Time is the biggest enemy of change. Successful leaders recognize that achieving velocity does not equate to achieving momentum. Leaders need to develop meaningful results fast in order to develop the momentum necessary to sustain commitment. Thus, teams need to be focused on making a significant difference quickly, working to move from theoretical benefits to practical results. This need for speed creates a dynamic tension. There is a tension between the need for speed and the need to engage stakeholders.

Traditional approaches focus primarily on deliverables and project timelines, with transformation management being included as a side activity often disconnected from what is viewed as the "real work" of the initiative. Faced with looming deadlines, restrictive budgets and a host of disparate and conflicting agendas, leaders often fall into the trap of sacrificing stakeholder mass in pursuit of deliverable velocity. The leaders in the study did not make this mistake. Successful leaders found ways to pay attention and invest in both the attainment of speed and in ensuring the necessary level of commitment.

Teams working in isolation can often deliver tangible elements more quickly than those engaging large communities. However, care must be taken to ensure that results are meaningful to the community at large. 

The sole focus on deliverables is one of the main reasons why roughly 70% of complex projects do not achieve their desired outcomes.

Velocity Without Mass is Not Momentum

Building momentum is a key leadership role. Without sufficient momentum, the inertia and the complexity of integrating existing processes and systems can overwhelm the energy for change. Successful leaders develop strategies to ensure sufficient momentum to achieve “critical mass”, the point at which ideas, energy and resources effortlessly begin to flow toward the initiative.

This involves focusing on both the speed with which the tangible deliverables are created and the depth and breadth of commitment from the stakeholder community. Achieving optimal momentum involves paying attention to both of these aspects. Leaders are sometimes fearful that involving the necessary stakeholders to the extent required will introduce significant delays, yet the opposite is normally the case. Moving too far too quickly without engaging a critical mass of stakeholders runs the risk of leaving key partners behind, creating resentment and the rejection of early stage ideas.

Ultimately, it can take far longer to bring stakeholders onside once negative opinions have been established. This was acknowledged by a study participant who noted that to achieve real results, creating the conditions which allow stakeholders to develop these convictions requires time and conversation. Moving forward without the necessary conversations may allow a leader to maintain the illusion of progress, but it does not establish the mass of support necessary to shift the smiles of acquiescence into the actions needed to deliver results.