The Value of Halfway

We have passed the half way point of 2019 and I have just received my daughter’s half year report. It serves as a reminder that we are nearly always half way through something!

Halfway through: breakfast, the day, writing an email, cooking dinner, driving to work, mowing the lawn, a sentence, the week, our holiday, etc.

Halfway provides us with a natural milestone which allows us to assess how we are doing, how efficient we are, and if we have enough time or require other resources to achieve a satisfactory completion. It also gives us a chance to change our approach, increase our effort, adjust our expectation and in some instances signal to our wider world to prepare for a different result.
Halfway is a magical place that is never far away in some form or another. At half way you have more experience than at the beginning, some performance data and usually have a chance to make some adjustments. Value every opportunity that every half way gives you. Celebrate when you are half way through something tough, double down when your results are a bit behind, change your strategy if it clearly isn’t working and savor every moment when you confirm you are on track.

Three important things about “HALFWAY”

1. You can only know you are halfway if you have a clear understanding of what your original objective was and exactly how much time or resource you have? This highlights the importance of a written goal, a project scope, a business plan or a detailed vision of what you are wanting to achieve.
2. Where it will serve you, apply the halfway concept multiple times as you see in the share market. Halfway through the first half (1st qtr), halfway through the financial year, etc. This approach allows you to break something down multiple times to create multiple milestones, allowing you to effectively manage how you progress.
3. Halfway is a great reminder that everything has to be started and that it is in the first half that we feel the least pressure, nearly always well into the second half before we experience the benefits.

I find this stuff difficult too. The point of this article is to remind you that reflection at halfway or on any other measurement mark is not a judgement of you. Rather it is an opportunity to assess what is working and where it may be necessary, make some adjustments. Seldom does everything work as you imagine, so these significant points along a timeline allow you to review and manage an adjustment in a positive manner.

Leadership at halfway is epitomised by the different mindset required between starting and finishing a project. If it is a larger project, you will likely note that you are more emotionally motivated in the starting or the finishing phase. Every project needs a leader at the beginning and at the end and some companies recognise that bringing on a good finisher seriously helps the energy in the second half of any project.

The best example of this that I can think of is in the modern game of professional rugby, where some players are specialist impact players that are injected into the game in the second half.

In business, I have been involved in the design and operationalisation of many large hospitality venues and business projects and I always break the project into 3 parts: a) The design and build phase; b) The preopening and opening phase; c) The post opening and optimisation phase. At each of these major points, the project changes and the skill set and tempo changes with it. Each step providing an opportunity to inject new energy into the project and redefine the focus, just like the impact players in the rugby example.