Run through the finish line

I used to run cross country way back when. One of the differences between the good runners (like me) and the great runners (Dave F, Todd E) was talent. But drive was more important than talent. One of the key pieces of advice my coach gave us was to “run through the finish line”. On the face of it, it seems obvious–you are at the end of a 5k race, why wouldn’t you want to finish as fast as possible? Why waste that effort? But I can’t tell you how many times I passed (and was passed) in the last 50 feet of a race. I saw the finish line, I relaxed (as much as possible) and slacked. Or, I saw someone else doing that and knew I could move up one more place. If you’ve left it all on the course (easier to do in a 5k than some other races) it is hard to have anything left to run that last bit. But drive can provide that last bit of energy.

In a software project of any size, there’s also that “last 50 feet”. If you are developing, it’s the last 10% of the project that takes 50% of the time. If you are running a project, it’s the last few weeks when all the little things that were put off during the big build out phase come out of the woodwork and need to be dealt with. Or it’s when the project blows up 2 weeks before deadline. When you are dealing with a vendor, it’s the crunch time before you launch, when any organizational complexity ignored comes due.

If you want to get across the finish line successfully, sound of body and mind, and with your team intact, what can you do to finish strong?

Be realistic: I never ran a 15 minute 5k. So starting out at that pace was a sure way to make sure I had nothing left at the 2 mile marker, let alone the finish. Make sure you have realistic expectations at the start of your project. If you or your team don’t know how to scope the work, spend some time learning how to do so upfront.

Cultivate drive: remind the team regularly why this project is important. If there are features that you discover are harder or less useful than supposed at the beginning, don’t be afraid to shift effort. Also, refer back to previous successes or failures for motivation.

Confront complexity early: don’t save it for the finish. That’s like picking up a 40lb sandbag at the 4k mark. Derisk a project by doing the hardest parts first. In some situations you can’t (final integration of components or external system access), but try to do it as early as possible (via CI or mocking up external systems and loudly asking for access as soon as possible).

Hold a reserve: experienced runners know to save a bit for the end. Don’t ask your team to work crazy hours in the beginning or middle of a project, because they’ll have no reserve to push through the finish line. Every software developer I’ve ever talked to knows the last 2 weeks of a project will require extra effort–don’t waste that expectation by requiring more work early on.

Drive is important to finishing a 5k; it’s also important to complete a software project. Running all the way through the finish line can be the difference between a failed delivery and a successful project. Plan accordingly.