Finishing tends to be far more difficult than starting. So why do we spend so much time planning the initial phases of a project and so little time focusing on the back end?
“Only by knowing what the goal looks like will you recognize when you have gotten there.” Lance Armstrong
I am a runner. I have competed in races of varying distance from 5K to marathon. One thing I have noticed, no matter the distance, finishing is hard. If I am racing a 5K, my brain starts sending negative thoughts to my body at about mile 2! If I am running a marathon, the negative thoughts don’t start until around mile 20. Finishing is tough.
Jerry Lynch wrote an interesting book on the topic called Running Within. Dr. Lynch is a sports psychologist who has coached numerous national and Olympic distance running champions. In his book, Lynch describes how elite runners spend considerable time visualizing ‘finishing.’ They imagine every possible obstacle and setback. Then they visualize overcoming them. They spend considerably more time visualizing the finishing miles than they do any other part of the race.
I have found that in the world of project management we tend to do the opposite. The majority of our time is spent developing convincing business cases and identifying the resources we need. Our planning is considerably frontend focused, and we wonder why our projects struggle to end successfully. We have not invested enough time visualizing what successful completion is going to look like. We encounter an obstacle or unanticipated setback, and our project is derailed.
Let’s agree to not start any more projects until we have mentally constructed an image of what success, in the face of every imaginable barrier and complication is ultimately going to look like.
This blog was inspired by a friend who led a Bible study entitled Finishing Strong.
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I couldn’t agree more!