The 4 Disciplines of Execution

The Disciplines of Getting Things Done

Discipline 1

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important

The team is clear about and committed to the most important objective(s) and people stay focused despite all the other competing priorities.

Discipline 1

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important

Common Thinking:
We can effectively accomplish 6, 8, or even 10 important goals at once with excellence.

Reality:

The more we narrow our focus the greater our chances of achieving our goals with excellence.

Discipline 1

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Important Goal

A goal with significant consequence or value.

Discipline 1

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

WILDLY Important Goals

(WIG) Our most leveraged goals. Goals that drive our vision, make all the difference, and that take us to a new level. Perhaps, failure to achieve these goals renders any of our other achievements inconsequential.

General Electric - The Power of Focus

1980 1981

45+ business units $25.5 billion revenue

Jack Welch (CEO) announces that GE will leave any business line where they cannot hold the leadership position or a very close 2nd place

2000

12 business units $129.8 billion revenue 40-fold increase in stock price Outperformed S&P 500 by more than three times over the two decades

Discipline 1

What It Takes to Focus

1. Identify whats wildly important 2. Focus significant activity and resources on it

Discipline 1

The Focus JFKs Speech to Congress

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.
President John F. Kennedy

Discipline 1

The Commitment of Resources

I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshalled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time, as to insure their fulfillment. This decision demands a major national commitment of scientific and technical manpower, materiel and facilities, and the possibility of their diversion from other important activities where they are already thinly spread. It means a degree of dedication, organization and discipline which have not always characterized our research and development efforts.

President John F. Kennedy

Charan & Bossidy on Execution

Leaders who execute focus on a very few clear priorities that everyone can grasp.
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

10

Jim Collins on Focus

Jim Collins, in Good to Great, calls this focus the Hedgehog Concept. He found that great companies tend to focus on one big thing, at the intersection of their economic engine, their strategy (or what they can be best in the world at), and their organizational passion.
(Recall the 2005 2020 Conference)

11

Peter Drucker on Focus

I have never encountered an executive who remains effective while tackling more than two tasks at a time.
Peter Drucker Management Guru Harvard Business Review, June 2004

12

Discipline 1

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Creating Goals that

Are Focused (3 or fewer) Create Line-of-sight

Are Well-crafted (specific|clear|deadline driven)

Have Team Commitment

WIG Filter

Discipline 1

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Firm Level WIGs

WIG 1

WIG 2

WIG 2

3 WIGs
Litigation Support

2 WIGs
Auditing & Accounting

3 WIGs
Tax

3 WIGs
Construction

3 WIGs
Manufacturing

2 WIGs
Professional Services

Multiplication of Goals

Discipline 2

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 2: Create a Compelling Scoreboard

We have a highly visible scoreboard of the critical few measures that motivate our players to win!

Discipline 2

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 2: Create a Compelling Scoreboard

Common Thinking:
Once we have communicated the goal people will know we are serious about it.

Reality:

They wont believe were serious until we start keeping score.

Three Types of Measures

Lagging Leading

Lagging measures provide an historical look at past performance. Leading measures provide indicators that are predictive of future results.
Must drive the lag measures Should be sensitive enough to move every week Behavioral, not quick lag measures

Real-Time

Real-time measures show where things are right now. They allow corrective action to be taken immediately to affect the outcome.
19 23

Discipline 2

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Lag Measure
Measures Goal Achievement Difficult to Influence Easier to Measure

Lead Measure
Predictive of the Goal Easier to Influence Harder to Measure

Client Retention Revenue Profit

+ Client touches WIP Number of Strategic Reviews

Discipline 2

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Compelling Scoreboards
Are Simple Are Visual and Highly Visible to the Players

Exist at all Levels

Have the right Lead and Lag Measures

Accounting Firm Example

Wildly Important Goals and the Measures 1. Develop and Professionalize Automotive Niche
to achieve desired market position . a. Develop marketing campaign by June 30. b. Meet with 15 prospects by October 31. c. Convert 5 clients by December 31.

2.

Develop online accounting systems capabilities for top 50 clients within 12 months. a. Get system up by June 30. b. Complete first five pilot companies by November. c. Bring five live every month until August of next year. Achieve the most successful product launch in firm history with Cost Segregation Studies. a. Generate 20 percent of sales from new clients. b. Generate 30 percent of sales from referral sources. c. Generate 50 percent of sales from existing clients. d. Achieve total revenue of $500K by year-end.

3.

Personal Scoreboard for Jeff Pawlow

Recovery

Debtor Aging 23

Discipline 3

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 3:

Think Differently, and Translate New Goals Into Specific Action

We think new and better and have a process for individually selecting and activating the critical few weekly objectives that will drive the goal.

Discipline 3
Clear about the goal

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 3:

Translate Goals Into Specific Action

Its not uncommon to think
The best ideas come from the leaders.

However, in reality
The best ideas come from interaction between leaders and the front line. Goals will never be achieved until everyone on the team thinks critically about what must be done to achieve goals and then does it.

If people know the goal and see the scoreboard, they will know what to do about it and do it.

Discipline 3

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Key Questions

Do you think new and better

What are the three most important things I can do this week to impact the scoreboard?

Discipline 3

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

New and Better

Einsteins definition of Insanity?

Getting to Synergy: 1+1= 3 10

100

Discipline 3

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

What would it be worth if

everyone in your firm actually

did the three most important

things they could do to move the goal forward each week?

An Important Question

Is your week happening to YOU

or are YOU happening to your week?

A Typical Week

Th

Sa

Su

An Effective WIG Week

Th

Sa

Su

Discipline 3
1 2 3

Translate Goals into Specific Action

3 Team Goals

Increase Number of Referral Sources

1_______________

Identify 3 New Sources 2 referral meetings

Monday 8:00 9:00

Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday

Friday

2_______________

ID 3 Sources

3_______________

Citibank 10:00 Win-win 11:00

12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00

Taylor Assoc. Meeting

Citibank
Win-win

Nic Jones Meeting

4:00

Discipline 4

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 4:

Hold Each Other Accountable All the Time

We have a process for reporting to each other on the critical few weekly objectives that will drive the goal.

Discipline 4

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

Discipline 4:

Hold Each Other Accountable All the Time

Its Not Uncommon to think:
As long as goals are clear and compelling and people know what to do to achieve them they will remain focused and committed to doing it.

However, in reality:

The certainty of weekly accountability to the team ensures focus and commitment.

Hold Each Other Accountable

Follow-through is the cornerstone of execution, and every leader whos good at executing follows through religiously. Following through ensures that people are doing the things they committed to do.
Larry Bossidy, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done
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The Weekly Cadence

Discipline 2:

Maintain and Review the Scoreboard

Disciplines 3 & 4:

Make Individual Commitments and Report on Activity and Results

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

1. Focus on the Wildly Important

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

1. Focus on the Wildly Important 2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

1. Focus on the Wildly Important 2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard 3. Translate Goals into Specific Action

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Clear about the goal

know activities and actions

They do it

1. Focus on the Wildly Important 2. Create a Compelling Scoreboard 3. Translate Goals into Specific Action

4. Hold Each Other Accountable

All The Time

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

We must all inevitably suffer from one of two pains. Either the pain of discipline or the pain of regret!
Jim Rohn Business Philosopher and Speaker

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Quote

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.
William Shakespeare Julius Caesar

42 55

Quote

The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today.
Nolan Bushnell Founder of Atari Computer

43 55

If This Is All Just Too Hard

The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.
Sir John Harvey-Jones