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In the mail: I have received a review copy of a new book by Dov Seidman, entitled How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything…in Business (and in Life), which I found to be a remarkable book on a couple of levels. First, it brings together in one text much of the theory and practice of how business will need to be conducted in the Web 2.0 world.

Second, it builds on the themes that Seth Godin and Hugh McLeod talk about, and is almost another chapter in the Cluetrain saga. Seidman takes all of this discussion and presents it as a well-researched dialogue with the reader. In an easy-going and conversational style Seidman delves into the biological and historical development of trust and social networks that define human cultures around the world.

Salted with anecdotes and real-world examples, “HOW” goes into great detail explaining what it is that businesses and individuals will need to do to succeed in the next-generation economy.

Part I: How We Have Been, How We Have Changed takes one on a journey that begins with the origins of the Industrial Revolution and the social upheaval that followed; through the more recent changes of Globalization and the Information Revolution of the late 20th century. In a recent interview Seidman discusses these changes and the effects of the “Certainty Gap”:

Q: What is the Certainty Gap?

DS: We all carry in us a vision of ideal stability and security, an idea in our minds and hearts of what it feels like to live a secure life. We never achieve this ideal state because at any given time the conditions of our life or the world around us create uncertainty and disequilibrium. This opens a gap that I call it the Certainty Gap, and I believe it exerts a profound influence on our ability to succeed. When the Certainty Gap is small, we hardly pay it attention; we feel in our guts that we can take any hit that comes. As it grows, however, we close ranks and protect ourselves from the threats around us. Even when times get rocky and we feel at risk personally and professionally, we still need to carry on with our lives, grow our businesses, and pursue our goals, so we reach out for reassurance, for things that can stabilize us and give us confidence to go on. We look for something to fill the gap. That something is trust.

Trust allows us to function in times of uncertainty. As the Certainty Gap expands, we need more trust in order to take action because trust calms the fears that uncertainty breeds. In times of high uncertainty, we pay more attention to the source of trust: human conduct. Trust becomes, more vitally than ever, the currency of human exchange. Trust fills the Certainty Gap; it fills the space between where we are and where we would like to be.

Part II: How We Think is a discussion of rules and values that should be required reading for every senior-level manager and executive in the business world. Chapter Five, From Can to Should, in particular, is a direct corollary to the ideas expressed in The Cluetrain Manifesto. Changing one’s thinking and language away from the concept of adhering to Rules that tell you what you can do toward Values that tell you what you should do is the next step in the transition of the Conversation Revolution.

“In an information economy, where more power lies in the network than in the individual, outwardly focused energy makes sense as a propeller of success…Understanding the interplay of rules and values, and freeing yourself from the tyranny of can versus can’t are essential steps toward mastering the grammar of the new world of HOW ” ~(“How”, p. 102).

Part III: How We Behave dissects the actions and language of the soon-to-be-extinct corporate world of silos and fiefdoms. From the previous interview, Seidman answers the question: “Why is HOW we live and work - HOW we behave - so important now?”

“We live in a hyperconnected, hyper-transparent world. When we couldn’t see beyond the marketing hype, we accepted the spin as the truth of what people and companies were. Then quantum leaps in our access to information dramatically changed the playing field for business (and life). No longer can we shade the truth, fib a little on our resume, or tell one customer one thing and another something else.

In this time of unprecedented scrutiny, we do not live in glass houses, we live on glass microscope slides, visible and exposed to all. To thrive (not just survive) in this hyper-transparent world, you have to live and work so that transparency turns to your advantage. If you keep promises 99% of the time and your competitor keeps only 8 out of 10, you can gain critical advantage in the marketplace.

If your interactions with others deliver a more meaningful customer experience, you engender a loyalty that brings them back again and again. If you make stronger connections and collaborate more intensely with your co-workers, encouraging them to take risks and innovate, you win.”

Part IV: How We Govern lays out a game-plan for any company that plans to thrive in this new environment of connectedness and transparency. A business must do more than strive to live up to its professed values, it must live up to them. A company can only create a self-governing culture that will encourage its employees at every level to “think about the long term” by fully embracing these values.

“The culture must be driven and defined by the legacy and endurance of the enterprise and its quest for significant goals.” (p. 238) The self-governing culture is built on trust, which Seidman refers to as the”new currency of exchange”.

Q: You refer to trust as the new currency of exchange. Can you elaborate?

DS: In our hyperconnected world, the ability to thrive lies in the ability to create strong connections with others, to reach out, build trust, enlist others in a vision, share passion, and make Waves in a crowded stadium of virtual strangers. Trust enables risk, which leads to innovation, which creates progress. Trust stimulates an upward spiral of cooperation and value. Trust empowers others and one’s self and provides the engine that empowers success. It provides the security we need to think more deeply than the competition, experiment more, be more inventive, challenge the system. With innovation flowing freely, we get out of our small boxes, solve problems, and create lasting value.

Some say, “Who can we trust? Who can carry this project?” I’m saying, extend trust and see who runs with it, who goes on a trip. Trust is something you give, it’s something you extend to someone else—it’s the opposite of what people in power are accustomed to doing. They give trust to those who prove that they are trustworthy. I say, start the virtuous cycle by extending trust first, which is the beginning of doing it right. You thrive when you get it right. I believe in thriving, not surviving. Ultimately, this book is about thriving.

The final chapters of “HOW” bring all of this together as Seidman presents his visionary strategy for the leaders of today to create the business environment of tomorrow. Seidman’s “Leadership Framework” consists of five initial qualities or attributes of those leaders that will succeed in the transformed economy of conversation:

1. Vision- Knowing where the business should be going.
2. Communicate and Enlist-Let everyone know the strategy, as well as the tactics, and get them on board through personal example.
   
3. Seize Authority and take Responsibility-Encourage and praise those that show the initiative to do what should be done for the benefit of the customer experience and the company legacy.
   
4. Plan and Implement-“A small vision achieved is worth ten grand notions” left undone. Those who succeed will work with others as a team to make it happen.
5. Build Succession and Continuity-The key to succeeding in the long-term is building a foundation of team-work that is self-sustaining, not dependent on a single, indispensable champion.

Practicing these five behaviors, not just preaching them, is how one can create a self-governing culture. A culture where everyone takes ownership, not only of their own job but of the company, is a culture of significance, where everyone can contribute to something larger than themselves.

This is the leadership needed today, to guide businesses through major shifts in the new economy, “Pursuing significance, in the end, is the ultimate HOW.”

Rating: 5 (of 5)

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