The breakaway sometimes wins
Cycle racing is a tactical sport. On the surface, it is all about endurance and power. But success in cycle racing is both smarts and endurance. Let me tell stories of similarity. It is funny how organisational life and racing share aspects.
You need to break away to win
So: sometimes either one or a group of riders separates themselves from the main pack. This is called a breakaway. The logic is simple. Just go faster than the others and you'll arrive at finish the first. You'll win.
There, however, is great gravitational pull in the main pack - the peloton. When bunched up, the peloton saves tens of percent of aerodynamic draft all the time. They, just like a flock of birds, save up energy. I've been there. In the middle of the pack, at best times, it feels like jogging pace. Then somebody is at the front eating wind and doing an effort that can be sustained only for few minutes.
The peloton of course, is the organisation status quo!
You need to break away to win. But if you break away, you get soon exhausted.
You need your breakaway companions
The breakaway usually is best achieved with many enough riders to share the load. But then you have to have few enough to have alignment of goals and cohesion.
Breakaways form based on riders wanting to break out at the same time. But breakaways also fall apart as participants don't see the cohesion and chance of success. It is customary that breakaways in cycle racing form but also disband. Sometimes, the ingredients are just not there.
Then you return to the main pack and look for the next opportunity.
Now here is the parallel in making big things happen in a company. You have to find the right people into the breakaway group. This time it is not only endurance (stamina to cope with the stresses of change) and power (power to influence the organisation). The successful breakaway formation is about finding the common agenda and finding how the group works together.
Now this is textbook Kotter and the steps of leading change.
The chase and the escape velocity
Once a breakaway group is established, it will try make a separation from the peloton. The more the better.
The peloton chases. There are teams that put forth their powerhouse riders. The peloton keeps up the pace. They don't let the breakaway group go loose. They want to win too.
Sometimes, however, the breakaway sneaks away. Out of sight, out of mind. The difference grows. All of a sudden, they cannot be caught anymore. The change wins then.
And you cross the finish line. The change could not be stopped.
Your breakaway succeeded - most of breakaways never go far. So, the next time you try something new but your breakaway does not win, don't worry. Just learn. There will be more races every week.
All metaphors break
All metaphors break. But I like them nonetheless. Business is not cycling, while cycling nowadays is much a business.
In cycling, there is only one winner. In business everyone can win.
So, take this with tongue on the cheek. Keep racing.
Epilogue: Ai-generated:
Antti/Meta: The previous text was enough for Ai to get a whiff of the juxtaposition. It is always amazing how LLMs can just take an abstraction like this parallel, and then just cast it forward. I know this requires a bit of skill in priming the LLM. I seem to know how to write so that the LLM context state is ready to apply the concept.
Prompt: Read up the article. Any good parallels I missed?
Claude: Here are some additional parallels you might consider:
Team Dynamics & Positioning:
- Lead-out trains - Senior leaders setting up others for success, then peeling off when their job is done
- Domestiques - Support players who sacrifice personal glory to help the team/organization succeed
- Sprinter positioning - Timing when to make your move in organizational politics
Race Conditions & Context:
- Weather/terrain changes - External market forces that change the game mid-race
- Feed zones - Critical resource allocation moments that can make or break the effort
- Time cuts - Organizational deadlines where you either keep up or get eliminated
Strategic Timing:
- False attacks - Testing organizational resistance before the real change push
- Waiting for the right gradient - Choosing when conditions favor your change initiative
- Reading the peloton's body language - Sensing organizational readiness for change
Endgame Tactics:
- The yellow jersey effect - How being the leader/incumbent makes you a target
- Wheel-sucking - Organizations that copy successful changes without doing the hard work