Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork

by Dan Sullivan

“You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.” —Meredith Willson

procrastination: Diminishes well-being Increases feelings of shame and guilt Increases symptoms of major mental health problems such as depression Leads to other health risks due to poor decision-making, such as failing to seek medical treatment when ill

“Personal confidence comes from making progress toward goals that are far bigger than your present capabilities.” Confidence is belief in your ability to imagine, conceptualize, and achieve goals. It is the foundation of imagination.

confidence is the by-product of recent performance or recent progress toward your goals. By growing your confidence, your imagination and future will simultaneously grow as well.

Procrastination doesn’t only stop your confidence from growing. You also limit your imagination, preventing you from seeking out bigger and bigger goals. Your identity or self-concept becomes limited. You stop believing you can achieve big goals, because your identity is largely shaped by your...

the number one deathbed regret for most people is that they never took steps to do what they truly wanted to do with their lives. Instead, they procrastinated when it came to realizing their deepest dreams and settled for less.

“A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life.” —Charles Darwin

Procrastination is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when you really want something more for yourself, but you lack the knowledge and capability to do it.

procrastination means is that your goal or ambition is great. It’s something you’d like for yourself, but you’re not the right person to execute the plan to achieve it, at least not right now. You need a Who to get you through whatever stage you’re in, because at the moment, you’re clearly not the Who in possession of the needed knowledge or capability. If you were, you wouldn’t be procrastinating.

Procrastination is wisdom—if you listen to it. If you don’t listen, then procrastination leads to misery and mediocrity. Procrastination is a very powerful signal telling you that it’s time to g...

Everyone who is ambitious procrastinates. It is part of having big goals that stretch far beyond you. But for most people procrastination never leads to creating the result. Instead, it leads to inaction, regret, and frustration. And once there is a lack of progress and confidence, soon ambition is lost altogether.

Another powerful variation of this question could be, “Who can achieve this goal for me?” Who has the skills, knowledge, connections, and expertise to get this done ASAP? Asking “Who?” is the automatic response you need to develop every time you think of a new goal or desire.

“When you speak of what you want, and even one person hears, it may begin a generative loop.” —Joshua Wolf Shenk

In order to create the right types of relationships, you need to be very clear about what you want. Not only do you have to know what you want, but you must clearly communicate your desires to others.

“Your eyes only see and your ears only hear what your brain is looking for.” When you’ve defined what you want—and are very clear on all of the criteria for success—then you’ve got something that you can not only visualize but communicate. As you communicate what you want to the world, your vision will crystalize, and like the one car you can easily spot among the hundreds, you’ll be able to find the right Whos. Indeed, the right Whos will find you.

Far too often, the Who lacks critical clarity not only about the overall vision, but about their role in that vision. Therefore, they can’t bring their available resources to the table. Or, they can’t find other Whos who have the needed resources.

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?

the Impact Filter at Strategiccoach.com/whonothow

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.

it takes courage to tell people your vision. It takes courage and leadership to get other people involved.

Unless you’re brilliant at finding Whos, you should probably find a Who to find your Whos.

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.

“Having a capability is not an obligation to use it.”

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.”

success? For me, it’s not how much time you spend doing what you love. It’s how little time you spend doing what you hate.” —Casey Neistat

How you spend every second on this planet matters. You get in life what you tolerate.

You can start small. Each small win builds confidence and an increased sense that you can create the life you want. 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.

EVERY 90 DAYS, MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME AND MAKE HUGE PROGRESS

You can’t achieve massive goals in a day. Some of your goals may be so big that they take years to achieve. Even still, you can make massive progress every 90 days.

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. You can make tangible and short-term progress, and then look back every 90 days and measure tangible progress. This gives 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? Looking ahead at the next quarter, what new developments, projects, or goals are giving you the greatest sense of excitement? What are the five new “jumps” (progress) you can now achieve that will make your next 90 days a great quarter regardless of what else happens?

Challenge: Add at least one Who to your goals in the next 90 days in whatever area of your life you choose. By adding a Who, your commitment will increase and your behavior will improve.

“It’s more satisfying to be useful now than to be remembered later.”

“Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” —Peter Drucker

investing in Whos you not only utilize their time and resources, but also free yourself up to focus your time and attention on your most high-value activities. In turn, your earning capacity improves.

You can’t improve your money freedom without increasing the Whos in your life. Freedom of Money is also about having the money you need to solve whatever problem you have.

if you have enough money to solve a problem then you don...

Here’s a list that Dean devised to track his Freedom of Money. I Know I’m Being Successful When: I can wake up every day and ask, “What would I like to do today?” My passive revenue exceeds my lifestyle needs. I can live anywhere in the world I choose. I’m working on projects that excite me and allow me to do my best work. I can disappear for several months with no effect on my income. There are no whiny people in my life. I wear my watch for curiosity only. I have no time obligations or deadlines. I wear whatever I want all the time. I can quit anytime.

there are two types of problems in business: technical and adaptive. Technical problems are when the answer is already known. You just need to find out how to do it.

With any technical problem, it’s optimal to ask, “Who can do this for me? Why? Because if you ask, “How can I set up this blog?” then you’re creating for yourself an enormous and long-term commitment.

“As an individual, your time and attention are linear and finite. You only have so much. So, when you ask yourself, ‘How?’ then you have to be the one to find out where to learn, you have to be the one to actually learn how to do it, and once you’ve learned how to do it, then you have to be the one to actually do the task for the unforeseen future. If at some point in the future, you decide to hire someone to do it for you, then you’ll have to train them.”

time is very important, but actually sees attention as the crown jewel. Your attention is always 100 percent engaged in something, even if that’s distraction. The problem with asking “How?” is that you’re basically telling yourself, “I’m willing to spend my finite attention on this task—finding out how to learn it, learning it, actually doing it, and one day, maybe, training someone else on how to do it.” This...

Do you really want to engage your attention on this task? Could you spend your time in better, more exciting ways? Could you find a Who to do this for you—someone who wants to do it, and would see you as their Who if you gave them the opportunity?

Every time you add a Who to take care of a task, you instantly add skills to your belt,

adaptive problems do not have a known answer, according to Dean. Because they don’t have a known answer, they require a creator. That’s where you are the “Who.” Everything that has ever been invented or innovated was done by a Who, acting as a creator, solving an adaptive problem.

“The most useful thing you can do for other people is appreciate their value.”

“Once I made a decision, I never thought about it again.” —Michael Jordan

Even small stressors, like finding a parking spot or worrying about being late for a meeting, can tax your mind. When you free yourself up from various tasks, you not only free up your time, but perhaps more important, you free up your mind to go to different places. With a freed-up mind, you can begin creatively expanding your vision. You can seek new opportunities not previously considered. You can invest in education, mentorships, or collaborations.

Freeing your mind isn’t just about thinking. It’s about having the energy to show up and perform great work, because the stage has already been set for you, not by you.