What is 4Dx?
The ideas for our 4DX strategy comes from the book The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling.
Our 4DX Strategy.
The Four Disciplines
The four disciplines are integrated into our stages of change, but here we breakdown by discipline the different actions we are planning to take.
1. Focus on the Wildly Important
Our goal is to have 80% of the K-2nd teachers will lead a STEAM thinking activity in their classroom at least twice a month by December 2018. We will have 100% of teachers on board by the end of the school year. We will work together as a team to further define what WIGs we will have in order to achieve this goal.
2. Act on the Lead Measures
Our Lag Measures will be to see how many and how often teachers are applying STEAM thinking activities into their classrooms.
Our lead measures will be:
What kinds of activities are being done? Do these activities promote STEAM thinking? Are students using 21st century skills? Are students engaged? What did students learn? Were they able to display or produce something from their learning?
We will work with our WIG team to dig deeper into our Lead measures and then to use what we have collected to come up with a plan for improvement and further teacher collaboration with the STEAM thinking activities.
3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
We will work with a team to create a scoreboard for our teachers. This may look something like this:
Using pictures from each grade to display the different activities teachers are doing in their classrooms. Each class will post one picture for the STEAM thinking activity they have completed. We will be able to see what grade levels and what teachers are applying these STEAM thinking skills/activities in their classrooms (Lag measures). We will then be able to look deeper into these pictures to learn what types of activities are being done, if they are integrating the different subject areas, if students are creating a product or something to share in the end, and if projects are an appropriate way for students to display STEAM thinking skills (Lead measures).
We could also record the percentage of teachers applying STEAM thinking activities in their classrooms and the number of activities being completed total, to show where the school is as a whole and to work together as a team to improve that number each month.
4. Create a Cadence of Accountability
Look together at data on scoreboard to come up with plans.
Come to WIG meeting with ideas in mind to implement STEAM thinking activities in classroom.
1. Focus on the Wildly Important
Our goal is to have 80% of the K-2nd teachers will lead a STEAM thinking activity in their classroom at least twice a month by December 2018. We will have 100% of teachers on board by the end of the school year. We will work together as a team to further define what WIGs we will have in order to achieve this goal.
2. Act on the Lead Measures
Our Lag Measures will be to see how many and how often teachers are applying STEAM thinking activities into their classrooms.
Our lead measures will be:
What kinds of activities are being done? Do these activities promote STEAM thinking? Are students using 21st century skills? Are students engaged? What did students learn? Were they able to display or produce something from their learning?
We will work with our WIG team to dig deeper into our Lead measures and then to use what we have collected to come up with a plan for improvement and further teacher collaboration with the STEAM thinking activities.
3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
We will work with a team to create a scoreboard for our teachers. This may look something like this:
Using pictures from each grade to display the different activities teachers are doing in their classrooms. Each class will post one picture for the STEAM thinking activity they have completed. We will be able to see what grade levels and what teachers are applying these STEAM thinking skills/activities in their classrooms (Lag measures). We will then be able to look deeper into these pictures to learn what types of activities are being done, if they are integrating the different subject areas, if students are creating a product or something to share in the end, and if projects are an appropriate way for students to display STEAM thinking skills (Lead measures).
We could also record the percentage of teachers applying STEAM thinking activities in their classrooms and the number of activities being completed total, to show where the school is as a whole and to work together as a team to improve that number each month.
4. Create a Cadence of Accountability
Look together at data on scoreboard to come up with plans.
Come to WIG meeting with ideas in mind to implement STEAM thinking activities in classroom.
(Kelholiday, 2015)
Stages of Change and the Key Actions
Stage 1 Getting clear - The leader and the team commit to a new level of performance. They are oriented to 4dx and develop crystal clear WIGS, lag and lead measures, and a compelling scoreboard. Commit to regular WIG sessions. The more the team is closely involved in the 4dx work session.
All K-2nd teachers will brainstorm with team leaders to define the WIGs that would be best suitable for the staff and their capabilities. The team leaders will provide clarity about what matters most. 80% of the K-2nd teachers will lead a STEAM thinking activity in their classroom at least twice a month by December. We will have 100% of teachers on board by the end of the year. We will also make sure that the Technology team is aware of our WIG and are able to meet our accommodations as needed.
- We as leaders will be leading a STEAM thinking activity weekly in our rooms with the team models as our STEAM buddies. We will be openly discussing and collaborating with team members about our WIG.
