The 4 Disciplines of

Execution
Crash Course

Closing the Execution Gap

It’s one thing to come up with great strategies and goals,
but it’s quite another to actually get them done. This is
called the execution gap. —Stephen R. Covey
Agenda

• Team Activity

• Explanation of the 4 Disciplines

• Questions

• Closing Thoughts and Actions –

Julie Wood

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Team Activity

Build a tower that will support an inflated

balloon:
• Built entirely from spaghetti and
marshmallows
• Must be freestanding
• Inflated balloon has to attach to the
top

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What Is Execution?

The discipline of getting the most

‪

important things done.

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Execution Challenge

“70% of strategic failures come from

poor
Whyexecution … it’sSo
rarely for lack of
‪

is Execution Challenging?
smarts or vision.”
—Ram Charan

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Two Reasons Why

Work Goals
Important
‪ Important
‪

Urgent
‪ Not Urgent
‪

Acts on you
‪ You act on it
‪

Habitual
‪ Requires Change
‪

Keeps the engine

‪ Builds capability for the
‪

running today future

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The 4 Breakdowns in Execution

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What Is Discipline?

A consistent regimen that leads to

‪

freedom of action.

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The 4 Disciplines of Execution

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 Discipline 1

Focus on the
Wildly Important

“The enemy of the great is the

‪

good.”

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Focus on the Wildly Important

Highly effective individuals are totally clear on

‪

their Wildly Important Goal(s).

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Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)

What is an important goal?

‪

 A goal with significant consequence and value.

What is a Wildly Important Goal?

‪

 A goal that makes all the difference. Failure

to achieve this goal renders any other
achievements inconsequential.

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Focus on Less to Achieve More

NUMBER OF GOALS
(in addition to the whirlwind) 2-3 4-10 11-20

GOALS ACHIEVED
WITH EXCELLENCE 2-3 1-2 0

Principle:
There are always going to be more good ideas
than there is capacity to execute.
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 Battles Must Win The War

• The only reason you fight

a battle is to win the war.
• WIGs at the lower level in WIG War

the organization help

achieve the higher level
WIG WIG WIG Battles
WIGs.
• Lower level WIGs must
ensure the success of the
higher WIGs.

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WIGs Are Not Dictated

• WIGs should not be dictated by senior

leadership (can veto, but not dictate)

• Your front line moves your bottom line

• Team buy-in creates better engagement

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How to Structure a WIG

A measure tells you if you have achieved your

‪

goal.

From X to Y by When
‪

A measure consists of:

‪

 Performance gap: from X to Y.

 Gap-closure timeframe: by When.

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Getting The Right WIG

“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”
–John F. Kennedy

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NASA’s‪WIG

MAN ON THE
MOON War

NAVIGATION PROPULSION LIFE-SUPPORT Battles

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Rules for Discipline 1

1. No team focuses on more

than two WIGs at the same
time.
WIG War
2. The battles you choose must
win the war. WIG WIG WIG Battles

3. Senior leaders can veto, but

not dictate.

4. All WIGs must have a finish

line in the form of from X to
Y by when.

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 Discipline 2

Act on the Lead

Measures

Discipline of leverage.

Lead

Lag

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Act on the Lead Measures

Highly effective individuals invest their

energies in the few activities that have the
greatest impact on their WIGs.

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Lag vs. Lead Measures

CONVENTIONAL
LAG MEASURES
THINKING LEAD
4DX PRINCIPLE
MEASURES

Keep your eye on the lag Focus on PREDICTIVE:

moving the lead
measures:
MEASURES the quarterly
THE GOAL measures. MeasuresThese
something
are the
that
results, the sales numbers, high-leverage
leads toactions
the goalyou
pounds lost. Stress out. Bite Lead take to get the lag measures
your nails while you wait. to move.
INFLUENCEABLE:
Something Lag
we can influence

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Act on the Lead Measures

WIG:
Reduce weight from 180 to 150 by July 1st

Lag Measure Lead Measure

PREDICTIVE: Measures
Measures the WIG behavior that leads to the WIG
INFLUENCEABLE: Something
we can influence

LOSE • Calories in (Diet)

Weight WEIGHT
• Calories out (Exercise)

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Act on the Lead Measures

Heifer’s WIG:
Heifer’s‪2020‪impact‪goal‪is‪to‪empower‪4‪million‪
households to earn a living income and permanently
move out of poverty

Lag Measure Lead Measure

PREDICTIVE: Measures
Measures the WIG behavior that leads to the WIG
INFLUENCEABLE: Something
we can influence

Out of Poverty
Out of Poverty • Income

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 Discipline 3

Keep a Compelling
Scoreboard

People play differently when

they are keeping score

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What’s‪the‪point?

You’re not really serious unless you’re

‪

keeping score.

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Keeping Score
CONVENTIONAL THINKING
Scoreboards are for leaders.
They are‪coach’s‪scoreboards‪
that consist of complex
spreadsheets with thousands of
numbers. The big picture is in
there somewhere, but few
(if anyone) can easily see it.
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4DX PRINCIPLE
The scoreboard is for the
whole team. To drive execution
you‪need‪players’‪scoreboard‪
that has a few simple graphs
on‪it‪indicating:‪Here’s‪where‪
we‪need‪to‪be‪and‪here’s‪
where we are right now. In five
seconds or less, anyone can
determine whether we are
winning or losing?
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Keeping Score

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People play differently when

❑ Don’t know the score.

or
❑ Can’t affect the score.

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 Rules for Discipline 3

1. Keep a simple PLAYERS

scoreboard

2. Scoreboard visible to the

players.

3. Track LEAD and LAG

measures.

4. Tell us immediately if we are

winning or losing.

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When We Create a Scoreboard

1. 1. Choose a theme
2. 2. Design the Scoreboard
3. 3. Build a Scoreboard
4. 4. Keep it Updated
 Who is responsible for the
scoreboard?
 When will it be posted?
 How often will it be updated?

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 Discipline 4

Create a Cadence
‪

of Accountability

No Accountability, No
Commitment

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Key Question

What are the three most important things I

can do this week to impact the scoreboard?

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Holding to Commitments

Weekly
Commitments
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Commitment 1
8:00

Commitment 29:00

10:00
Commitment 3

11:00

12:00

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

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Create a Cadence of Accountability

Highly effective individuals regularly and

frequently account to each other on their
commitments.

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Hold a Weekly Accountability Session

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WIG Sessions

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Summary

Focus on the Wildly Important

‪

Act on the Lead Measures

‪

Keep a Compelling Scoreboard

‪

Create a Cadence of Accountability

‪

We are in this together!

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Questions

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Closing Remarks
Bibliography

Franklin Covey, Four Disciplines of Execution

‪

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