Peter Block’s new book really has me riveted.

Block, a consultant, is hitting the "soft side” of organizational life with this work, calling us to become something that flies in the face of most institutional cultures. For him, the relational and authentic self is the best thing to bring to the party. Block wants us to focus on a life that counts versus a life that works. He calls us to be social architects, combining the skills and insights of the engineer, the economist and the artist.

How to do something is often our focus—but for Block this is the wrong question. The real question to answer is “why?” which, when answered with clarity, leads to the “how” we need to create later.

Wrong “How” questions include: How do you do it? How long will it take? How much does it cost? How do I get those people to change? How do we measure it? How have other people done it successfully? None of these gets at the heart of reality.

“Yes” according to Block, is the right question. More to come…