Many people come up with innovative ideas and plans that are good, even great; however, upon the implementation of their plan, they are unsuccessful in moving their ideas forward and seeing them come to fruition. As I prepare to implement my own innovation plan, a school wide EPortfolio initiative, it makes sense that I should spend some time researching exactly what current research has found successful in the execution of a purposed goal and realizing success.
In my last blog-post, I explored the formula that has been created through research by the authors of the book Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. Through these experts in the power of influence, I learned that I must have a specific clear result, identify vital behaviors, put measures in place, and plan six sources of influence which will increase my odds of success by tenfold (Greeny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan & Switzler, 2013). This week, I've been reading all about The 4 Disciplines of Execution and how one strategically and methodically achieves a "wildly important goal"(WIG) (McChesney, Covey, & Huling, 2012). While delving into this book, I realized that the two strategies created by these authors have similarities and can be utilized in the same plan of execution. Before I share these similarities though, I'd like to introduce you to the magic recipe for success that I found in this aforementioned book and how I plan to use it in my own EPortfolio school wide initiative plan.
McChesney and his co-authors explain that people aren't successful because they are stupid or lazy; they don't succeed due to being overwhelmed by the job's or life's every day whirlwind and their important goals literally get the life sucked out of them and float away out of one's reach. This doesn't have to happen though and the authors have created two processes to walk people through the path to success. The first is known as The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX); the second is Stages of Change (McChesney, et al., 2012).
Having too many goals keeps us from being able to achieve any of them. Our lives are busy with the chaotic whirlwind of demands that come up on a daily basis that our important goals are put to the wayside of the urgency of the whirlwind. Looking into the whirlwind and identifying a single WIG, then focusing on that WIG until it is achieved with excellence is the outlined process. After the WIG is reached, a team can look back at the whirlwind and select a new WIG.
EPortfolio Initiative WIG: All students in Independence High School will create and use EPortfolios for learning and reflection by May 2021.
In this discipline lead and lag measures are identified. The authors use an analogy of weight loss that makes the distinction between the two measures easily understood. "A lag measure is the measurement of a result you are trying to achieve...by the time you get the data the result has already happened; they are always lagging (McChesney et al., 2012, p. 46).
Lead measures foretell the result and are predictive and influenceable. If lead measures change, the team can predict that the change will occur in the lag measure as well. The lead measures make it possible to move the rock, your lag measure.
EPortfolio Lag Measure #1: All staff and students create EPortfolios.
Lead Measure A: Share lessons and resources for creating EPortfolios and provide scheduled time for staff to go through the process of creating their EPortfolios with help on hand.
Lead Measure B: Weekly lessons with resources are used to help teachers mentor
students through the process for setting up their EPortfolio platform.
Having a scoreboard that can be evaluated quickly and easily by all stakeholders in essential. It's important for everyone to assess how close the team is to completing lead measures that provide the needed leverage to fulfill the lag measure. The scoreboard helps to show the team's progress and spur discussions regarding what needs to be done by whom in order to close a gap that needs to be filled.
EPortfolio Scoreboard: The scoreboard will be designed by the players, the teaching staff, at one of our scheduled meetings for our WIG. By looking at our data on our lead measures, it will help the team to adjust and collaboratively decide what needs to be done to reach 100% completion.
Weekly meetings that have 20 - 30 minutes set aside for specific target discussion analyzing the current progress on lead measures take place. It's best for the WIG session to be on the same day and time each week; the urgent matters in the whirlwind need to be held at bay and no other discussion outside of the WIG and our current lead measures is permitted. During the meetings stakeholders report out, we learn from our successes and failures, and we create a clear path and make new commitments (McChesney et al., 2012, p. 82-84).
EPortfolio WIG Sessions: We will set aside 20-30 minutes of our already weekly scheduled meetings on Mondays.
Stages of Change
Having the 4DX plan ready to go isn't enough; one of the hardest things to do is change human behavior. The authors have developed five stages of change to help teams reach their WIGs.
EPortfolio and Stages of Change:
Stage 1: Getting Clear
Working as team moving through the 4 Stages of Discipline will narrow our focus and it will be crystal clear.
Stage 2: Launch
During the launch it will require a lot of energy and focus from myself and my leaders. It will be important for me to evaluate which of my team members are models, potentials, and resisters. Later I can use my models to bring up the potentials who then can pull up the resisters (McChesney et al., 2012, p. 109).
Stage 3: Adoption
It's important for me to understand that the adoption of the new 4DX process will take time and persistence. I will need to follow the author's keys to successful adoption of 4DX:
Focus on adherence to the process, then on results.
Make commitments and hold each other accountable in weekly WIG sessions.
Use the scoreboard to track results each week.
Make adjustments as needed.
Invest in potentials through additional training and mentoring.
Answer straightforwardly any issues with resisters and clear the path for them if needed (McChesney et al., 2012, p. 110).
Stage 4: Optimization
At this stage the team will begin to analyze how they can win and what they need to pin point in order to leverage the lead measures, thus, closing any gaps in the scoreboard. It's at this point that conversations during our WIG meetings can center around optimizing performance (McChesney et al., 2012, p. 111).
Stage 5: Habits
Once 4DX becomes habitual, we'll realize our WIG but also will have created a culture of excellence in our organization. We'll be able to move on to a new WIG for our EPortfolio initiative. By this time I'll have made some progress in moving my potentials to to models and my resisters to potentials.
As I mentioned earlier, both sources The 4 Disciplines of Execution and Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change can be utilized at the same time during my EPortfolio initiative. Below is a breakdown of the similarities and differences in the two:
As you can see the Six Sources of Influence and The 4DX don't exactly align perfectly; that being said, one can easily see how using one can lead right into using the other. Both focus on creating change and work well together.
Both of these processes hook the participants, breathing life and motivation into single targeted areas to be reached by the team. People's abilities are supported and changing attitudes are addressed. Both focus on measurable terms that can be changed along the way to further support attainment of the goal. As well the vital behaviors in the Six Sources of Influence are very similar to The 4DX lead measures. There is also a very nice alignment between 4DX's WIG and the Influencer's specifically written desired result as they both call for "crystal clear" exactness. Both models harness peer pressure, strength in numbers and a high amount of accountability.
The ultimate goal of both sources is to help goals come to fruition and grow positive habit forming behavior changes that will lead to overall change and success in our organizations. I plan on using both processes in my EPortfolio initiative.
References:
Amashita, J. (2018). 4 Disciplines of Execution. Retrieved August 3, 2019, from
http://jerryyamashita.com/4-disciplines-of-execution.html
LinkedIn LearningSolutions. (2015, April 22). 38 Demonstrating the ROI of. Retrieved August
38_Demonstrating_the_ROI_of.
McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 disciplines of execution (4DX). New York,
NY: Free Press.
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new
science of leading change: 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
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