Have you ever worked on a leadership goal like improving your executive presence or a personal goal such as eating healthy? The usual advice on achieving goals is to “break your goals into smaller steps,” which sounds wise but may not work in such cases. It assumes the task is linear, such as climbing stairs, where each step is identical, and you make linear progress with each step. We often assume it can be achieved through sheer willpower or pushing harder. But if we treat a habit such as an exercise regimen as linear, like putting on exercise clothes, going to the gym, and performing the exercise, we oversimplify the problem.…