"If you’re not keeping score, you’re just practicing."

Chris McChesney

Co-author of The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Date: April 21, 2025

Stop Letting the “Whirlwind” Win: Why the 4 Disciplines of Execution Actually Work - 4Dx

Adam Kreek

Most strategy dies in a slow, suffocating spiral. Not because the ideas were bad—but because execution never stood a chance against the daily whirlwind.

I’ve watched this cycle too many times to count.

The good news? There’s a way out.

It’s called the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX). And it’s not new. It’s not flashy. It’s just effective. That’s why I keep bringing it back to my coaching clients—from high-growth mortgage brokerages to municipal teams drowning in process bloat.

Here’s how it works in the real world:

1. Focus on the Wildly Important Goal (WIG)

Forget the 47 things you could do. What’s the one breakthrough result that will make everything else easier?

A marketing team at a growing financial firm nailed this. They shifted their endless content chaos into one clear WIG: Increase qualified leads by 20% from their top 3 personas. That focus changed how they built campaigns, ran meetings, and tracked success.

WIGs eliminate busywork. They create momentum.

2. Act on Lead Measures

Lag measures tell you what already happened. Lead measures tell you what’s about to.

That same firm didn’t just wait on monthly lead reports. They tracked weekly content production, email sequences, and first calls booked. We even gamified their numbers.

One mortgage brokerage used lead measures to spot—and fix—bottlenecks in their document collection process. Faster processing. More deals. Happier clients. Boom.

3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard

People play differently when they know the score. Especially when they helped build the scoreboard.

Scoreboards aren’t reports. They’re visual, public, and updated often. You walk by it, you feel something. You want to win.

In municipalities, this was game-changing. It wasn’t about KPI dashboards buried in folders. It was a whiteboard, smack in the middle of the office. Everyone could see it. And suddenly, accountability wasn’t top-down—it was peer-driven.

4. Create a Cadence of Accountability

This is where the magic happens. Weekly 4DX meetings. Fast. Focused. Non-negotiable.

One of my municipal clients told me, “We’ve had fewer meetings—but we’re getting more done.” Why? Because they started actually managing execution. Every week, everyone made commitments. And those commitments showed up on the scoreboard.

Simple. Repeatable. Transformational.

Here’s the kicker: The best execution systems don’t add complexity—they strip it away.

If you’re sick of your big ideas getting buried under emails, Slack pings, and endless “priorities,” maybe it’s time for a better system. One that’s been proven. One that helps you close the gap between what you want and what actually happens.

Focus. Track. Score. Repeat. That’s how the real work gets done.

Execution eats strategy for breakfast—but only if you feed it the right habits.

What is 4DX, Really?

It’s not a heavy process. It’s not set in stone. And it’s definitely not a punishment.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) is a simple, flexible, proven system that helps teams focus, align, and actually follow through on their most important goals.

Here’s the mindset shift:

Start simple. The first version won’t be perfect—refinement comes through repetition.
It’s a tool to focus and improve communication, not a millstone to hang around anyone’s neck.
It’s a measurement framework that compels the right action—not just more activity.
And it works. It’s a tried, tested, and true system of performance.

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Adam Kreek founded ViDA to positively impact organizational cultures and leaders who make things happen.

Kreek is an Executive Business Coach who lives in Victoria, BC, near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Seattle, Washington, USA, in the Pacific Northwest. He works with clients globally, often travelling to California in the San Francisco Bay Area, Atlanta, Georgia, Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. He is an Olympic Gold Medalist, a storied adventurer and a father.

He authored the bestselling business book, The Responsibility Ethic: 12 Strategies Exceptional People Use to Do the Work and Make Success Happen.

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