{"id":62367,"date":"2022-03-08T17:00:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T21:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=62367"},"modified":"2022-03-20T17:08:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T21:08:05","slug":"the-4-disciplines-of-execution-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-4-disciplines-of-execution-book\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Book Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How often have you or your organization come up with an amazing plan, showed it off, admired it, been sure <\/em>that it\u2019s the solution to all your problems\u2014only to have it die a slow death over the following months? In hindsight, what do you think prevented you from putting your plan into motion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their book The 4 Disciplines of Execution<\/a><\/em>, Chris McChesney, Jim Huling, and Sean Covey say this isn\u2019t uncommon, because strategy (making the perfect plan) is much easier than execution (actually carrying out your plan). McChesney, Huling, and Covey\u2019s system\u2014or 4 Disciplines\u2014addresses this challenge with a framework for achieving important goals in spite of the deluge of day-to-day activities necessary to keep an organization running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a brief overview of McChesney, Huling, and Covey\u2019s 4 Discipline system and how to implement each at an organizational level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you want to make a change, you come up with a strategy. That\u2019s the easy part\u2014next, you have to figure out how to implement<\/em> the strategy. In their book The 4 Disciplines of Execution<\/em>, Chris McChesney, Jim Huling, and Sean Covey present four disciplines that allow you to carry out your strategy. When you apply focus, leverage, engagement, and accountability,<\/strong> not only will you execute your strategies, you\u2019ll create permanent behavioral changes as a leader and an organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcome the Deluge With the Eisenhower Matrix<\/a><\/strong>

The Eisenhower Matrix<\/a>, a time management tool developed by former US president Dwight Eisenhower and popularized by Stephen Covey<\/a>, is a systematic way of prioritizing the deluge of day-to-day activities. The Eisenhower Matrix divides tasks into four categories and gives advice about how to handle each category:

Urgent and important<\/a>: Do it. <\/strong>If you have a task that\u2019s both pressing and significant, you should get it done as soon as possible. Examples include filing time-sensitive reports and attending (some) meetings.

Important, but not urgent: Schedule it. <\/strong>If there\u2019s something that you need to do, but don\u2019t need to do right now<\/em>, make a plan for when and how you\u2019ll handle it. Examples include employee reviews, team-building activities, and planning sessions. Your work with the 4 Disciplines will fall into this category. 

Urgent, but not important: Delegate it. <\/strong>Eisenhower defined this category as tasks that need to be done, but that don\u2019t require you, personally, to do them\u2014hence his suggestion of delegating those tasks to somebody else. In First Things First<\/em><\/a>, Covey says these are tasks that you trick yourself into wasting time on because you mistake time-sensitive <\/em>tasks for important <\/em>tasks<\/a>. Either way, this category is a dangerous time sink and an excellent place to start if you\u2019re trying to free up some time for more important tasks. Which of the tasks in your company\u2019s day-to-day deluge fall into this category?

Neither urgent nor important: Ignore it. <\/strong>Tasks that aren\u2019t significant or time-sensitive are, almost by definition, things that you can safely ignore. Examples might include going through old emails or scrolling social media<\/a>. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Besides helping you achieve a specific goal, the 4 Disciplines also create behavioral changes that permanently raise an organization\u2019s overall level of performance.<\/strong> Furthermore, the authors claim that their system works for any kind of team, no matter the team structure or the industry; it even works in personal or family settings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McChesney, Huling, and Covey are executives and consultants for FranklinCovey, a leadership and consulting firm<\/a>. The 4 Disciplines of Execution<\/em> is based on their observations and methods. FranklinCovey also offers services in teaching and implementing the 4 Disciplines<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this guide, we\u2019ll connect the authors\u2019 ideas with those from other popular self-help and business guides such as Awaken the Giant Within<\/em><\/a> <\/em>and Smarter Faster Better<\/em><\/a>. We\u2019ll also examine where the authors\u2019 methods may be incomplete or unproven in practical settings. Taken together, this guide will provide the background and tools to effectively tackle the processes within this book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wire Cable of Discipline<\/strong>

The authors chose the word \u201cdisciplines\u201d to let us know that implementing these changes will require hard work and consistent effort. In The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari<\/em><\/a>, Robin Sharma says that we can picture discipline as a wire cable\u2014numerous small wires braided together like a rope. Individually, each wire is weak and easily broken; when they\u2019re all together, they create a strong cable<\/a>. 

In the same way, numerous small practices and habits reinforce one another to create the discipline and inner strength to carry out your plans and achieve your goals<\/a>. The introduction of The 4 Disciplines of Execution <\/em>says something similar: The authors assert that the 4 Disciplines\u2019 greatest benefits come from how they all work together, leading to much greater gains in productivity than if you tried to apply any one discipline on its own. Much of this book (and therefore this guide) is devoted to practical techniques and principles you can use to start creating your own wire cable of discipline.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discipline 1: Focus<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Discipline 1, you will choose which goals to make your top priorities\u2014ideally one or two goals, three at the absolute most.<\/strong> The authors call these \u201cWildly Important Goals (WIGs)\u201d in order to emphasize that they should be your primary focus. The authors add that choosing so few goals may feel counterintuitive, but narrowing your focus<\/a> is crucial for success because the human mind can only devote its best efforts to one thing at a time<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Although the authors begin this book by separating strategy <\/em>and execution<\/em>, in Section 1 they acknowledge that the lines between the two are blurred\u2014that a good strategy<\/a> must, by definition, be executable. That\u2019s why the first of their 4 Disciplines is about setting effective goals<\/a> and devoting the proper amount of energy to them, which is generally considered<\/a> to be part of strategy<\/a>, not execution. In other words, in order to execute your strategy, you must first make sure that your strategy is a good one.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For an organization, senior leaders choose the main goal or goals. Then, each team comes up with its own goals to support the organizational goal<\/a>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McChesney, Huling, and Covey give four rules for choosing team<\/em> goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n