12 steps for… is a formula – televisually we would say a format – for resolving problems, speaking in public, managing conflicts, not wasting time: it is a method that characterises a series of books, edited by Franco Angeli in collaboration with Amicucci Formazione, that improve one’s abilities and help you aim for the best. In order to reach an objective, you must follow a path. However, often the objective is not clear, or the path is full of twists and turns: to make it easier, it is necessary to subdivide it. From here the idea of 12 steps was born: with one step every week, you can achieve a significant change in three months. For every topic there is a book to read, and reread, with exercises to do, to put into practice, in order to widen your vision. Everything in 12 steps, a magic number based on the perfection of the triad and on the solidity of the square. With the Internet, mobile phones and tablets, we are used to scrolling down quickly and only reading something which seems useful to us at that moment. This is fine if we want to quickly find some information. If, instead, we want to learn something (systematic and theoretical knowledge, practical skills) we need to slow down and concentrate. A Chinese military stratagem says: “Leave later in order to arrive earlier”, whilst another states: “You can’t ripen grain before it’s ready”. These two teachings tell us to slow down, to consider the right times, let’s say, physiological times, for doing things. With this in mind, we can contemplate a slow reading, fast learning mode. Reading slowly means reading carefully the first time, rereading, making notes, drawing diagrams, doing further research. Learning quickly means making improvements in everything you know or do in a fairly limited time. Following the common thread of efficient management of one’s own objectives, the 12 steps method integrates reading, exercises, research on the web and practical tests in order to have real and measurable results. Not bad, eh? Umberto Santucci
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