"Its a marathon, not a sprint". I used to think that comparing a race that takes a few hours to a transformational program wasn’t representative of how hard it is to get product development off the ground. My tune changed when I ran a half marathon (21 kms/13.1 miles) over the weekend.
The statement has far more significance than just time horizon and sustainable pace. Not even counting the training required, the race is a mental roller coaster. I felt unstoppable for kms, and then, out of blue, my legs stopped working. I’ve never felt so many highs and lows over a two hour time period. At points I was cruising, passing people and smiling, at other times I was ready to pull out of the race altogether.
Iterative and Incremental
Yes you have crossed the finish line- but in the back of my mind, I'm already evaluating what I could have done differently. yes I did a PB but I think about all of the details in my training, and the silly mistakes I made during the race. The race helped to bring forward the problem areas, and I realised there is so much to improve on. The endorphins from finishing are still high, so you sign up for the next one.
Maybe it’s just the product manager in me, but this is very similar to product development. We push and grind to get the product out there, and when it’s finally ready, we realise just how far we still have to go. My product lives on after that initial launch and there is always more ideas of how to improve and evolve. I have found sprint reviews are extremely important. Taking time to ask what went well, what didn’t, and figuring out what's left to do, what's next and how much we are progressing toward the product goal.
It's about Adaptive Planning
I learnt quickly that the actual race was only a very small part of the entire process. It’s really about the training I put in before, and the race plan I followed. I am pretty fit and could do a 5km race with little or no training but I knew that wouldn't cut it for a longer race, You can't just wing it. It requires setting up the right structures and processes. Initially I thought sticking to a plan would be easy, but after a couple of weeks into training, I started to understand that I needed to adapt to the different demands of the course or I would feel the wear and tear on my body.
The Plan needed to evolve. As the landscape changes, I needed to be adaptable and challenge the idea that there is only one single way to run the race. Sticking to a plan isn’t the answer as things change, customer needs change. That's why having a road map and setting a product goal have helped me gain clarity and structure in both the product world and when mapping out my run.
Feedback from customers and adapting the product roadmap and plan to close the customer satisfaction gap is the focus. Long lived products thrive because they are responsive to feedback and not rigid in their planning.
Roadblocks happen
Injuries, and what seems like lack of progress, are part of the process. It is something that I feel we all encounter when working in product management and on transformational change. Somethings are out of our control, sometimes it seems like you’re not making progress — when in fact it’s just part of the process.
Even professional athletes with access to latest technology and support, still get injured. Learning how to adapt when faced with complexity as a marathon runner, as a product manager and in life is critical.
The heart of transformation is never strictly about technology, design or work processes—it is about supporting the people that work in your organisation. Some team members will experience inevitable pain because change is never easy (even when we know it’s coming). As a product manager I need to properly understand and address their pains before we can move forward. Also, as the change agent who’s leading these efforts, it is especially important to understand my own anxieties and pressure level, ask for help, and take some breaks from time to time.
Recovery is just as important
When I first got into running, I genuinely thought it was all about pushing myself. Initially I made great progress on my time — but my body was physically and mentally having a hard time hitting my target goal paces. It's tempting to cut corners, ignore recovery, nutrition and stretching, but it comes back to haunt you.
Recovery is something we skip in our own lives — we often don’t even give ourselves enough time to rest and think. I’ve seen this happen in the product world too, product teams that are constantly pushing out new features without giving time to let the product breathe and collect meaningful data from the people that matter most — users.
Change is hard
Marathon training for me required getting up early when everyone else is still asleep and no one is waiting to cheer you on. You have faith that the short term difficulty is worth the eventual payoff. The journey and the destination are intrinsically worth it. When working on a multi year transformation effort, there will be many days when the team will feel all the steps aren't lining up right.
A half marathon (let alone a marathon) isn’t easy, in fact it’s pretty awful at moments. However, the process of learning to train, having patience and pushing through have made me resilient. Committing to a goal is difficult, but seeing progress and developing a product users love is something that brings me joy. yes it's hard, but there is also an amazing feeling of accomplishment that comes from doing something incredibly difficult be it a race, a start up or developing a product.
The path is long and impact over time matters. Like the sight of the finish line on race day, hold a vision of what the outcome you are working towards looks like, and hold that thought as a focal point to carry you through the lonely miles—knowing that every step along the path is getting you one step closer to making the product vision a reality.