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

355 Pages·2007·9.78 MB·English

by  Dov Seidman

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Why HOW We Do Anything
Means Everything . . .

in Business (and in Life)
DOV SEIDMAN
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ffirs.qxd 4/30/07 4:00 PM Page i
Why HOW We Do Anything
Means Everything . . .

in Business (and in Life)
DOV SEIDMAN
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ffirs.qxd 4/30/07 4:00 PM Page ii
Copyright © 2007 by Dov Seidman. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
Wiley Bicentennial Logo: Richard J. Pacifico.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Seidman, Dov.
How : why how we do anything means everything . . . in business (and in life) /
Dov Seidman.
p. cm.
“Published simultaneously in Canada.”
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-471-75122-9 (cloth)
1. Success in business. 2. Business ethics. 3. Values. 4. Organizational
effectiveness. 5. Technological innovations. I. Title.
HF5386.S4159 2007
650.1—dc22
2006103097
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To my mother, Sydelle, for my first
and lasting sense that HOW matters
To my wife, Maria, for the HOW
that matters most to me
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C o n t e n t s
Preface ix
Prologue: Making Waves 1
PartI
How We Have Been, How We Have Changed 13
Introduction: The Spaces between Us
CHAPTER 1
From Land to Information 17
Lines of Communication • Getting Flattened
CHAPTER 2
Technology’s Trespass 25
The Ties That Bind Us • Distance Unites Us • Can You Hear Me
Now? • The Age of Transparency • The Persistence of Memory •
The Information Jinni Is Out of the Lamp
CHAPTER 3
The Journey to HOW 41
Just Do It • The Certainty Gap • The Limitations of Rules •
Outbehaving the Competition • How We Go Forward
PartII
How We Think 57
Introduction: The Paradox of Journey
v
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vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER 4
Playing to Your Strengths 63
Help • You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover • Looking Out for
Number Two • The Evolution of What Is Valuable • Believe It
CHAPTER 5
From Canto Should 81
Rules as Proxies • Dancing with Rules • On the Tip of Your
Tongue • Unlocking Should • Risk and Reward
CHAPTER 6
Keeping Your Head in the Game 103
Distraction • Small Lapses, Large Costs • Dissonance • Doing
Consonance • Friction • Putting It in the Whole
PartIII
How We Behave 125
Introduction: How We Do What We Do
CHAPTER 7
Doing Transparency 129
Beyond Proxies and Surrogates • ICU, UC Me • The Market
Defines You • Say You Are Sorry • Interpersonal Transparency •
Sig, Don’t Zag
CHAPTER 8
Trust 157
The Soft Made Hard • How High Is the Ceiling? • Going on a TRIP •
Tripping • Doing Trust • Trust Is the Drug • Trust, but Verify
CHAPTER 9
Reputation, Reputation, Reputation 181
Reputation in a Wired World • Reputational Capital •
Mismanaging Reputation Management • A Second Chance
PartIV
How We Govern 209
Introduction: Innovating in HOW
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Contents vii
CHAPTER 10
Doing Culture 215
The Sum of All HOWs • The Spectrum of Culture • The Four Types
of Culture • Five HOWs of Culture
CHAPTER 11
The Case for Self-Governing Cultures 241
Self-Governance on the Shop Floor • Freedom Is Just Another Word •
Taking Culture for a Test-Drive • Closing Gaps • Values in Action •
A Journey to Culture • Why Self-Governance Is the Future of Business
CHAPTER 12
The Leadership Framework 267
Leadership • Walking the Talk • The First Five HOWs of Leadership •
Circles in Circles (A Thought) • The Leadership Framework, Continued
Afterword 299
HOWs Matter 304
Acknowledgments 305
Notes 310
Selected Bibliography 325
Index 331
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