JK's Diary

Picture this: the familiar thud of my shoes on pavement, and breath syncing with each stride. For the last few years, running has been my sanctuary; a place where pacing, rhythm, and focus reign supreme. Half-marathons, 15Ks and 10Ks all followed a predictable dance (a test of linear endurance). You plan your splits, find your groove, and push through the mental fog. Then I signed up for my first Spartan 5K, an obstacle course race that laughed in the face of everything I’d learned. Mud, walls, rope climb and sheer chaos flipped my running world upside down. Was it a one-off thrill, or the start of a new obsession? Let’s unpack this wild one a bit.

“I didn’t realize it then, but this shift from predictability to chaos would mirror the very transformation many organizations are facing today.”

The comfort of the known path: The Marathon Mindset

If you’ve followed my blog (Marathon Diary), you know my running journey has been a masterclass in Pacing, Rhythm, and Focus. Of course, proper nutrition, hydration, and training, and you’ve got a formula for crossing finish lines and setting PR’s now and then. In a nutshell, every disciplined runner (and strategist) eventually learns this triad:

• Pacing (resource management): This is the strategic budgeting of energy, ensuring no burnout before the final stretch. It’s the disciplined execution of a long-term business plan. Spread it wisely over kms/miles to avoid crashing.
• Rhythm (Process Consistency): The steady cadence of breath and stride creating a meditative, predictable workflow. It’s the commitment to established, repeatable processes for consistent delivery. 
• Focus (Monotony Resilience): The mental battle against laziness and fatigue is about single-minded dedication to a long-term goal. It’s the drive to push past inertia when work feels routine. You wrestle with your mind, pushing past the voice begging you to stop.

Success is largely determined by meticulous planning, hydration, nutrition, and the ability to maintain a steady state in traditional running. It is predictable, controlled, and deeply satisfying at the end. It’s a test of endurance, where you master your body and mind over long, unbroken stretches. Or so I thought! until the Spartan 5K came calling.

Spartan 5K: Chaos as the New Constant

The Spartan 5K was less a race and more a rapid-fire series of high-stakes, high-impact challenges. From the starting line, the routine vanished, replaced by a need for immediate adaptation: a six-foot wall requiring upper-body power, followed by a low crawl under barbed wire demanding immediate shifts in locomotion. Obstacles like rope climbs and the bucket carry transformed a cardio challenge into an integrated test of strength, agility, and grit.

This wasn’t about finding a rhythm; it was about constant disruption and real-time problem-solving. It struck me how much this mirrored what I see in the Retail-CPG sector today where disruption, consumer shifts, and AI-driven competition have turned once-stable playbooks into obstacle courses.

The Agility Shift: Moving from Pacing to Power Bursts

The Spartan 5K forced a paradigm shift in how I viewed strategy and execution. From Endurance to Agility, the three shifts:

• Pacing → Power Bursts: My marathon strategy of calculated splits was useless. Success was measured in sprints to an obstacle, maximum-effort bursts to clear it, and on-the-fly recovery before the next challenge. This mirrors the need for modern professionals to transition from slow, linear projects to rapid sprints and intense periods of deep work.
• Rhythm → Interruption Resilience: The steady flow was deliberately broken by obstacles. My heart rate and muscle recruitment spiked and dropped repeatedly. The lesson: the capacity to perform, recover quickly, and adapt to the next interruption is more valuable than maintaining an unbroken groove.
• Focus → Split-Second Problem-Solving: The focus shifted from enduring monotony to immediate risk assessment (like the height of the rope climb). It demanded a different kind of mental resilience given the zero practice and tricks. The ability to observe how others do the rope climb and execute under pressure, not just push through fatigue is another level.

Crossing that finish line felt different from any road race victory I have experienced. It had nothing to do with time; it was a testament to raw agility and the collaborative spirit forged in the struggle. In today’s market, endurance still matters, but agility wins the race.

The Crossroads: Rhythm vs. AI-gility

“We’re now entering an age of AI-gility — where both human adaptability and AI-assisted speed define success.”

My journey is now at a fascinating crossroads. My personal blog is full of stories about pursuing PRs (Personal Records) and the meticulous planning of road running. But the Spartan experience suggests a deeper truth: strategy must be agile. It raises a question relevant to any career, industry or business:

• Do we perfect the single, linear path we know, or do we seek out disruptive challenges that force us to develop new layers of strength and resilience?

Your Turn: Join the Conversation

I’m turning to my professional network for insights.

