The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Identify Your Wildly Important Goals (WIGs): Take a moment to reflect on your current objectives. Which of these goals, if achieved, would have the most significant impact on your life or work? Narrow them down to 2-3 WIGs to ensure your focus is laser-sharp.

Set Specific, Measurable Targets: For each WIG, define clear outcomes that can be measured. This could mean setting a specific revenue target for your business, losing a certain amount of weight, or finishing a project by a particular deadline. The key is to know exactly what success looks like.

Create a Plan of Action: Break down your WIGs into smaller, manageable tasks. What actions do you need to take weekly or daily to move closer to your goal? Schedule these tasks and treat them as non-negotiable appointments with yourself.

Track Your Progress: Regularly review your progress towards your WIGs. This could be a weekly check-in where you assess what's working, what's not, and adjust your strategy accordingly. Celebrate small wins to stay motivated.

Limit New Goals: While working towards your WIGs, be cautious about taking on new goals or projects. Ask yourself if they align with or distract from your current WIGs. If they're not aligned, it might be best to postpone or delegate them.

Example 1: A small business owner identifies increasing customer satisfaction as a WIG because it directly impacts repeat business and referrals. They decide to focus on improving response times to customer inquiries and personalizing the shopping experience. They set measurable targets for response times and track monthly improvements in customer feedback.

Example 2: An individual sets a WIG to improve their physical health by losing 20 pounds. They break this down into actionable steps like scheduling five workouts per week and planning healthy meals. They track their weight weekly and adjust their diet and exercise plan based on their progress.

Identify Your Wildly Important Goals (WIGs): Start by pinpointing 1-3 goals that are crucial for your success. These should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Determine Your Lead Measures: For each WIG, identify 2-4 lead measures. These are activities that will directly influence the achievement of your goals. Ask yourself, 'What actions can we take that will have the most impact on reaching our goals?'

Track Your Progress: Create a simple tracking system for your lead measures. This could be a spreadsheet or a dashboard where you can regularly record your progress. Make sure it's visible and accessible to everyone involved.

Hold Regular Accountability Meetings: Schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings with your team to review progress on your lead measures. Discuss what's working, what's not, and adjust your strategies accordingly.

If your WIG is to increase customer satisfaction by 20% within six months, a lead measure could be the number of customer service training sessions completed by your team each month. By focusing on improving the quality of customer service through training, you're directly influencing customer satisfaction.

For a personal goal of losing 10 pounds in three months, a lead measure might be the number of calories consumed daily or the amount of exercise completed each week. By controlling these lead measures, you're directly affecting your ability to lose weight.

Identify Your Wildly Important Goals (WIGs): Start by pinpointing 1-3 goals that are crucial for your success. These should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Design Your Scoreboard: Make it simple yet visually appealing. Use colors, graphs, or charts to differentiate between lead measures (actions you can control) and lag measures (the results of those actions). Ensure it's accessible to all team members, either physically in a common area or digitally where everyone can see it.

Update Regularly: Keep the scoreboard current by updating it at least once a week. This keeps the team informed about their progress and maintains momentum towards achieving the WIGs.

Review and Discuss: Schedule regular meetings to review the scoreboard, discuss what's working, and address challenges. Use this time to celebrate wins, however small, to keep the team motivated.

A sales team aiming to increase quarterly sales by 20% could use a digital dashboard visible to all team members, showing weekly sales figures (lead measure) against the quarterly goal (lag measure).

A health and wellness group focused on losing weight might create a shared spreadsheet where members log their weekly exercise hours (lead measure) and track their weight loss progress (lag measure), with a visual chart to illustrate everyone's progress towards the group goal.

Schedule Regular Team Meetings: Set a recurring time each week for your team to come together. This could be every Monday morning or Friday afternoon, depending on what works best for everyone. The key is consistency.

Keep Meetings Short and Focused: Aim for 30 minutes or less. Start by having each team member report on their commitments from the last meeting, discuss the progress on the scoreboard, and then plan their next actions.

Prepare a Visual Scoreboard: Create a simple, visual representation of your team's progress towards the Wildly Important Goals. This could be a chart, graph, or any format that everyone can understand at a glance.

Encourage Open Discussion: Allow team members to share challenges and seek advice from the group. This fosters a supportive environment where obstacles are addressed promptly.

Follow Up Individually: If a team member is struggling with their commitments, schedule a one-on-one meeting to understand how you can help. This shows support and keeps the individual accountable.

A sales team sets a Wildly Important Goal to increase quarterly sales by 20%. They meet every Friday to review individual and team sales figures against their target, discuss strategies that are working, and adjust tactics for the following week.

A software development team working on a new product feature commits to weekly check-ins. During these sessions, they review the number of completed tasks versus what was planned, identify any blockers, and reassign resources as needed to stay on track.

Involve Your Team in Goal Setting: Start by organizing a team meeting specifically aimed at discussing and setting goals. Encourage every team member to share their thoughts and ideas. This process not only ensures that the goals are realistic but also makes everyone feel valued and involved.

Identify Lead Measures Together: Lead measures are the activities that will drive your team towards achieving the goal. Collaborate with your team to identify these measures. For example, if your goal is to improve customer satisfaction, a lead measure could be the number of customer follow-up calls made each week.

Regular Check-ins on Progress: Schedule regular meetings, perhaps weekly or bi-weekly, to review progress towards the goals and lead measures. Use this time to celebrate successes, address challenges, and adjust strategies as needed. This keeps the team focused and motivated.

Empower Individual Accountability: Assign specific responsibilities related to the lead measures to each team member. This creates a sense of ownership and accountability. Make sure everyone knows what they are responsible for and how it contributes to the overall goal.

Foster a Culture of Transparency and Support: Encourage open communication about the progress and challenges in meeting the goals. Create an environment where team members can ask for help and support each other. This builds a strong, cohesive team that is more likely to succeed.

A software development team sets a goal to reduce the number of bugs in their product. They involve the whole team in identifying the lead measures, such as code review hours per week and automated test coverage percentage. Each developer takes responsibility for certain measures, and the team meets weekly to discuss progress.

A sales team aims to increase their quarterly sales by 20%. They work together to set this goal and decide that the lead measures will be the number of new client meetings each week and the number of follow-up calls with potential clients. Each salesperson tracks their own progress, and the team celebrates individual achievements in their bi-weekly meetings.