Chris McChesney is a Wall Street Journal #1 National Best-Selling Author – The 4 Disciplines of Execution. In his current role of Global Practice Leader of Execution for FranklinCovey, Chris is one of the primary developers of The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Chris shares his thoughts on what it takes to focus, why you shouldn’t wait to innovate, and how to effectively lead in the midst of ambiguity.

Key Takeaways

[3:25] Chris discusses whether focus is the key to execution or if there are other factors at play here.

[4:35] “Be very deliberate about what is the area of focus and everything else the organization needs to sustain.”

[8:00] The four disciplines of execution are:

1. Get clear on the critical target.
2. Leverage your metrics on a team level.
3. Boost employee engagement by showing them the score.
4. Hold people accountable.

[14:20] When it comes to defining your target, there needs to be a combination of what’s most important and what’s most at risk.

[16:25] If you want innovation, then you have to allow people to experiment, which means taking on a certain amount of team failure.

[17:45] It can be so easy to lose focus when you’re trying to experiment on the latest flavor of the month. 

[22:25] People aren’t afraid of change. They’re afraid of ambiguity. In every major disaster, there is a spike in divorce rates as well as marriage rates, because people don’t like being in limbo. They need certainty.

[24:15] Because of the circumstance we’re in, every industry is being forced to change and switch things up. People are tapped out and being drained from all sides.

[29:05] When the status quo is good, it can be hard to push yourself out of your comfort zone to innovate. It comes down to having a weekly discipline.

[33:55] Emotion alone will not sustain you in achieving those non-urgent tasks.

[37:55] Chris shares the story of his creative and slightly sneaky way of getting to work alongside Stephen Covey when he was a recent college grad.

[42:15] Listener challenge: Do the people who work for you feel like they can win?

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Quotable Quotes

“It’s better to fall in love with the problem than to fall in love with the solution.” Share on X “The best strategies, the most vital strategies, don’t stand up to the day-to-day urgency of maintaining the operation.” Share on X “You can chase your tail all day long on what’s most important. Everyone’s got a good argument for that.” Share on X “If you’re going to have a breakthrough, it’s going to require innovation. And innovation requires trial and error.” Share on X “People don’t fear change. They will initiate change all the time. They fear uncertainty — there’s a difference — and uncertainty is really akin to ambiguity.” Share on X “When you need a hero, it means something went really wrong.” Share on X “The accountability that we’re talking about is the kind of accountability that happens after the expectations have been set.“ Share on X “Energy against non-urgent priorities really does require a system because emotion alone, it’ll last a couple of weeks and it wears out.“ Share on X

Resources Mentioned

• Website: Chrismcchesney4dx.com
• Franklincovey.com
• Chris on LinkedIn
• Chris on Twitter