Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan, with Dr. Benjamin Hardy, presents a powerful mindset shift for achieving bigger goals
This book has taken the self-help world and genre by storm. With over 200,000 copies sold, it has been a #1 top-rated book on Amazon for a long time. The ideas in the book seem to have staying power.
But what is it about? And is it the right book for you?
Today we will give a full book review and a quick Who Not How summary to help fellow self-help lovers, business owners, and productivity seekers decide if they should add it to their reading lists.
Who is Dan Sullivan?
If you’ve been around the business world for some time, you may have heard Dan’s name come up. You may have even heard him at a speaking event or joined his Strategic Coach program and mastermind group.
His website says it best:
Dan Sullivan is the co-founder and head visionary of Strategic Coach as well as one of the world’s foremost experts on entrepreneurship. He’s dedicated the last 40 years to helping entrepreneurs go 10x in business and in life.
Dan is also the author of more than 30+ publications—including Who Not How, The Gap And The Gain, and 10x Is Easier Than 2x—the host of multiple podcasts, a highly regarded speaker, and a believer in growing a business while still having a life.
He has a stacked resume and track record of running successful businesses and helping others do the same. He’s also a great example of a business owner or thought leader who used a book to grow their business (something we teach a lot at selfpublishing.com). So we definitely sit up and take note when he publishes a new book.
Who Not How book summary
The central idea of the Who Not How book is that rather than focusing on “how” to do something yourself, you should focus on identifying “who” can help you accomplish the task or goal.
The book encourages readers to move away from the limiting belief that they need to figure out every step of a process by themselves. Instead, it emphasizes leveraging the expertise, skills, and resources of others.
By partnering with the right people—who can contribute their strengths and expertise—you can exponentially accelerate your progress, remove bottlenecks, and create a team dynamic that works toward shared objectives.
Key takeaways from the Who Not How book include:
- The Who mindset: Instead of getting bogged down by how to do everything on your own, ask yourself, “Who can help me achieve this?” This shift helps you focus on collaboration and delegation.
- Focusing on your strengths: When you outsource tasks to the right people, you free up your time and energy to concentrate on your unique abilities and passions, which leads to more meaningful and impactful work.
- Collaboration over isolation: Growth and innovation happen when you surround yourself with the right partners. The Who Not How book emphasizes building teams and networks that complement your skills, rather than trying to go it alone.
- Creating a future-focused mindset: By leveraging other people’s abilities, you can accelerate your progress toward bigger goals, create value faster, and remain open to new possibilities and opportunities.
The Who Not How book’s overall message is that success in business and life is less about individual effort and more about working with the right people in the right way.
Through intentional collaboration, you can scale your goals, overcome limitations, and unlock new potential.
Our full review of the Who Not How book
Before we dive in, we want to say that we weren’t paid to write this review. We aren’t affiliated with Dan Sullivan or his Strategic Coach program. We are simply avid readers and self-help lovers who believe in continual learning. Each person on our team has a personal story of how a book changed their life or transformed their career. We hope the same can happen to you – and maybe even inspire you to write your own self-help book one day (and hopefully with us – wink, wink).
The Who Not How book by Dan Sullivan reframes the way we tackle big life challenges. The mindset shift from focusing on how to focusing on who has been game-changing for a lot of readers.
With this book, Sullivan is helping people break free from the limiting belief that they need to figure everything out on their own. The focus on WHO can help you with personal projects or scaling your business, just by leveraging the talents of others.
The Who Not How book is highly practical and isn’t just about theory. Sullivan actually provides actionable insights on how to identify and collaborate with the right people, empowering readers to build the right team for their goals.
This focus on real-world implementation helps readers immediately start applying the ideas in their work and life.
Sullivan also spreads the message that delegating is empowering, not a sign of weakness. This perspective can help a lot of readers overcome the fear of letting go of control and trusting others to take on important tasks, leading to better results and a more efficient workflow.
This book is concise, easy to read, and very motivational. The message is made accessible without and unnecessary fluff. The emphasis on creating a positive impact through collaboration inspires many readers to take action and think bigger about their potential.
It’s worth noting that the concepts inside can work for anyone, but are especially ideal for entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders. It’s especially useful for people trying to scale their businesses, improve productivity, and create long-term growth.
If you want to grow a business without burnout, Who Not How should be the next thing you read.
Weaknesses of the Who Not How Book
It wouldn’t be a full book review if we didn’t share both the good and bad. While we didn’t find much of the latter, here are a few things our reviewers thought could be improved:
- Repetitive sections. Repetition helps with retention, but we thought some areas could have been edited out. The core message is powerful, and would have remained impactful even with a more concise delivery.
- It could be boring for general self-help readers. At it’s core, Who Not How is a business or leadership book. It speaks to the art of delegation. And individuals who aren’t in positions where they’re managing teams or looking to scale their operations might not find the book as relevant to their needs. That being said, more of us could learn the power of delegating even simple home tasks to help our lives run more smoothly.
- Packed with concepts and mindset shifts, light on where to find the who. Ironically, some reviewers feel that it could have gone deeper into how to actually find and build relationships with the right people.
- Next steps are missing. Though the idea of collaboration is central, readers might crave more detailed strategies on how to vet or onboard collaborators effectively.
If you’re committed to the Who Not How idea and are now seeking your specific ‘who,’ head over to Dan’s website.
Our Takeaway
Overall, the Who Not How book is widely regarded as insightful and transformative. Its clear message about the power of collaboration and delegation resonates with a broad audience, especially those seeking personal and professional growth.
When it comes to a much-needed mindset shift for business, this book provides a fresh (and refreshing) perspective on achieving big goals. It encourages readers to think bigger, work smarter, and partner up with the right people.
While a few readers feel that certain aspects could be more concise and others expanded (like how to find people), the book is generally a valuable resource for anyone looking to unlock more success and efficiency by shifting their focus from how to who. And Dan artfully sets action-ready readers up for his coaching offers and other programs.
Overall, our team enjoyed this one. We even added it to our list of the best business books to read. So, yes, we’d say this one is a worthy book to read – even if you’re a busy entrepreneur who sometimes struggles to find time to read. Maybe especially then!
And if you’ve ever asked yourself how to grow a business with a book or how to write a great nonfiction book – remember that selfpublishing.com is the who ready to help! We’ve helped driven entrepreneurs just like you scale their revenue, launch courses, grow a speaking career, and become thought leaders in their space.
Sound interesting? Schedule a consultation to see how we could help you reach your goals this year.