The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Complete Summary of McChesney, Covey, and Huling’s Proven System for Achieving Wildly Important Goals

This comprehensive summary of “The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals” by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling provides a detailed blueprint for leaders and teams to achieve their most critical strategic priorities amidst the daily “whirlwind” of urgent activities. The book introduces a simple, repeatable, and proven formula (4DX) that enables organizations to produce breakthrough results, even when strategy execution requires significant behavioral change from their teams. This summary will delve into each of the four disciplines, explore their practical installation within teams and organizations, and highlight key takeaways for immediate application. Readers will discover how to focus on the wildly important, act on lead measures, keep a compelling scoreboard, and create a cadence of accountability to transform their performance and achieve extraordinary success.

Introduction: What This Book Is About

“The 4 Disciplines of Execution” addresses the number one challenge faced by leaders globally: execution. While creating a robust strategy is crucial, the book argues that the inability to execute that strategy is where most initiatives fail. Authors Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, drawing from their extensive experience at FranklinCovey, present a practical methodology (4DX) that has been tested and refined by hundreds of organizations and thousands of teams over many years. This system is designed to help companies and individuals achieve superb results, regardless of the specific goal, by providing a new way of thinking and working essential for thriving in today’s competitive climate.

The core problem the book identifies is the “whirlwind” of urgent, day-to-day activities that consumes all the time and energy needed to invest in executing strategic priorities for tomorrow. This “whirlwind” often suffocates important initiatives slowly and quietly, making it difficult for organizations to move forward. The 4DX framework offers a simple, repeatable, and proven formula to cut through this chaos and achieve “wildly important goals” (WIGs). This summary will provide a complete overview of the 4DX principles and offer actionable guidance for their implementation, ensuring that readers can immediately apply these insights to their own leadership challenges and drive tangible results.

Chapter 1: The Real Problem with Execution

This chapter introduces the fundamental challenge of execution, highlighting that most initiatives fail not due to a lack of strategy, but due to the difficulty in getting people to change their behavior amidst the daily demands of the business. It sets the stage for understanding why the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) are essential for breakthrough results.

The Challenge of Behavioral Change Strategies

Leaders primarily influence results through strategy creation and strategy execution. While strategy is often emphasized in business education, execution is the area leaders struggle with most. Significant results are rarely achievable unless people change their behavior, moving beyond mere compliance to genuine commitment. This is particularly true for behavioral-change strategies, which cannot be simply ordered into existence like “stroke-of-the-pen” strategies (e.g., capital investments or staff expansion). Behavioral-change strategies require individuals to do something different, such as greeting every customer or using a new CRM system, which is inherently difficult.

The “Whirlwind” as the Primary Enemy of Execution

The “whirlwind” of urgent, day-to-day activities is identified as the real enemy of execution. This constant demand for energy to keep operations running paradoxically prevents investment in executing strategy for tomorrow. The whirlwind is urgent and acts on everyone daily, while strategic goals are important but often lack urgency. When urgency and importance clash, urgency almost always wins, leading to the slow suffocation of new initiatives. Leaders often mistakenly blame individuals for lack of execution, but the problem is typically inherent in the system, which the leader is responsible for.

Root Causes of Weak Execution

Initial research into execution breakdown revealed several pervasive problems:

• Lack of Clarity: Only one in seven employees could name even one of their organization’s most important goals, with clarity decreasing further down the hierarchy.
• Lack of Commitment: Only 51% of employees felt passionate about their team’s goal, indicating a significant portion were merely “going through the motions.”
• Lack of Accountability: A staggering 81% of surveyed individuals reported not being held accountable for regular progress on organizational goals.
• Lack of Specific Actions: 87% of employees had no clear idea what specific actions they should take to achieve the goals.
  These issues, while significant, initially obscured the deeper problem of the “whirlwind” consuming all available time and energy for new initiatives.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) as the Solution

The 4 Disciplines of Execution provide a simple, repeatable, and proven formula for executing on the most important strategic priorities amidst the whirlwind. 4DX is not theoretical; it is a proven set of practices refined over many years by hundreds of organizations. It offers rules for executing despite the whirlwind, which, while seemingly simple, are profoundly transformative. The disciplines are a matched set, not a menu of choices, and their power lies in how they work together sequentially.

Overview of the 4 Disciplines

The 4DX framework is built upon four core disciplines:

• Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important: This discipline requires leaders to focus on less to achieve more, selecting one (at most two) “wildly important goals” (WIGs) that will make all the difference. This prevents diluted efforts and magnifies impact.
• Discipline 2: Act on Lead Measures: This is the discipline of leverage, focusing on high-impact actions that predict the achievement of the WIG. Unlike “lag measures” (historical results), “lead measures” are predictive and influenceable by the team, providing a direct lever for success.
• Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard: This is the discipline of engagement, ensuring everyone knows the score at all times. A simple, visible “players’ scoreboard” motivates teams by showing whether they are winning or losing, fostering emotional engagement.
• Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability: This discipline ensures execution actually happens through a rhythm of regular, frequent meetings (WIG sessions) where team members hold each other accountable for producing results despite the whirlwind, making personal commitments to move the score forward.

The Transformative Power of 4DX

The 4DX framework is described as an “operating system” for a computer; once installed, it can run almost any strategy. It provides a conscious, consistent regimen needed to execute key goals with excellence. The disciplines are based on timeless principles of focus, leverage, engagement, and accountability, similar to natural laws. When applied, 4DX not only drives superb business results but also significantly boosts team morale and engagement, as people are motivated by the feeling of winning and making a meaningful contribution.

Chapter 2: Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important

This chapter details the first discipline, emphasizing the critical need to narrow focus to one or two “wildly important goals” (WIGs) to achieve breakthrough results, rather than diluting efforts across many priorities.

The Principle of Focused Effort

The core of Discipline 1 is that the more you try to do, the less you actually accomplish. This is a stark, inescapable principle that leaders often forget due to ambition and a desire to do more. While many goals are important, only one or two are “wildly important” (WIGs). These are the goals that must be achieved with the team’s finest effort, as failure to reach them makes other accomplishments secondary or inconsequential.

Human Hardwiring and Multitasking Fallacy

Human beings are genetically hardwired to do one thing at a time with excellence. Despite the common belief in multitasking, science shows the human brain can give full focus to only a single object at any given moment. Trying to concentrate on multiple tasks simultaneously overloads the brain’s processing capacity, leading to a slowdown and a sacrifice of performance on primary tasks. This means that if a team is trying to execute five, ten, or even twenty important goals, they cannot truly focus, which magnifies the intensity of the whirlwind and makes success almost impossible.

The Airport Control Tower Analogy

An airport control tower perfectly illustrates the principle of focused effort. While a controller is aware of many planes on radar (the “whirlwind” of ongoing operations), their sole, intense focus at any given moment is on the one plane landing. This single-minded dedication ensures safety and excellence for the most critical task at hand. Similarly, WIGs are goals that demand total excellence beyond the circling priorities of day-to-day work. Other important goals remain on the radar but do not require the same level of immediate, finest diligence.

The Leader’s Challenge: Saying “No” to Good Ideas

The primary reason leaders struggle to narrow their focus is the difficulty in saying “no” to good ideas. Leaders are often ambitious and creative, naturally wanting to do more. There’s also a tendency to “hedge bets” by pursuing many goals, hoping something will work. However, this approach dilutes effort and leads to mediocre results across the board. Saying “no” to good ideas, or even great ideas, is counterintuitive but essential for maintaining focus. Apple’s success, for example, is attributed to its discipline in focusing on a very small number of products, allowing enormous energy to be put behind chosen initiatives.

Avoiding the Focus Traps

Two common traps undermine focus:

• Refusing to say no to good ideas: Leaders often fall into this trap because good ideas filter in one at a time, each seeming impossible to reject in isolation.
• Trying to turn everything in the whirlwind into a WIG: This leads to applying even pressure to all existing operational metrics, which is ineffective. Trying to significantly improve every measure simultaneously consumes all time and yields little progress. Instead, focus should be like punching one finger through paper, concentrating all strength on a single point.

Identifying Your Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)

A wildly important goal (WIG) is a goal that can make all the difference and to which a disproportionate amount of energy will be committed. To identify a WIG, leaders should not ask “What’s most important?” but rather, “If every other area of our operation remained at its current level of performance, what is the one area where change would have the greatest impact?” This reframes the discussion to isolate the most impactful area for focused effort. WIGs can come from within the whirlwind (fixing broken areas, leveraging strengths) or outside it (launching new products, strategic repositioning). The ultimate aim is to achieve the WIG and then make that new level of performance a natural part of the team’s operation, thereby improving the “whirlwind” itself.

Focusing the Organization: Four Rules for Discipline 1

To apply Discipline 1 organizationally, four rules are critical:

• Rule #1: No team focuses on more than two WIGs at the same time. This prevents overloading any single leader or team, ensuring that “finest effort” can be given to the chosen few.
• Rule #2: The battles you choose must win the war. Lower-level WIGs must directly and demonstrably contribute to the achievement of higher-level WIGs. The question is not “What are all the things we could do?” but “What are the fewest number of battles necessary to win this war?”
• Rule #3: Senior leaders can veto, but not dictate. While top leaders set the overall WIG, leaders at each level below must define the WIGs for their own teams. This fosters involvement, ownership, and commitment. Senior leaders retain the right to veto if the proposed “battles” do not adequately support the “war.”
• Rule #4: All WIGs must have a finish line in the form of from X to Y by when. Every WIG, at every level, must include a clearly measurable result and a specific deadline. This format provides clarity, defines success, and makes it possible to track progress.

