What People vs. How People

There are essentially two kinds of people: how people and what people.

How people think about how they are going to accomplish something. They jump to execution, to methods, to tools.

What people stop first to think about what it is they want to accomplish. They clarify the goal before choosing the approach.

Wurman: “The test is to ask ‘What is the goal, independent of how a thing works?’ Then things can be evaluated based on what the goal is.”

The pattern: With many media and methods available, it’s seductive to think in terms of how something will be done rather than what it essentially is. We describe an idea by its delivery method rather than its purpose.

The discipline: Before choosing how, clarify what. “No, that’s a how, not a what; think of what it is and not how you’re going to do it.”

This distinction applies to:

• Project planning (what outcome vs. what methodology)
• Tool selection (what problem vs. what technology)
• Communication design (what understanding vs. what format)
• AI implementation (what capability vs. what model)

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