“Who Not How” by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy has a deep message that resonates with me deeply. When you look at society as a whole, we are a culture that is always trying to do everything themselves, and competing with one another trying to outdo. By doing this, people spend the majority of their time in trying to figure out the “How”, and the be the jack-of-all-trades society tells us we should be. As brilliant as you may be, you can only get so far alone. In the book, Hardy poses the idea to ask yourself “Who can do this for me?” rather than “How can I do this?”, when faced with something you are not equipped to do yourself. This line of thinking holds true in both business and life as there are many examples I can provide and that the book provides that show the Who Not How principle at work. If this idea is so, then how come society has us think the opposite?
Societal dogma
In school today and for the past century, kids are given individual work and then graded on arbitrary exams. It is mostly frowned upon to collaborate with others as this is viewed as “cheating” barring some projects on occasion. This attitude carries over to after-school life in the workforce where people believe that “working hard” is the sole answer to making it to the top. In reality, this could not be further from the truth. Although being a hard worker is a great quality, it’s not the sole quality one must have to be successful. Society’s view on how to tackle life is and has been completely backwards for as far time goes back in this country. It’s not good enough to work hard as an individual. Humans are not meant to do life without companionship and help from others as we are social creatures. With the emergence of technology, society is even more isolated now than we were just 10 years ago. Doing things on your own and figuring out how to master every skill is viewed as noble and the way the succeed when that just simply isn’t the case. Instead of spending months or even years trying to master and figure out one aspect of life or work, it is much more economical on your time to find a Who to figure out that How for you.
Collaboration creates purpose
When faced with something you dread, put off till later, or just don’t feel like doing for whatever reason, it’s time to find a Who to figure out that How for you. Relationships however should not be transactional. In order to build your network of Whos, your main focus should be on what you can do for them rather than what they can do for you. Sure, they can do the tasks that you want them to, but how will you provide value back to them? One good way is creating a vision for a team that will help them grow themselves. Provide framework for them and let them have full reigns over how they accomplish the “How” you assigned to them. Don’t micromanage, and allow them to let their own thoughts and creativity shine through. Collaboration in this way creatives a ton of chemistry and enables you to build something much larger than you could even imagine. Offering friendship and mentorship to your Whos is something that can be very valuable for both parties in the long run. Once you find one Who, you will easily be able to recognize more aspects of your life or business that you need a Who for as well. Don’t look at Whos as costs, look at them as investments in both yourself and your Who. In the end, the collaboration will make both parties far more successful than if they were to go at life on their own.
The importance of procrastination
In the book, Hardy explains how procrastination can be a good thing if used correctly. Some of you who just read that may be a little confused! Did you just read that right? You did, let me explain! When you are faced with something that causes you to procrastinate, it’s time to get a Who for that. If you procrastinate and do nothing about it, well then that is a bad use of procrastination! Be aware of yourself and how certain aspects of life and work make you feel. Focus on the aspects that you love the most that give you purpose and help you scale your business and your life! Everything else can be accounted for with a Who. If used properly, procrastination can be a powerful tool!
WHo not how in my own life
This principle is not just something I am preaching about, I’m actively beginning to apply it in my own life, and I’m not going to lie its hard at first. Letting go of that feeling you need to do something and only you can do it best is a very hard thing to do. But to quote the book ” In order to make more money you need to work less”. This is hard to digest because it’s so counterintuitive and against everything we were ever taught. After reading this book, I am currently looking for Whos in my real estate business, Amazon business, and blog business. I know I can scale much faster and figure out problems 100x quicker if I had Whos to take me to my goals. I am deeply concerned with bringing value to my Whos as well so the relationship can flourish and grow instead of being merely transactional. What I am working on now is to create a clear vision of where I see what I’m building going so that I attract the right Whos to accomplish the Hows I need done. This has taken a lot of meaningful reflecting on my part and acknowledging my own downfalls. It’s not bad to not be the best at everything! Collaboration is the answer. Using the Who Not How method will allow you to 10x your business, and your life quicker and more efficiently than you ever thought possible!
If you’re interested, I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of the book yourself. In this post, I briefly touched on my own takeaways from the books and how I plan on applying them. There is so much valuable information from reading the book that you won’t find anywhere else, and countless stories of Who Not How in action. You can pick up a copy of it here, or anywhere books are sold. I’d love to hear your thoughts on social media and in the comments!
Book link: Who Not How