July Book Of the Month (BeAWiIIL)
This month, our BeAWiiiL Network is poring over this book title co-authored by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling, a brilliant and exciting choice for our BeAWiiiL Network members.
Click here to learn more about the BeAWiiiL Network.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
The book initially reads like a playbook targeting the business owner and or entrepreneur on how to implement basic disciplines geared towards business performance and long-term success. A second read reveals how the four principles can and should easily be adjusted and implemented as success meters at a personal or individual level.
So what are the four disciplines of execution?
Designed to build a winnable game – the four disciplines give you the power to execute the most valuable goals in the face of competing priorities and distractions. They are powerful, though tricky to apply or sustain as they require you to work differently than you would normally.
Here is an attempt at a summary.
Discipline 1: Focus on the wildly important
This discipline requires you to focus on less to accomplish more. Begin by selecting one wildly important goal (or WIG) instead of trying to work on a dozen goals all at once. The authors suggest narrowing your focus on what you want to improve.
To define a WIG you must also identify:
where you are now (START LINE)
where you want to be (FINISH LINE)
and by when (DEADLINE)
Stick to ONE primary measure of success creates a discipline of focus and is the first step to building a winnable game.
Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures
Here success is of two types of measures:
- Lag measures: track the success of your wildly important goal. These are the things that you spend sleepless nights over. For example revenue, profit, quality, customer satisfaction, e.t.c. They are lags because you notice the performance factor that drove them after the fact. You cant influence or fix them as they are history. A good example is weight loss.
- Lead measures, in contrast, track the critical activities that drive a lag measure. They predict lag measure success. And are influenced directly by the team. Examples are diet and exercise that lead to weight loss (the lag measure). Proper diet and exercise predict the success of weight loss – they are activities we can directly influence and are simple enough to identify.
Lag is easier to measure and represents the result we ultimately want. Lead is the lever that moves the lag measure’s wildly important goal.
Discipline 3: Keeping a compelling scoreboard.
Fact. People play differently when they are keeping score.
Ever watched a sports game? Notice how the game changes when players, coaches, and spectators all start keeping score? The lag and lead measures have no meaning to the team until progress is visible in real-time. Discipline 3 is therefore about engagement.
People perform best when they are emotionally engaged -this is possible when people know the score, whether winning or losing the game.
The best scoreboard is the one designed for the players by the players. If players know the score – if they can influence the lead measure and the lead measure moves the lag measure – you have a winnable game.
PS: Disciplines 1 – 3 are responsible for a winnable game.
Discipline 4: Create a cadence of accountability (how players play the game).
Here teams set up regular and frequent meetings on the wildly important goal. These meetings happen weekly, sometimes daily, and ideally last no more than 20 minutes.
In these brief meetings, team members hold each other accountable for commitments to move the scoreboard. The secret to discipline 4 – in addition to the weekly cadence, are the commitments team members create for themselves during the meeting.
In the meeting, members report:
- If they met last week’s commitments
- If the commitments moved their (lead and lag measures) on the scoreboard
- What they will commit to in the upcoming week
People are more likely to commit to their ideas before they commit to orders from above. And when individuals commit to their fellow team members, their commitment goes beyond job performance to a personal promise.
When the team sees the direct impact on the wildly important goal, they know they are winning – and nothing drives morale and engagement more than winning.
The BeAWiiiL Network is a professional network under the Breakthrough Leadership Transformation company (a partner to Rise School) that encourages a disciplined reading culture.
If you often get stuck completing your reading list, join our monthly book club and stay accountable. Click on this link to join the network today.
