Hi,

"The only thing I ask is that you do not try and encourage me during the race. You can curse me out as much as you want."

These were the sole instructions my cousin gave me before we began his first Ironman 70.3. Other than that, I could be in charge. He would do what I asked.

Most importantly, I would pace him throughout the race. The role of the pacer is to set the speed and offer words of encouragement. In the case of my cousin, the latter was not necessary.

The most difficult part of pacing is knowing how hard to push the person. Push too much and they will not have enough in the tank to finish strong. Worse yet, they can completely quit. The safest thing to do is not push at all; simply be there as a comforting sight.

I chose to push my cousin hard. I wanted him to finish the race in what I felt would be a great time. I ignored his cues on the bike and his verbal warnings. I pushed and per his instructions yelled and cursed him out.

We had a fantastic swim and a good bike. My strategy was working. All that remained was the run.

"Now is where the fun starts," I told him after we began the 21km run.

"My legs are seizing up", he protested. I told him to push through it and I would let him walk at some point for a couple of minutes. At the halfway mark, his entire lower body started to cramp. Credit to him, he did not stop. He chose to suffer more than most I've seen in over a decade of racing.

After a torturous run, we crossed the finish line together.

I have been pondering the following two questions since:

1) Would he have finished the race faster/slower/similar without me? What about my professional clients?

2) To what extent should I push the organizations I work with? What is the right threshold?

** For this month, here are some ideas, hacks, and mental models to think about:

Crossing the Chasm: The Law of Diffusion of Innovations
Complexity Can Be a Result of Poor Decision-Making
Space X’s 5 Stage Development Process
Removing the Effects of COVID on Our Posture

** Crossing the Chasm: The Law of Diffusion of Innovations

According to Simon Sinek, the secret behind a successful cultural transformation lies within the Law of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI). Pitching transformations like “marketing campaigns” with specific launch dates to anticipate and large manifestos to study is inefficient and ineffective. The DOI tells us that we can push through successful transformations by simply targeting one small segment of an organization. It tells us that:

2.5% of the population are innovators.
12.5% of the population are early adopters.
34% of the population are an early majority.
34% of the population are a late majority.
16% of the population are laggers.

A new idea will almost always receive the support of 10% of a population; the innovators, and some of the early majority. However, this law tells us that mass-market success cannot be achieved without a minimum acceptance rate of 16-18%. So how do you cross the chasm to go from 10% to 80%?

You target the early adopters, the 12.5%. The majority will not adopt an idea, until someone else has tried it first.

Here is an example of this in action

** Complexity Can Be a Result of Poor Decision-Making

“Excessive complexity is nature’s punishment for organizations that are unable to make decisions.” ~Gregor Hohpe, ex-Google Cloud Director and Chief IT Architect at Allianz

Gregor suggests that organizations can self-inflict complexity, due to their inability to make meaningful decisions. While falling down the ‘perfection rabbit hole’, an organization may be making an unconscious decision to strangle its own success by laying down requirements that simply aren’t meaningful. Conscious decisions minimize complexity, and allow for more impactful, long-term success.

** SpaceX’s 5 Stage Development Process

Elon’s failures both at Tesla and SpaceX led him to devise a 5-step development process that does not prioritize automation above all else. It’s important to note that he reached this conclusion after he attempted and failed to fully automate the Tesla production line. The five steps are:

Make requirements less dumb
Delete part of process
Simplify and optimize
Accelerate cycle time
Automate

** Removing The Effects of COVID on Our Posture

Dr Stuart McGill, who has researched back-pain for over 30 years, suggests that the core causes of sciatic back-pain are: prolonged sitting, and unintentional slouching. It may surprise you to know that neither sitting bolt upright or lying back in your chair are ‘correct’ seated postures. He goes on to suggest the following, to help prevent back-pain, and to rehabilitate those who already experience it:

Lumbar Support - When prolonging sitting in a chair; use a rolled-up towel or cushion to support your lower back around your belt-line. This forces a curve in the spine, releasing pressure off spinal discs and preventing lower-back nerve pinches.
Stand wherever Possible - Whether that be the use of increasingly popular ‘standing desks’, or even just a standing stretch at regular intervals in a seated working day would make a noticeable difference.
Walk, walk, walk - Walking to commute to work, or walking during breaks; walking is essential in preventing back pain. There are even various ‘enhanced’ forms of walking which have been proven to rehabilitate sciatic sufferers.

Find out more

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Ahmad