Ep 136: Chris McChesney - Twenty Years in Love with the Same Problem

In this episode, Global Leadership Podcast interviewer Jason Jaggard sits down with Chris McChesney, co-author of The Four Disciplines of Execution, to revisit the book and to explore how the four disciplines can impact our lives outside the business world.

IN THIS EPISODE:

-       What is a basic overview of the “Four Disciplines of Execution”?

-       How can you learn to focus what is most important, but is not necessarily the most urgent?

-       What “levers” can you affect that make it seem like your intended result is a winnable game?

-       What has being a parent taught Chris about leadership, and how can the four disciplines be applied to a family? 

LISTEN

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 STANDOUTS AND TAKEAWAYS

-       It’s better to fall in love with a problem than it is to fall in love with a solution.

-       All of the “have tos” in our life is called “The Whirlwind.” The “One” is the strategic result in your life that is going to require disproportionate effort.

-       Human beings have the capacity to handle “the whirlwind plus one.”

-       It’s best to not give your frontline teams the answers; get their commitment and engagement by making them a part of the process.

-       The Four Disciplines can actually be a way to protect the entrepreneurial spirit of a organization.

-       If you want to see the highest level of engagement a human being is capable of, watch them in a game.

-       The strategic result you’re looking for should feel like both a high-stakes game and a winnable game.

-       Progress and purpose are the most important things that drive employee engagement. This fact also has profound implications for how leaders address remote work.

-       The whole purpose of The Four Disciplines is to achieve goals that do not feel as important as “the day job.”

-       If kids have one anchor of self-esteem in their life, they are able to handle the whirlwind and drama of life much more effectively.

-       The enemy of the human soul is not work; it’s futility.

-       The struggle is that as you become more successful as a company, the whirlwind grows and requires more and more.

-       People don’t fear change; they fear uncertainty.

-       Most success comes from putting huge energy into small wins.

-       The most significant jump is moving from leading a team to leading leaders.

LINKS MENTIONED

-       Website: Chris McChesney

-       Book: The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Revised and Updated: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals

-       Added Value: Tim Harford: Trial, error and the God complex (TEDTalk via YouTube)

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