About 15 years ago, as a young leader, I discovered the book The 4 Disciplines of Execution. For me, the 4DX concept filled the critical gap of execution. 4DX focuses on expanding from strategy (what we will do) to execution (how we will do it).

These are the four disciplines.

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

Let’s walk through each of the 4 Disciplines in a little more detail.

The real enemy of execution is your day job! … It’s the massive amount of energy that’s necessary to just keep your operation going on a day-to-day basis.
– THE 4 DISCIPLINES OF EXECUTION

Focus on the Wildly Important

Wildly important goals (WIG) are the starting point of the process. 

When you begin to identify your goals, it may start slow, but suddenly you have a list of fifteen things. All of them seem important. But if you “focus” on fifteen goals, you accomplish none because, in honesty, you didn’t focus on any of them.

You can only have a few goals, like two to three. 

More than that, you lose the necessary focus to execute the goals. You have to ask, “If I could only accomplish one thing in the next six months, what would it be?” What one thing would have the most significant impact?

You may be thinking, “but what about all the other things? There are so many other things I need to do this week!” 

Step back and take a slightly longer view. What if, over the next three years, you accomplished the ten most important goals? What would be the impact? My guess is it would be your most influential three years ever. That’s the power of only focusing on two to three goals simultaneously.

Your WIG takes the measurable form of “from X to Y by when.” You need an exact starting point, ending point, and deadline. Keep it simple yet straightforward.

The book gives great insight and examples into how to craft your WIGs. This extra guidance is beneficial if you’re doing this across a team or large organization.

Execution starts with focus.
— THE 4 DISCIPLINES OF EXECUTION

Act on the Lead Measures

Lead measures differ from lag measures, and many leaders make the mistake of focusing solely on lag measures. 

A typical example is losing weight, a goal many of us have had and likely struggled with. The lag measure is the number I see when I step on the scale. It measures the desired result, but I can’t actively change it. I can, however, change what I eat or how much I exercise. 

These lead measures are within the scope of my control. When I pivot from focusing on the number on the scale, my lag measure, to focusing on the number of calories I eat or minutes I exercise, lead measures, I begin to see results.

The same is true for just about any other goal. And as leaders, our task is to identify the lead measures and act upon them.

4DX describes two qualities of lead measures. 

They are predictive, and they are influenceable. Predictive means they help predict the result of the lag measure, which will be your WIG. Influenceable means they are within the scope of what you or your team can control, preferably daily.

While a lag measure tells you if you’ve achieved the goal, a lead measure tells you if you’re likely to achieve the goal.
– THE 4 DISCIPLINES OF EXECUTION

If you’re implementing 4DX across a large organization, lean on your front-line team for insight. They have daily influence and often contextual awareness of which lead measures create a substantial impact.

The lead measures need to be trackable because you will display them on a scoreboard.

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Create a Cadence of Accountability

Creating a cadence of accountability is a critical step to execution. Without it, the scoreboard, like the strategic plan before it, will hang on the wall and move from a tool for effectiveness to mere decoration.

The weekly WIG session establishes this cadence. Here’s a look at the agenda:

• Account: Report on commitments
• Review Scoreboard: Learn from success and failures
• Plan: Clear the path and make new commitments

Team members review their progress every week and make commitments related to the lead and lag measures. The WIG session shares similarities to the daily standup in Scrum but occurs at a weekly cadence.

4DX Summary

A team I led ran 4DX for several years, significantly impacting our goals and engagement. It requires considerable commitment, so you want to ensure you have buy-in from the right people.

If you want to try 4DX, I recommend getting the book. It goes into more depth on the disciplines, how to install them in your organization, and how to socialize the concepts with other leaders.

This post is part of Reaching the Finish Line: A Goal-Setting Guide for Everyday People. Knowing and crossing the finish line is essential to intentional living.