Last weekend I finished my 9th marathon. After months of training and several quality tune-up races (including a few new PR’s!), I was hopeful for a good day on the course. The marathon had other ideas. Runners encountered a number of hills, a concrete path, and a high temperature 15 degrees above normal. Certainly not the ideal mix of conditions I had hoped for – and I didn’t hit my time goal. While disappointed, I did take some positives away from the race, and the biggest one was how important it is to include agility in your strategy.
Strategic planning helps us set goals and provides a framework for accomplishing them, but everyday execution also needs to include agility. A marathon strategy – similar to a business plan – should be sustainable for the long haul, and agility is critical on a daily basis to make it to the finish line. During the marathon I had to confront some brutal facts – the biggest was that I may not hit my goal that day. I could stick to the original plan and risk the consequences of doing so, or make adjustments along the way to ensure I reached the finish line safely and injury-free.
We study strategy extensively in theory and practice. The problem is that we don’t always focus on how we can execute the strategy during the trials and tribulations of life. In the Harvard Business Review article “Why Strategy Execution Unravels – and What to Do About It”, Sull, Homkes, and Sull review 5 myths of strategy execution. I’d like to focus on “Myth #2: Execution Means Sticking to the Plan”. No strategy can possibly anticipate every event that could arise, whether it is a change in course conditions, weather, competition, or market circumstances. Real-time adjustments are critical, and should be expected. Falling into the “alignment trap” could derail your strategy, or worse, set you back. Failing to recognize the indicators, and/or refusing to be agile can cost you a whole lot more than just the task at hand.
Back to the race – the goal of my training was to put myself in the best position to PR the race. I’ve learned from my mistakes in the past, and I wasn’t going to let a less-than-ideal day derail my accomplishment. I made adjustments, fought through the conditions, and finished with an otherwise respectable time. While I’m still sore, I am certain that making those adjustments were better alternatives than risking injury or not finishing the race.
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