03 Nov The Running Watch – Reflections of an Agile Advisor

In big business transformation projects, management systems help to maintain the right pace to the project outcome (and how we improve performance while managing our own sustainability).

My son gave me a running watch with GPS and lap times.  I asked him whether it would make me run faster (hopefully)? He said no, it just tells the time. But knowing where I am, how many minutes per km, how far to go does all help me to run faster (or at least at a consistent pace). If I’m going too fast to sustain it, then I know to slow down. If I’m going too slow, then I know to speed up. This makes me, on average, run faster.  Then I get my ‘run history’ which tells whether I’m faster or slower than last time. It tells me my PB or record time.  All this encourages me to run faster next time.

It also helps me to understand what skills or technique improvement that I need to run faster and longer. It helps with the technology decision of which running gear, food/water and data that I need to run faster and longer. It helps me to understand which behaviours support my running and which don’t. This simple running watch gives me transparency of performance, helps to hold me accountable, allows me to share data and collaborate with my coach (or at least my encouragers), and gives me mindfulness of my short and longer term goals.

Without such a Management System (i.e. the watch, the reporting, the map, the training guide for 16 weeks to the marathon), I would be running blind. No that’s not fair. I’d be just running. That’s OK, but not when I have a big, hairy, audacious goal of running the San Francisco marathon ahead of me. That’s OK, but not when we have the shared responsibility and privilege to deliver big change fast with our clients.

Do you have a running watch to help you to achieve your goals? Do you know what it takes in terms of performance, honesty, courage, and self-awareness? In these posts, I will share the experience of working on a large business transformation project and my reflections on the logos (the IQ), ethos (the values) and the pathos (the EQ) required to lead such an initiative.

Like to join in the conversation?  T S Eliot said that ‘the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ This is my hope for this blog, to learn from each other and to see things afresh.