For
those of us in leadership roles I think we can all relate to getting
caught up in the whirlwind of day-to-day business operations. In the
life of an in-plant manager with a wide array of responsibilities and
conflicting priorities it seems to be a never ending battle.
What I
would like to share with you is some insight I have gained from a book
and corresponding principles that I have found immensely helpful. The
book is by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling; “The 4 Disciplines of Execution.”
All I can say is that after YEARS in management in what I would
characterize as a relatively successful run, for the very first time I
have a tool/road-map that will help with implementation of, “Wildly
Important Goals” aka "WIG’s" as they are referred to in the book.
The 4 disciplines (4DX as it is referred to in the book) are relatively simple and seemingly easy to follow:
- Discipline one, Focus on the wildly important.
- Discipline two, Act on lead measures.
- Discipline three, Keep a compelling scoreboard.
- Discipline four, Create a cadence of accountability.
The
operative word in the principals is “discipline”, and in this context
defined as an orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior. As
opposed to a guideline. The book goes into detail about why something so
seemingly simple is in reality very difficult in day-to-day business.
The distraction that keep us from achieving “Wildly Important Goals” is
referred to as the “whirlwind”, the daily cadence of business needs, HR
issues, emails, phone calls, new priorities from your bosses, and the
ever so common, “Hey, do you have a minute” from your staff or
co-workers.
The
book describes success stories from a variety of business sectors, all
of which I am sure each one of you can find some level of familiarity.
The one example that they shared that had the most impact on me was the
Apple example, they discussed how Steve Jobs’ ability to focus on ONLY
the most important goals for his company. And if you take just a moment
and think about it, Apple only really has a small portfolio of core
products, yet they are hugely successful. There is an example in the
story that talks about the very inventive staff at Apple would bring a
brilliant idea to Jobs and they would discuss the idea, but if the
subject did not align with the most important focus of the company, the
idea would be filed away for future review. The book has many examples
of how the 4DX system has transformed lagger or moderately successful
company or operations into world class performers.
I have made the
decision to begin changing the culture of the State of Colorado’s
Integrated Document Solutions team. I know this is going to be a long
haul, but I know that I have the talent on staff at all levels to
accomplish this “Wildly Important Goal”, so wish me luck! And if you
have time, you should pick up a copy of the book, it’s a short easy read
and it just may strike a cord like it did with me!
Let me know what “Wildly Important Goals” you hope to accomplish this year in the comments below.