The way we do things is what we are doing

We tend to think of the message and the packaging as two different things. We even argue about whether the form or the content is more important (we do this a lot in teaching). And yet a few hours spent in any family or workplace are enough to show us the truth: the way the message is delivered is often the most important part of the message. Was there ever a great parent or teacher who talked to children as if they were idiots or wastes of space? How many rebellious teenagers have you known who rejected their parents' politics or religion, only to adopt a substitute ideology that perpetuated the same patterns they were trying so hard to escape from? More and more I am convinced that the way we do things is actually what we are doing.