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It takes vulnerability and trust to expand your efforts and build a winning team. It takes wisdom to recognize that 1) other people are more than capable enough to handle much of the Hows, and 2) that your efforts and contribution (your “Hows”) should be focused exclusively where your greatest passion and impact are. Your attention and energy should not be spread thin, but purposefully directed where you can experience extreme flow and creativity. Results, not effort, is the name of the game. You are rewarded in life by the results you produce, not the effort and time you put in. All too
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As a culture, we’ve been trained to focus on “How” and to work in isolation.
It is only through teamwork and collaboration that you can achieve things you previously thought impossible.
with each ascending level of success, your ability to produce results will be more and more contingent on Whos, not Hows. By focusing on Who you work with and not How you achieve your goals, your level of accomplishment, and thus freedom, will dramatically increase in all key areas—time, money, relationships, and purpose.
the first thing you do when you imagine a bigger future is ask yourself: “How do I achieve this goal?”
you must stop asking yourself, “How can I accomplish this?” That question, although common, leads to mediocre results, frustration, and a life of regrets. A much better question is: “Who can help me achieve this?”
For every How in his life except the few activities he deems his Unique Ability, Dan finds a Who.
Who Not How is truly that simple. You define the vision, find the Who or Whos, and let them create the result.
All the leader needs to do at that point is support and encourage the Who(s) through the process.
You absolutely need a Who if you’re trying to accomplish something new and challenging, unless you’re fine not getting the result you want in the near future. The bigger the challenge, the more essential the Who. And if you are the Who, as I was in this case, you’ll eventually discover that as the Who, you’ll also need a Who.
When you’re ready to get results quickly and effectively, then find the right Who. As your ambition increases, you’ll need to get faster and faster at foregoing the frustration of How. Instead, you’ll go straight to the Who that can get the result.
In every “Who” relationship, you will have Whos, and you will also be a Who.
one of the keys of Who Not How: With the right Whos in place, your vision and purpose will expand dramatically.
your vision grows as you get more and better Whos involved.
Through collaboration, striving, growth, and connection, people can and do change. They can evolve in ways far beyond what is possible through individualistic pursuits.
Transformational Relationships, as opposed to Transactional ones, are entered into for the purpose of change and growth. In Transformational Relationships, all parties give more than they take. There is an abundance mind-set, and an openness to novelty and change.
Being surprised is something I seek out, and something I very much value. I’m always surprised by what becomes of the ideas and collaborations.
“Ben, the thing that would make Dan happiest is if you, as the primary Who, would fully own the How. So go own it!”
Not only must the Who fully own the How, but they must have complete permission to do so.
Michael Crichton’s books have sold more than 200 million copies. A large portion of those sales have come from allowing Whos to take his ideas and use them in different forms. In order to do so, Crichton had to remove his ego from the equation. He couldn’t force his own thinking onto other mediums and projects. He had to let people take his ideas in different directions than he would have himself.
If you’re going to apply higher levels of teamwork in your life, you’ll need to relinquish control over how things get done.
The promise of this book is dead serious and simple: Every time you apply Who Not How by imagining a new goal and getting Whos to work toward it, you will improve your time, increase your income, expand your relationships, and deepen your purpose.
That’s the power of having a Who—you instantly get access to knowledge, insights, resources, and capabilities that are not currently available to you. “How” is linear and slow. “Who” is non-linear, instantaneous, and exponential.
Freedom of Time is not fixed, but flexible. It’s not finite, but infinite. You never reach a place where you can’t improve your Freedom of Time, because it isn’t solely about having all the time to do what you want. It also involves using your time on increasingly quality activities.
Who Not How is about utilizing relationships, and being transformed by them.
Whos manage themselves; they aren’t managed by you. They have full responsibility for how they handle themselves because you’ve made the vision abundantly clear and exciting. You’ve then given them full ownership over executing and achieving the vision in whatever way suits them.
your team can and should operate seamlessly without you. This should be the goal of every entrepreneur.
as you engage in relationships, you expand your efficacy as a person. Your efficacy is your ability to produce results, and it is based on the resources you have to put toward those results.
Encouragement, time, and focus are just as essential as monetary support. Resources not only expand your ability to produce results, but can have a transformational effect on you as a person—on your identity, worldview, and skill level.
it’s critical that we challenge our trained response to ask “How?” when it comes to achieving our goals. Why ask How, when your motivation and efficacy have far more to do with your relationships than your perceived abilities?
