Are you going fast enough?

Why do we start, run or work for businesses and organisations? There are many, many answers to this question. It could, of course, be simply to make a living. Or because you like solving problems, want to make a difference or crave self-actualisation. For me, it’s really about seeing what you can do and how well you can do it.

To some degree, I believe you only find out what you’re capable of when you set your sights correctly. Setting a target and hitting it can feel good, but it’s unlikely that it represents the full extent of what we’re capable of, especially at a collective level. Chances are you could have done, learnt, created or changed more.

How much can we achieve?

Personally, I’m not all that motivated by hitting targets just for the sake of it. I don’t mind looking forward. In fact, I’d suggest that near-constant scenario planning and analysis is essential in a business. It’s also important to look back, review and learn. When it comes to specific targets, though, I just aim to achieve as much as we can.

At Adaptavist, we’ve been in a continuous state of hypergrowth for a decade. Not because we set out with it as a specific goal (a compound annual growth rate over 40%). Instead, it’s been because we’ve aimed to do the best that we can with the people, products, services, partners and opportunities available to us. We’ve not achieved perfection, and we’re constantly learning from that. However, we've also never put a cap on what we expect to achieve. Similarly, we don’t create a false sense of defeat by failing to hit arbitrary stretch targets.

Focused on the right objectives?

There should be targets, of course, but they should be driving towards your strategic objectives. Focus on what to do, who to do it for, how they’re going to get value from it and why they should choose you. It’s important to ensure that the business is as competitive as possible, ready to push ahead and deal with change. Other targets have value, too, but they should be part of observing and measuring the business.

Delivering growth of 10 or 20% might seem good, but what if your competitors grew by 50%? What if your market share declined? What if competitors’ actions and innovations this year will reduce your opportunities next year?

What if you grew by 20%, but you could have grown by 50%? Is that still success? It could be, of course, but it’s likely that additional growth would have created more opportunities and given you more options. Success today tends to lay the foundations for the future.

Are you pushing hard enough?

In some ways, it’s like Formula One. If you drive sensibly, within your limits, within what you know you’re capable of, there’s a good chance you’ll lose the race to someone who is trying harder, pushing at some of the limits of the car and the circuit.

The reality is that a business isn’t just like a Grand Prix or even a whole season, of course. It's more like sustained participation in Formula One. There are long-term and short-term goals as well as competitive dynamics. You can also trade-off your focus on the short-term with the long-term gains – and vice versa. Not only that, but the rules of engagement – the constraints – change over time. There is a complex inter-dependency between your individuals and teams, all specialising in different aspects but (hopefully) all fixated on a common goal.

In business, competitors aren’t so visible

The aim is to go fast enough to win or even – as four-time Formula One champion Alain Prost said – “to win the race at the slowest speed possible”. The challenge in business is that our competitors – their wins and their strategies – aren’t so visible as in Formula One. For that reason, it makes sense to push harder, though not in a way that might cause long-term damage to your prospects and capabilities.

Sometimes we only find out our full capabilities by pressing up against the constraints, having mastery over our craft and pushing hard. Whilst most participants in a Grand Prix will surely feel that they drove as hard as they could, it’s hard to imagine that they couldn’t have gone faster. If they simply drove more laps in the same way as their fastest ones, they would improve their performance. Perhaps the car could be improved in ways that are only apparent from pushing towards the limits? Could the drivers and their team prepare and execute better?

Push harder, achieve more, learn more

“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough,” said Mario Andretti, one of only three drivers ever to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR.

One thing to learn from the best performers is that it’s crucial to know what constraints or boundaries you’re pushing. You need to pay attention to detail and encourage individuals and teams to monitor the metrics that matter. Teams also benefit from going as fast as possible, through feedback and encouraging each other to achieve more, showing what’s possible. Relentlessly learning from the process is vital because, when you go faster, you’ll experience things you don’t find at average speeds. Because you only learn at the limits.