Stephanie Wells
"An investment in knowledge, pays the best interest"
-Benjamin Franklin
From Goals to Outcomes, 4DX
At any given moment, in any organization, you can talk to any employee and discover that they have an idea of how things could change or improve in their workplace. This is true for every type of organization, from schools to fast-food to Fortune 500. They may even have an excellent idea or many ideas about goals they want to achieve. The difference between the excellent idea and the real outcome is how you chose to execute that idea in the real world.
Most employees do not look favorably upon change even when they feel that a need is not being met or a system is not working. They may report these needs to their leader and the leader my call for implementation of some strategy to "fix" the environment or achieve the goal. The problem is two-fold here. First, the leader has determined the strategy to change and not taken into account that the team may have a better idea of what needs to be done and how to do it. They need to buy-in. Secondly, the whirlwind of daily responsibilities remain. Many great ideas and lofty goals for organizations die in exactly the place they were created in the mind of the employee in middle of the chaos of everyday tasks and activities. Creating real change and results demands an executable process. How can we start with a goal and end in the place where we intended. Covey and friends have identified a process that considers these elements.
At Dallas College, just like any other organization, we have a whirlwind of activities that have to keep going in high working order regardless of any new changes that we may want to implement. This very process, in some form, that I will be addressing has been in discussions for many years within our department. We had no real process to get it implemented. I want to add blended learning to the Radiographic Procedures Courses to bond the courses together and keep the students active in the information as they move between semesters.
I have utilized the strategies and theories presented by McChesney, Covey, and Huling (2012) in The 4 Disciplines of Execution combined with the 5 Stages of Change to implement this blended learning once and for all.
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Influencer Model vs 4DX Model
And the winner is.....

After consideration and comparing both the Influencer Model and the 4 DX Model, I believe both have important attributes and some real similarities. If I want to get a goal to outcome, I would choose the 4DX. I think they both speak to the engagement of the team and making sure that the heart is in the change by the members that will be leading the charge but also by the people who will be changed. Knowing where you stand is a piece of each model, demanding accountability and how that encourages ownership. The Influencer Model feels more behavior driven, figuring out how to change the behaviors will result in the goal. I think that feelings and moods change and that would strongly impact the outcome in the Influencer side. The 4DX Model, although behavior is part of it, feels more action oriented. For some reason, I feel that accountability is higher in the 4DX because the expectation of meeting, regardless of anything else, is a step in the process. Creating a habit by repeating the process over and over is also a part of 4DX. And simply, the difference between 6 steps and 4 steps in a change process is huge. Even though the authors express frequently that the 4DX model seems simple in concept but is very detailed in process, I found completing this assignment was easier and felt a little less stressful than plugging my steps into the Influencer Model. I am very surprised that I feel this way. I tend to rule everything with emotion and I was certain as I worked through the Influencer Model that it would be my favorite. I guess you never know what you really like until you see the options available.