Summary
Pace Pace Lead is a technique for change. It originates from NLP.
Conceptually it goes as follows - It is natural that human’s mimic each other - there is an innate desire on all of us to mirror the behavior of those around us. Often we call this rhythm. Pace Pace Lead attempts to leverage ryhthm to help teams adjust their pace.
The Process
Marry your pace to the group, then gradually adjust your pace so that they will begin to increase or decrease their pace to match yours.
The opposite of Pace Pace Lead
The opposite to pace pace lead would be what I call ‘radical change’. Radical change would be to introduce a new concept or change non-incrementally.
I’ve seen both approaches work and there are benefits to each.
If for instance you try to introduce change and you do not match your initial ‘pace’ with that of the group and there is to much of a differential between you and group you risk loosing the group.
What you need to make it work
You need 3 things to achieve Pace Pace Lead:
1) An outcome you want to get the team to (this is what you are going to lead them to).
2) An ability to engage with the team (we do this by working side by side with the team).
3) An understanding of the core concept to begin pace pace lead (this makes it intentional).
Benefits of Approach
I can see how this approach is non-confrontational and can help get buy in to change. Having ‘walked’ in someone’s shoes for a day gives you a lot more context to their reality. It also potentially gives you credibility as you can say you know where they are coming from.
Potential Pitfalls
A potential pitfall is that you as a change agent starts mimicking the group and they begin to ‘lead’ you in which case you negate or dampen any change you are trying to achieve.
