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

This book came highly recommended by a fellow entrepreneur I trust, and I started listening to it almost immediately after purchasing—and I’m so glad I did. Who Not How has completely shifted the way I think about growth, productivity, and collaboration in my business. It's now a staple recommendation I make to all the entrepreneurs I work with. It’s insightful, empowering, and essential for anyone looking to scale their impact by working smarter—not harder. If you’re building a business or leading a team, this one’s a no-brainer. Pros: Powerful Mindset Shift: The central idea—stop asking “How can I do this?” and start asking “Who can help me do this?”—is simple but transformative. It helped me rethink delegation, collaboration, and building a team. Actionable for Entrepreneurs: As someone who works with social entrepreneurs, this book now tops my list of recommendations. It’s a game-changer for anyone feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or trying to do everything themselves. Engaging & Easy to Digest: Whether you’re reading or listening, the content flows well and feels conversational. It’s packed with real-world examples that make the concepts stick.

The impact on business success is exponential for those implementing Dan Sullivan’s “Who Not How” model. The strategic framework presented in the book has fundamentally altered the way entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of running and growing their businesses. The model is a game-changer, shifting from the traditional “how” to the more effective “who.” Below are a few key points: Define Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP): The model encourages businesses to articulate what sets them apart, fostering a deep understanding and effective communication of their unique value. It provides guidance on identifying specific topics and themes that resonate most with the target customers, resulting in a more targeted and impactful approach. Identify Key Tasks: The book prompts entrepreneurs to compile a comprehensive list of tasks crucial for business operations and growth, including marketing, branding, and sales. Categorize Tasks: Categorizing tasks into areas of expertise, such as marketing, operations, content creation, and sales, clarifies resource allocation for optimal results. Prioritize High-Impact Tasks: The model assists in identifying tasks with the highest impact on business growth, such as creating compelling content, building a robust online presence, and securing motivated customers. Identify “Whos”: The transformative recommendation to identify experts or partners for specific tasks has proven beneficial. Hiring specialized individuals, like a virtual assistant for administrative tasks, a marketing expert for online promotion, and dedicated customer service, enhances efficiency and customer satisfaction. Build a Team of Experts: Assembling a team of individuals with complementary skills is a game-changer. Leveraging the efficiency of freelancers, agencies, and part-time professionals fulfills specific roles, contributing to overall business growth. Dan Sullivan’s “Who Not How” model is more than just a book; it’s a strategic guide empowering businesses to leverage expertise and build a team capable of achieving remarkable results. The book is highly recommended to fellow entrepreneurs seeking exponential business growth. ~ Linsey Mills

Amazing! This book put everything into with great perspective. Stop chasing getting things done that you can have someone else with their genius tackle. It will free your soul and time in ways you can’t imagine. Thank you for the brilliance!

Dan Sullivan’s book “Who Not How” is a transformative guide that redefines the way we approach challenges and goals. Rather than asking “How can I do this?” the book challenges readers to ask, “Who can help me achieve this?” This shift in thinking opens up the potential for exponential growth, efficiency, and success. Sullivan’s core premise is that the path to achieving your ambitions isn’t about taking on everything yourself but rather identifying the right people who can help you get there. This insight is particularly valuable for those who find themselves caught in a cycle of overwork and frustration when trying to handle every aspect of their projects or responsibilities alone. Although, the main idea of the book is inspiring and powerful, the book does come across as promotion of Sullivan’s Strategic Coach program, which might be off-putting for some readers. While the book is relatively short, it still feels somewhat wordy and could have been more concise. Many chapters follow a predictable pattern: a story about Mr. X who faced a challenge, found a “Who,” achieved success, and then helped the “Who” in return. This repetition can make the narrative feel formulaic at times. Additionally, there are numerous one-liners throughout the book that seem disconnected from the surrounding text. While these sentences are mostly quotable, their placement can feel abrupt and unrelated to the passage before or after. Despite these critiques, the book is filled with examples that showcase how leaders and entrepreneurs have leveraged this mindset. By engaging with the right “Who,” you not only save time and energy but also unlock a level of creativity and collaboration that propels your goals further than you could imagine on your own. For readers seeking to achieve more while doing less, Sullivan’s book is a great read. It offers a liberating perspective that not only boosts productivity but also enhances personal fulfillment by allowing you to focus on what you do best and rely on others for the rest. I would rate it 4/5 for its mostly thought-provoking content.

The title says it all — Who Not How — and the content brings it to life. At its core, this book reminds us that our greatest calling is rooted in relationships. It’s also where our greatest assets are found. We don’t need to do everything ourselves—we need Whos in our lives, and we need to be a Who in the lives of others. This is a must-have resource for every leader.

