Lessons From Long Distance Running: Pace

This is part of the series "Lessons from Change Management Strategies and Long Distance Running."

The early morning air was cool at the starting line. My body felt rested and my legs fresh. With several thousand runners anxious to start, the excitement was in the air. At the starting signal I felt a rush of adrenaline. My first temptation was to get away and break into the open as soon as possible. A natural urge would be to start fast to get to the front of the pack, a mistake that could cost a runner the race or injury. The key is pace!

In running, pace is essential for endurance, performance, and a strong and healthy finish during a long race. Likewise, organizations experiencing large and complex change may benefit from some of the same principles of pacing that runners do. Here are five principles that have parallels in organizational change.

1. Know the course - Runners want to know where the hills are, where the hard versus the soft surfaces are, and visual markers that indicate distance so they know how to pace themselves. Change leaders and agents would do well to understand the nature, complexity, and degree of change from a social, political, and cultural perspective, in addition to the technical aspect. Understanding the requirements of the change process can then help leaders determine the pace. 
2. Go slow to go fast - Many runners have different styles and variations but the concept is the same, to preserve energy and strength early to finish strong. In organizational change, this may mean doing some preparation work upfront (e.g. garnering stakeholder support, understanding root causes of 'resistance, assessing systemic levers of change, etc.) before accelerating. It could also mean rolling out the change in phases as opposed to all at once to give the organization the chance to absorb the change.
3. Consistent practice - The best way for a runner to know the ideal pace is by practicing consistently to learn what the body is capable of doing. Organizations do this by continuously managing the portfolio of change initiatives and by using good change management principles across the board.
4. Set appropriate milestones - Runners use short-term goals (1-mile or 3-mile for instance) so they know they are not running too fast or two slow. In organizations, change leaders and project managers should schedule specific short-term milestones to check how the organization is reacting to the change. In addition to KPIs and financial metrics, leaders can gauge the degree of acceptance or the effectiveness of communication efforts for instance, to help them achieve optimal pace.
5. Finish strong - Many runners (including me), prefer to save energy and strength for the home stretch. If they have paced themselves throughout the course, it is possible to run just as fast or even faster during the second half of the race as during the first half. Effective change management can accelerate the pace toward the end of a project and even increase the organization's energy and readiness for the next change challenge. 

To summarize, just like long distance runners have a finite capacity to run fast, organizations have a finite capacity to absorb change at a given time. The good news is that change leaders and agents can do much to ensure a solid start and a strong finish, and live to run another race.