Equipping our students with essential skills to thrive in the future, ensuring their success, and fostering a dynamic and relevant learning environment is a shared goal with Cleveland ISD. Providing a practical and structured approach to achieve this is critical, as proposed in “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” by Covey, McChesney, and Huling. This approach underscores the importance of a strategic plan to achieve crucial goals within an organization, highlighting the need to identify essential goals and concentrate all efforts towards them, avoiding dispersion. In this context, a Wildly Important Goal (WIG) is a critical, high-priority objective that must be the primary focus of all efforts to drive significant progress. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of focusing on critical activities that drive progress towards these goals rather than following outcome metrics to ensure adequate progress aligned with the primary goals. In my innovation proposal, the WIG is to improve students’ reading comprehension through e-portfolios. Implementing the 4DX will give us the focus and structure needed to achieve this fundamental goal, transforming education and preparing our students for today’s challenges.
DISCIPLINE 1
FOCUS ON WHAT IS TREMENDOUSLY IMPORTANT
Wildly Important Goal (WIG).
Improve students’ analytical and comprehension skills through the use of e-portfolios.
By the end of the 2025-2026 school year, all grades 2-5 students will have created and used an ePortfolio to select texts, ask comprehension questions, and reflect and discuss these texts at least twice a week.
DISCIPLINE 2
ACT ON LEAD MEASURES
We will use lag and progress measures to measure progress toward our WIG.
Lag measure: 95% of grades 2-5 students will use ePortfolios for text selection and comprehension questioning.
Progress measures: Incorporate ePortfolio-related activities into at least two lessons per week.
Facilitate reflection sessions on selected texts with students at least twice weekly.
Dedicate 30 minutes each week to developing and updating ePortfolios.
These progress measures are crucial, and your commitment to implementing them is commendable. It is this dedication that will ensure we are on track to achieve our WIG.
DISCIPLINE 3
KEEP A COMPELLING SCOREBOARD
To monitor our progress, we will need a clear and visible scoreboard that shows how we are advancing toward our goal. This scoreboard should be easy to read and understand and placed in a visible location so that all team members can track progress. The scoreboard design will allow everyone to see collective progress and stay accountable to the WIG.
DISCIPLINE 4
CREATING A RHYTHM OF ACCOUNTABILIY
The discipline of accountability is essential to ensure the team stays focused on the WIG. We will hold weekly meetings during PLC times to review progress toward our WIG. During these meetings, 15 minutes will be spent discussing the status of e-portfolios and leadership measures. The scoreboard will be visible in the classroom and on Google Drive pages to ensure transparency and accountability.
IMPLEMENT THE 4 DISCIPLINES OF EXECUTION AND THE 5 STAGES OF CHANGE
Successfully implementing our ePortfolio plan will require using the 4 Disciplines of Execution alongside the 5 Stages of Change to achieve lasting change. These strategies will complement each other to ensure the process is effective and sustainable. (Covey et al., 2012).
| Stage | Description | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Awareness | Recognizing the need for change and understanding its importance. | – Introduce the concept of ePortfolios to students, teachers, and parents. |
| – Highlight the benefits of developing comprehension skills through ePortfolios. | ||
| 2. Desire | Building a desire for change and motivating stakeholders to support the change. | – Share success stories and examples of effective ePortfolio use. |
| – Organize workshops and discussions to generate enthusiasm and buy-in from students and teachers. | ||
| 3. Knowledge | Providing the necessary knowledge and training to implement the change. | – Conduct training sessions for teachers on creating and managing ePortfolios. |
| – Provide resources and guides for students on how to use ePortfolios effectively. | ||
| 4. Ability | Developing the ability to implement the change through practice and support. | – Facilitate hands-on activities and practice sessions for both teachers and students. |
| – Offer continuous support and feedback to ensure proper implementation. | ||
| 5.Reinforcement | Ensuring the change is sustained and reinforced over time. | – Regularly review and celebrate progress toward the WIG. |
| – Maintain accountability through weekly PLC meetings and visible scoreboards. | ||
| – Adjust and refine the process based on feedback and outcomes. |
Integrating The Six Sources of Influence and The Four Disciplines of Execution
The six sources of influence and The Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX) are complementary systems that enhance organizational performance. While the 4 Disciplines of Execution framework, developed by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling (2012), focuses on advancing plan execution, The Six Sources of Influence, detailed by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler (2013), identify and leverage the key elements that drive behavior change: personal motivation, personal capability, social motivation, social capability, structural motivation, and structural capability.and the Four Disciplines of Execution (4DX) are complementary systems designed to improve organizational performance. The 4 Disciplines of Execution framework focuses on effectively moving forward with plan execution. The six sources of influence concentrate on identifying and leveraging the key elements that drive behavior change: personal motivation, personal capability, social motivation, social capability, structural motivation, and structural capability. By understanding and applying these factors, organizations can foster an enabling environment for change and empower people to take ownership of and achieve their goals.
These systems complement each other to form a comprehensive framework for change. Personal motivation and capability align with the disciplines of execution by giving students the tools and motivation to progress. Creating enthusiasm for learning and offering appropriate training ensures that students can effectively use and benefit from ePortfolios, supporting the focus on essential objectives.
Engagement and shared responsibility reinforce social motivation and capability, which are critical in 4DX. Collaboration and peer support create a culture of accountability and teamwork, which is crucial for successful execution. Facilitating collaborative learning and establishing discussion forums supports leveraging shared objectives.
Structural motivation and capability integrate with accountability and monitoring in 4DX. Implementing reward systems and providing ongoing technical support addresses structural barriers and reinforces desired behaviors. An appropriate reward system and technological resources create an environment that facilitates the execution and achievement of critical objectives.
Combining the six sources of influence with the four implementation disciplines provides a robust framework for change. It integrates motivational, capability, and structural aspects with a systematic approach to implementation. This integration supports the effective implementation of strategies and ensures sustainability and success in achieving organizational objectives.
References:
Covey, S., McChesney, C., & Huling, J. (2012). The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals. Free Press.
Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change. McGraw-Hill Education.