Lately we have been talking a good deal about power, and today we will talk again about it, but from a totally different perspective – as an endogenous and endemic property of a project plan. It appears to me that when a pattern emerges again and again in completely different contexts, this interconnectedness is a sign of some deeper, structural truth. The power of the finish line is such an example: it is a fascinating phenomenon that shows up across totally unrelated areas – from sports to nutrition to change management.

If you’ve ever trained for a marathon or a long-distance race, you know what I mean. There’s the long preparation phase. Your training schedule is dialed in. Your sleep, nutrition, even alcohol intake, is planned down to the detail. You time everything precisely so that you peak for the event. You learn to pace yourself, distribute your energy, and focus on reaching the finish line with enough strength to make it through – propelling just before.

And the closer you get to that finish line – whether in a race or in a project – the more intense your focus becomes. You’re concentrated. Purposeful. Every decision flows from the goal. And then…
You cross the line.

The spell breaks. The very structure that held everything together collapses under its own weight. The routines disappear, the adrenaline drains, and the momentum — once so powerful — evaporates. The scaffolding that supported your effort starts to crumble, not because it was weak, but because it was never meant to outlast the finish line. There’s often a strange kind of low, a hollow note where the goal used to be – and this low becomes a magnetic vortex that draws energy, sometimes destroying the results of the project with it.

So why does this happen?

Part of the answer lies in how we plan. In any well-structured project or training journey, you distribute resources – time, energy, attention – across a timeline. You’re working toward a defined outcome on a fixed date. That clarity gives power and direction. Most importantly, it provides intense focus – and our energy follows our focus. (On a side note, this is exactly why I believe in KPIs – not from the evangelical standpoint of them reflecting the ultimate truth, but because they make us look closer at the phenomena we use them to describe and measure.)

At the same time, the plan also makes us vulnerable when the target is suddenly achieved and, in effect, gone.

This brings us to the uncomfortable truth: if you fail to plan for what happens after, you’ve only solved half the equation – no matter how outstanding the outcome of your project was, and that you passed the finish line with flying colours. The finish line may mark the end of the project, but it’s also the beginning of something else – something often overlooked.

That’s why it would be pointless to talk about the power of the finish line without also talking about what comes next. How do we prepare for the drop? How do we build continuity instead of collapse? Where is the exit out of this labyrinth?

The exit is, in this case, exactly where the entry is.

And the answer is deceptively simple: you need a plan for the transition, not just the delivery. That means designing systems and routines that remain in place after the project’s energy has burned out. Ideally, this planning starts not at the end, but roughly in the middle of the project — when the momentum is strong, and the temptation to assume success is at its peak.

Most crucially, this is the moment when the change starts showing, and the motivation to maintain the results is at its highest, as the organisation starts feeling the difference. Finally, in most cases you have grown several multipliers within your change project – these will be the individuals who will be able to propagate the results and act as change agents.

Your plan for the next steps will include the usual suspects: communication strategy, operational anchoring, role clarity, and process ownership. Oh, and communication strategy – again, again, and again. The easiest way is to segment the actions you will have to undertake along three dimensions: systems, processes, and people.

Yet, there is one more crucial step that lies in the very beginning: it’s about acknowledging the power of the finish line, looking it straight in the eyes – and preparing to outlive it.