First Who Then What

Proverbs 6:6-8

           Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no
           commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in
           summer and gathers its food at harvest.

Self-directed and autonomous workers are praised in this proverb. In the work setting, you look for people who will take initiative to accomplish their job without having to be prodded by a boss. If an employee or volunteer has to be reminded to do their job, then perhaps they are the wrong hire. Success at home, work, and play is determined by surrounding yourself with people with the skill and motivation to accomplish the task set before them. To build a high performing team, we must look at who before what.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins articulates the First Who principle on developing high performance teams. It has four primary components:


          1) Get the right people on the bus.
          2) Get the right people in the right seats.
          3) Get the wrong people off the bus.
          4) Put who before what.

When making decisions, we must observe someone's character, their work ethic, in addition to whatever talents they may have.