As an admirer of the work that Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy have done individually, I was sure that a collaboration, two “whos” getting together, would be a good hit. And a good it it is! The issue with these kind of books is what happens immediately after one has finished reading them. The issue is to put things into practice, and change the way we do things. This requires thinking, and thinking is hard, and in most cases we do NOT dedicate time to thinking, so the concepts slide into the past, and no change happens. Time for me, and everyone, to change this default state. This review is just the start of a written reflection, a “thinking on paper” exercise, like my friend and great thinker Jean Moroney calls it. For me, it’s time to shift to my journal. For you, dear readers, it’s time to get this book and read it. Make Dan and Ben your “whos”. Now.

Every entrepreneur should read this book at the beginning of their journey. “Who Not How”, provides valuable insight needed to allow you to grow your business.

If you’re starting out as a solo, whether you’re a writer a lawyer a consultant, or whatever, Who Not How may be the most important book you can read if you want to have both a successful business and a successful life. Here’s why I think that’s true. Most people who go solo don’t start their business with bales of venture capital. Instead, we fund those first lean weeks or years with credit cards, second mortgages, and the forbearance of our friends. We’re lean by necessity. Naturally, in the beginning, we do just about everything ourselves. That’s good and necessary, but it can create a bad habit that’s reinforced by society. American culture lauds individual achievement. In school, we’re graded individually. The virtue of self-reliance is high on our list. The problem is that to grow and prosper we need to break that habit of “self-reliance at any price” and quit trying to do it all. When we face a new challenge, the need for a new website, for example, we naturally ask, “how can I do this?” We spend time climbing a learning curve to get to an acceptable level of performance. Asking, “who could help me with this” or who can do this for me” can make our businesses more successful and our life more satisfying. Let me share two examples from my business. I have a virtual assistant. Her name is Brenda, and she does a variety of administrative tasks that I used to do myself. She does them better, more consistently, and more efficiently than I would. And the fact that she does them frees me up to do the things I do best and contribute most to the success of my business. Another example. For years I did my bookkeeping. I learned bookkeeping for the first job I got after I left the Marines. I did OK with a paper-based system. But I decided that I wanted to take advantage of what technology had made possible, so I bought QuickBooks. First, I tried to master it. The bookkeeping part wasn’t a problem. But learning about and implementing the automated functions of the program frustrated me. When I realized what was happening, I engaged a QuickBooks consultant to help me set the program up and review my books every quarter. The result: I used to spend frustrating hours not getting things quite right. Now, I spend about 15 minutes a day and an hour at the end of the month on my accounting. Both Brenda and my QuickBooks consultant do things that I’m capable of. But they do them better, and, because they do them, I have more time and bandwidth to spend on coaching people as they write their books. That’s what I’m good at and what I get paid for. And using others for those tasks frees up time for me to spend on recreation, recovery, and relationships. Those things make life sweet. If you’re a solo, that’s why you should buy Who Not How, read it, and put it to work. I suggest you buy the audio version, even if you also buy a print or ebook version. The audio version has some interviews with Dan Sullivan that don’t appear in the other versions. They will add value to your experience. In a Nutshell If you’re a solo, buy Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy Then read it and put the book’s lessons to work.

Excellent book, I usually get bored at the half part of my books I read but this book I finished so fast because it feels very interesting and simple reading.

Chacun est jugé sur ses résultats, peu importe l’effort nécessaire. La thèse de ce livre est de commencer par se poser la question « Qui peut réaliser ça » plutôt que « Comment le réaliser », pour chacune de ses missions. Travailler en mode collaboratif pour atteindre de meilleurs résultats, plus vite, déléguer quand il le faut pour éviter de procrastiner. Ce sont tous ces enseignements qui sont détaillés dans ce livre, même si on pourra regretter régulièrement des répétitions. A vous de lire maintenant…

the right book for the moment

Who Not How by Dan Sullivan has been a true game-changer for me in the online business space. It completely shifted the way I approach problem-solving and growth. Instead of focusing on how to get everything done myself, this book highlights the power of finding the right who—the people who can help you achieve more, faster. Dan’s insights into entrepreneurship are second to none, and he shares them in a clear, practical way that’s easy to apply. This mindset shift has already boosted my productivity and results. An absolute must-read for entrepreneurs and business builders alike.

The way that Ben shares Dan’s perspective on team work, collaboration and expansion has created a deep groove in my brain and the way I will see team work forever. It has also given me a new way of thinking about my purpose and has deepened my believe in myself as a creator.