Book Club: 4DX Part 4

Shawn Today

Today we’re continuing the “Book Club” series, going through the book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution

I’m reading this book right now and am loving it. Over the next several shows I’ll be sharing highlights and key takeaways from the book, and also working through the book’s chapters and how to apply the ideas and themes of the book.

Note that just listening to the podcast isn’t exactly a substitute for reading the book. I’m going to share the main takeaways that are impacting me from this book, but I’m not exhaustively sumarizing it. So, my point being, if the books sounds awesome to you, I highly recommend you buy it and read it.

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution are:

1. Focus on the Wildly Important
2. Act on the Lead Measures
3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
4. Create a Cadence of Accountability

Hilghlights from chapter 4:

“Many leaders define execution simply as the ability to set a goal and achieve it. After years of teaching these principles, we can tell you that this definition is insufficient. But, as discussed above, what’s difficult—and rare—is the ability to achieve a critical goal while living in the midst of a raging whirlwind.” (pg. 78)

“Accountability on our team is shared. We make commitments and then we’re accountable to our boss, but more important, to each other, for following through.” (pg. 78)

“The focus of the WIG session is simple: to hold each other accountable for taking actions that will move the lead measures, resulting in the achievement of the WIG despite the whirlwind.” (pg. 80)

“First, the WIG session should be held on the same day and at the same time every week.” (pg. 80)

“Second, the whirlwind is never allowed into a WIG session.” (pg. 81)

WIG Session Outline (pg. 82)

1. Account: Report on commitments.
2. Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures.
3. Plan: Clear the path and make new commitments.

“Committing each week (in the WIG session) to one or two specific actions that will directly affect your lead measures, and then reporting to each other in the next week’s WIG session on your results.” (pg. 84)

“What are the one or two most important things I can do this week to impact the lead measures?” (pg. 84)

“This focus on impacting the lead measures each week is critical because the lead measures are the team’s leverage for achieving the WIG.” (pg. 84)

“As the leader you should often ask each team member “What can I do this week to clear the path for you?”” (pg. 87)

“The WIG session is like an ongoing science experiment. Team members bring their best thinking as to how to influence the scoreboard. They commit to try new ideas, test hypotheses, and bring back the results.” (pg. 88)

“While the leader of the WIG session is responsible for ensuring the quality of commitments, it’s critical that the commitments come from the participants.” (pg. 89)

“If you simply tell your team what to do, they will learn little. But when they are able to consistently tell you what’s needed to achieve the WIG, they will have learned a lot about execution, and so will you.” (pg. 89)

“The WIG session save your wildly important goals from being engulfed by the whirlwind.” (pg. 89)

“The cadence of accountability can release the creativity of the team.” (pg. 96)

“When you think of a team that has a culture of discipline and execution, you don’t expect to hear that they are also creative and innovative.” (pg. 96)

“The WIG session encourages experimentation with fresh ideas. It engages everyone in problem-solving and promotes shared learning. It’s a forum for innovative insights as to how to move the lead measures, and because so much is at stake, it brings out the best thinking from every team member.” (pg. 96)

“The cadence of accountability: the weekly meeting with others who have the same goal. They share stories, check the scoreboard (the scale), celebrate successes, and talk about lapses and what to do about them. Many participants say that weekly weigh-in is the most motivating thing about the program.” (pg. 102)

Download here. (17:50)