The 4 Disciplines of Execution

(कार्यान्वयन के 4 सिद्धांत)
Siliguri, August 2023

Just as there are principles that govern human behaviour, there are principles that govern how teams get
things done, how they execute.
The challenge for leaders has been finding a way to implement them, especially when the whirlwind is
raging. (चक्रवात, बवंडर)

The 4 Disciplines work because they are based on principles, not practices.

“To achieve a goal, you have never achieved before,

you must start doing things you have never done before.”

जो लक्ष्य आपने कभी हासिल नहीं किया है उसको पाने के लिए

अवश्य है आप उन कामों को करना शुरू करें जो आपने कभी नहीं किया है।
(Jim Stuart)

It was introduced by Dwight D. Eisenhower, (and popularised by Steven Covey) who believed that
priority is related both to a task’s importance and its urgency. The higher the assigned priority, the
more attention and time it merits.
 URGENCY: What requires immediate attention.
 IMPORTANCE: What has the highest significance or value.

If you ignore the urgent, it can kill you today. It is also true, however, that if you ignore the important it
can kill your tomorrow.
The challenge is executing your most important goals in the midst of the urgent.

1. Discipline 1:
FOCUS - ON THE WIDELY IMPORTANT GOAL (WIG)
- सबसे महत्वपूर्ण लक्ष्य पर ध्यान कें द्रित करें

a. The more you try to do the less you actually accomplish.

b. Smart ambitious leaders don’t want to do less.
c. You first challenge is to focus on the widely important.
d. Focus on widely important requires you to go against your basic wiring as a leader and focus
on less so your team can achieve more.
e. You start by selecting one goal where you would most like to achieve breakthrough results
(निर्णायक परिणाम).
f. The word focus is most often used in two ways,
i. Narrowing our focus, meaning to limit the number of things we are looking at to a
single Widely Important Goal.
ii. Adjust the lens of a camera until the subject is crisply clear.

g. THE WIDELY IMPORTANT GOAL MUST BE SINGULAR AND COMPLETELY IN FOCUS.

i. It has to have a starting line – current stats.
ii. It has to have a finish line - Desired stats.
iii. It has to have a deadline - by which date / month/ year.

h. A Widely Important Goal can be,

i. Something new,
ii. Something your team has not attempted before.
iii. Often, it can be something that has been part of your whirlwind that now needs to
rise to a new level of importance and achievement.
iv. Something that can bring a breakthrough in your work,

 When you have defined your WIG, then our work will fall in two distinct buckets –
 Bucket 1 – day to day work / whirlwind activities. This bucket is important and
so it requires 80% of your time.
 Bucket 2 – WIG. This bucket should be given 20% of your time.

g. Discipline 2:
ACT - ON THE LEAD MEASURES.
- व्यावहारिक मापन पर कार्य करें
a. It’s based on the principle that all actions are not created equal. Some actions have
more impact than others when you are working toward a goal.
b. Your progress and your success will be based on two kinds of measures: lag and lead.
i. Lag measures – are the tracking measurements of the Widely Important Goal.
They are stats etc. By the time they reach you, you can’t fix it. It’s history.
ii. A good lead measure has two basic characteristics – it’s predictive (पूर्वानुमान)
of achieving the goal and it can be influenced (प्रभावित) by the team members.
 iii. The key principle behind lead measures is simply this: leverage.
iv. To achieve a goal you’ve never achieved before you must do things you’ve
never done before. Look around you,
1. Who else has achieved this goal or something like it?
2. What did they do differently?
3. Analyze carefully any barriers you for see and decide how to overcome
them.
4. What haven’t you thought of that might make a real difference?
E.g. Goal of losing weight.
v. Lag measures are ultimately the most important things you are trying to
accomplish. BUT Lead measures are what will get you to the lag measures.

h. Discipline 3:
- Keep - a compelling Scoreboard.
- एक रोचक स्कोरबोर्ड रखें!

a. People play differently when they are keeping score for them.
b. This is the principle of engagement.
c. The highest level of performance always comes from people who are emotionally
engaged, and highest level of engagement comes from knowing the score.
d. A scoreboard should be simple, easily visible, does it show lead and lag measures, can
I tell at a glance if I’m winning.
e. There is big difference between a coach’s scoreboard and a player’s scoreboard.
f. The fundamental purpose of a player’s scoreboard is to motivate the players to win.
g. A coach’s scoreboard is to record and analyse the performance of a player.

h. E.g. Friendly football or cricket match versus actual matches.

i. Discipline 4 - CREATE A CADENCE IF ACCOUNTABILITY

- जवाबदेही के लिए लय का निर्माण करें
a. This discipline is based on the principle of accountability.
b. A cadence of accountability is a rhythm of regular and frequent meetings of any team
that owns a Widely Important Goal.
c. Why is the cadence of accountability so important?
d. Team members must be able to hold one another accountable regularly and
rhythmically. Each week / bi-monthly team members answer a simple question:
i. What are the one or two most important things I can do in the next week /
two weeks (outside the whirlwind) that will have the biggest impact on the
scoreboard.
ii. Then members report on whether they met the previous week’s / two weeks
commitments.
iii. What their commitments for the coming week / two weeks.
e. Team members must feel that this is not only a winnable game, but also a high stakes
game.
f. THE REAL SECRET TO DISCIPLINE 4, IN ADDITION TO THE REPEATED CADENCE, IS THAT
TEAM MEMBERS CREATE THEIR OWN COMMITMENTS – because they make their own
commitments, their ownership increases.