Theme of the book: Goal setting and framework for achieving.
The book: The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Christ McChesney, Jim Huling and Sean Covey
Located: I found my copy at the local library. Which is a great source for books. If you don't have a library card, I highly recommend getting one.
Description: This book goes is all about goal setting and executing your goals. The ideas in the book are simple but putting them into action can be more difficult because it goes against our nature.
The major themes of the book are:
Wildly Important Goals
Lead Measures
Score Cards
Accountability
Each one though seemingly obvious are not, once you get into the nitty gritty it is easy to see why most people don't achieve all of their goals efficiently.
My thoughts: This is a good book for getting into the mentality behind goal setting. It really helped me to focus on what I really want. Often times I find my actions don't directly align with my WIG's (Wildly Important Goals). I like to have filler goals that feel good to achieve but don't necessarily benefit what I truly want. This book helped put this into perspective for me.
The lead measures section was a little more difficult for me to grasp but it is essentially the 80/20 rule and just breaking it down into specific trackable items. Though this section was probably my least favorite it was also helpful to understand for the next section.
The book goes into scorecards and I think this is essential for success! It is something we don't typically think oh I already do that. Though often times we have some type of tracking that we implemented with grand ideas but never followed through on. This section helped me to realize that simple is better because it is easier, thus we are more likely to use it. Think about elementary school when you would raise money for things and they had a thermometer and would color in as you gained more money. It was effective because it was fun! This section helps address that while still making it valuable.
The last section was regarding accountability. This is probably the most important part of goal setting/achieving but probably the most neglected. We don't like being held accountable... We don't like the idea that we can fail. So what's easier failing and everyone knowing or failing and noone knowing. Obviously noone knowing! Noone knowing doesn't help us grow. Having the wrong people know can also hinder us. This section is about finding the right balance of accountability with the right people, and how to structure it.
Overall this book was very good at taking the basics we all know and putting them into actionable steps. It has a lot of references to real life business that were transformed by these concepts. This made me reflect on previous jobs and understand what people tried to implement and where in the process they didn't follow through. It also helped me to understand some of the motivation behind successful companies and how these concepts create a growing environment.
Recommend? Yes! This book is great for anyone wanting to achieve a goal. If you manage people it is also a great perspective on how to set up goals in a company. Get in the mindset of how to rally the troops and hunker down on what really needs to get done!
Critique: The book has a lot of information in it and i'm sure I didn't pick up everything in my first reading. I don't have the book in front of me while writing this but if I remember correctly there were a lot of examples of companies. Some of it was repetitive and I felt at times a little unnecessary as they had made their point. This is solely based on my opinion as I'm sure some people prefer a lot of personal stories. I just wanted the information how to do it, and to get the information quickly.
I would give this book a 4 Star review! It is a recommended read for anyone setting goals that truly want to achieve them. Also highly recommended for managers or people trying to lead a team, it will help get everyone on the same page and fight for a common cause.⭐⭐⭐⭐
🙏 Thank you for reading! Why do you fail to achieve your goals? What does your scorecard look like? How do you hold yourself accountable? 📖
Σχόλια