The incredible difference between WHAT and HOW

Understanding and appreciating the difference between these two simple English words can have significant effects on professional success.

Focus on WHAT your must do before deciding HOW to do it

When it comes to doing anything, you need to decide WHAT you want to do before determining HOW to do it. If you start with HOW, you risk falling into the trap of “I have a hammer, so everything is a nail!”

Achieving business goals is HOW your company creates value. Deliverables describe WHAT your company must deliver to achieve a goal, and are written as business requirements. The strategic plan describes HOW the deliverables will be delivered, which is HOW the goals will be accomplished. Every action in the strategic plan MUST deliver something (if an action delivers nothing, there is no need to do it.) Again, you need to know WHAT you want to do before planning HOW to do it.

When selecting and buying ERP software, WHAT the software must do to deliver value is described by the business requirements. HOW the software will do it is represented by the software requirements and refers to how the software will be configured. Since you are buying rather than building software, you are interested in business requirements and not software requirements. Thus, buying ERP software is a business decision rather than an IT decision.

In sales, WHAT focuses on the customer, and HOW focuses on the seller. Customers are interested in WHAT you can do for them. Once they have decided WHAT you can do for them is of interest, they may want to know HOW you will do it, but they often don’t care. Salespeople who talk endlessly about their product are talking about themselves (HOW they do it) and not about the customer’s interest (WHAT the customer wants). Salespeople who focus on WHAT they can do for their customers are automatically ahead of the pack because they are phrasing their offerings in the context of the customer’s interest.

These examples show the difference between WHAT and HOW, and why it matters. When writing business proposals, I have found that focusing on WHAT the customer will get and eliminating HOW we do it improves communication. Proposals are more succinct and compelling because they are focused on satisfying WHAT our client needs, and not on how we work.

The book that inspired the ideas in this article: “Discovering REAL business requirements for Software Project Success” by Robin F Goldsmith.