The “Shooting for the Moon” Example

President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 challenge to land a man on the moon and return him safely before the decade’s end serves as a perfect illustration of a WIG. It transformed NASA’s vague 1958 goals into a single, clear, measurable objective (“from X to Y by when”). This WIG, along with the decision to say “no” to other worthy objectives, narrowed NASA’s focus and led to the identification of critical “battles” (navigation, propulsion, life support). This intense focus soared accountability, morale, and engagement, demonstrating that narrowing focus makes a game winnable and deeply motivating.

Chapter 3: Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures

This chapter explores the second discipline, focusing on identifying and acting on “lead measures”—the high-leverage activities that directly drive the achievement of “wildly important goals” (WIGs).

The Power of Lead Measures

Discipline 2 is the discipline of leverage. It is based on the principle that all actions are not created equal; some have a disproportionately greater impact on achieving a goal. While lag measures (e.g., revenue, profit, customer satisfaction) track the results you are trying to achieve, they are historical and cannot be directly influenced. Lead measures, in contrast, are predictive (if the lead measure changes, the lag measure will likely change) and influenceable (the team can directly make the lead measure happen without significant dependence on others). Acting on lead measures is a little-known secret of execution because most leaders are fixated on lag measures, making this discipline feel counterintuitive.

Lead Measures vs. Lag Measures: A Deeper Dive

Lag measures are the ultimate outcomes, always “lagging” because the performance that drove them is already in the past. Examples include corn tonnage produced, weight lost, or customer satisfaction scores. They are easy to measure but hard to change once the data is received.

Lead measures foretell the result. For a WIG of “Decrease total body weight from 190 pounds to 175 pounds by May 30,” lead measures might be “calories consumed per day” and “hours of exercise per week.” These are predictive because performing them influences weight, and they are influenceable because they are within one’s direct control. The data on lead measures closes the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. Without tracking lead measures, leaders are left trying to manage lag measures, which rarely produces significant results and leads to “surprise” outcomes.

The “Leverage” Principle

The core principle behind lead measures is leverage. Achieving a WIG is like trying to move a giant rock; effort alone is often insufficient. Lead measures act like a lever, making it possible to move that rock. A good lever is influenceable (we can move it) and predictive (when the lever moves, the rock moves). Identifying the right levers involves asking: “What 20% of what you do has as much or more leverage on the WIG than 80% of what you do?” This requires careful analysis to uncover the “opaque and buried” high-leverage activities.

Counterintuitive Nature of Lead Measures

Most leaders naturally fixate on lag measures because they represent success and their data is often easier to obtain. However, this fixation is ineffective because lag measures cannot be directly affected. The real challenge lies in shifting focus to the daily or weekly activities that drive the lag measures. For example, while everyone knows diet and exercise are important for weight loss, it’s the actual measurement of calories consumed and burned that drives results. This discipline often feels counterintuitive because it requires tracking new behaviors, which can be harder to measure than traditional results.

Real-World Examples of Lead Measures

• Water Bottling Plant: For a WIG to “Increase annual water production from 175 million liters to 185 million liters by December 31,” initial suggestions like “monthly water production” were rejected as merely another lag measure. The true lead measures identified were “Increase percentage of shifts with full crews from 80% to 95%” and “Increase percentage of compliance to preventive maintenance schedules from 72% to 100%.” These were predictive and influenceable, leading to significant production increases.
• High-End Department Store: To increase revenue, the shoe department identified that their top salesperson showed six pairs of shoes instead of one and proactively offered charge accounts. The lead measures became: (1) Show at least four pairs of shoes to every customer, (2) Write thank-you notes, and (3) Invite every customer to set up a charge account. Tracking these behaviors directly correlated with increased sales.
• Oakland Athletics (“Moneyball”): General Manager Billy Beane, facing financial constraints, focused on the lead measure of “on-base percentage” for players, rather than traditional metrics like home runs. This counterintuitive focus on getting players on base, regardless of flashiness, proved to be the most predictive factor for scoring runs and winning games, leading to remarkable success despite a low player payroll.

Tracking Lead Measure Data

Lead measure data is almost always more difficult to acquire than lag measure data. For example, a construction company’s WIG to reduce accidents led to the lead measure of “compliance to safety standards” (wearing hard hats, gloves, etc.). This required supervisors to physically observe and track compliance, despite the whirlwind. The lesson is that if a WIG is truly important, leaders must pay the price to track lead measures, as without this data, there is no leverage. The preflight checklist in aviation is a classic example of a high-leverage lead measure (100% compliance) that is predictive of a safe landing and influenceable by pilots.

Lead Measures and Team Engagement

When a team clearly defines its lead measures, their view of the goal changes, leading to increased engagement. The story of Bob, a bakery manager, illustrates this: initially frustrated by a vague sales goal, he became engaged when the lead measure was defined as “reducing out-of-stock items.” This was something he and his team could directly influence, making it a “game they could win.” Lead measures create a “strategic bet” that by driving these specific activities, the WIG will be achieved. This belief fosters engagement, as team members see their direct impact on results.

Defining Lead Measures: Step-by-Step

The process for defining high-leverage lead measures involves several steps:

• Step 1: Consider the Possibilities: Brainstorm a wide range of potential lead measures, focusing on actions that are new, leverage existing strengths, or fix inconsistencies. The goal is to identify ideas that will directly drive the WIG, avoiding irrelevant activities.
• Step 2: Rank by Impact: Narrow the list to a few ideas that promise the greatest potential impact on the Team WIG. This requires careful analysis to ensure the chosen lead measures are truly the most leveraged. Avoid the trap of trying to implement too many lead measures, as this dissipates pressure.
• Step 3: Test Top Ideas: Evaluate candidate lead measures against six criteria:
  • Is it predictive? Does it strongly indicate that the WIG will be achieved?
  • Is it influenceable? Does the team have at least 80% control over it?
  • Is it an ongoing process or “once and done”? Ideal lead measures are habitual behaviors, not one-time actions.
  • Is it a leader’s game or a team game? The team’s behavior, not just the leader’s, must drive the measure.
  • Can it be measured? Is it feasible to consistently track the data?
  • Is it worth measuring? Does its impact outweigh the effort of tracking?
• Step 4: Define the Lead Measures: Finalize the lead measures by determining:
  • Team or individual performance tracking? Individual tracking creates higher accountability but is more demanding.
  • Daily or weekly tracking? Weekly tracking is the minimum for engagement, but daily can drive higher accountability.
  • Quantitative standard? How much/how often should the behavior be performed (e.g., 97% compliance)?
  • Qualitative standard? How well should the behavior be performed (e.g., compliance with specific safety standards)?
  • Starts with a verb? Simple, action-oriented verbs (e.g., “Complete,” “Upsell”).
  • Is it simple? Concise and easy to understand.

Process-Oriented Lead Measures

For WIGs derived from existing processes (e.g., sales, manufacturing), lead measures can be identified by looking for leverage points or critical steps where performance falters. Instead of trying to improve an entire process at once, focus on specific steps that, if consistently performed, will have the greatest impact. This allows for concentrated energy against key areas, breaking old habits one “bite” at a time.

Chapter 4: Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard

This chapter focuses on the third discipline, emphasizing the importance of a visible, compelling scoreboard that keeps everyone engaged by clearly showing whether they are winning or losing.

The Power of Knowing the Score

People play differently when they are keeping score. This is the core principle of Discipline 3, the discipline of engagement. The difference in performance between a team that merely understands its lead and lag measures conceptually and one that actually knows its score is remarkable. Without a visual, regularly updated scoreboard, lead and lag measures tend to disappear into the whirlwind, leading to disengagement. When teams can see at a glance whether they are winning or losing, they become profoundly engaged.

Coach’s Scoreboard vs. Players’ Scoreboard

Most organizations have “coach’s scoreboards”: complex spreadsheets filled with thousands of numbers, historical trends, and detailed financial analysis. While useful for leaders to manage the business, these are not designed to engage the players. A “players’ scoreboard”, in contrast, is simple, visible, and designed solely to motivate the players on the team to win. It presents a few key measures in a way that allows anyone on the team to determine their status instantly. The fundamental purpose of a players’ scoreboard is to motivate the players to win.

Characteristics of a Compelling Players’ Scoreboard

A compelling players’ scoreboard must meet four criteria:

• 1. Is it simple? It must be uncomplicated, avoiding too many variables or distracting data. It should not serve as a general communication board. Simplicity is key to keeping the team engaged amidst the whirlwind.
• 2. Can I see it easily? It must be highly visible to the entire team, ideally posted where other teams can also see it to foster healthy competition. For dispersed teams, it should be accessible electronically. Visibility also drives accountability.
• 3. Does it show lead and lag measures? It must display both the lead and lag measures, along with actual results and target results. This allows the team to see “Where are we now?” and “Where should we be?” and to observe the direct correlation between their actions (leads) and the desired outcomes (lags), which significantly boosts engagement.
• 4. Can I tell at a glance if I’m winning? The scoreboard must allow a team member to determine if they are winning or losing in five seconds or less. If it’s just data that requires careful study, it fails this test and won’t motivate action. Using colors (green for winning, red for losing) can enhance this clarity.

