The times they are a-changin’
In 1964 Bob Dylan wrote the song of my generation, The times they are a-changin'. War was raging and protest and rapid social change ensued. Our society warped and cracked and reformed. A tidal wave of Baby Boomers transformed our economy, bringing greater demand and a shift to the information society.
Dylan’s words have as much meaning today as they did then.
“Your old road is rapidly agin'“
Sometimes the need to reset emerges quickly.
It did for my friend Mike, who took a wrong turn on day one of a three-day ultra race in an Arkansas forest. He backtracked on the trail to try to find the turn he missed and got hopelessly lost. He spent the rest of that day and the next running and walking, looking for civilization. He slept on the ground on two chilly nights clad only in running clothes, ate little, and ran many, many more miles than the three-day planned total of 90 miles. On day three, he finally emerged into a parking lot where he found other race participants who were looking for him. Organizers had cancelled day three of the race to search for Mike.
Backtracking to get back on track is something we all do. We get lost in our thoughts or in the daily routine or spot a shiny object and chase it. Then something alerts us, reminds us, or it slowly dawns on us that we are not going the intended direction, that we have deviated from our plan that had us taking a certain course to our objective. Oops! Better get back on track!
“You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone”
Sometimes retracing our steps and restarting is the right decision. But going back to get back on track may not work out well: It certainly didn’t for Mike. Backtracking can be the wrong choice because:
Circumstances have changed. The opportunity we were chasing may have moved on. As Dylan reminds us in his song title, we are facing a different world than what we faced when we laid our plan.
We have used up needed resources going the wrong direction and will expend more getting back to where we were. What’s available to get us where we want to go may now be insufficient.
Time frames are shorter. For example, if 12 weeks were needed to get the new system in place and everyone trained on its use but now only four weeks are left to get this done, that’s a problem.
Sometimes we should just forge ahead when we realize we have not been following the plan. I am reminded of the guidance I and other running coaches give our athletes: If you miss several training days, don’t backtrack and try to make up the missed workouts. If the gap is short, we will just keep you on the scheduled set of workouts. No change in plan is called for. One or two workouts missed have little effect on fitness. But if the gap is longer, we’ll revise the training plan to account for missing the benefit of the workouts not done and where you are now.
This guidance works for strategic plan implementation, as well. If an assessment of your KPIs shows that you did not have the planned number of discovery meetings with potential clients in the past month, not a problem. No change in plan is called for. But if you realize in July that you have not taken some important steps to implement your plan that you had intended to take in Q2, such as pursuing a big contract award for which the deadline has now passed, then you may need a revised plan or even a brand new plan.
As a strategist I believe there are “many roads to Rome,” meaning that a fresh look at changed circumstances, diminished resources, and shortened time frames can yield one or more new plan options for getting to the objective.
There are other times when pausing or resetting is called for:
Tests. Trying new initiatives with the understanding that how they work or don’t work may cause you to take a planned backtrack and take a new course is certainly a valid approach to getting to your ultimate goal.
Rest and recovery. Overtraining is a real issue for athletes trying to achieve big goals. Likewise, overwork and the burnout that comes with it is a real issue for business leaders, staff, and teams. Interrupting a plan for rest, recharging, and recovery make take you “off plan,” but if you don’t do this the likelihood that you will achieve the plan will diminish. Better to rest and reset!
“For the loser now will be later to win”
In my athletics career, I had two major interruptions which took me back to square one and no training for an extended period. I destroyed much of my body in a major bike crash in Ironman Canada in 2005 and nearly died from blood clots ten years later. Both times after a long hiatus I ran that first mile again and found it difficult. But as the weeks and the training rolled ahead, I found my game again.
Likewise, my start-up publishing company ran into a recession and unanticipated competition. The company’s financial prospects dimmed significantly and a large injection of cash was called for if we were to continue. We shut down the company and my job. Now what? Turns out that that failure and other more positive business experiences had equipped me to be a business consultant. I hung out my shingle and the rest is history.
We humans are so resilient! Don't give up if you have a major setback!
“The order is rapidly fadin’”
I am writing this in July. Half the year is gone. Whenever you are reading this, the question is relevant. Assuming you have a plan for the year, where are you in executing it? Is this an “aha” moment, when you recognize that you are not on track?
If you are off track, will a simple backtrack get you back on course? Or due to changing circumstances, resources, or timeframes, is it time to revise your plan or even to tear up your plan and begin anew?
The times they are a-changin': Copyright © 1963, 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1991, 1992 by Special Rider Music
