98 - The 4 Disciplines of Business Execution
What are the 4 disciplines of execution and which one is the most important to get right?
The 4 Disciplines of Execution are precise rules for translating strategy into action at all levels of an organization. When applied, the 4 Disciplines produce extraordinary results by tapping the desire to win that exists in every individual.
Here’s a brief summary:
1. The discipline of focus.
Extraordinary results can only be achieved when you are clear about what matters most. As simple as this principle may sound, few leaders ever master it. 4DX teaches why focus is so critical and how to overcome your biggest source of resistance.
2. The discipline of leverage.
With unlimited time and resources, you could accomplish anything. Unfortunately, your challenge is usually the opposite: accomplish more with less. 4DX shows leaders where they can find real leverage and how to use it to produce extraordinary results.
3. The discipline of engagement.
You have the authority to make things happen, but you want more than that – you want the performance that only passion and engagement can produce. 4DX enables leaders to rise from authority-driven compliance to passion-driven commitment in themselves and the people they lead.
4. The discipline of accountability.
No matter how brilliant your plan or how important your goal, nothing will happen until you follow through with consistent action. 4DX brings the practices that drive accountability and follow through, despite a whirlwind of competing priorities.
Ultimately, Discipline 4 is the most crucial, since it’s the discipline where the actual “game” is played. But remember, Discipline 4 can only happen because Disciplines 1 through 3 set up a winnable game.
So many entrepreneurs focus on the idea but don’t end up executing. Why do you think this happens?
There are two fundamental reasons that execution is so difficult. The first is that it requires people to change their behavior. Simply put, if you want to achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you have to do things you’ve never done before. Changing human behavior is never easy, but it’s even harder because of the second challenge: implementing these changes in an environment that’s already swirling with urgent priorities – what we call the Whirlwind. Together, these challenges can derail even the best leaders from achieving their goals.
How do you prioritize your time so you can concentrate on what’s most important?
In the principles of 4DX, there are three specific requirements for concentrating your time on what’s most important:
The first requirement is getting the leader to narrow their focus. This is not only hard in the beginning, it’s hard to sustain because leaders are always drawn to new ideas. While innovation is important, without focus the team cannot succeed – so leaders must learn to say “no” or “not now” to new ideas until the results on the strategy have been achieved.
The second requirement is focusing on leading outcomes or behaviors, rather than overall results. Leaders are most often measured (and compensated) based on results, and over time, most of their focus is on these outcomes. Unfortunately, this focus doesn’t drive the highest performance – it’s like driving a car while looking in the rearview mirror. 4DX asks a leader to put a disproportionate focus on the outcomes or behaviors that will lead to results.
The third requirement is to institute a cadence of shared accountability. When accountability only exists between each team member and their boss, its effect is limited, but when team members feel accountable to each other, their performance shifts from being professional to personally important. Our experience has consistently shown that people will work hard to avoid disappointing their boss, but they will work harder to avoid disappointing their team. The result is a dramatically increased level of performance and follow-through.
Read the full article here: Forbes
All the best!
Patty Block