Scoreboard Design Themes

Various themes can be used for scoreboards to make them compelling:

• Trend Lines: Most useful for displaying lag measures, showing progress “from X to Y by when.” The “goat” symbol is often used to represent the target line, indicating whether the team is “beating the goat” (on target).
• Speedometer: Ideal for time-based measures (e.g., cycle time, retrieval time), instantly showing status.
• Bar Chart: Useful for comparing performance across different teams or groups within a team.
• Andon: Uses colored signals (green, yellow, red) to indicate if a process is on track, in danger, or off track, particularly useful for lead measures.
• Personalized: Allowing team members to add team names, photos, cartoons, or other unique elements makes the scoreboard more meaningful and fosters a greater sense of ownership and pride.

Building and Updating the Scoreboard

The team should be involved in designing and building their own scoreboard. This increases their ownership and commitment to the results. The medium used (electronic sign, poster, whiteboard) is less important than its adherence to the design standards. The scoreboard must be easy to update at least weekly to maintain its relevance and the team’s engagement. The leader must clearly define who is responsible for updating it, when it will be posted, and how often.

The Impact on Team Engagement

The implementation of Disciplines 1, 2, and 3 creates a winnable game for the team. The secret to this winnability lies in the relationship between the lead and lag measures displayed on the scoreboard. When the team sees that their efforts on the lead measures are directly moving the lag measure, they realize they are winning. This feeling of winning is a powerful motivator for morale and engagement, often more so than money or working conditions. It addresses the “three signs of a miserable job” (anonymity, irrelevance, immeasurement) by providing clear visibility of individual contribution and collective success.

Case Study: Manufacturing Plant Quality Improvement

A low-performing manufacturing plant, struggling with quality issues and never hitting production targets, saw radical change once scoreboards were implemented. Workers, particularly on night shifts, became energized by the visible comparison of their performance to other shifts. This leveraged their natural competitive urge, leading to a quality score soaring from 74 to 94 (from worst to best in the company) and exceeding production targets by 4,000 metric tons, adding over $5 million to the bottom line. The scoreboards “turned on the lights,” providing data that allowed the team to see what they needed to do to win.

Chapter 5: Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability

This chapter delves into the fourth discipline, which is where execution truly happens. It emphasizes the “cadence of accountability” through regular, focused WIG sessions that drive consistent progress.

The Imperative of Accountability

Discipline 4 is the discipline of accountability. Even with clear goals (Discipline 1), leveraged actions (Discipline 2), and a compelling scoreboard (Discipline 3), a team will not consistently perform at its best without consistent accountability. Without it, teams disperse, the whirlwind takes over, and initiatives fail. In 4DX, accountability is not merely an annual performance review or being “called on the carpet”; it means making personal commitments to the entire team to move the scores forward and then following through in a disciplined way.

The WIG Session: The Heart of Discipline 4

The WIG session is a short, intense team meeting (typically 20-30 minutes, never more) held at least weekly, often more frequently. Its singular purpose is to refocus the team on the WIG despite the daily whirlwind. This consistent rhythm of accountability is critical for successful execution. The WIG session has a fixed, three-part agenda:

• 1. Account: Report on commitments. Each team member reports on the specific commitments made in the previous WIG session to move the lead measures.
• 2. Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures. The team assesses whether their commitments moved the lead measures and if the lead measures are impacting the lag measure. Discussions focus on what worked, what didn’t, and how to adapt.
• 3. Plan: Clear the path and make new commitments. Based on the review, each team member makes one or two specific, high-impact commitments for the coming week to directly affect the lead measures. These commitments are personal and publicly accountable to the team.

Why WIG Sessions are Crucial

WIG sessions are essential because they:

• Maintain focus: Keep the team’s attention on the WIG despite the constant demands of the whirlwind.
• Facilitate learning: Enable team members to share insights on what moves lead measures and adapt strategies.
• Provide support: Allow team members to request help and for others to “clear the path” (resolve obstacles) for them.
• Enable adaptation: Create a “just-in-time” weekly plan that responds to changing business needs, unlike rigid annual plans.
• Boost morale: Provide a regular opportunity to celebrate progress, reinforce energy, and re-engage everyone.

The Everest Expedition Analogy

The 1996 Mt. Everest disaster (Jon Krakauer’s account), where a lack of team discipline and accountability led to multiple deaths, is contrasted with Erik Weihenmayer’s successful 2001 blind ascent. Weihenmayer’s team held daily “tent meetings” (WIG sessions) to review progress, share learnings, and make commitments, fostering a strong cadence of accountability. This consistent rhythm and mutual support enabled them to overcome immense obstacles and achieve their WIG, demonstrating the power of disciplined execution.

Staying Focused Despite the Whirlwind

In a WIG session, every team member is accountable for moving the scoreboard metrics by making one or two specific, high-impact commitments that directly affect lead measures. These commitments are made “outside the whirlwind” and are reported on in the next session. The focus is on “What are the one or two most important things I can do this week to impact the lead measures?” This ensures that energy is consistently directed towards the WIG, preventing the whirlwind from consuming all efforts.

The “Black and the Gray” Calendar

The concept of the “black and the gray” illustrates time allocation. Gray blocks represent the vast majority of time spent on the day-to-day whirlwind. Black blocks represent the focused time invested in WIG session commitments. The goal is to consistently “drive the black into the gray,” meaning that WIG commitments are prioritized and executed despite the whirlwind’s demands. If a “black block” of time is freed, the whirlwind will immediately consume it. The discipline of WIG sessions ensures this focused energy is applied weekly.

WIG Sessions and Engagement

WIG sessions directly address Patrick Lencioni’s “three signs of a miserable job”:

• Anonymity: Team members are in the spotlight weekly, not anonymous.
• Irrelevance: They see exactly how their commitments move lead measures and contribute to the WIG.
• Immeasurement: They have a clear, public scoreboard reflecting their performance.
  This consistent visibility and direct connection to meaningful results significantly boost morale and engagement. The feeling of winning is a powerful driver, often more motivating than compensation or working conditions.

A Different Kind of Accountability

The accountability fostered in WIG sessions is personal, not just organizational. Commitments are made to the entire team, not solely to the boss, fostering a sense of mutual respect and trust. When teammates consistently follow through, performance dramatically improves. The level of importance placed on the WIG session by the leader directly determines its impact. If the leader treats it as a high-stakes game, the team will respond with high-level play.

Creating an Innovative Culture

While structured, WIG sessions can be highly creative. They encourage experimentation with fresh ideas, engage everyone in problem-solving, and promote shared learning. The example of Towne Park valet services illustrates this: their WIG to increase customer satisfaction led to a lead measure of reducing car retrieval time. Valets, driven by the game, innovated solutions like advising guests to call ahead or strategically parking cars closer to departure. In one instance, a team member even removed a concrete wall to improve retrieval time, an action that would have been resisted if mandated but was eagerly undertaken due to team commitment. This demonstrates that true commitment, born from engagement, yields extraordinary results beyond mere compliance.

Chapter 6: What to Expect

This chapter describes the five stages of behavior change that teams typically experience when installing 4DX, providing insights on how to navigate each phase for successful implementation.

The Sisyphus Syndrome: Daily Grind Without Progress

Many leaders, like Jim Dixon, general manager of Store 334, feel trapped in a “Sisyphus syndrome”—constantly pushing the same boulder (daily problems) uphill only to see it roll back down. Jim’s store suffered from poor financial performance and high employee turnover, with Jim constantly micromanaging. Despite efforts to set a WIG (improving store conditions to increase revenue) and lead measures (daily scores on specific department conditions), initial attempts to implement 4DX failed, with scoreboards torn down and no sustained progress. This highlights the inherent difficulty of changing human behavior amidst the whirlwind and mixed motivations within a team.

Stage 1: Getting Clear

In this initial stage, the leader and team commit to a new level of performance. They are oriented to 4DX concepts and collaboratively develop crystal-clear WIGs, lag and lead measures, and a compelling scoreboard. For example, Marilyn’s surgical nursing unit set a WIG to “Increase surgeries without perioperative incidents from 89% to 98% by December 31.” Their lead measures were “100% compliance on all pre-surgery audits at least thirty minutes before surgery” and “double count surgical items following 100% of surgeries.” This stage is about achieving crystal clarity on the WIG and the 4DX process, with the leader modeling focus, identifying high-leverage leads, creating a players’ scoreboard, and scheduling regular WIG sessions.

Stage 2: Launch

The team is at the starting line, initiating action on the WIG. This phase requires tremendous, highly focused energy, especially from the leader. Marilyn’s team struggled initially with schedule changes and new checklists, highlighting the challenges of executing amidst the whirlwind. Leaders will encounter “models” (top performers who embrace change), “potentials” (those who struggle initially but can improve), and “resisters” (those unwilling to get on board). A successful launch requires the leader to remain focused, diligently implement the 4DX process, and identify these different groups to tailor support.

Stage 3: Adoption

In this stage, team members begin to adopt the 4DX process and new behaviors drive WIG achievement. Marilyn worked to adjust schedules, refine scorekeeping, and coach her team. As the team found its rhythm and the incident rate declined, their enthusiasm increased, and they began to feel they were winning. Adoption takes time, and adherence to the process is essential. Key actions include focusing on process adherence over immediate results, making and accounting for commitments in weekly WIG sessions, tracking results on visible scoreboards, making adjustments, investing in potentials through training, and addressing resisters directly.

