This year I found out as I ran my first marathon. And I loved it. Well, most of it.
It may seem like an odd thing to enjoy doing. After all, the legend of Marathon is based on a Greek runner, Pheidippides who ran 26 miles to Athens to report an unexpected victory in the Battle of Marathon. And then collapsed and died from exhaustion. So, why would anyone enjoy such an event?
My reasons
Firstly, I believed in what I was doing. In my case, I was raising money for Cancer Research UK, an amazing charity that was aiming to raise over a million pounds from the London Marathon in 2014, enough to keep a laboratory going for a year. With my father undergoing treatment for cancer, this motivation was immeasurable but essential. Not only for that last tough mile, but for the training sessions when the rest of the world seemed to be snuggly indoors while I was out in the bleak mid-winter, being rained upon, running through the mud. And it rained a lot this winter.
Secondly, the support from the crowds was incredible; I lost count of the number of times somebody yelled out “Come on, Tim” or high fived me but it happened hundreds of times. And each time, my motivation picked up. My legs may have been getting heavier but my morale stayed high almost right to the end.
Thirdly, preparation is essential. Not just physically, but psychologically. Reading tips on how to stay motivated while running for a few hours made the difference between finishing and not. Breaking the 26 miles into a series of manageable hurdles broke the challenge down into something that I could cope with. Along with running each of the last few miles for a specific person.
So, how does any of this relate to the world of IT?
After 25 years in the field, I have experienced a large number of complex projects. The ones that stand out as real successes were also the ones that people enjoyed working on; they invariably had tough technical challenges to overcome but everybody believed in the project.
These projects were underpinned by the same three principles:
1. Belief in what you are doing.
2. Motivation.
3. Preparation.
The second principle, motivation, is essential but often overlooked by the technology community. It is all too easy to know that somebody is doing an excellent job and not tell them how good a job they are doing. Yet, the difference it makes is incredible. When a member of my team at a previous employer had struggled to get a complex task done for the first time, I took the time to tell her that she had done a good job; in the subsequent days her productivity soared. Those few minutes of encouragement led to hours of additional work being completed.
The third reason, preparation, is as essential for an IT project as a marathon. Making sure that the business have given their buy-in, that the right infrastructure is in place. Without these foundations, even the most successful project can flounder.
Preparation and motivation to overcome the toughest hurdles
When the right preparation has been done, a motivated team that believes in the project can show how even the toughest of hurdles can be conquered. As 34,000 runners, with the support of 750,000 spectators, did in the London Marathon on April 13, 2014.