Scan barcode
A review by amymo73
The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters by Peter Block
3.0
In all honesty, I picked up this book because of the title. I absolutely loved the sentiment and wanted to know more. After all, I have lots of projects that I've started or would like to start and always seem to run into the question (whether from others or in my own head) exactly how are you going to do this?
In this book, Block looks at how we are caught up in a results-oriented culture that looks for the right answers when perhaps we should be looking for the right questions. We want to know what to do before giving ourselves a chance to go deeper, to play with the questions, to think about what really matters to us. Block writes, "We are at times so eager to get practical right away that we set limits on ourselves. We become imprisoned in our belief that we don't know how and therefore need to keep asking the question." It's not that asking questions of "how" is wrong. It's that we tend to ask them too soon.
The most valuable part of this book for me were the first chapters when Block examines the questions of "how" and then shows how we can alter to them the question of yes. "Yes affirms the value of participation, of being a player instead of a spectator to our own experience." The second half of the book deals more specifically with business and organizations. While interesting and thought provoking, I was most captivated and inspired by the earlier chapters.
As I continue to pursue my projects and my dreams, this was a great reminder that getting too practical too soon is a sure way to kill my projects and my dreams. By going deeper, by focusing and acting on what matters most to me, I not only create more opportunity for myself but I help contribute to the community. Sometimes, you need to step away from the end-game, numbers-driven model and practice living what you want instead.
In this book, Block looks at how we are caught up in a results-oriented culture that looks for the right answers when perhaps we should be looking for the right questions. We want to know what to do before giving ourselves a chance to go deeper, to play with the questions, to think about what really matters to us. Block writes, "We are at times so eager to get practical right away that we set limits on ourselves. We become imprisoned in our belief that we don't know how and therefore need to keep asking the question." It's not that asking questions of "how" is wrong. It's that we tend to ask them too soon.
The most valuable part of this book for me were the first chapters when Block examines the questions of "how" and then shows how we can alter to them the question of yes. "Yes affirms the value of participation, of being a player instead of a spectator to our own experience." The second half of the book deals more specifically with business and organizations. While interesting and thought provoking, I was most captivated and inspired by the earlier chapters.
As I continue to pursue my projects and my dreams, this was a great reminder that getting too practical too soon is a sure way to kill my projects and my dreams. By going deeper, by focusing and acting on what matters most to me, I not only create more opportunity for myself but I help contribute to the community. Sometimes, you need to step away from the end-game, numbers-driven model and practice living what you want instead.