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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals

Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling New York: Free Press (2012).

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

“It’s natural for a leader to assume the people are the problem. After all, they are the ones not doing what we need to have done. But you would be wrong. The people are not the problem!” [p.5]

Premise of the Book What vs. How Key Quotes “It’s natural for a leader to assume the people are the problem. After all, they are the ones not doing what we need to have done. But you would be wrong. The people are not the problem!” (p. 5). “Too many organizational goals are hazy and imprecise, leaving people wondering ‘what’ they are supposed to and ‘how’ they are supposed to do it. They need clear, unmistakable finish lines so people know exactly what success looks like” (p. 246). “We have learned that scoreboards can be a powerful way to engage employees. A motivating players’ scoreboard not only drives results but uses the visible power of progress to instill the mindset of winning” (p. 76). Organization of the Book The 4 Disciplines of Execution Installing 4DX with Your Team Installing 4DX in Your Organization The 4 Disciplines of Execution Focus on the wildly important Act on the lead measures Keep a compelling scoreboard Create a cadence of accountability

The Real Problem with Execution (pp. 1-19) Lack of clarity of objective (p. 5) There is a conflict between whirlwind activities (“the day job”) act on you; you act on important goals requiring you to do new and different things; “The 4 Disciplines of Execution aren’t designed for managing your whirlwind. The 4 Disciplines are rules for executing your most critical strategy in the midst of your whirlwind” (p. 9).

“Many of our goals are important, but only one or two are wildly important… Our finest effort can only be given to one or two wildly important goals at a time.” [p. 27]

Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

“We have learned that scoreboards can be a powerful way to engage employees. A motivating players’ scoreboard not only drives results but uses the visible power of progress to instill the mindset of winning.” [p. 76]

Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important Key: Focus on less so that you can achieve more “There will always be more good ideas than there is capacity to execute” (p. 29). Conventional thinking: “All of our goals are Priority 1. We can successfully multitask and succeed at five, ten, or fifteen important goals. All we need to do is work harder and longer.” 4DX principle: “Many of our goals are important, but only one or two are wildly important. We call them WIGs. They are the goals we must achieve. Our finest effort can only be given to one or two wildly important goals at a time.” (p. 27). Example: NASA goals – 1958 vs. 1961 (p. 39) How to define the WIG (pp. 128-131) Begin with a verb. Define the lag measure. Keep it simple. Focus on what, not how.

Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures Two kinds of measures: • Lag measures – tracking the wildly important goal; measures the result or goal • Lead measures – high-impact things you must do to reach the goal; they are predictive of the goal, and they can be

influenced by employees Example: Monthly sales report / Number of out-of-stocks Example: Moneyball – Billy Beane (p. 57) Example: The cigar and the luxury hotel (p. 15). Lead measure types: (p. 138) • Small outcomes – focus on achievement, but team members have latitude for how to choose a method for achieving it • Leveraged behaviors – focus on performing the behavior

Wildly Important Goal Reduce average monthly accidents from 12 to 7 by December 31, 2011 Small Outcome Leveraged Behavior Lead Measure Lead Measure

Achieve average safety compliance score of 97% each week.

Ensure that 95% of all associates wear safety boots each day.

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

“There will always be more good ideas than there is capacity to execute.” [p. 29]

“Too many organizational goals are hazy and imprecise, leaving people wondering ‘what’ they are supposed to and ‘how’ they are supposed to do it. They need clear, unmistakable finish lines so people know exactly what success looks like.” [p. 246]

Criteria for testing lead measures (pp. 143-146) 1. Is it predictive? 2. Is it influenceable? 3. Is it an ongoing process or a ‘once and done?’ 4. Is it a leader’s game or a team game? 5. Can it be measured? 6. Is it worth measuring Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard The highest level of performance comes when people know whether they are winning or losing. Conventional thinking: “Scoreboards are for leaders. They are coach’s scoreboards that consist of complex spreadsheets with thousands of numbers. The big picture is in there somewhere, but few (if anyone) can easily see it.” 4DX principle: “The scoreboard is for the whole team. To drive execution you need a players’ scoreboard that has a few simple graphs on it indicating: Here’s where we need to be and here’s where we are right now. In five seconds or less, anyone can determine whether we are winning or losing?” (p. 67) Select a theme (p. 156-160) Characteristics (p. 70) • Is it simple? • Can I see it easily? • Does it show lead and lag measures? • Can I tell at a glance if I’m winning? Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability Team members create their own commitments and meet regularly about them. It takes 3-4 weeks for a team to establish a rhythm where it stays focused on the WIG and avoids talking about the whirlwind. After a few weeks, “the lead measures actually begin to move the lag measure and the team starts to feel that they are winning” (p. 93). Accountability is not top-down, but rather, is shared. Each person is accountable to the boss, but also, to each other for following through.

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Karl J. Krayer, PhD. 972.601.1537 karlk224@aol.com Karl blogs about business books at www.FirstFridayBookSynopsis.com Synopses available at www.15MinuteBusinessBooks.com

The accountability is personal – “to a weekly commitment that you yourself made and that is within your power to keep…you report your results not only to the boss, but to each other” (p. 93). Three part agenda: (p. 82) • Account: Report on commitments • Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures • Plan: Clear the path and make new commitments “A WIG session is a short, intense team meeting devoted to these three – and only these three – activities. The purpose of the WIG session is to account for prior commitments and make commitments to move the WIG scoreboard” (p. 83). Low-impact vs. High-impact commitment (p. 182) Watch out for: (pp. 182-183) • Competing whirlwind responsibilities. • Holding WIG sessions with no specific outcomes. • Repeating the same commitment more than two consecutive weeks. • Accepting unfulfilled commitments. Automating 4DX Information about tools: www.team.my4dx.com Sample question: “What percentage of people on my team or within my organization are updating their scoreboards, making weekly commitments against lead measures, and holding WIF sessions?” (p. 194). Sample video: http://www..4dxbook.com/qr/My4DXVid Sample Cases Nash Finch – wholesale food distributor (pp. 209-216) Marriott International (p. 216-222) Comcast Freedom Region – Philadelphia (pp. 222 -226) Georgia Department of Human Services (pp. 226-234)

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