Use 4DX to Implement a Flex Blended Approach
4 Disciplines of Execution
Oftentimes, teams have a hard time meeting their goals because they have too much to do, and this can be overwhelming to them since they are distracted by their day to day tasks which can get in the way of completing anything substantial. This daily rush of work, otherwise known as the whirlwind, can take over, making it harder to meet long term objectives. Therefore, “when you narrow the focus of your team to one or two wildly important goals, the team can easily distinguish between what is truly top priority and what is the whirlwind” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). The 4 Disciplines of Execution follows rules to move your team forward to organizational change. This approach has been proven to help teams focus on what is most important to accomplish during everyday urgent tasks. The four disciplines are known as the following, focus on the wildly important goals, act on the lead measures, keep a compelling scoreboard, and create a cadence of accountability (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). In essence, I will apply the 4DX strategy to my innovation plan of implementing a flex blended approach with Schoology, project based learning, and guided instruction to help build self paced learning, and mastery based assessments.
Integrating 4DX and 5 Stages of Behavioral Change with My Innovation Plan
Since it is not easy to change the behavior of employees when installing the 4DX framework, it is important to note that most teams go through 5 stages of change. These changes can also be tied in with the 4 disciplines to be more effective and purposeful. For example, “the first discipline is to focus your finest effort on the one or two goals that will make all the difference, instead of giving mediocre effort to dozens of goals” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). In order to relate this strategy to my innovation plan, we will focus on the wildly important goals, or WIGs, by “applying more energy against fewer goals because, when it comes to setting goals, the law of diminishing returns is as real as the law of gravity” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). Basically, focusing on a couple of goals will give us a better opportunity to accomplish them in the midst of the whirlwind. Therefore, we will first communicate the goal, by focusing on the need for a flex blended approach using Schoology, project based learning, and guided instruction. In stage 1 of behavioral changes, the team will want to understand why the change is needed, and leaders can show results, or data, of how self paced learning can improve student engagement and mastery. The flex blended model provides differentiation for all learners to be successful. Next, “Discipline 2 is the discipline of leverage” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). This is when leadership defines the differences between the lag and lead measures to achieve their stated goal. “While a lag measure tells you if you’ve achieved the goal, a lead measure tells you if you are likely to achieve the goal” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). Which means that lead measures can be controlled, and lag measures can not be controlled because the result has already happened by the time that you see the data. This relates to my innovation plan because the teachers can commit to setting lead measures by tracking student progress in Schoology, engagement in collaborative projects, and self paced learning with guided instruction as needed. In stage 2 of behavioral changes, there needs to be a commitment to the change. For example, teachers would need to agree to use Schoology to monitor student activity and adjust instructions based on the progress or results of the weekly data that analyzes learning and growth of each individual student. Which leads into Discipline 3, “make sure everyone knows the score at all times, so that they can tell whether or not they are winning” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). Keeping a compelling scoreboard helps teachers and students track how much they have met their lead measures, and gives a visual so that they can celebrate their wins. In stage 3 of behavioral changes, teams will learn new behaviors, which means that this can be connected to my innovation plan since creating a scoreboard will allow students to view their own mastery level and progress for a particular skill, or project milestone. And, teachers can use the scoreboard to adjust guided instruction to match the needs of the learners. “Disciplines 1, 2, and 3 set up the game; but until you apply Discipline 4, your team isn’t in the game” (Covey, McChesney, & Huling, 2012). The 4th discipline is to create a cadence of accountability by accounting for past performances, and how to move forward on the scoreboard. For example, teachers can hold weekly meetings to review students’ progress in this flex blended approach, identify the challenges that they are still facing, and find ways to celebrate the things that are going well for their students, and themselves. In stage 4 of behavioral changes, sustained practice needs to be set or optimized because they are aiming for success, or to achieve their set goal(s) and win. As an example, teachers can decide to meet once a week, or even bi-weekly, to discuss how well students are mastering concepts through Schoology, projects, or self paced learning . All of these areas then can be improved upon to provide better support for the learners to achieve overall success. Conclusively, “using these 4 steps to achieve goals within your team will help teams at all levels of an organization to step off the treadmill of running too fast and not getting far enough” (Godfrey, 2022). The 4Dx model reinforces all the rules in the end which also relates to my innovation plan because blended learning practices will become a natural part of teaching and learning when the process is refined and shared with each other. In stage 5 of behavioral changes, there needs to be habitual use of new behaviors, which means that students are masters of their own learning pace through Schoology, projects, and guided instruction. Therefore, this will guide students through their personal learning journeys by creating a significant learning environment that uses COVA. Essentially, “When the COVA approach is combined with CSLE, you get a significant learning environment which takes into account all the key elements essential to effective active learning” (Harapnuik, 2018). Teachers offer support that allows them to become facilitators, so the learner has an environment to build on student agency that will “provide guidance and structure to help direct the learner” (Harapnuik, 2018).
4Dx versus the Influencer Model
The integration of the 4DX model with the 5 stages of behavioral changes focuses on my innovation plan by supporting a flex blended environment that uses a LMS, like Schoology, project based learning, and guided teacher instruction. This combination supports students and teachers using new habits for self paced learning and mastery based assessments. This blended flex model makes learning effective and sustainable in the long run, which creates a life long learning environment for all individuals that are involved. In summary, “these simple actions provide focus, clarity, and structure so that you and your team are able to achieve your most critical priorities in an efficient manner” (Godfrey, 2022). This also connects with the Influencer Model because both work together to combine behavioral changes with targeting goals and having an execution plan to follow for success. “What qualifies people to be called “leaders” is their capacity to influence others to change their behavior in order to achieve important results” (Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler, 2013). The Influencer Model focuses on motivating others to adopt new behaviors, and habits, while 4DX is used to set goals, track progress, and ensure follow through. In essence, “Learning how to motivate and enable others to change their actions may be the most important skill you’ll ever acquire” (Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler, 2013). Both methods have the same intentions of helping teams to successfully gain improvements that are long lasting. They are proven strategies that provide “the ability to change what people do” (Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler, 2013).
References
Covey, S., McChesney, C., & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving your wildly important goals. Simon and Schuster.
Godfrey, N. (2022, February). 4 Steps to Achieving Your Team’s Goals. Stewart Leadership. https://stewartleadership.com/four-steps-to-achieving-your-teams-goals/
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change. McGraw-Hill Education.
Harapnuik, D. (2018, July). COVA. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991
Jackie Bittner M.Ed. 