How lessons from cycling can improve change success

One discovery I made early on in my love of cycling is that once I stopped listening to my headphones during my solo rides, I had ample opportunity to think. Simply think. Within the safe boundary of road awareness and cycling etiquette, my mind filled the remaining time rethinking presentations, to-do lists, song lyrics, and even errands for the house. Inevitably, as a Change Geek, I even pondered how cycling informs change management principles and practices.

Ultra-large riding events are a stark contrast from my solo rides meandering my neighborhood roads. For the largest cycling event by far in my calendar, the stakes are much higher. It is a 2-day 93-mile event I recently completed, where there were many more riders sharing the route, each were riding at varying paces and skill levels from mine, and the route was less familiar with unpredictable road hazards and traffic patterns. Therefore, my cycling focus was heightened and my time for meaningful thought came afterwards. I took this opportunity to draw lessons from my time on two wheels to parallel my otherwise pedestrian life (no pun intended!) helping Change Champions.

1.????? As much as any leader driving change can attest, early (‘quick”) wins are important. They gain credibility, trust, and forward momentum from the start. However, within the first 4-5 miles of my first ride, 31 miles on Day 1, a cyclist 15 bike lengths ahead of me collided with a rider ahead of him and flipped over his front handlebars. The rider quickly stood up, checked his bike and proceeded to dust himself off…standing in the middle of oncoming cyclists and vehicular traffic. On the contrary, I would define this as an early or quick loss.

In the pedestrian life, it is important to assess and re-calibrate from early losses. Where quick wins should be communicated widely to promote traction for change, quick losses can potentially undermine the drive for a different tomorrow. It is critical to review root causes and impact to determine if the change plan or key metrics must be recalibrated. Yet, the key is not to be drawn into analysis paralysis as there is ‘traffic’ that may be coming up on you. Other deliverables, deadlines, or organizational dynamics, outside the project setback, will continue to marshal on.

2.????? Hard work occurring in other interdependent projects may have unintended negative outcomes. How do you navigate when a cyclist just ahead of you is throwing off more sweat than a wet sponge? Now your ride is compromised as you try to maneuver around the soggy cyclist. Your change in pacing and position makes the wetter sweater think s/he is being challenged and they ride harder…and on and on the coping cat and moist mouse game continues. ?

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For us pedestrians as Change Champions, our drive for productivity and impact may be dependent on the output of other independent workstreams in our organization, suppliers, or customers. Will IT deliver release on time? Has the client provided the requested specifications in full? Where the work of others can have unintended consequences that delay, confuse or otherwise disrupt the change path, it is only then that we appreciate the value of negative sweat equity, or sweat debt. As I did on the ride that day, we can only choose another path with the least resistance or engage with the other party to determine if an alternate way of working can be achieved with minimum change to route or output.

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3.????? Prior to the big riding event, several communications were sent indicating a ride duration of 25 miles, yet a day or two before the ride a detailed route was sent to all participants showing a 30-mile course. Confusion and frustration ensured for the riders (like myself!) that did not review this new information carefully.

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One can understand that the goal posts change, but the game continues. With no choice but to keep riding to return to the finish line where cool drinks and my car's A/C awaited, I recalled how Sun Tzu would categorize his surroundings to determine strategy. “When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home.” ―?Sun Tzu,?The Art of War . In other words, when you remove all possible routes of regress (surely, I was NOT turning around!), the only option is onward. Realizing that 5 extra miles was difficult, but not impossible, with no more fuel, hydration or alternate route home, I hunkered down and finished. When strategic priorities change, AI introduces new ways of working, deadlines move forward, often we are faced with the strategic choice to continue where our progress and impact is still required.

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4.????? Lastly, I have encountered firsthand, when you want to go fast, go alone but when you want to go far, go together. I rode solo (versus with my riding club or other friends in attendance) on Day 1 and pushed myself to keep a swift pace throughout the course. I was exhausted and sore from the ride. Day 2, for 62 miles/100 km, I had a riding partner and often rode with a group (or peloton in ‘cycling speak’) that kept a steady pace and took several breaks together. We encouraged one another, shared route details, tools, and raised road hazard alerts. We all finished as a unit excited and proud of our achievement.

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Rarely, can any change occur without coordination with others. Even a change in our own behavior will require a change in how we interact with our network, family, partners, etc. However, for sustained change to occur it is mission critical to determine the peloton of stakeholders around us that will enable and champion progress.