The 4DX Plan

Change in education may be the most difficult change to make successfully. The day to day grind of teachers tends to overwhelm all attempts at real, organizational change. My school has been starting the process of becoming a Leader in Me school based around the 7 habits of highly effective people since last summer. This monumental change will require all hands on deck, but we may just get a little help from the 4 disciplines of execution along the way.

At the annual Leader in Me Symposium in Dallas this past week, I was lucky enough to experience some of the amazing things happening around the country with our students. I was also able to attend a breakout session that was based on, you guessed it, the 4DX model. The 4DX model is an important piece of any school attempting to take the next step of being a Leader in Me school, and I get to be a huge part of implementing it at my campus. The starting of this process will allow for teachers to be a part of WIG sessions and see the success possible before actually being asked to use the same model to start my innovation plan next school year.

The implementation of the 4DX model is an integral part of implementing my blended learning rotation model and can bring real change to my classroom. I look forward to starting the culture change using the 4 disciplines below:

While the 4 disciplines of execution require a full team effort, the process cannot be implemented without focusing on the 5 stages of change as well:

While the 4DX model can seem very simple when reading about it, there is one aspect that must be present no matter what. Covey (2012, p. 121) puts it best when he states, “without involvement, there is no commitment.” The team must be involved WITH the leader or the change will fail.

While creating my influencer model last week and now attempting to grasp the importance of the 4DX model; I can see many similarities, but one main difference is the team concept when creating the WIG, lead and lag measures, scoreboard, etc. The six sources of influence can be laid out in a simple chart that focuses on each part of the influencer model, while the 4DX requires brainstorming and quite a few hard decisions.

I believe both models can be used to compliment each other. The six sources of influence can create the motivation needed for the change in my colleagues’ views and the 4DX model provides the steps needed to allow for lasting ‘habitual’ change to the way we execute. My innovation plan will benefit from both of these models and can flourish knowing I have the knowledge and tools to start this culture of change.

References

Covey, Stephen, Covey, Sean, Hatch, D., Summers, M. (2014). The leader in me: How schools around the world are inspiring greatness, one child at a time: 2nd ed. New York, NY. Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change: 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

McChesney, C., Covey, S. & Huling, J. (2012).  The 4 disciplines of execution.  New York, NY:  Franklin Covey Co.