THE FOUNDATION OF Mission

What Who Before How Means

Who Before How is the principle of identifying the right people or groups before determining the processes or methods, the how. The phrase was coined by Sherrie Rose in 2020 as part of her enhavim optimal creation framework. The idea is simple, and it carries weight. Securing the right people first ensures that the right methods follow.

The order is not interchangeable. The who shapes the how. The reverse rarely works as well, because a method designed without its people in mind is a method without the very thing that makes it work.

Why the Order Matters

The Who Before How approach centers people rather than process. Before logistics, tactics, or methodologies, it prioritizes assembling individuals with the right expertise and commitment. Whatever course of action follows is guided by those best suited to carry it out.

When organizations focus on the how first, the processes they design may not adapt to the strengths and insights of the people implementing them. The work continues, and the result is a method holding a person rather than a person holding a method.

Who Before How and Enhavim

Enhavim is a single word that means purpose and mission led by vision. Who Before How lives inside the mission element of enhavim. Mission is where people meet method.

Mission rests on the understanding that people are the driving force behind any vision, once they know why it matters. When the right individuals are identified, those aligned with a vision they understand, their collective strengths activate. Meaningful, enhavim-driven action follows.

Enhavim starts with vision. The vision becomes real through the right people, whose contributions naturally shape the how. Within the enhavim framework, Who Before How is the practice that gives mission its shape. People who are clear on the vision, who understand why it matters, create the right steps to activate it.

Related Concepts

The Who Before How principle has predecessors worth knowing. Jim Collins's 2001 book Good to Great introduced the importance of "getting the right people on the bus" before determining where the bus should go. Collins held that great organizations are built by assembling the right team first. A vision imposed without the right people to execute it goes nowhere.

Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy's book Who Not How explores teamwork and delegation. Successful individuals and businesses identify the right people, those who already have the necessary expertise and skills, to handle the challenge effectively.

Enhavim and Who Before How carry the sequence further. The order is named, the relationships between vision, purpose, mission, who, and how are defined, and the practice has its own place in the framework.