Something I do now is walk over to Stankowski Field in the middle of Mizzou’s campus early in the morning before the students are out and take the old man VO2 max test that I read about in The Wall Street Journal on the track there (which they say is one-third of mile in circumference, but is definitely shorter than that). That test consists of running as fast as you can for 12 minutes and then seeing how far you got. 

I like it because I like benchmarking, the test is not too long, but not too short, and it’s been fun to see progress. And sometimes, to stay motivated, I imagine that I’m being chased by a bear.

Wait, what?

Well, after I wrote about creating a sense of urgency at work in order to drive accomplishment, I received a note back from Joe R. He said that one of his first bosses believed “that you never run faster than when you are being chased by a bear.” I thought that was a funny mental image, so I adopted it during my next old man VO2 max test.

As a practical aside, if you are being attacked by a bear, don’t run away. If it’s a black bear, fight back, but if a grizzly, play dead – and hopefully you have enough wits about you right as you’re about to be attacked by a large predator to know the difference. I digress…

While imagining a bear chasing me has helped me run faster and farther, it wasn’t a good management strategy for Joe R.’s first boss. Because in actualizing it he “motivated people with fear...in an environment of low communication…[and] remains the worst boss I’ve ever had.” Because, in Joe’s words, while “you run fast when being chased by a bear…you can’t run a marathon that way” (leaving aside the fact that it might go viral if somebody tried). 

Of course, Joe is no longer in his first job and has moved up the organizational chain of command to lead others, so I wanted to know what he does differently as a result of that terrible experience. Here’s what he said:

I’ve found that you should recognize that everyone has an extra gear to up their productivity, innovation, etc. As a leader, I try to engage that gear regularly, but not frequently, and to do it by giving goals to people and teams that are hard but not impossible. I deliver these goals with the message that “I am confident you will figure out how to reach it, and I will help you to do so. I believe in you.”

And I liked that advice. After all, you can accomplish a lot during sprints, but if and only if you recognize that you need to rest in between them.

-Tim

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