Stage 4: Optimization

At this stage, the team shifts to a 4DX mindset, becoming more purposeful and engaged. They actively look for ways to optimize their performance, understanding what “playing to win” feels like. Marilyn’s nurses, for example, proposed changes to lead measures themselves, such as repositioning equipment trays or simultaneous audits, demonstrating their ownership and creativity. Leaders should encourage and recognize abundant creative ideas, celebrate successes and follow-through, and foster peer support in “clearing the path.” This stage sees potentials beginning to perform like models.

Stage 5: Habits

When 4DX becomes habitual, the team not only reaches the WIG but experiences a permanent rise in performance levels. The new behaviors become ingrained as standard practice, effectively becoming a normal component of the “whirlwind,” but a much more manageable and high-performing one. Marilyn’s team achieved the lowest incident rate in the hospital’s history, demonstrating that the behavior changes were now part of their operational DNA. The ultimate aim of 4DX is to create a culture of excellent execution, allowing the team to sustain superior performance and successfully pursue new WIGs from a stronger foundation.

Moving the Middle: Leveraging Potentials

Team performance typically follows a normal curve, with a top 20% (models), a bottom 20% (resisters), and a middle 60% (potentials). The greatest leverage for improving performance lies in moving this middle 60% to perform more like the top 20%. This involves consistently motivating new and better behavior through 4DX. The example of Erasmus Medical Center eliminating hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) demonstrates moving a “left-and-loose” curve (acceptable infection rates) to “right and tight” (zero infections) by focusing on lead measures like swabbing every patient. This shift in the middle drives significant overall improvement and creates a new culture of high performance.

Chapter 7: Installing Discipline 1: Focus on the Wildly Important

This chapter provides detailed, step-by-step instructions for installing Discipline 1, emphasizing the process of selecting and defining one or two “wildly important goals” (WIGs) for a team.

The Foundation of Superb Performance

Superb team performance begins with selecting one or two WIGs. This is the foundational principle of 4DX, as without this narrow focus, teams get lost in the whirlwind. Many teams mistakenly have multiple “priority one” goals, which effectively means nothing is truly prioritized. Selecting the right WIG is crucial; it starts a game that matters, where stakes are high, and the team can make a real difference.

Step 1: Consider the Possibilities through Brainstorming

Begin by brainstorming possible WIGs. Even if leaders think they know the WIGs, this process often reveals entirely different, more impactful goals.

• Getting Input: Leaders can brainstorm with peer leaders (especially if focusing on a shared organizational WIG), team members (to foster ownership), or alone. Involvement from team members is crucial for readiness and motivation.
• Top Down or Bottom Up? Ideally, both the leader and the team participate. The leader provides top-down strategic direction by clarifying what matters most, while team members provide active input to increase engagement and commitment. The leader is ultimately responsible but should not solely impose WIGs.
• Discovery Questions: Use specific questions to uncover the most impactful WIGs:
  • “Which one area of our team’s performance would we want to improve most (assuming everything else holds) in order to achieve the overall WIG of the organization?”
  • “What are the greatest strengths of the team that can be leveraged to ensure the overall WIG is achieved?”
  • “What are the areas where the team’s poor performance most needs to be improved to ensure the overall WIG is achieved?”
• Focus on “What,” Not “How”: At this stage, concentrate solely on what the goal is, not how it will be achieved. The “how” (new behaviors) will be addressed in Discipline 2.

Step 2: Rank by Impact

Once a list of candidate WIGs is generated, rank them by their potential impact on the overall organizational WIG. This requires calculating the prospective revenues, profitability, efficiencies, or strategic advantages each candidate WIG could generate for the entire organization, not just the team. Avoid selecting WIGs that only improve team performance without a clear link to the broader organizational goal. The example of a major drug company identifying that eliminating application mistakes (WIG 3) had the greatest impact on shortening time to market, despite other seemingly important goals, illustrates this. Similarly, a Scandinavian shipping company chose to “Double our number of container moves per hour” as their WIG, as it simultaneously impacted quality, productivity, and costs.

Step 3: Test Top Ideas

After identifying high-impact WIG candidates, test them against four specific criteria to ensure they are truly “wildly important” and executable:

• Is the Team WIG aligned to the overall WIG? There must be a seamless line of sight between the team’s WIG and the organization’s overarching goal. If not, it should be eliminated.
• Is it measurable? A WIG requires a credible measurement system from day one. A game without a clearly measurable score cannot be a game that matters.
• Who owns the results—our team or some other team? The team must have at least 80% ownership of the result, minimizing significant dependence on other teams. Joint ownership is possible if both teams are fully committed.
• Who owns the game—the team or the leader? The WIG should primarily depend on the performance of the team, not just the leader. If the WIG relies too heavily on the leader’s actions, the team will disengage.

Step 4: Define the WIG

Once selected and tested, define the WIG as clearly and measurably as possible:

• Begin with a verb: Use simple, action-oriented verbs (e.g., “Cut costs,” “Grow revenue”).
• Define the lag measure in terms of from X to Y by when: This formula specifies the current result (X), the desired result (Y), and the deadline (when), creating a precise finish line. For example, “Decrease routing error rate from 11% to 4% by July 31.”
• Keep it simple: Avoid vague, complex, or pretentious language. The WIG should be easily understood and communicated.
• Focus on what, not how: The WIG states what the team plans to achieve, not how it will be achieved (that’s for Discipline 2).
• Make sure the WIG is achievable: The goal should be challenging but realistic—a “winnable game” that motivates the team to their highest level of performance without being out of reach.

Project-Based WIGs

For projects, the lag measure should relate to the business outcome the project is designed to meet, rather than simply “100% completion.” For example, instead of “Complete and implement the new CRM system by Dec 31,” a better lag measure might include “Meeting 100% of the specified marketing functions” or “Providing full integration with Microsoft Outlook.” This provides a clearer finish line and a more accurate measure of success.

Chapter 8: Installing Discipline 2: Act on the Lead Measures

This chapter provides detailed guidance for installing Discipline 2, focusing on how teams identify and act on the high-leverage activities (lead measures) that directly drive their Wildly Important Goals (WIGs).

The Secret of Execution Excellence

Great teams invest their best efforts in those few activities that have the most impact on the WIGs: the lead measures. This is the secret of excellence in execution. Unlike lag measures, which are historical results, lead measures are predictive (they foretell the result) and influenceable (the team can directly control them). Acting on lead measures is the single most difficult aspect of installing 4DX due to their counterintuitive nature, the challenge of tracking them, and their often deceptively simple appearance. Lead measures often close the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

Two Types of Lead Measures

Lead measures fall into two categories:

• Small Outcomes: These lead measures focus the team on achieving a weekly result, while giving each member latitude to choose their own method for achieving it. For example, “Limit out of stocks to twenty or fewer per week” allows various actions to be applied. The team is accountable for the result.
• Leveraged Behaviors: These lead measures track specific behaviors the team is expected to perform consistently throughout the week. They ensure the entire team adopts new behaviors at the same level of consistency and quality. For example, “Complete 2 additional shelf reviews” is a specific behavior. The team is accountable for performing the behavior.
  Both types provide significant leverage for achieving the WIG.

Step 1: Consider the Possibilities (Brainstorming Lead Measures)

Begin by brainstorming a wide range of possible lead measures, resisting the temptation to choose quickly. More ideas generally lead to higher quality. Use these questions to guide the brainstorming:

• “What could we do that we’ve never done before that might make all the difference to the WIG?” (Identify new, impactful actions)
• “What strengths of this team can we use as leverage on the WIG? Where are our ‘pockets of excellence’? What do our best performers do differently?” (Leverage existing strengths)
• “What weaknesses might keep us from achieving the WIG? What could we do more consistently?” (Fix inconsistencies)
  Crucially, stay solely focused on ideas that will drive the WIG, avoiding general discussions of “good things to do” that are not directly impactful. The 15% rule at 3M Company, where research teams dedicate 15% of their time to projects of their own choice, is a famous example of a productive lead measure driving innovation.

Step 2: Rank by Impact

After generating the list, rank the candidate lead measures by their potential impact on the Team WIG. The goal is to narrow the focus to a few high-leverage activities. The “lever must move a lot to move the rock a little,” meaning the team must exert significant, concentrated effort on the chosen lead measures. Too many lead measures will dissipate this pressure. For example, the Event Management team, aiming to increase corporate event revenue, identified increasing site visits, upselling premium bar packages, and generating high-quality proposals as their top three most impactful lead measures.

Step 3: Test Top Ideas

Evaluate the top lead measure candidates against six criteria:

• Is it predictive? Does it strongly indicate that the WIG will be achieved? (e.g., more site visits lead to more event bookings).
• Is it influenceable? Can the team directly control and execute it (at least 80% control), without significant dependence on other teams?
• Is it an ongoing process or a “once and done”? Ideal lead measures are habitual behaviors that bring continuous improvement, not one-time actions.
• Is it a leader’s game or a team game? The lead measure must be driven by the behavior of the entire team, not just the leader.
• Can it be measured? Is it feasible to consistently track the data, even if a new system needs to be created? Lead measure data is often harder to obtain than lag measure data.
• Is it worth measuring? Does its impact on the WIG outweigh the effort and potential unintended consequences of tracking it?

