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

by Dan Sullivan

“Personal confidence comes from making progress toward goals that are far bigger than your present capabilities.”

“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” —Reid Hoffman

“Support is attracted to purpose.”

“Without contraries is no progression.” —William Blake

The first key to engaging in high-quality teamwork is to not think you know exactly what you’re doing. You’ve got to be open to other people’s ideas. You’ve got to realize that other people’s ideas, solutions, or strategies can be far superior to your own. And that’s a good thing!

You are only one person. As brilliant as you are, your current views are very limited at best. By combining your perspectives and skills with those of others, your thinking and results can improve dramatically.

“Technology is a team member that keeps getting smarter and faster.”

“Eighty percent is already getting results while a hundred percent is still thinking about it.” —Dan Sullivan

You often need encouragement to be courageous. That’s what teamwork is all about.

The faster you get at throwing out incomplete work, the faster it will transform into something great. Dan calls this the 80 percent rule. You can get to 80 percent of a project very quickly, such as writing a rough draft. However, going from 80 percent to 90 percent is exponentially more work than going from 0 to 80 percent. Going from 90 to 100 percent is a mountain. You just need to do what you can do as the Who, and then quickly pass it off to the next Who. The longer you try to perfect your idea before feedback, the slower the transformation process. Get your Whos involved. Stop trying to do it all yourself. The sooner you get teamwork involved, the faster and better your work will be. Also, with encouragement, you’ll work through challenges instead of procrastinating as you would naturally.

Finally, get used to “publishing” or sending out imperfect work. Nothing is ever truly “finished,” only “done.” Done is better than perfect.

“What people want to buy most is thei...

“Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.” —Viktor Frankl quoting Spinoza’s Ethics in Man’s Search for Meaning

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.” —Mr. Rogers

“All progress starts by telling the truth.”

“Always make your learning greater than your experience.”

“For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.” —Viktor Frankl

“Who do you want to be a hero to?” —Dan Sullivan

If you genuinely want to be a hero to your collaborators, you’ll show up for them. You’ll do your best work. Yo...

Likewise, as a leader, you should want nothing more than to be a hero for your team.

“Getting results doesn’t take much time at all. It’s not getting the results that takes up all the time.”

“A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” —Ayn Rand

“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” The more deep and powerful your sense of purpose, the more meaningful your life will be. But also, the more committed you’ll be to do whatever is required to live that purpose.

That’s what happens when other Whos get involved, the project becomes more important and impactful—this is an example of expansion or Freedom of Purpose through Who Not How. By adding Whos to what you’re doing, with greater capabilities and perspectives where you’re weak, the initial vision you had will automatically expand. Your goal becomes far better than anything you could conjure up on your own.

“Entrepreneurs base their lives on results. It’s not about time or effort.”

“Too much self-centered attitude, you see, brings, you see, isolation. Result: loneliness, fear, anger. The extreme self-centered attitude is the source of suffering.” —Dalai Lama

Getting help from others not only enables you to create success in your life but also gives you a deep sense of meaning and belonging.

accomplish this?” The fact of the matter is this: You don’t have to feel guilty for not doing everything yourself. You’re not less of a person for getting help. You’re not cheating. Even more, there are hordes of brilliant and talented people out there who’d love to help you with your goals and objectives (and get your help with theirs).

“Competition is for losers.” —Peter Thiel

We are no longer in the “How” world with its limitations. Instead, we are in a world where “Whos”—including technology—allow you faster and bigger results and more freedom than ever before. The age of competition and “How” is dying. Consequently, we are far more enabled to generate Freedom of Purpose. We have more options. It’s easier to find a need to fill, create a team to support you, and to make tangible impacts on people throughout the world.

“The only way you can make your present better is by making your future better.”

“If you organize your life around your passion, you can turn your passion into your story and then turn your story into something bigger—something that matters.” —Blake Mycoskie

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” —Helen Keller

The same is true for you. Your identity is not fixed, but rather based upon your current experiences. Your identity and purpose will expand as you have experiences of encouragement and support through the right Whos.

“When you see talent like that,” Lee told me, “you get them on board and then find out what to do with them. All you need to do for people like Chrissy is set the stage and let them go.”

A moonshot, he said, should first be about solving “a huge problem in the world that affects many millions of people.” Second, it should not settle for half-baked measures. It has to provide a “radical solution” that can do away with the problem for good. Teller’s last criteria is the reasonable expectation that technology can actually solve the problem. Moonshots should be as much about pragmatism as they are about dreaming.

“When going into new situations, you have to know what is nonnegotiable.”

“I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.” —Bob Dylan

Without purpose, your work can become shallow because it is solely about making money. When driven by purpose, you stop doing the minimum required. You really go deep within yourself. You become a creator. You become willing to go above and beyond the “call of duty.” You put your soul into your work. You genuinely seek to address the particular problem you’re trying to solve. You genuinely care about the people you’re serving.

Mary and Tony Miller focus on and invest big in their primary Whos: their employees. As a result, their customers get a fundamentally different experience and level of service and care, Mary and Tony have found immense and transformative purpose, and their business has grown exponentially.

“Delegate everything except genius.”

The group coaching has been far more transformative because it creates a space where the clients rely less on Dan and more on their own experience. They are able to really think about their thinking.

Unique Ability Teamwork is about seeing Whos as people with special gifts and abilities, not objects you can use.

As you define what you want for yourself, and as you fuel that desire, you’ll begin living out that purpose and serving the people you want to help. You’ll become a hero for people, helping them achieve their goals. Being a hero brings out the best in human beings.

It all starts by setting a goal, a new and bigger version of your own future. Then your next step is to ask, “Who can help me do this?” Master this process and your life will take you down a path of unimaginable joy and meaning.