Employees, collaborators, and consultants work for you not because they are beneath you, but because they believe in you. You become an incredibly important Who in their life, giving them a mission to be part of, a way to provide for themselves and their families, and a way to build competence and confidence.
it is actually the investment in Whos that strengthens your own commitment to your goals. As you get others involved, that action enhances your desire and motivation to get serious and get focused.
are you willing to invest in Whos? Are you willing to take that leap of faith and solidify your commitment to your dreams? Or, are you going to remain semi-committed? Get some skin in the game. But also, get other people’s resources to help you achieve what you can’t alone. Get their knowledge, time, and connections. Free yourself from having to do it all alone. Focus where it is most needed and effective. Expand yourself and your potential.
Procrastination is a very powerful signal telling you that it’s time to get another Who involved. You’re stuck. You need help.
The “right” Who is always ready and waiting. All you need to do is express your vision clearly.
The Impact Filter, as a one-page document, solves this most pervasive leadership conundrum, and is comprised of the following questions: What is the project? Purpose: What do you want to accomplish? Importance: What’s the biggest difference this will make? Ideal Outcome: What does the completed project look like? Best Result: If you do take action? Worst Result: If you don’t take action? Success Criteria: What has to be true when this project is finished?
As a rule, most people do not take the time to 1) clarify their goals or 2) adequately explain their goals.
Being able to articulate and express your goals is one of the most important and fundamental skills necessary for success.
There is endless talent and skill—endless resources—waiting to be directed toward your clearly and powerfully expressed goals. People are attracted to purpose and are looking for something meaningful to be a part of. Everyone wants a compelling cause. Your vision helps your Whos, and, in turn, you become their Who, helping them achieve their vision and goals with you.
Once you’ve identified the needed person to help you accomplish your goal, it’s time to get that person engaged and executing the needed Hows. In order to do so, you’ll need to ensure your vision also matches their vision for themselves, and that you can clearly become a powerful Who to them. If you can, and if helping you achieve your vision will help them simultaneously become who they want to be, then you’ve got your Who.
That’s one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs and leaders make: micromanaging their Whos and insisting that they do their jobs in a particular way, when the only thing that matters is the end result. Once success has been defined, restrain yourself from needing to know or care “How” it gets done. Your only concern should be that it gets done. Let your Who do their How.
Instead of trying to do all of those tasks himself, Heiss teamed up with Whos and was operational in India in only five months. This was absurdly, even superhumanly, fast.
“I now realize that my potential is virtually limitless when I focus on Who instead of How. My goals are not constrained by me. There are endless Whos out there and I can add that capability to anything I’m trying to accomplish.
With Tony now in a more visionary role, his team was able to double their forecasted revenue over the next three years. In other words, they were already ready and capable of flying. They just needed Tony to stop doing all the Hows and have the time and space to dream up a bigger future for the company. He now inspires and supports his team from a distance, and finds incredible opportunities he couldn’t previously see to invest in.
I’ve got a list of about two hundred or three hundred hours of tasks I still want to assign, so I’m asking myself, ‘Okay, how can I get rid of this stuff?’”
Start by simply eliminating all tasks or distractions that are unnecessary to your future self. Often, we engage in tasks simply out of habit. If it can be eliminated altogether, then eliminate it. Your future self will thank you.
Breaking down your goals into 90-day increments is good for focus and motivation. By chunking down your goals into smaller steps, you can focus more directly on what is right in front of you.
Dan has developed a process that he calls the Moving Future, which helps people maximize their time every 90 days. Interestingly, though, the Moving Future actually starts by having you reflect on what you’ve accomplished over the past 90 days. This helps you get a sense of movement and momentum. Here are the questions on the one-page Moving Future process, which will help you improve your time every 90 days: Looking back over the past quarter, what are the things you have achieved that make you the proudest? What are the current areas of focus and progress that make you the most confident?
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Answer the questions above from Dan’s Moving Future process to clarify what projects or goals you want to accomplish over the next 90 days. Then ask yourself, “Who can help me accomplish this?”
Every 90 days, you can free up your time, energy, and focus by getting Whos to support your ambitions in all aspects of your life.