Step 4: Define the Lead Measures (Finalizing the Details)

Finalize the lead measures by addressing these questions:

• Are we tracking team or individual performance? Individual tracking increases accountability but is more demanding. Team tracking allows for individual variability while still achieving collective results.
• Are we tracking the lead measure daily or weekly? Weekly tracking is the minimum for engagement, but daily tracking can drive higher accountability and consistent performance.
• What is the quantitative standard? Define “how much/how often/how consistently” the behavior should be performed (e.g., “97% compliance”). This standard should be challenging but winnable.
• What is the qualitative standard? Define “how well” the behavior should be performed (e.g., “compliance with value stream maps”). Not all lead measures require this, but it adds precision.
• Does it start with a verb? Use simple, action-oriented verbs.
• Is it simple? State the lead measure concisely, eliminating unnecessary introductory phrases.

Process-Oriented Lead Measures

For WIGs that emerge from a process (e.g., sales, manufacturing, project management), lead measures can be identified by pinpointing “leverage points” or critical steps where performance falters. Instead of trying to improve an entire multi-step process at once, focus on specific, high-impact steps. For example, in a sales process, improving “needs analysis” or “business cases” could be lead measures. This allows for concentrated energy to break old habits and drive significant change.

Project Milestones as Lead Measures

If the WIG is a single project, project milestones can serve as lead measures if they are both predictive of project success and influenceable by the team. They must also be significant enough for weekly commitments (typically requiring more than six weeks to complete). For multiple projects, lead measures are more likely to be procedures that ensure success across all projects, such as formal scoping or testing procedures.

Chapter 9: Installing Discipline 3: Keep a Compelling Scoreboard

This chapter provides practical guidance for installing Discipline 3, focusing on how to create a visual, compelling scoreboard that deeply engages teams by clearly showing their progress and motivating them to win.

The Essence of Engagement: Knowing the Score

People play differently when they are keeping score. This is the core of Discipline 3, the discipline of engagement. A team that merely understands its goals conceptually performs differently from one that actively knows its score. Without a visible, continually updated scoreboard, the WIG and lead measures will quickly fade into the whirlwind. When people can see at a glance whether they are winning or losing, they become profoundly engaged.

The Distinction: Coach’s Scoreboard vs. Players’ Scoreboard

Most organizations possess “coach’s scoreboards”: complex, data-rich spreadsheets designed for leaders to analyze performance. These are not effective for engaging the team. A “players’ scoreboard”, in contrast, is simple, visible, and designed solely to motivate the players to win. It presents only the essential information needed to play the game, allowing team members to instantly understand their status. The fundamental purpose of a players’ scoreboard is to motivate the players to win by making the game their own.

Step 1: Choose a Theme for Your Scoreboard

Select a theme that clearly and instantly displays the measures being tracked:

• Trend Lines: Most useful for lag measures, showing progress “from X to Y by when.” A target line (often represented by a “goat”) indicates where the team should be at any given moment.
• Speedometer: Ideal for time measures (e.g., cycle time, retrieval times), providing an instant status update.
• Bar Chart: Useful for comparing the performance of different teams or groups within a team.
• Andon: Uses colored signals (green, yellow, red) to indicate if a process is on track, in danger, or off track, particularly effective for lead measures.
• Personalized: Allowing team members to customize the scoreboard with team names, photos, or other unique elements makes it more meaningful and fosters greater ownership and pride.

Step 2: Design the Scoreboard with Key Characteristics in Mind

The team should design the scoreboard, ensuring it meets these criteria:

• Is it simple? Avoid complicating it with too many variables or extraneous data. Simplicity is key to engagement amidst the whirlwind.
• Can I see it easily? It must be highly visible to the team, ideally posted in a prominent location. For dispersed teams, it should be easily accessible electronically. Visibility also drives accountability.
• Does it show lead and lag measures? Include both actual results and target results for both lead and lag measures. This allows the team to see “Where are we now?” and “Where should we be?” and to understand the correlation between their actions (leads) and the desired outcomes (lags).
• Can I tell at a glance if I’m winning? The design must allow a team member to determine their winning/losing status in five seconds or less. This is the true test of a players’ scoreboard, often enhanced by color-coding (green for winning, red for losing).

Step 3: Build the Scoreboard

Let the team build the scoreboard themselves. Greater involvement leads to greater ownership. While the leader may assist, most teams embrace the opportunity to create their own visual representation of the game. The medium (electronic sign, whiteboard, poster) is less important than its adherence to the design standards.

Step 4: Keep It Updated

The scoreboard design should make it easy to update at least weekly. If updating is cumbersome, it will be neglected when the whirlwind strikes, causing the WIG to disappear. The leader must clearly define who is responsible for updating, when it will be posted, and how often.

The Deliverable and Impact

The deliverable for Discipline 3 is a scoreboard that keeps the team engaged. There is a significant difference in performance when a team actively knows its score. The sense of winning drives engagement, and nothing drives results more than a fully engaged team. The scoreboard makes the “strategic bet” (that lead measures will move the lag) visible, and when it starts to work, even previously disengaged individuals become highly motivated.

Chapter 10: Installing Discipline 4: Create a Cadence of Accountability

This chapter provides detailed guidance for installing Discipline 4, focusing on how to establish a regular, frequent “cadence of accountability” through WIG sessions to ensure consistent execution and high performance.

The Cycle of Execution Breakdown

Without consistent accountability, even well-defined games (Disciplines 1, 2, 3) will fail. The “whirlwind” inevitably pulls teams back into a cycle of reacting to urgent demands, causing scoreboards to fall into disuse and goals to be forgotten. This leads to cynicism and a feeling that efforts are pointless. Discipline 4 breaks this cycle by constantly reconnecting team members to the game in a personal way, fostering investment in results through frequent, regular accountability to each other.

What is a WIG Session?

A WIG session is a unique, short, intense team meeting (typically 20-30 minutes) with a singular purpose: to refocus the team on the WIG despite the daily whirlwind. It occurs regularly, at least weekly, and follows a fixed agenda:

• 1. Account: Report on last week’s commitments. Each team member reports on the specific actions they committed to take in the previous session to move the lead measures.
• 2. Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures. The team collectively assesses the impact of their commitments on both lead and lag measures, discussing what worked and what didn’t.
• 3. Plan: Clear the path and make new commitments. Based on the review, each member makes one or two specific, high-impact commitments for the coming week to raise the lead measures. These commitments are personal and publicly accountable to the team.

Why Hold WIG Sessions?

WIG sessions are crucial because they:

• Maintain focus on the WIG: They act as a weekly anchor, preventing the whirlwind from derailing strategic priorities.
• Facilitate learning: Teams learn from each other’s successes and failures, identifying effective strategies and adapting quickly.
• Provide support: Team members can identify obstacles and request help, and others can commit to “clear the path.”
• Enable adaptation: They create a “just-in-time” execution plan that responds to real-time challenges and opportunities, unlike rigid annual plans.
• Boost morale: They provide regular opportunities to celebrate progress, reinforce team energy, and re-engage members.
  The consistency of the cadence is paramount. Missing even one session can break momentum. The WIG session is sacred and should not be canceled, even if the leader must delegate.

What Happens in a WIG Session: An Example

The example of Susan’s Event Management Team demonstrates a WIG session in action. After setting a WIG to increase corporate event revenue and defining lead measures (site visits, premium bar upsells), the team meets weekly. Susan starts by reviewing the scoreboard, highlighting successes and areas needing improvement. Then, each team member reports on their previous week’s commitments and makes new, specific commitments for the coming week. For instance, Kim reports on client meetings and upsell conversations, then commits to contacting more clients for site visits. Bob reports on successful upsell experiences and commits to scheduling more site visits. Karen reports on sending “memories packets” to past clients and commits to sending more. The session maintains a brisk pace, focusing solely on WIG-related actions and results.

Making High-Impact Commitments

The effectiveness of WIG sessions depends on the impact of the commitments. Commitments should be:

• One or two: Focus on a few high-impact actions rather than many mediocre ones.
• Most important: Prioritize actions that will make the biggest difference to the scoreboard.
• Personal (“I”): Commitments are individual responsibilities, not delegating to others.
• This week: Commitments must be completable within the coming week to maintain accountability.
• Impact the scoreboard: Every commitment must directly drive the lead and lag measures, not just whirlwind tasks.
  Leaders must guide teams to make specific, aligned, and timely commitments, avoiding vague promises or those that are too far in the future.

Handling Unfulfilled Commitments

Commitments must be unconditional. When a team member fails to keep a commitment due to the whirlwind, the leader must:

• 1. Demonstrate respect: Acknowledge the challenges faced (e.g., “Jeff, the event last week was a huge success, and without you, it could have been a disaster. Thank you for everything you did.”).
• 2. Reinforce accountability: Clearly state that commitments are unconditional and essential for team success (e.g., “Jeff, I also want you to know how important your contribution is to this team. Without you, we can’t reach our goal. This means that when we make a commitment, we have to find a way to fulfill it no matter what happens during the week.”).
• 3. Encourage performance: Give the team member the opportunity to catch up and fulfill the missed commitment (e.g., “Jeff, I know you want to help us follow through. Can we count on you to catch up next week, by fulfilling last week’s commitment as well as the one you were planning on making for next week?”).
  This process sets a new standard: the whirlwind will not excuse missed commitments.

