Sprints, marathons and hikes

Preparing for a sprint. Photo by William Stitt on Unsplash

A sprint is when you run as fast as you can a short distance. You exhaust as much energy as you can in what can be described as a focused explosion. The goal is set (typically 100, 200 or 400 meters away) and the track is planned and designed to optimize for speed. The goal of a sprint is to finish as fast as possible (on time).

A marathon is a long distance run with a clear goal. You know from the beginning how long you will run and which path to take. Conservation of energy is a concern but you still have to keep a high pace. Collapsing at the finishing line is a legit strategy because the goal of a marathon is to finish it on time and on budget. You carry no extra weight to be able to reach this goal.

Photo by Pietro Rampazzo on Unsplash

A hike is a long distance walk through possibly unknown terrain. The goal might be set at the beginning but may change during the hike. The actual goal is not typically to reach the destination but to create a valuable experience for the participants. In other words, the measure of success is not the time it took (finishing on time and budget) but if we enjoyed the experience (value created). It is not unusual to mid way through the hike decide on a new destination if that means a more enjoyable hike. In fact, exploring an area can be one of the goals of the hike.

Conservation of energy is a concern but a skillful hiker can fill up new energy and go on more or less indefinitely.

You do carry extra weight to make the hike sustainable.

Sometimes during a hike you have to make a sprint, maybe to avoid getting wet from the rain or run away from a bear (!).

Other times during a hike you have to pace up and go in to “marathon mode” in order to reach a destination on time, for example a resting place before it gets dark.

Photo by Holly Mandarich on Unsplash

Even though all of these three are about moving yourself from one place to another, the process, tool set and most of all mindset is completely different. We can translate this to the world of building products and startups.

• A sprint is a short and focused effort that will consume a lot of energy and is unsustainable over more than very short time periods. A company with a sprint culture will see many firefighting exercises fixing urgent issues. “Hero workers” are the fittest and strongest that can pull all-nighters and work weekends. Even though everyone is super active all the time and working until they’re exhausted, there’s no real end in sight and the organization lacks direction and a destination.
• A marathon is like a long and big project that spans over multiple months, with a clearly defined goal that has been decided at the beginning of the marathon. A company with a marathon culture looks similar to one with the sprint culture but not as intense. Typically everyone works in big projects with ambitious plans. The focus is on delivering what has been planned, on time and on budget with the available resources. When the marathon is over, everyone celebrates briefly and then gets ready for the next marathon.
• A company with a hike culture sees things differently from the other two. The end goal is not as important as the value created. Something that by the way needs to be created from the very first step of the hike — not at the end. A sustainable pace is more important than finishing a made up goal on time and on budget. The destination may change midway through the hike if it serves the purpose of creating more value. The participants of the hike may choose to do a sprint or even a marathon if it’s necessary due to the circumstances, but they are never the sole activity of the hike. Exploration and learning is part of the journey.

You may recognize this from the Project vs Product debate and the difference between being outcome (value) vs output (activity or artifact) focused. Most companies I worked with has been marathon companies. My guess is that many companies that start out with a hike culture morphs in to a marathon culture as processes become more streamlined and “corporate” and managing becomes more important than leading.

I do feel, however, that we need more of the hiking mentality. Continuous exploration and value creation in a sustainable pace should be the model - not a streak of marathons.

What do you think? Have you seen these three types of companies? How are they different? Can a marathon type of company morph in to a hiking type? Let me know in the comments what you think!