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success? By how much money you have? How many awards you win? How much respect you earn from peers? What you contribute to the world? The love of your family and friends? How many things you own? How many lives you save? If you are like most people, it is probably some mix of these things and others, in varying degrees and proportions. But when does it all add up to success? Early on in the book, we spoke about the paradox of journey, how sometimes you must struggle with new ideas and new perspectives until you internalize them and make them an “artless art,” and how this period of struggle often signifies effort beyond easy knowledge and competence. When you put this book down, you may have that experience with these ideas as well, for though this book nears its end, your journey into the world of HOW just begins.

Before we part company, I want to leave you with one more paradox, the paradox of success, and it’s a corollary to the paradox of happiness. You cannot do success; you cannot achieve it by pursuing it directly. Success is something you get when you pursue something greater than yourself, and the word I use to describe that something is significance. All measures of success share one commonality: They signify the value of your passage through life. You can go on a journey of significance—a journey to do, make, extend, create, and support value in the world; and I believe, in the spirit of the Johnson & Johnson Credo, it is this journey that should bring you success, however you measure it

Pursuing significance, in the end, is the ultimate HOW.

Hows Matter

The world moves faster than books. As of the moment we went to press, these pages had managed to catch my best thinking and the most current information at my disposal. But at almost every stage of the writing process—draft, revision, polish, proofreading, and publication—our hyperconnected, transparent world continued to add new dynamics and issues to consider.

That is as it should be. HOW is a lens, a way of seeing and understanding these changes as they happen. And so, the journey continues.

Please join me and many of the thought leaders who have contributed to this book in an ongoing online discussion of all things HOW at

www.HowsMatter.com

Our online effort will attempt to capture in real time the lively multidisciplinary conversation embodied in these pages. We’ll also seek to provide useful tools—a downloadable color version of the Leadership Framework, interviews, and more—to help augment and deepen your understanding of HOW.

We hope to see you there.

DOV SEIDMAN

Acknowledgments

Writing a book is a journey unlike any other I have ever taken, and, as with most journeys, it would not have been possible without the love, support, encouragement, feedback, and tireless efforts of the many people who made the journey with me. I know I will have the chance to sit down with each of them and express my profound gratitude for what their contribution has meant to me. In the meantime, I’d like to thank them here.

Joni Evans, originally my agent at William Morris and now a dear friend. You gave me the belief and confidence that I had a book in me, and that it would prove useful to others. Your ongoing mentor-ship and guidance, substantive help, enthusiasm, and inspiration have provided a rare form of encouragement. You have been there every step of the way. I’m deeply grateful. The world needs more like you.

Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and Jay Mandel. Along with the team at William Morris, you stepped into the project and embraced it with the same passion and commitment, and saw me through to the finish line. I feel fortunate to have you both in my corner.

Pamela van Giessen, my editor at John Wiley & Sons. You believed in me, and more important, had a vision for this book far more significant than the one I brought you. You saw that HOW is for people, not just the institutions for which they work. You felt the resonance of this material, shaped and formed it as we went along, and then kept me from running off the track. Perhaps most important,