Keys to Successful WIG Sessions

• Hold WIG sessions as scheduled: Consistency is paramount.
• Keep sessions brief: Aim for 20-30 minutes to maintain focus.
• Leader sets the standard: The leader reports first on their own commitments.
• Post the scoreboard: It’s essential for reconnecting the team to the game.
• Celebrate successes: Recognize individual and team progress.
• Share learning: Encourage discussion of what works and what doesn’t.
• Refuse the whirlwind: Limit discussion strictly to WIG-related actions.
• Clear the path: Leaders and teammates help remove obstacles for each other.
• Execute in spite of the whirlwind: Hold unconditional accountability for commitments.

The Payoff: Store 334’s Transformation

The story of Jim Dixon’s Store 334 illustrates the power of Discipline 4. Initially struggling despite WIGs and scoreboards, the store transformed when Jim implemented weekly WIG sessions. By asking each department head to commit to “just one thing” to move the store-conditions scoreboard, Jim empowered his team. The staff took ownership, making specific commitments (e.g., cleaning the back room, training new staff on displays). This cadence of accountability led to a significant improvement in store conditions (from 13 to 38 out of 50) and, consequently, Store 334 out-produced the rest of its zone in year-over-year sales. Jim, once overwhelmed, found renewed purpose, demonstrating that 4DX helps teams “play to win” and achieve extraordinary results.

Chapter 11: Automating 4DX

This chapter explores how technology and automation can powerfully support and enhance the implementation of 4DX, providing insights and tools for tracking progress and driving accountability.

The Value of Automation in 4DX

Automating 4DX significantly increases the chances of successful implementation. While physical scoreboards are crucial for team engagement, an automated system provides comprehensive support and insight, especially for tracking individual commitments and providing an organizational overview. The my4dx.com platform is presented as an example of such a system, offering capabilities to track adoption rates, commitment fulfillment, and overall WIG progress.

Capturing the Game: The Execution Dashboard

Any effective automated system should fully capture the 4DX game. The execution dashboard in my4dx.com provides a detailed, at-a-glance view of a team’s performance. It includes five major components:

• 1. Team Structure and Members: Displays the leader and each team member, often with personalization like photos.
• 2. WIG and Lag Measure: Clearly shows the team’s Wildly Important Goal, its “from X to Y by when” lag measure, and week-by-week targets. It indicates winning/losing status (green, yellow, red).
• 3. Lead Measures: Displays the team’s lead measures and their daily or weekly performance standards. It tracks actual results against targets, showing if lead measures are moving as expected and if they are predictive of the lag measure.
• 4. Commitments: Allows team members to enter commitments for the coming week and to indicate whether previous week’s commitments were fulfilled. This provides granular accountability.
• 5. Summary Tracking: Offers at-a-glance summary tracking of WIGs, lead measures, WIG sessions, and commitments across the entire organization.

The WIG Session with Automation

Automation streamlines the weekly WIG session. Before the session, each team member is responsible for:

• Entering personal performance on lead measures.
• Checking off fulfilled commitments from the previous week.
• Entering commitments for the coming week.
  This pre-work allows the WIG session to move at a fast pace, with the leader displaying each team member’s results on the screen as they report verbally. For geographically dispersed teams, the software enables all members to view the same display, serving as a virtual scoreboard and maintaining accountability.

Automating 4DX Across the Organization

Automation becomes even more vital when multiple teams within an organization are launching 4DX. Without it, effectively driving results and assessing process adoption is difficult. A system like my4dx.com provides summary reporting (e.g., the Team Status Report) that offers a graphics-based, at-a-glance assessment for the entire organization. This report typically includes:

• Sessions Held: Percentage of team members attending WIG sessions.
• Commitments Made: Number of weekly commitments made.
• Commitments Kept: Percentage of commitments fulfilled.
• Lead Measures: Status of lead measures (green, yellow, red).
• WIGs: Status of lag measures (green, yellow, red).
  This allows leaders to quickly “get the red out” (address areas of deficiency), starting with process adherence (WIG sessions, commitments) and moving towards WIG achievement. Automation fosters simplicity and transparency, providing a clear line of sight across the organization and real-time results for every team.

Chapter 12: Best Practices from the Best

This chapter features insights from four exceptional leaders who have successfully implemented 4DX on a large scale, sharing their experiences, challenges, and the transformative rewards achieved.

Alec Covington and Nash Finch

Alec Covington, President and CEO of Nash Finch, a $5.0 billion wholesale food distributor, describes 4DX as “absolutely fantastic.” He notes that in the absence of a crisis, transformative change is almost impossible because the whirlwind always outweighs the strategic plan. 4DX provided an organized approach that replaced the sense of urgency created by a crisis, allowing the company to focus on the most important things and drive them forward. It has become part of their DNA, with leaders now naturally asking, “What’s the X to Y by when?” Covington emphasizes the importance of celebration and fun alongside discipline, ensuring that banners celebrating accomplishments are visible. His key indicators for 4DX success are attendance and consistency of WIG sessions (indicating engagement) and the brevity of WIG sessions (indicating preparedness). He highlights that 4DX shifts accountability from senior leaders dictating goals to front-line leaders and teams owning and reporting on their self-chosen goals, which is “powerful stuff” and channels employee energy into meaningful work. He also notes that WIG sessions help identify future leaders and those who are holding the organization back.

Dave Grissen and Marriott International, Inc.

Dave Grissen, President of the Americas for Marriott International, oversaw the implementation of 4DX in over 700 hotels, involving 10,000 employees and 1 million commitments. He found 4DX “perfect for our business,” as it’s a process people “run toward instead of away from.” The Marriott Marquis in New York City achieved its highest guest satisfaction, revenue, and profit in 30 years after implementing 4DX. Grissen’s key lessons:

• Design implementation to fit your culture: Don’t mandate; generate buy-in by allowing leaders to see the value themselves.
• It’s harder in successful organizations: When a company is already successful, it’s more challenging to convince them to change. Pilot results and a culture of continuous improvement help.
• Senior leader must hold all leaders accountable: Consistent review of performance data (e.g., from my4dx.com) ensures commitment.
• Have sufficient infrastructure: Invest in talented internal 4DX coaches (e.g., HR partners) and appropriate tools, systems, and training.
• 4DX raises team engagement: Employees see the direct impact of their performance, understanding how their daily activities contribute to overall business results, fostering innovation at the ground level.

LeAnn Talbot and Comcast (Greater Chicago Region)

LeAnn Talbot, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Freedom Region, successfully transformed the Greater Chicago Region (GCR) from last place to second in company rankings. She inherited a region known for low performance and high turnover. Her initial steps involved building the right leadership team (70% change) and fostering a culture of celebrating small successes to build belief. 4DX was introduced as an “operating system” to navigate the whirlwind and drive results. A pilot in Chicago, a challenging environment, proved its efficacy, cutting the “Repeat” rate (revisits to customer homes) almost in half and doubling “customers saved,” leading to over $2 million in cost reduction in five months. Talbot observed tech supervisors wearing pink wigs and holding teddy bears in WIG sessions, indicating a dramatic shift in team engagement. She emphasizes the credibility gained by acknowledging the whirlwind and the critical role of internal 4DX coaches in ensuring consistent implementation. 4DX not only drove extraordinary business results but also significantly improved the cultural impact on teams, leading to recognition as a “Top 100 Workplace.”

B. J. Walker and the Georgia Department of Human Services

B. J. Walker, former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, led a massive agency with 20,000 staff, facing constant scrutiny due to child deaths and accidents. 4DX was a “game changer.” Her key insights:

• Results are greatest when played as a team: Shift from individual superstars to collective effort.
• Stop waiting for lag measures: Focus on lead measures to see progress weekly and avoid painful, late realizations of failure. Publicly posting scores made winning visible.
• Leaders must learn new behaviors: Lead from “on the field,” moving between executive vision and front-line practice.
• Involvement generates commitment: Cultivate a specific relationship with front-line teams. The WIG to “Reduce by 50% the number of incidents that can lead to death and serious injury for people in our care” transformed their core mission, shifting from reactive to proactive.
• Weekly WIG sessions are paramount: They bridge the gap between leaders and front-line work, surfacing policy and practice issues, and sharing knowledge. They compel even senior leaders to stay connected to the front line.
• Leaders must “clear the path”: Provide resources, fight political battles, and remove bureaucratic obstacles for their teams.
• Embed 4DX language and model it: Leaders must consistently walk and talk 4DX; otherwise, the organization won’t take it seriously.
• Communicate openly and often to the front line: Direct emails from the Commissioner reinforced commitment.
• Focus on raising B-level leaders: WIG sessions empower mid-level leaders to lead winning teams.
• Be willing to hold the leadership high ground: Defend the focus on numbers by linking them to the human impact (e.g., safer children).
  Under Walker’s leadership, repeat cases of child maltreatment were reduced by a stunning 60%, demonstrating the profound impact of 4DX on a public-sector organization.

Chapter 13: Focusing the Organization on the Wildly Important

This chapter expands on the organizational application of Discipline 1, providing a step-by-step guide for translating complex strategic agendas into focused, measurable Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) across an entire organization.

