In all of the employed phases of my life, I have found myself caring more about How than What. I do care about What I am working on. But I am privileged enough to not worry about picking the wrong Whats, and can just think about picking the right Hows.
In some way, every How is a What for a lower level. But for the same level, What and How have a discord that I have discovered to be extremely dear to my decision making process.
Whats are usually goals, Hows are values, principles, and strategies.
Whats have a sense of objective primacy to them, Hows are subjective afterthoughts. Or maybe this is just a way to justify a hierarchy, a status quo. We often overemphasize What, but not much is done to love the How.
What is an authority, How is a dismissive platitude.
What is a manager, How is an employee.
What is subjugation, How is dissent.
What is a constraint, How is freedom.
What is a calculator, How is a paintbrush.
What is function, How is form.
What is a group, How is an individual.
What is easy, How is hard.
What is banal, How is magical.