If you’ve served or led for any length of time, then you’ve probably watched a key initiative come up short. Maybe a ministry plan was doomed from the start. Perhaps it was slowly and quietly smothered by competing priorities.

What happened? The whirlwind of day-to-day activities consumed most of your time and energy, leaving little margin for important and strategic things.

Ministry 4DX is the application of Franklin Covey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) to church growth and revitalization. It leads your team to execute on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. 4DX includes:

• Discipline #1 – Focus on the wildly important
• Discipline #2 – Act on the lead measure.
• Discipline #3 – Create a compelling scoreboard.
• Discipline #4 – Create a cadence of accountability.

Focus on the wildly important. Each team needs wildly important goals (WIGs). And because team focus is quickly diluted, it’s important that ministry departments and teams have no more than 1 or 2 WIGs at the same time.

Ask the question: What do you need to focus on above all else? For example:

• Evangelism WIG – Train 1,000 people to share their 1 story, memorize 1 verse, and get their commitment to share with 1 person by 8/1/16.
• Worship WIG – Grow the 11:00am service +45 by 8/1/16.
• Community WIG – Grow LIFE groups +80 by 8/1/16.
• Service WIG – Mobilize 150 people on short-term mission trips by 8/1/16.

Act on the lead measure. Every goal needs a measuring stick, but not just any measuring stick. Placing your focus on the right measure is one of the most important things you can do to improve execution.

What’s the difference between lead and lag measures? Here’s a quick definition:

• Lead Measure – Something that leads to the goal
• Lag Measure – Something that measures the goal

The key idea is to take weekly stock of several lead measures, then show the lag measure they impact. Over time, positive movement in the lead measures should impact the lag measure (attendance, participation, etc.) in the right direction.

Take a look at some lead and lag ministry measure examples:

• Evangelism Lead Measure—1×3 Outreach Initiative Commitments—impacts the Lag Measure—Baptisms
• Worship Lead Measure—Invite Cards Distributed—impacts the Lag Measure—Worship Attendance
• Community Lead Measure—New Groups Started—impacts the Lag Measure—Groups Attendance
• Service Lead Measure—New People Mobilized—impacts the Lag Measure—Missions Participation

So what’s the Big Idea?

Use 4DX to execute on your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. Focus on the wildly important and act on the lead measure.

Resources

• The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling
• Ministry Execution on MinistryActionPlans.com
• “Scoreboards & Accountability” on Big Ideas Blog
• The4DisciplinesofExecution.com
• 4DXbook.com