The Challenge of Organizational Focus

Focusing an entire organization on a few Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) is a tremendous commitment and discipline, especially in larger organizations with dozens of urgent priorities. The rules for Discipline 1 (no more than 1-3 WIGs per person, battles must win the war, veto but don’t dictate, and from X to Y by when) are straightforward but require significant effort to follow. Achieving organizational focus is never simple; its simplicity is only apparent once accomplished.

Translating Organizational Strategy into WIGs: The Opryland Case

The Opryland Hotel in Nashville, a large convention hotel, faced dozens of urgent priorities. Their executive team began the 4DX process by asking, “If every other area of our operation remained at its current level of performance, which one area would we want to improve the most?” This question, rather than “What’s our most important priority?”, led them to identify guest satisfaction as their highest-level WIG. This was impactful because it affected every aspect of their business and allowed every employee to contribute.

Three Sources of Organizational WIGs

Most leadership teams, regardless of industry, choose their highest-level WIG from one of three areas:

• Financial WIGs: Measured in dollars (revenue, profit). Less than a third of clients initially choose these.
• Operational WIGs: Focus on production, quality, efficiency, or market share. Most teams initially focus here.
• Customer Satisfaction WIGs: Focus on closing the gap between current performance and excellence, based on customer perception.

From Mission to WIG: The Strategy Map

A high-level WIG is not the organization’s mission, vision, or entire strategy; it’s a point of laser focus requiring a change in human behavior. The book presents a strategy map that contextualizes the WIG within the broader organizational strategy:

• Mission/Purpose: Why the organization exists (aspirational).
• Vision: What success looks like in the future (aspirational).
• Strategy Components:
  • Stroke of the Pen Initiatives: Actions executable by ordering or authorizing (e.g., capital investments).
  • The Whirlwind: Day-to-day operations that must be managed effectively.
  • Behavioral-Change Initiatives: The primary target of 4DX, requiring people to do new and different things.
    The map emphasizes that 4DX applies specifically to the WIG, key battles, and their lag and lead measures, warning against blurring the boundaries and overloading the system.

Translating Broad Strategy into Specific Finish Lines

Once Opryland chose “improved guest satisfaction” as their highest-level WIG (the “war”), they set a demanding lag measure: “Increase perfect guest scores (top box) from 42% to 55%.” Then, they identified the “fewest number of battles necessary to win the war.” This required intense strategic thinking. Opryland identified three critical battles:

• Arrival Experience: Negative first impressions are hard to change.
• Problem Resolution: How teams respond to issues impacts the entire guest experience.
• Food and Beverage Quality: High guest expectations due to fine dining and property size.
  These three battles, if won, would collectively achieve the overall WIG. Each battle was also given a specific “from X to Y by when” finish line. For example, the bell-stand team, facing a 106-minute luggage delivery time, set a team WIG to reduce it to 20 minutes, ultimately achieving 12 minutes through intense focus. This process creates clarity and makes the “war” winnable by mobilizing diverse teams around specific, measurable contributions.

Translating WIGs Through Functionally Similar Organizations

In multi-unit organizations with similar functions (e.g., retail chains, sales teams), WIGs translate differently. For a large retailer focused on “Increase Likelihood to Recommend (LTR)”, the overall WIG led to three critical battles:

• Improve customer engagement: Ensuring associates are available and helpful.
• Reduce out of stocks: Preventing lost sales and customer dissatisfaction.
• Increase speed of checkout: Minimizing frustration at the end of the shopping experience.
  These battles were chosen after evaluating dozens of candidates, demonstrating the discipline of drawing simplicity out of complexity. Regional leaders then set unique “from X to Y by when” finish lines for their districts, taking ownership rather than being dictated. At the store level, while the WIGs were the same as the district WIGs, stores had leeway to choose the specific battles that represented their greatest opportunities, fostering commitment and allowing focus on what mattered most for that particular store. This multi-level translation ensures a clear and executable strategy throughout the organization.

Chapter 14: Rolling Out 4DX Across the Organization

This chapter details the proven, six-step process for installing 4DX across multiple teams within a larger organization, emphasizing the shift from training events to a leader-led, process-driven implementation.

The Challenge of Scaling 4DX

Early attempts to implement 4DX as a traditional training program resulted in “campfires” (isolated pockets of success) but failed to create “wildfires” (widespread organizational transformation). The problem was that training alone is insufficient; the whirlwind quickly reclaims focus, new concepts are difficult to implement without widespread understanding, and discipline requires sustained work. As Dr. Atul Gawande notes, “Discipline is hard… We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail.”

What Works: A Process, Intact Teams, and Leader Certification

Successful 4DX implementation requires a different approach:

• Implemented as a Process, Not an Event: A structured, multi-step installation process is crucial.
• Implemented with Intact Teams: Working with all leaders and teams necessary to achieve the overall WIG ensures combined effort. In large organizations, it’s effective to start with 10-20 teams at a time to build momentum.
• Implemented by the Leader (Leader Certification): This was a major breakthrough. Instead of consultants leading the launch, leaders closest to the front line are equipped and certified to launch 4DX with their own teams. This approach is powerful because:
  • Learning by Teaching: Leaders truly learn the disciplines when they know they must teach them.
  • Advocacy and Commitment: Leaders become advocates, fully committing to the disciplines.
  • Accountability: Leaders are accountable to live the disciplines they introduce.
  • Credibility: The team takes the process seriously when their own leader is teaching and launching it.

The 4DX Installation Process: Six Steps

This six-step process ensures results and the adoption of 4DX as an operating system:

• Step 1: Clarify the overall WIG: The senior leader determines the highest-level Wildly Important Goal for the organization.
• Step 2: Design the team WIGs and lead measures: In a two-day session, leaders learn 4DX concepts deeply. Each leader drafts a team WIG that contributes to the overall WIG. Senior leaders provide counsel and may veto but do not dictate team WIGs. Leaders then define predictive and influenceable lead measures. These are drafted, not final, until validated by the team.
• Step 3: Leader certification: In a full-day session, leaders learn how to launch 4DX with their teams. This includes scoreboard design, WIG session facilitation skills (especially accountability), and launch meeting preparation. They practice teaching 4DX concepts and communicating the WIGs and lead measures.
• Step 4: Team launch: Leaders conduct a two-hour team launch meeting. They present 4DX, review the overall WIG, and finalize the team WIG and lead measures with team feedback. The team designs its scoreboard and conducts a practice WIG session to prepare for weekly sessions.
• Step 5: Execution with coaching: This is where the game begins. Leaders and teams start the weekly process of driving lead measures to achieve the team WIG. This phase typically requires three months of experienced guidance from 4DX coaches who help with adherence, lead measure success, and quarterly summit preparation.
• Step 6: Quarterly summits: Leaders report progress and results to their senior leaders and peers. These meetings provide accountability and recognition, creating a driving force for 4DX implementation. The presence of senior leaders increases the sense of urgency and importance.

The Powerful Role of an Internal Coach

Designating an internal 4DX coach is critical for successful installation. The coach acts as the “head mechanic,” providing repairs for operational breakdowns (e.g., difficult resisters, lead measure quality) and preventive maintenance (ensuring process adherence). Key benefits include:

• Responsiveness: Immediate front-line support.
• Independence: Reduced reliance on external resources over time.
• Continuity: Helps orient new leaders to 4DX.
  Ideal coaches have strong business knowledge, communication skills, and the ability to influence without formal authority.

Watch-Outs: Potential Failure Points

Be on guard against three potential failure points that can derail implementation:

• Absence of a goal that really matters: 4DX is a means to an end; without a truly important overall WIG, commitment will be low.
• Lack of full commitment from the senior leader: If the most senior leader responsible for the initiative is not “all in,” the organization will not fully commit. 4DX cannot be an option; it must be a requirement.
• Certifying leaders at the wrong level: It’s crucial to certify leaders who are actually responsible for teaching and driving the 4DX process. Certifying too high means the plan won’t reach the front line; too low means a lack of experience or authority. The guideline is to certify the lowest level of full-time leadership above the front line with sufficient discretionary time.

Chapter 15: 4DX Frequently Asked Questions

This chapter addresses common questions about implementing, sustaining, and troubleshooting 4DX, along with specific applications for various types of teams.

Generating Buy-in and Commitment to 4DX

• Common Mistakes: The two main mistakes are lack of participation (senior leaders not actively involved in WIG sessions) and lack of patience (expecting instant results without consistent lead measure performance).
• Handling Resisters: Understand their reasons for resistance (unexpressed concerns, skepticism, cynicism). Require their support as part of the team. Most will eventually align when they see results.
• Overcoming Skepticism: Start small with one critically important WIG that impacts daily lives. Be extra diligent in creating scoreboards, updating them, and holding weekly WIG sessions to prove that significant results are achievable. Consistency and quick wins build belief.
• Starting at the Top: 4DX doesn’t have to start at the top; it often begins in the middle. However, the sponsoring leader needs responsibility for lag measures that are meaningful to upper management for 4DX to grow.
• Dealing with New Goals from Boss: While you can’t control all goals thrown at you, you can control which ones you choose to drive with 4DX as your “wildly important” focus.
• Implementing in Matrixed Organizations: 4DX doesn’t require reorganization. It relies on cooperation and accountability matching. Cross-functional teams ensure focus on shared WIGs, regardless of reporting structure.
• Support Function WIGs (HR, Finance, IT): It’s easier for support functions to choose WIGs after line functions (sales, production) define theirs. Support WIGs should enable the achievement of line WIGs (e.g., HR ensuring sales training for a consultative selling WIG).
• Managing Multiple Shifts: The key is accountability. Hold several WIG sessions to involve all shifts, or use weekly phone follow-ups for individuals. Every team member should have a chance to account for commitments.
• Ensuring Front-Line Message Penetration: Repetition is key. Leaders and coaches should regularly ask front-line associates, “What’s our WIG?” or “What lead measures are you focusing on?”
• Conducting WIG Sessions with Dispersed Teams: WIG sessions are brief (20-30 minutes, huddles 5-7 minutes). Use existing meetings or virtual tools. The critical discipline is that every team member must be in an accountability session around the scoreboard every week.
• Dealing with Resisting Managers: The leader should address this as a “clear-the-path” item. Require managers to report on their adherence to the 4DX process (WIG meeting attendance, commitment fulfillment). Public accountability usually prompts change.

