Modify and Magnify — Ask: what happens if you make an element bigger, smaller, faster, slower, stronger, or weaker? The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) — The 4 Disciplines of Execution (McChesney, Covey & Huling) is an organizational strategy framework built around four practices: focus on a wildly important goal, act on lead measures, keep a compelling scoreboard, and create a cadence of accountability. Evidence is primarily organizational case studies and observational data; controlled trials on the framework as a whole are limited, but the individual components (implementation intentions, feedback loops, social accountability) have broader research support. Identify and act on lead measures — Focus daily behavior on lead measures — the predictive actions you control — not lag measures you can only observe. Challenge with questions, not conclusions — Multipliers give people a mountain to climb; Diminishers tell people which step to take next. Ask the Focusing Question — “What’s the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?” Ask what a specific other person would do — Step into a named other’s perspective to access approaches you would not generate as yourself. Distinguish diagnostic trees (why?) from solution trees (how?) — Use a "why?" tree to find root causes and a "how?" tree to generate solutions — mixing them produces confusing structures. Use a physical wall calendar for the chain — Mark each completed day with a big red X on a paper calendar — the visibility matters. Anticipate others’ reactions — Second-order effects often come from how people respond to your first move. Expand your role through extra-role behavior — Voluntarily take on work beyond your formal responsibilities to signal readiness for a higher-trust relationship.

Coaching practices for What Would X Do

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For What Would X Do, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

Everything I come up with sits in this safe middle
I keep staring at the big result hoping it moves, but it’s out of my hands day to day
Because I usually know the answer, I just hand it over and tell people the next step
I have ten things screaming for my attention and I treat them all as equally urgent, so I default to whatever’s loudest or easiest
Every approach I come up with sounds like me, because I keep ruling out anything that doesn’t feel like something I’d do

Practices that may help

Modify and Magnify
Ask: what happens if you make an element bigger, smaller, faster, slower, stronger, or weaker?
SCAMPER: A Systematic Creativity Technique
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (McChesney, Covey & Huling) is an organizational strategy framework built around four practices: focus on a wildly important goal, act on lead measures, keep a compelling scoreboard, and create a cadence of accountability. Evidence is primarily organizational case studies and observational data; controlled trials on the framework as a whole are limited, but the individual components (implementation intentions, feedback loops, social accountability) have broader research support.
Identify and act on lead measures
Focus daily behavior on lead measures — the predictive actions you control — not lag measures you can only observe.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX)
Challenge with questions, not conclusions
Multipliers give people a mountain to climb; Diminishers tell people which step to take next.
Multipliers: How Leaders Amplify the Intelligence Around Them
Ask the Focusing Question
“What’s the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?”
The ONE Thing, Made Practical
Ask what a specific other person would do
Step into a named other’s perspective to access approaches you would not generate as yourself.
Oblique Strategies, Made Practical
Distinguish diagnostic trees (why?) from solution trees (how?)
Use a "why?" tree to find root causes and a "how?" tree to generate solutions — mixing them produces confusing structures.
Issue Tree Analysis
Use a physical wall calendar for the chain
Mark each completed day with a big red X on a paper calendar — the visibility matters.
The Seinfeld Strategy: Don’t Break the Chain
Anticipate others’ reactions
Second-order effects often come from how people respond to your first move.
Second-Order Thinking: And Then What?
Expand your role through extra-role behavior
Voluntarily take on work beyond your formal responsibilities to signal readiness for a higher-trust relationship.
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), Made Practical

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