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

by Dan Sullivan

It is the role of the leader to determine the “what”—which is the desired outcome or goal—and to provide clarity, feedback, and direction when needed. It is not the role of the leader to explain how the job is done. The Who determines how they will best go about getting the job done. All they need is clarity about what specifically “done” looks like.

This is the principle behind "commander's intent" and the mission order in the military.

By having clear Success Criteria, meaning what has to be true when this project is finished, you can ensure your Who doesn’t get lost. At the same time, you give them full autonomy in how they make that Success Criteria real. Without clear boundaries, your Who will lose motivation. Boundaries and clarity create motivation. In order to be motivated, you need clarity and simplicity. Boundaries help clarify your path toward your desired aims. According to Expectancy Theory, one of the core motivation theories in psychology, motivation requires a clear and tangible outcome, as well as a path to getting that outcome. The constraints established by the Success Criteria are essential for the Who being motivated, because they clarify the Who’s path but also provide complete autonomy in how they create the result.

CHAPTER TAKEAWAYS If you’re truly committed to a result, you’ll need to focus on Who, not How. Extreme commitment comes from clarity of vision and the autonomy to execute that vision in whatever way the Who sees fit. Transformational leaders invest in their Whos, challenge them, help them clearly see the vision, and ultimately, get their Whos just as committed and invested as they are. Without clarity of vision, autonomy is not effective. With clarity of vision, as well as consistent feedback on results, autonomy leads to high performance. Leaders should be committed to results, not to a particular process. Rather than micromanaging the process, leadership should provide freedom and autonomy as well as extreme clarity and high standards of excellence.

First and foremost, when it comes to connecting with someone, you should want to be connected with them. It shouldn’t be a chore. There shouldn’t be any desire to avoid contact or escape from them. There should be no need for posturing or posing. But rather, you should feel completely free to be yourself, and ultimately, who you aspire to be. “How do I feel when I’m with this person?” That’s a key distinction for Joe when thinking about relationships. If he doesn’t feel drawn to the person, if he doesn’t feel amazing around them, if he’s not inspired or connected, and if it’s not easy, then the relationship is a no-go, regardless of how credentialed or “successful” the person is. “I don’t want to work on a relationship. I just want a relationship that works,” Dan told Joe years ago, in discussing his relationship with Babs. Joe held on to that concept and it has served him well.

Rather than asking, “What’s in it for me?” which is the common question, Joe asks, “What’s in it for them?”

YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT A LEADER BY WHAT THEY SAY “NO” TO THAN ANYTHING ELSE

“When deciding whether to do something, if you feel anything less than ‘Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!’—then say ‘no.’” —Derek Sivers

“Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.” —attributed to Mark Twain

According to research done by Harvard psychologist Dr. Daniel Gilbert, a person’s personality—their preferences and attitudes—change over time. Take, for example, yourself. Are you the same person you were 10 years ago? Do you see the world exactly how you did 10 years ago? Or even five years ago? Are you focused on the same goals? Do you have the same priorities? Do you want exactly the same things? How do you spend your time now versus how you used to spend your time? Do you tolerate the same things? Dr. Gilbert has found that, consistently, people can see changes—often big changes—in themselves when looking over the past 10 years. Kate and Chad are just two examples of people who have adjusted in how they do things. In this way, the past should serve as important information and learning, allowing you to approach life and your future differently.

CHAPTER TAKEAWAYS In order to have Freedom of Relationship, you can no longer engage with people that don’t align with your vision. You can build buffers and systems to ensure you no longer directly work with people who aren’t relevant. As you say no to people and opportunities that don’t align with the vision of your future self, your confidence will increase. Your team will also become more confident in you as a leader. Your current self no longer tolerates situations and people that your former self once tolerated. Your future self will not tolerate nor engage with situations or people that you currently tolerate. As you make courageous decisions based on the future you want to create, you can make bolder leaps into your freedom and success.

“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

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

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.

“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

CHAPTER TAKEAWAYS Wherever you see brilliant work happening, collaboration is happening. You don’t have all the answers. It’s wise to consider yourself ignorant on most things, and to seek other people’s perspectives and solutions. Apply the 80 percent rule to move projects forward by not over-obsessing about your part of the project. Get feedback fast! Be radically open and honest in your communication. Ask for help when you need it. Seek to be a hero to those you work with, and you’ll do your best work for them.

According to research by Dr. David Logan, a business professor at the University of Southern California, most business cultures are what he calls, “Stage 3 Culture,” which is epitomized by internal competition wherein each person is out for themselves, willing to backstab, gossip, or do whatever it takes to get the position above their colleagues. Much rarer are “Stage 4 Cultures,” which emphasize teamwork and collaboration—focusing on the quality and characteristics of the group rather than the individual. Stage 4 Cultures are far more productive and successful than Stage 3 Cultures in business and sports.

We already talked about Phil Jackson, the legendary basketball coach who oversaw all six championships in the Michael Jordan era of the Chicago Bulls and all five championships of the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal–led Los Angeles Lakers. He said that his Bulls were primarily a Stage 4 team. It’s the reason they made history and changed the basketball world forever. There were phases where the Lakers were Stage 4, and during those phases they won championships. But often, his Lakers were a Stage 3 team, competing with each other for who got the ball or who would take the final shot. Kobe and Shaq often struggled to work together, each wanting to be the lead man. The competition between them ultimately drove Shaq to another team. And although they won three championships together in three years straight—the years they operated as a Stage 4 team—it is speculated that had they been able to remain a team, Kobe and Shaq had the potential to win several more championships together, and become the most dominant duo of all time.

CHAPTER TAKEAWAYS Focusing on “How” makes you rigid and non-collaborative in your thinking. Focusing on “How” stresses you out, because you’re already busy and can’t juggle it all. Focusing on “How” leads you to being isolated in your goals, and ultimately slows your progress. Being isolated in your goals diminishes your dreams. Competition stunts creative innovation and limits your future. Collaboration immediately expands your Freedom of Purpose and vision, because what you can do with others is exponentially more than what you can do by yourself. Collaboration allows you to focus on what you want to focus on and not feel guilty about getting help. Collaboration transforms the initial intent of the project into something surprisingly better and more impactful than you would have planned on your own. By expanding your vision, your Freedom of Purpose also expands.

The attorney’s name is Dale Dove, and it was amazing to see how the case changed once Dale got involved. Dale had several similar cases to ours that were under way at the state courts, and eventually, he was able to clarify the laws in South Carolina that needed refinement, particularly around the rights of foster parents being enabled to proactively seek adoption of children who didn’t have healthy familial options. Thanks to his incredible work and knowledge of the law, we were able to adopt our three children. It was a total miracle, and something we could have never done ourselves.

A keystone concept in psychology is known as the fundamental attribution error (also known as correspondence bias or over-attribution effect), which is the tendency for people to overemphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for how a person acts while underemphasizing situational explanations.

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

“Delegate everything except genius.”

CHAPTER TAKEAWAYS Only through Whos can the most important miracles and blessings happen in your life. Only through Whos can your purpose and life be transformed and expanded. Whos help you see potential in your future, and in your work, that you can’t presently see for yourself. Whos expand your vision, giving you the confidence to pursue big goals. Your Whos become your purpose.