The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters [Paperback]

Peter Block (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

People keep asking "How?" as a defense against living their life, says best-selling author Peter Block. In this witty, insightful award-winning book, Block shows that many standard solutions and improvement efforts, reinforced by most of the literature, keep people paralyzed. Here he places the "how to" craze in perspective and teaches individuals, workers, and managers ways to act on what they know. This in turn allows them to reclaim their freedom and capacity to create the kind of world they want to live in. Block's "elements of choice" - the characteristic of a new workplace and a new world based on more positive values - include self-mentoring, investing in relationships, accepting the unpredictability of life, and realizing that the individual prospers only when the community does.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The new approach to change management that is presented here will completely flummox control freaks. Block posits a refreshing series of truths that, if adopted, will transform workplaces into journeys of meaning. The best-selling author of Flawless Consulting (1981) and Stewardship (1993) insists that we ask the wrong question about accomplishing the important things in our lives, particularly in our place of employment. We too often ask "How?" which focuses too closely on the practical way of getting something done and is actually a subconscious expression of society's emphasis on control of people, time, and cost. Instead, our concentration should be focused on "Why?" In other words, we need to pay attention to what really matters to us personally, from heart-felt commitments in our private lives to the creation of projects in the workplace. To be able to act on what matters, explains Block, we must reclaim specific qualities, such as intimacy and idealism. Then we can tackle purposeful work as if we were social architects seeking engagement and change. Provocative and stimulating reading. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

“Once again the best writer on life in the workplace turns conventions on its head. Substituting the why and what questions for the how questions should help all of us experience the freedom, success, growth, love, fun, and beauty in the workplace.” —Dennis W. Bakke, President, The AES Corporation

"Amazing! Just when I need to open myself to new ways of thinking, Peter Block opens up the next compelling image...the very path I need to explore next. Thank you, Peter, for the questions, paradox, confrontation and ultimately ‘answers’ that keep me alive and growing." —Kathleen D. Dannemiller, Dannemiller Tyson Associates, authors of Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations

“This is the most important book Block has ever written, and we need to take him seriously (although he is, as always, quite witty.) If enough people say ‘Yes’ to the teachings in this book, we'll be able to stop floundering toward the future and create lives and work that are meaningful contributions to each other and to the future. Please say ‘yes.’” —Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science and Turning to One Another

“This is a journey of self-discovery much like the Inward Morning of Thoreau and in spirit not unlike the Confessions of Saint Augustine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau—cast in the contemporary mold of organizational culture. [Block’s] charm lies in his engaging style, seducing you to listen, mesmerized, as did the Sultan to Scheherazade. Here are the brilliant and sensitive ruminations of a wanderer on a journey in search for his voice, only to discover that it is the voice of everyman and everywoman speaking through him.” —Peter Koestenbaum Philosopher, Consultant, and author of The Inner Side of Greatness --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576752712
• ISBN-13: 978-1576752715
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Block is a citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed by Block to build the skills outlined in his books. He is the author of Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, The Empowered Manager, and The Answer to How Is Yes. He is the recipient of the American Society for Training and Development Award for Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance and the Association for Quality and Participation President's Award. He is also a member of Training magazine's HRD Hall of Fame.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter keeps blazing new trails, February 6, 2002

By 

Roger E. Breisch (Batavia, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting On What Matters (Hardcover)

Wisdom. That's what I found in Peter Block's newest book. But be prepared, wisdom does not mean answers. In fact the wisdom in this book comes from the way in which Peter challenges the reader to rethink basic assumptions about the culture that envelopes us. He asks, for example, how the pervasive archetypes of engineer and economist--those of cause-and-effect and predictability--could truly share the stage with the creativity, imagination, mystery and heart of the artist and architect. Not easy to imagine.

The journey Peter asks of me is often painful. It's difficult to admit the truth about my questions. He points out that asking questions about "how," is often a way to avoid the much deeper questions of "why." It is also a subtle way to avoid commitment and action. While Peter does not offer easy answers he does point to new directions for communities and organizations. And he invites us to join him on this journey into a new future...one that is not simply an extrapolation of the past.

I know when a book captures me, because, on almost every page, I found my mind and heart racing with so many ideas that I'd have to stop reading and simply think. What a gift! This volume has inspired me to new thinking about my work, and my life in community.

I have read and loved all of Peter's books. He just keeps blazing new trials!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the Narrow-Minded, March 16, 2006

By 

Jonathan A. Magid (Southern California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters (Paperback)

Your ego and identity may well demand that you put this book down for good and denounce it as the smug ramblings of a limousine liberal with the luxury to indulge in all manner of fantasy. Read on anyway. If you pay attention to this book, you'll learn something powerful about yourself and the criticality of your role in creating your organization however you define that - whether it's self, family, business, government unit, or even society at large.

This book challenges everyone who reads it to accept that we and we alone are the authors of our own story of existence, experience, and meaning. The message for leaders of organizations is that until now we've indulged our fear, created cultures of control and dependency and they are bankrupt. The illusion of control never lasts long (look at any of your recent IT projects, for example) and dependency breeds discontent, waste, and backward momentum - all the things that give us more reasons to be fearful and to want to control. The lessons in this book may well allow us to break that cycle, but only if we develop the courage first and foremost to be accountable for who we are. One first step might be to ignore the voice of your ego insisting that you stop reading this silly book, and to read on with renewed attention.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Live Free or Die!, March 19, 2002

By 

Dale A. Brill (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting On What Matters (Hardcover)

The book's undeniable focus is on asking the right questions. The author communicates a refreshing perspective on work and life without succumbing to the contemporary book writing trend of word invention--or otherwise abusing the essence of existing published works. Although philosophical, the contents won't waste your cerebral energy in trying to decipher the author's jargon. The words hit you between the eyes.

The book identifies the current in which all corporate fish swim. If you have no desire to be a revolutionary, you'll at least gain an understanding of what makes you behave the way you do. Early chapters will challenge you to question why it is that you allow the culture to restrict you the way you do: "As long as we wish for safety, we will have difficulty pursuing what matters." (p. 46)

If you're searching for the courage to swim against the stream, the reading will nourish your soul; you'll also learn why the battle is ultimately without end. This work ultimately identifies a context in which the dominant business archetypes can co-exist, yet challenges us all not to lose sight of what matters: individual freedom. If anything, that particular message should resonate in a society where the concept of individual rights has run amok. Warning: Individual freedom may cost you more than you're willing to pay.