 3.4. OUTBEHAVING THE COMPETITION
      5. 3.5. HOW WE GO FORWARD
  5. II. HOW WE THINK
    1. 4. Playing to Your Strengths
      1. 4.1. HELP
      2. 4.2. YOU CAN JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER
      3. 4.3. LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER TWO
      4. 4.4. THE EVOLUTION OF WHAT IS VALUABLE
      5. 4.5. BELIEVE IT
      6. 4.6. PLAYING TO YOUR STRENGTHS
    2. 5. From Can to Should
      1. 5.1. RULES AS PROXIES
      2. 5.2. DANCING WITH RULES
      3. 5.3. ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE
      4. 5.4. UNLOCKING SHOULD
      5. 5.5. RISK AND REWARD
      6. 5.6. FROM CAN TO SHOULD
    3. 6. Keeping Your Head in the Game
      1. 6.1. DISTRACTION
      2. 6.2. SMALL LAPSES, LARGE COSTS
      3. 6.3. DISSONANCE
      4. 6.4. DOING CONSONANCE
      5. 6.5. FRICTION
      6. 6.6. PUTTING IT IN THE WHOLE
      7. 6.7. KEEPING YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME
  6. III. HOW WE BEHAVE
    1. 7. Doing Transparency
      1. 7.1. BEYOND PROXIES AND SURROGATES
      2. 7.2. ICU, UC ME
      3. 7.3. THE MARKET DEFINES YOU
      4. 7.4. SAY YOU ARE SORRY
      5. 7.5. INTERPERSONAL TRANSPARENCY
      6. 7.6. SIG, DON'T ZAG
      7. 7.7. DOING TRANSPARENCY
    2. 8. Trust
      1. 8.1. THE SOFT MADE HARD
      2. 8.2. HOW HIGH IS THE CEILING?
      3. 8.3. GOING ON A TRIP
        1. 8.3.1. Trust
        2. 8.3.2. Risk
        3. 8.3.3. Innovation
        4. 8.3.4. Progress
      4. 8.4. TRIPPING
      5. 8.5. DOING TRUST
      6. 8.6. TRUST IS THE DRUG
      7. 8.7. TRUST, BUT VERIFY
      8. 8.8. TRUST
    3. 9. Reputation, Reputation, Reputation
      1. 9.1. REPUTATION IN A WIRED WORLD
      2. 9.2. REPUTATIONAL CAPITAL
      3. 9.3. MISMANAGING REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
      4. 9.4. A SECOND CHANCE
      5. 9.5. REPUTATION, REPUTATION, REPUTATION
  7. IV. HOW WE GOVERN
    1. 10. Doing Culture
      1. 10.1. THE SUM OF ALL HOWS
      2. 10.2. THE SPECTRUM OF CULTURE
      3. 10.3. THE FOUR TYPES OF CULTURE
      4. 10.4. FIVE HOWS OF CULTURE
        1. 10.4.1. How We Know
        2. 10.4.2. How We Behave
        3. 10.4.3. How We Relate
        4. 10.4.4. How We Recognize
        5. 10.4.5. How We Pursue
      5. 10.5. DOING CULTURE
    2. 11. The Case for Self-Governing Cultures
      1. 11.1. SELF-GOVERNANCE ON THE SHOP FLOOR
        1. 11.1.1. We Can
        2. 11.1.2. We Must
        3. 11.1.3. We Should
      2. 11.2. FREEDOM IS JUST ANOTHER WORD
      3. 11.3. TAKING CULTURE FOR A TEST-DRIVE
      4. 11.4. CLOSING GAPS
      5. 11.5. VALUES IN ACTION
      6. 11.6. A JOURNEY TO CULTURE
      7. 11.7. WHY SELF-GOVERNANCE IS THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS
        1. 11.7.1. A Horizontal World Calls for a Horizontal Governance Architecture
        2. 11.7.2. Self-Governing Cultures Thrive on the Free Flow of Information
        3. 11.7.3. A Leading Company Needs to Be a Company of Leaders
        4. 11.7.4. Values-Based Self-Governing Cultures Encourage Employee Development
        5. 11.7.5. Self-Governance Builds Universal Vigilance
        6. 11.7.6. Self-Governance Shifts Decision Making from the Pragmatic to the Principled
        7. 11.7.7. Self-Governance Is a Higher Concept
      8. 11.8. THE CASE FOR SELF-GOVERNING CULTURES
    3. 12. The Leadership Framework
      1. 12.1. LEADERSHIP
      2. 12.2. WALKING THE TALK
      3. 12.3. THE FIRST FIVE HOWS OF LEADERSHIP
        1. 12.3.1. Vision
        2. 12.3.2. Communicate and Enlist
        3. 12.3.3. Seize Authority and Take Responsibility
        4. 12.3.4. Plan and Implement
        5. 12.3.5. Build Succession and Continuity
      4. 12.4. CIRCLES IN CIRCLES (A THOUGHT)
      5. 12.5. THE LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK, CONTINUED
        1. 12.5.1. In Spite Of
        2. 12.5.2. Confront Complexity and Ambiguity
        3. 12.5.3. Wield Charismatic Authority
        4. 12.5.4. Inspire
        5. 12.5.5. Be Principled
        6. 12.5.6. Be Rigorous about the Truth of the Present
        7. 12.5.7. Be Reflective, Especially about Your Own Nature
        8. 12.5.8. Go to the Point of No Return
        9. 12.5.9. Be Passionate and Optimistic
        10. 12.5.10. Pursue Significance
        11. 12.5.11. Circles in Circles, Part Two
      6. 12.6. THE LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
  8. Afterword
  9. Hows Matter
  10. Acknowledgments
  11. Notes
    1. PROLOGUE: Making Waves
    2. PART ONE How We Have Been, How We Have Changed
    3. Chapter 1 From Land to Information
    4. Chapter 2 Technology's Trespass
    5. Chapter 3 The Journey to How
    6. PART TWO How We Think
    7. Chapter 4 Playing to Your Strengths
    8. Chapter 5 From Can to Should
    9. Chapter 6 Keeping Your Head in the Game
    10. PART THREE How We Behave
    11. Chapter 7 Doing Transparency
    12. Chapter 8 Trust
    13. Chapter 9 Reputation, Reputation, Reputation
    14. PART FOUR How We Govern
    15. Chapter 10 Doing Culture
    16. Chapter 11 The Case for Self-Governing Cultures
    17. Chapter 12 The Leadership Framework
    18. Afterword
  12. Selected Bibliography

Product information

  • Title: How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything . . . in Business (and in Life)
  • Author(s): Dov Seidman
  • Release date: June 2007
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780471751229