【Founders: What's Your 20 Mile March?】
In his book "Great by Choice," author Jim Collins set off to understand why some companies were not only able to withstand the test of time--weathering through volatility, uncertainty, and recessions--but also outperform industry peers by 10x.
One of those factors was what he called the 20 Mile March. To illustrate this concept, he cited the story of two explorers--Amundsen of Norway and Scott of England--each leading an expedition to the South Pole. Amundsen's team trekked around 20 miles, every day, rain or shine, no matter what. Meanwhile, Scott's team would push their limits as far as they would go on good days with clear skies, while limiting their efforts on days with inclement weather.
The Norwegians ultimately reached the South Pole first, a whole 5 weeks ahead of their British counterparts.
As a founder, there are so many things out of your control, whether it's competition, technological change, geopolitics, natural disasters, or global pandemics--perhaps more relevant today than ever. Furthermore, you're constantly bombarded with ideas, opportunities, fires to put out, and an endless barrage of other things pulling your attention left and right. Adopting a 20 Mile March creates a tangible point of focus that keeps you and your team moving forward, despite confusion, uncertainty, and even chaos.
For companies pre-PMF, this might entail deploying several product iterations or talking to a certain number of customers per month. For growth stage companies, this could mean hitting certain threshold of profitability each quarter, never going over or under.
A 20 Mile March doesn't need to be financial. It could be oriented towards customer service, learning, or even innovation. In any case, a good 20 Mile March has the following 7 elements, according to Collins:
1. Clear performance markers
2. Self-imposed constraints (upper and lower bounds)
3. Appropriate to the specific company
4. Largely within the company’s control to achieve
5. A proper timeframe (long enough to manage, yet short enough to have teeth)
6. Imposed by the company upon itself
7. Achieved with high consistency
For leaders of startups, corporations, expeditions, teams, or even your own personal lives, it is paramount to adopt an almost fanatic-like discipline, with clear and consistent steps if you want to achieve your goals. This requires acclimating to two distinct types of discomfort: delivering high performance in difficult times and holding back in good times. As they say, the more you sweat in times of peace, the less you bleed in times of war.
-Jun Wakabayashi
Analyst, AppWorks
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