1. AI-gility in Action: Have you encountered obstacles where a project or market movement completely disrupted your plans/workflow and forced you to pivot? How did you adapt your strategy in the ‘Spartan moment’?
2. The Trifecta Dare: Should I commit to the Spartan Trifecta next year, blending my established endurance training with a year dedicated to high-agility, high-strength challenges?

Drop your stories and thoughts in the comment. Your input might just push me toward my next, muddy, adventure.

“McKinsey research finds that agile organizations outperform non-agile peers by 30% in operational performance.”

Abstract

Financial services industry and the public services industry is currently faced with increasing regulatory norms, cuts in IT budget and a need for a strong IT foundation to stay ahead of competition. Though the CIOs seem to be pushing for IT transformation projects, Gartner Survey indicates that “For 2013, CIO IT budgets are projected to be slightly down, with a weighted global average decline of 0.5 percent”.

As a seasoned consultant you might be able to see the true potential of your client. But for various reasons like budget constraints, other IT priorities, etc. your request to implement certain key projects might not see the light of day. Find out what you can do to achieve a win-win situation in this article.

The D2RC model

In this model, the consultant is required to get two things. One, secure a “Go-Ahead” from the client to the start the project by explaining the big picture. Two, get the required approvals to reinvest the savings obtained in the first three months (post due-diligence phase) on key projects identified by the consultant. The four stages of the D2RC (Due-diligence – Deliver – Reinvest – Charge) model is detailed below:

Due-Diligence – This phase charts out a clearly defined and agreed upon benefits with up-front process to measure the resultant value. The consultant based on his knowledge of the client picks the least-effort-maximum-impact project that could bring about substantial savings to kick-start the “Deliver” phase. The consultant also identifies potential projects for implementation along with a roadmap. This is typically a consulting phase.

Deliver – In a short duration of say two to three months, the identified project must be executed and the savings required for reinvestment secured. If the consultant is going to take longer than three months, its better the project is reconsidered or not attempted unless there is a strong rationale behind it.

Re-invest – The estimated savings over a one-year period from the “Deliver” phase would fund the potential projects identified in the “due-diligence” phase. Projects will have to be hand-picked such that the funds are sufficient to implement at least 70-75% of the project. This is to show tangible benefits to the business for obtaining remaining funds.

Charge – Midway through the Re-invest phase, the consultant can show tangible benefits to the client and either charge for effort spent until then or ask for a percentage of the savings as fee. This is more like a Risk & Reward model. End of the day, it all depends on the progress made and tangible benefits the client can see.

Making it work:

The first step for the consultant is to convince his company that there is a lot of potential with the client. Secondly, he has to secure client buy-in before the engagement starts, which is not only tough, but also risky. To make this model work, the consultant must:

• Have sufficient knowledge of the client, his environment and culture (preferably worked with the client)
• Good rapport with key stakeholders (business, IT and top management)
• Long term commitment from the client and support when it comes to working with other vendors
• Clear definition of scope of activities, quantum of work and the projects to be carried out
• Follow caution in terms of explaining the model, billing and charge backs when tangible benefits are realized

The Risks:

If the “due-diligence” and “deliver” phase combined takes a long time to show tangible results, the planned projects might not even kick-off. If the due-diligence was based on sub-standard analysis or incorrect assumptions, the savings obtained in “deliver” phase will not be substantial to meet the funds required for the re-invest phase. If the consultant cannot show visible progress or results at regular intervals, the project is destined for failure. Above all, the consultant must have a clear view on when to pull the plug should anything go wrong to ensure damage control.

Presence of other incumbent vendors can also pose a risk if there is no client buy-in at the executive level to enable smooth implementation.

Possible due-diligence projects:

Here is a sample list of projects the consultant could consider for the least-effort-maximum-impact projects.

• Technology stack rationalization – If the client has a host of tools in their environment, this is a good place to start. The savings obtained from licenses per year can be used for reinvestment
• Lean BI projects – On occasions where the client has a lot of processes in place, which are age old, attempting to study a few key processes and trimming them could help achieve the required savings
• Centralization – If the client operates on a fragmented model, analyzing the impact of centralizing a few key processes could bring in efficiency and savings. Example, centralized report creation team

Benefits:

• Guaranteed Savings for the client
• The consultant can build the clients confidence/trust and a possible long-term relationship
• For the client, he gets to execute projects which he has been wanting to without having to go to the top management for funds
• Prevent the client from floating a RFP. Caveat: Assuming the client does not have the funding to float a RFP

Conclusion

There are several pricing models available in the market. What differentiates this model from the others is the fact that this is a combination of Risk-Reward model and Result-Oriented pricing model. Given today’s market condition, this model is a win-win for both the consultant and the client if risks are understood and cautiously handled.