Most SAP programmes don't fail because of technology. They fail because nobody prepared properly.
RunFast is the bestselling book by Limelight founder Neil How. It distils over twenty years of programme leadership into six principles that separate the programmes that succeed from those that quietly fall apart.
Every executive who has lived through a difficult SAP programme knows the pattern. It starts with optimism. A compelling business case. The right software. A credible delivery partner.
Then it stalls.
Scope creeps. Costs escalate. The relationship becomes adversarial. The board starts asking hard questions nobody can answer. People who were excited about the programme start avoiding it.
This is not a technology problem. It is a leadership, preparation and governance problem. And it has been happening for decades.
RunFast was written to break that cycle.
RunFast is not a project management manual. It is an ethos — a set of principles drawn from hundreds of transformation programmes, interviews with business leaders across every sector, and over two decades of hands-on delivery.
The book introduces a methodology — six areas that determine whether a programme accelerates or stalls:
Preparation — The work that happens before a single consultant walks through the door. Get this wrong and everything downstream is harder than it needs to be.
Reorganisation — Stripping out complexity. Simplifying governance, tooling and decision-making so the programme can actually move.
Outcomes — Shifting from output-driven delivery (ticking boxes) to outcome-driven delivery (realising benefits). A subtle distinction that changes everything.
Mindset — Building a culture where the programme team believes it will succeed — and behaves accordingly. This is where most programmes quietly lose momentum.
People — Setting teams up to succeed. Executive commitment, clear expectations, and the courage to remove people who are blocking progress.
Tempo — Setting the pace and maintaining it. Recognising the inevitable dips in energy and having a strategy for when they hit.
None of this is theoretical. Every principle in the book has been tested on real programmes with real budgets and real consequences.
RunFast was first published in 2019 and became an Amazon bestseller, shortlisted for Business Book of the Year. The principles have not dated — if anything, they have become more relevant.
SAP S/4HANA programmes are larger, more complex and more scrutinised than ever. Boards are less tolerant of overruns. The cost of getting the first ninety days wrong compounds across the entire programme lifecycle. And the gap between organisations that prepare properly and those that do not has never been wider.
The principles shared is the foundation of how Limelight operates today. It underpins our RunFast LaunchPad, our programme governance approach, and the way we work alongside delivery partners on behalf of our clients. When we talk about being a Business Integrator — protecting your investment from the client side — this is where it started.
CIOs and CTOs navigating board pressure to deliver transformation on time and under budget. Transformation Directors building a programme from scratch and determined to get the foundations right. CFOs who need confidence that there is a structured, proven approach behind the investment. Programme leaders who know something is not working but cannot pinpoint exactly what.
If you are about to start an SAP programme, in the middle of one that has lost momentum, or trying to understand why the last one was so painful — this book will give you a framework to think differently.
Twenty years of programme leadership. Six principles. One clear methodology.
Take the scorecard. It scores your organisation against each of the six principles and shows you where to focus first. It takes five minutes and generates a personalised report. Link is here: - Take the scorecard.