Working definition
Stops the how-spiral is the deliberate interrupt when you slide from what I need this quarter into how I will organise every logistical step — return to the need before the calendar fills with pleasing motion.
How it works
The how-spiral feels productive: jobs, schedules, parallel hunts, reduced hours. It hides want vs need because every how-line is true and none names the lever.
Yann’s move on 2026-07-01: Martine names salaried parallel work — valid — but the spiral would swallow the independence fork. Stop, restate three-month need, then choose whether this how serves it.
Pair with Signal vs Noise and 90-90-1 ownership.
Failure modes
- Interrupt without need sentence — catching the spiral but returning to more how without naming the quarter lever.
- Need sentence too vague — grow the business instead of one trainable independence or Battle move.
- How as avoidance of A/B — logistics stay true but hide the forced choice under want vs need.
Signature
The image is the how-spiral versus the need sentence — logistics chains that feel like progress, interrupted by one quarter clarity line.
On repart sur le comment — Yann’s pivot back to three-month clarity while Martine’s logistics stay true but secondary.
Catch mid-how; restate need before the calendar fills. Your move: Your move this week.
Your move this week
Catch one how-spiral live; write the need sentence you returned to.