How to Manage Your Change and Transformation Projects in 4D

It recently dawned on me that we can actually manage Change and Transformation Projects in 4D.

The realisation was inspired by a little gem Rob Moore shared in his book ‘Start Now, Get Perfect Later’. 

What’s the gem?

It’s what Rob calls ‘The 4 D System’.

What are the 4 Ds? 

They are:

1 - Delegate

2 - Delete

3 - Delay

4 - Do

Rob suggests that whenever a new task lands in our lap, we should elect to follow one of the 4 Ds.

He expresses the importance of stepping through each D in this order - the idea being that by the time you get to the 4th D, you will:

• Already have cleared down many of the tasks on your list

• Reduced your overwhelm

• Only have the important, high income-generating tasks remaining on your list

What’s this got to do with managing Change and Transformation Projects in 4D?

I’ll explain…

But first, hands up if you’re a business leader or project sponsor who has a list of ‘OPPORTUNITIES’ that fall into either of the following categories:

• ‘Lessons learned’ recommendations parked and forgotten about since project delivery

• System functionality requirements not delivered within the scope of previous technology projects

• Improvement ideas ‘on hold’ in project/programme logs following solution design workshops

• Suggestions captured but yet to be explored from employee or customer surveys

If you’ve got your hand up, here’s how you can apply the 4D experience to your list of opportunities:

1 – 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 the task of reviewing the list to a stakeholder team who, working to an agreed classification criteria, can assign each opportunity to the 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲, 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 or 𝗗𝗼 Bucket. 

T͟i͟p͟: Encourage stakeholders to volunteer rather than being elected, to increase engagement, buy-in and commitment 

2 – 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 any opportunities that don’t meet the 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 or 𝗗𝗼 criteria i.e. initiatives that have already been delivered, are due to be delivered by another project/programme, or are no longer relevant

T͟i͟p͟: The classification criteria empowers your stakeholder team to make collective decisions, with the fail-safe that anything deleted can always be ‘undone’.

3 – 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 any opportunities that require more time, effort or budget to explore and determine whether feasible to 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 or 𝗗𝗼 them

T͟i͟p͟: Rather than Delete opportunities, the stakeholder team can also Delegate them to internal projects/programmes already working on solutions that will ultimately address them

4 - 𝗗𝗼 go ahead and implement any opportunities that can be done quickly, easily and with little or no financial investment.

T͟i͟p͟: Quick-win implementations are great for generating stakeholder motivation, buy-in and support. They can also make great ‘proof of concepts’ to secure investment for more complex, strategic solutions.

If your teams are feeling overwhelmed by competing change and transformation priorities, the 4D method provides a simple yet powerful way to cut through the noise and focus on what truly matters in our business.

Try it out, then drop us a line - we’d love to hear how it worked for you, or support you in applying it to your projects and programmes.

Tell Us About Your Experience With 4D