It's Not Just About Ideas

I am not very good at accepting change. Over the years I have had to learn how to go through live knowing that things are constantly changing. Basically the only thing that stays the same is that everything is changing. Everyday I go through a schedule of my own and everything is basically routine for me until that one change throws me off.

My Influencer Strategy blends well with this 4DX Strategy Plan to implement change in my organization and that is all based on my Innovation Plan.

4 Disciplines of Execution

Discipline 1

Focus on the Wildly Important Goal

The Wig: 80% of counselors and students will be using the online platform by December 2027.

When trying to maintain focus on one goal its hard because there are so many distractions that take our focus away. This first discipline is to focus on the goal in front of you. Without it, there are so many distractions in our everyday world that will change our focus. We hope to achieve at lease 80 percent of our counselors and students will be able to use the online platform effectively.

Discipline 2

Act on the Lead Measures

This discipline focuses on the actions from the goals that have the most impact on what we are trying to accomplish. The progression and success of my online platform are dependent on two measures, The lag and the lead.

The lag measurement will tell us what the measurement of the WIG is at all times. This data will show me if I have been successful in making this online platform accessible to every students and counselor so they can use it to successfully navigate the college admissions process.

The lead measurement will measure the most important thing we need to do in order to accomplish the goal we have set.

Lag: 80% of counselors and students report that they are confident the online platform is successful. There will be survey’s and quizzes at the end of the courses put on the platform to determine how much success the online platform is having when it comes to teaching students.

Lead Measure 1: The counselors will measure which part of the site is most used by the students and report back to me.

Lead Measure 2: The students will complete a survey showing which part of the site they find the most helpful.

Discipline 3

Keep a compelling scoreboard

This discipline involves seeing how much the students are progressing on the online platform and how they are using their newly gained knowledge on their college applications. When students become invested in learning, the performance goes up so we need to create courses and videos that appeal to the students in a fun way.

This scoreboard and data will be shared with the counselors so we can effectively come up with more ways to get students engaged with the online platform.

Discipline 4

Create a Cadence of Accountability

The final discipline is where we start the execution of the online platform. By creating a strategy and discipline we are holding each other accountable so each of us does not get lost somewhere and decide not to do their part. We need to create a zoom meeting to discuss what the impacts of the online platform will have on students and what we observe from them after they finish with the platform. Using these discipline strategies that we have laid out we can effectively measure the impact it has on our students and whether or not helps them with their college applications.

5 Stages of Change

Stage 1

Getting Clear

In this stage it is important for the teachers and counselors to be familiar with the online platform so they can better help their students with it. We will work together to identify the WIG that makes the most significant impact on our students. During this stage we will figure out how to introduce the online platform to students and how we can get them to actively engage in it.

Stage 2

Launch

This is when the fun starts! We officially release the online platform on the web and send it to as many counselors and teachers as we can to get the word spread out. The counselors and teachers will start implementing the platform in their curriculum and emails so their students will be able to access the online platform. We will start collecting feedback from students and counselors that are not part of the team so we can constantly improve the platform as students use it.

Stage 3

Adoption

At this stage the team is starting to see students getting used to the online platform and using it on a consistent basis. For my 4DX strategy. its working well but there is definitely room for improvement. Keeping the score chart that I made in check we can for sure succeed. We are getting some pushback and resistance from the students but we are continuing to help them every step of the way.

Stage 4

Optimization

In this stage, we are starting to take surveys and listening to the feedback from students and counselors. We are rewarding the students with praises as they finish with the online platform. It is important for the team to validate a student’s feelings even if we are getting negative feedback from them. Now we are optimizing the process in this stage. We are continuing to celebrate progress and positive feedback from our students as they navigate through the online platform.

Stage 5

Habits

Once the process of the 4DX plan becomes set in stone with our team then we expect to reach our goals in no time! The whole idea of the 4DX plan is not to accomplish the one specific WIG goal, it is so we can complete all of the goals that we created.

References

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

​McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2016). The 4 disciplines of execution: Achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.