Sustainability of 4DX

• Effective Recognition:
  • Public recognition of individual performance (e.g., “Execution Leader of the Week”).
  • Public recognition of team performance (e.g., “Leaders in Lead Measures”).
  • Public recognition of execution launch (e.g., “fastest launch” trophy).
  • Meaningful celebration (pizza, ice cream combined with leader’s message).
• Generating New Commitments Weekly: Leaders should focus on commitments that leverage and improve team capabilities, rather than direct lead measure actions. This includes training, engaging the team for higher performance (listening to ideas), and recognition/modeling.
• Sustaining 4DX as a Senior Leader:
  • Remain focused on the WIG and resist new ideas that dilute focus.
  • Model the process through your own practices.
  • Recognize outstanding performance by individuals and teams.
• Lead Measure Moving, Lag Not:
  • Give it time: There’s often a delay between lead and lag measure movement.
  • Verify consistency: Ensure the team is consistently moving the lead measure and not “gaming the system.”
  • Re-examine predictability: If the lead measure truly isn’t moving the lag, re-evaluate assumptions or external conditions.
• Good Lead Measure Characteristics:
  • Predictive and Causal: Not just correlated, but sufficient to move the lag.
  • Right Frequency: Performed often enough to have impact.
  • Motivates High-Quality Performance: Drives not just quantity, but excellence in execution.
• Aligning Compensation to 4DX: If the culture already rewards performance against clear objectives, aligning compensation to WIGs is appropriate. It reinforces 4DX as an operating system.
• 4DX and Performance Management: 4DX can support systems emphasizing goals and measures. Some clients replace annual reviews with WIG sessions or repurpose reviews to assess WIG contribution.
• Driving Higher Performance on a Lead Measure:
  • Raise the bar: Increase the quantitative standard (e.g., from 90% to 95%).
  • Raise the quality: Focus on improving how the behavior is performed (e.g., better upsell scripts).
  • Create a linkage: Link the adopted lead measure to a closely related additional behavior (e.g., greeting customers and walking them to the product).
• Leader on Vacation: Never cancel WIG sessions. Delegate leadership to another team member, prepare them, and debrief upon return. Consistency is paramount.
• More Than One Coach: Yes, having multiple coaches (with a primary coach for consistency) is beneficial for workload sharing and backup.

4DX Process Tips and Traps

• High-Quality Commitments: Must be specific, aligned to moving the scoreboard, and timely (completable within the coming week).
• Avoiding Pitfalls:
  • Competing whirlwind responsibilities: Don’t mistake urgent whirlwind tasks for WIG commitments.
  • WIG sessions with no specific outcomes: Ensure every session accounts for prior commitments and results in clear new ones.
  • Repeating the same commitment: Always seek new and better ways to move lead measures.
  • Accepting unfulfilled commitments: Hold unconditional accountability; the whirlwind is not an excuse.

Applying 4DX to Specific Team Types

• Manufacturing Teams: 4DX can support methodologies like Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma by focusing on specific project completion or process adoption.
• High-Tech/Scientific Teams: These teams, often skeptical, excel at Disciplines 2 and 3 once they overcome the challenge of defining WIGs (Discipline 1). Lead measures often come from touch points or handoffs (e.g., increased interaction in development, knowledge sharing).
• Sales Teams: 4DX is effective for adopting new sales processes by focusing on high-leverage aspects. It provides structure and accountability, helping salespeople improve their game one “bite” at a time. Most existing sales measures are lag-focused; 4DX helps define influenceable lead measures.
• Government and Military Teams: 4DX re-engages these mission-oriented groups. It helps set WIGs despite outside stakeholders by involving employees in defining goals. The weekly WIG sessions are crucial for bridging the gap between leadership vision and front-line work, surfacing issues, and fostering trust. Leaders must “hold the leadership high ground” and communicate openly.

Chapter 16: Bringing It Home

This chapter illustrates how the 4 Disciplines of Execution can be applied to personal and family goals, demonstrating their universal applicability beyond organizational settings.

4DX for Personal and Family Goals

The principles of focus, leverage, engagement, and accountability, which underpin 4DX, are profoundly effective for achieving any goal, whether at work or at home. Many individuals who learn 4DX for professional purposes discover its power for personal transformation.

Jami’s Pregnancy WIG: A Personal Case Study

Jami, a mother of six (and pregnant with her seventh), applied 4DX to her personal goal: “Don’t gain more than thirty-six pounds by October 9th.”

• Discipline 1 (Focus): She narrowed her focus to this single, wildly important goal.
• Discipline 2 (Lead Measure): Knowing diet and exercise were key, and already having a healthy diet, she chose one lead measure: “Walk ten thousand steps per day.” This was challenging but doable amidst her whirlwind.
• Discipline 3 (Compelling Scoreboard): After experimenting, she created a simple scoreboard on her bathroom mirror with columns for the day, target steps, actual steps, and total steps. The “where I should be” column was crucial, making it a game where she could instantly tell if she was winning or losing.
• Discipline 4 (Cadence of Accountability): Her husband was her accountability partner, and her children also got involved, asking about her steps and walking with her. This public accountability made her commitment personally important.
  The unexpected benefit was a strengthening of family relationships as walking became a shared activity. Jami achieved her WIG, walking over 1.75 million steps, and delivered a healthy baby boy, demonstrating the “ancillary benefits” of disciplined execution.

Clay’s Bedwetting WIG: A Childhood Example

A client applied 4DX to his five-year-old son Clay’s bedwetting problem:

• WIG: “Make it through the night without wetting his bed.”
• Scoreboard: A calendar on the refrigerator with green (dry) or red (wet) smiley faces, visible to the whole family.
• Accountability: Clay reported daily to the family, who provided high-fives for green days and ice cream for a full week of greens.
  Within 30 days, Clay was consistently dry, showing how public accountability and small wins can drive behavior change even in children.

Other Personal Applications

People use 4DX for diverse life goals:

• Weight Loss: One client aimed to lose 80 pounds before his son’s graduation, with lead measures of “Walk five miles per day,” “No eating after eight in the evening,” and “Limit intake to 2500 calories per day.” He achieved his goal and set a new one for hockey season.
• Personal Balance: A colleague sets three WIGs annually: one professional, one family, and one personal, tracking lead measures and holding weekly accountability sessions to stay balanced.
• Family Culture: A friend focused on the WIG of “to love their mother” (his wife) through kindness and service, which cascaded good feelings to his children and improved the overall family culture.
• Grandchildren Relationships: A colleague’s personal WIG was for his grandchildren to know he loves them, with a lead measure of “spending time with each one of them every week.” He observed the “lag measure” (their joyful reactions) moving dramatically.

The Missing Link in Behavior Change

Many important life goals (health, education, relationships) are often postponed because they are not urgent. Even after life-threatening events, people struggle to change behaviors like smoking, drinking, or overeating. The book suggests that the missing link is an operating system for changing human behavior—a system like 4DX. It provides the structure and discipline to consistently prioritize the important over the urgent.

Chapter 17: So, Now What?

This concluding chapter encourages readers to experiment with the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX), emphasizing its transformative potential for both professional and personal life.

The Invitation to Experiment

Having read the book, readers are invited to engage in simple thought experiments to internalize the 4DX principles:

• Discipline 1 (Focus on the Wildly Important): Draft a WIG and lag measure for your work team. Reflect on what achieving it would mean for your team, organization, and yourself.
• Discipline 2 (Act on the Lead Measures): Draft lead measures for your WIG. Consider how this new understanding would change your operations.
• Discipline 3 (Keep a Compelling Scoreboard): Sketch a scoreboard with WIG, lag, and lead measures. Imagine the impact of focusing efforts on moving those numbers on your team and business results.
• Discipline 4 (Create a Cadence of Accountability): Visualize your team holding a WIG session around the scoreboard. Consider how regular, frequent sessions would change your focus and engagement.

The Enduring Legacy of 4DX

The book concludes by urging readers to envision the day they report the achievement of their wildly important goal, highlighting the pride and impact for their team and themselves. It contrasts this with the “magnificently trivial” achievements of those who only get unimportant things done. The 4 Disciplines of Execution offer a path to make a real, high-value, high-impact contribution. Beyond achieving specific goals, 4DX helps reignite the passion of a team, bring focus and discipline to their efforts, and ultimately, help them see that they are winners. This ability to instill a sense of winning in others is presented as the greatest legacy a leader can leave, equipping people with skills and confidence for all phases of their lives.