4DX
4 Disciplines of Execution. These are the 4 steps that FranklinCovey has created to serve as a roadmap of how to better achieve your goals despite the whirlwind of your day-to-day work.
Whirlwind
The whirlwind is your day-to-day tasks for your job that you must accomplish. They are urgent, they need to get done, and they require your attention -- but 4DX can help you refocus some of your attention back to your WIG/RIO/ultimate goal you want to achieve.
The whirlwind can be
Large obstacles such as the economy, the competition, or regulatory changes
Tactical issues such as a lack of resources, challenging customers, or difficult employees
These are the urgent challenges that arise every day and pull us our focus away from our Wildly Important Goals or Really Important Outcomes (FranklinCovey).
WIGs
Wildly Important Goals. This is a FranklinCovey term for what your team really wants to achieve and focus on despite the whirlwind of your day-to-day work.
You can have an overall WIG and also enable each team to have their own WIG. These goals should be aligned, ensuring consistent focus at all levels.
To <Verb> <X = starting line> to <Y = finish line> by When
RIOs
Really Importance Outcomes. This is a Rio Salado College term for the WIG. It is what your team really wants to achieve and focus on to help Rio Salado College as a whole excel in meeting our 3 Strategic Goals of the college.
Each team should select team RIOs/WIGs that align to the colleges 3 strategic goals. We are asking that every division have at least one team focusing on Strategic Goal 3.
The newest version of Rio Salado College's 3 Strategic Goals can be found on the homepage of this 4DX @ Rio website.
To <Verb> <X = starting line> to <Y = finish line> by When
Starting Line - X
It is the starting value for the WIG/RIO. This is where your team currently stands as far as reaching your goal.
Knowing the starting line will help you see how you progressed, so it is important to measure this point, even if it ends up being 0 because your team has never done anything at this point toward reaching your goal. Consider this the "game on" point.
Finish Line - Y
This is the ending value for your WIG/RIO. This is where your team wants to be and the point your team will hit to let you know you have accomplished your goal.
This finish line drives the highest levels of performance and accountability and what your team collective works toward reaching. Consider this "winning the game".
Deadline / Timeline - Z
This is the date by which the WIG/RIO must be achieved.
Sometimes it is set by an outside factor, such as a submission deadline or supervisor demands, and other times it is set internally by your team as a point where your team wants to be able to reach the goal by.
Lag Measures
Lag measures are what you want to achieve. Lag measures measure goal achievement.
Lag measures includes the WIG / RIO / X to Y by When.
In business terms, this includes examples such as revenue, sales, and profit.
While lag measures are easier to measure, they do not indicate the actual action or performance that is driving it, nor the current status. By the time we receive the information, it may be lagging behind real-time data.
FranklinCovey chose to call them lag measures because the information lags behind the performance/effort that the team put in to accomplish it (that effort is the how that we discuss in Discipline 2).
To achieve the highest level of performance, a lag measure should be partnered with one or more lead measures.
Lead Measures
Lead measures are how you will achieve your goal. Lead measures measure something that leads to goal achievement.
The lead measure is smaller and easier to move in the beginning. You can think of it as milestones to reach your goal if that helps.
Lead measures give us a specific focus that can be measured daily or weekly in order to drive success for the lag measure. They give us leverage for moving our lag measures. Lead measures are:
Predictive - meaning that if we are winning at the lead measure each day or week, we are highly likely to win at the lag measure
Influenceable - meaning that our team can influence the lead measure without significant dependence on another team. You want your team to "own this" and have ownership for this area. A good rule of thumb is to check if your team has 80% control over the lead measure you are considering.
4DX Teams
Teams are groups (to be determined by each division) who work together toward a single Wildly Important Goal (WIG). The team may be an individual department, a committee, or may be several departments; the key is they can all actively contribute to the same one WIG. Each team will be led by a Team Lead, who is supported by a Coach.
4DX Team Leads
Team leads serve as the internal-facing team coach and will serve as the leader of this initiative or process. The team lead helps to organize the conversation and dialog around the development, tracking, and implementation of a WIG in pursuit of one college strategic goal. A team lead does not have to be a department manager.
Team leads should be given or allowed sufficient time – a couple hours per week – to help drive this one initiative on the team’s behalf. Some teams may be able to make this work part of their regular meeting cadence. Team leads will be expected to submit WIGs and track progress on the scoreboard. Team leads will serve as the primary point of contact for each team.
4DX Coaches
Coaches collaborate with a team lead in the development of one team WIG, with a clear and measurable leading measure, as well as a scoreboard. Coaches are going to be assigned two teams to serve in this collaborative, advisory capacity. Coaches support the individual assigned teams and help with reporting issues into the head coach. Coaches should be given or allowed sufficient time – a couple hours per week – to help in the development and support of two teams WIGs.
Coaches are considered 4DX technical gurus that should hold the teams and team leads accountable to the methodology. In other words, expect coaches to challenge the team to implement the 4DX methodology as intended. Coaches will use 4DX toolkits, like worksheets and rubrics, provided by Franklin Covey to ensure quality.