- Each teacher will complete a short survey sharing their ideas for their STEAM activity and where they are in their process of executing it.
- The team leaders will make the players scoreboard in the display case in the Kindergarten hallway to show the lag measure and lead measures. It will also show which teachers are implementing STEAM thinking activities in their room, how often, and the final projects.
- Meet at 7:50 Friday morning before school to discuss WIGs and where we are with accomplishing them.
Stage 2 The launch- Hold a formal kickoff meeting or huddle and launch the team into action on the WIG, the team needs intense involvement from the leader at this point of launch.
After the all staff meeting we will get together in our ECC building and hold a launch meeting in the Conference room with coffee and sweet treats to help focus and motivate the principle and the curriculum director into implementing and supplying STEAM thinking activity materials in our K-2nd classrooms.
- Make sure teachers are involved with identifying the purpose of the STEAM activity
- Have teachers in each grade level share a STEAM activity with the group that aligns with curriculum and standards.
Stage 3 The adoption- Team members adopt the 4dx process and new behaviors drive the achievement of the WIG. the team becomes accountable to each other for the new level of performance despite the demands of the whirlwind.
Lead members and their STEAM buddies begin STEAM thinking activities in their classrooms. During the weekly WIG meeting, the lead members and their models will share what activity they did and how the students performed and what worked and what didn’t. Then the lead members will report on the scoreboard, and share what they plan to do for their next activity and what as a team can everyone do to improve the scoreboard. These WIG meetings will help provide accountability, provide an opportunity for additional support, a chance to answer questions, and it will directly involve those who may still be hesitant. It also provides an opportunity to determine your resisters, your potentials, and your models.
- Keep scoreboard updated
- Read through surveys and make adjustments as needed
- Provide examples, have materials readily available, discuss what did and what didn’t work, and collaborate
Stage 4 optimization- team shifts to a 4dx mindset, they will start to look for ways to optimize their performance- they now know what “playing to win” feels like
Teachers will began to focus on what STEAM activities will work best for their students and start to share their ideas and thoughts. We will increase collaboration at this time and encourage those willing to share what they are doing to help implement STEAM activities.
- Encourage positive feedback when teachers are applying STEAM thinking
- Meet to discuss scoreboard and make goals accordingly
- Provide more time to collaborate
- Share STEAM thinking activities created by the resisters
Stage 5 The habits- when 4dx becomes habitual, you can expect not only to reach the goal but also to see a permanent rise in the level of your teams performance, the ultimate aim of 4dx is not just to get results but to create a culture of excellent execution
Leaders are continuing to encourage the team members that the 4DX plan is not just a way to implement a WIG but is a daily habit.
- Maintaining the scoreboard
- Weekly meeting about the WIG
- Have potentials now become the models
How the Influencer Model and 4DX complement each other.
When we look back at our influencer model we can see how this will go hand in hand with our 4DX plan to influence change in our organization. The results we want for our influencer model is our WIG with our 4DX plan. We want teachers to be teaching students to us STEAM thinking skills. We will measure change by collecting data (our lag measures), using our scoreboard data; we want to see how many and how often teachers are applying STEAM thinking skills in their classrooms. We will be watching for changes in the vital behaviors to see if progress is being made. If we focus our time on the lead measures we can influence more change within our organization. To influence changes in our lead measures we will be using our 6 sources of influence (and leveraged behaviors) to influence changes in our lead measures. By using both our influencer model strategy as well as our 4DX model strategy, we will be able to influence teachers to confidently apply STEAM thinking skills into their classroom and better prepare our students for their futures.
FranklinCovey. (2012). [YouTube Video]. Executive overview of the four disciplines of execution. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZR2Ixm0QQE
FranklinCovey. (2012). [YouTube Video]. Goal setting. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbUy290KbTA
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfiels, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change, second edition.
Kelholiday. (2015). [Image]. The four disciplines of execution process. Retrieved from: http://www.transformgroup.com.au/blog-82-the-4-disciplines-of-execution-book-review/
McChesney, C., Covey, S. & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 disciplines of execution : achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.
FranklinCovey. (2012). [YouTube Video]. Goal setting. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbUy290KbTA
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfiels, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change, second edition.
Kelholiday. (2015). [Image]. The four disciplines of execution process. Retrieved from: http://www.transformgroup.com.au/blog-82-the-4-disciplines-of-execution-book-review/
McChesney, C., Covey, S. & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 disciplines of execution : achieving your wildly important goals. New York: Free Press.