We sat down with dozens of PACE alumni and team leads across six sessions and asked them what's working, what's not, and what they need. Nobody asked for a better strategy or a more compelling vision. What we heard, consistently, were practitioners describing what it feels like to build a new organizational muscle, what helps it grow, and what causes it to atrophy.

That distinction matters. Most transformation efforts fail because they're built to end: design the strategy, launch the initiative, cross the finish line. The organizations that succeed treat transformation as a capability their people get better at over time. What the feedback reveals is that McCain is building exactly that kind of capability. The question is whether the system around it will keep up.

The biggest shift: from seeking approval to getting reactions

The single most significant change participants describe is in how they seek alignment. One team member reflected on the old pattern: "I find in the past I would get too far down the road before you kind of make sure you get all the buy-in." Demo meetings changed that. Instead of working in isolation until something feels finished, then presenting it for sign-off, PACE teams share work in progress early and often. The dynamic flips: you're not asking for permission, you're inviting reactions. And because the work is still in draft, feedback feels collaborative rather than evaluative.

This shift doesn't happen in isolation. It's supported by a set of simple, reinforcing practices. The SFD ("Shitty First Draft") gives people permission to share work before it's polished. Safe to Try lowers the threshold for making decisions. A weekly cadence of Action meetings, Collab sessions, and Demos keeps the rhythm going. One PACE team lead captured the mindset: "Do something. And then if it's not right, pivot." A PACE team sponsor described the value of "just having those bi-weekly check-ins and being able to make sure we're on the right track." The tools work together, but the Demo meeting is where the behavioral change becomes visible.

The coach is the difference

If there is a single finding that stands above everything else, it is this: the coach is what makes the way of working real. The person in the room who holds the team accountable to a different way of working when every instinct pulls them back toward old habits.

This came through in every team lead conversation. Teams that had a skilled coach describe a qualitative difference in their experience: they made decisions faster, stayed focused on what mattered, and pushed through the discomfort of working in new ways. Teams that tried to sustain the practices afterward without a coach found the effect fading. The practices that felt natural with support started to feel awkward without it.

Without support, the muscle atrophies

The participants we spoke with are motivated. They believe in the way of working. They want to keep practicing. But the organizational systems around them haven't yet been built to support that. PACE work still arrives on top of existing responsibilities. Time isn't being formally allocated or protected. And when a participant's direct manager isn't the PACE sponsor, they often have no visibility into the work at all. One team lead described the dynamic: "If they don't hear about what is happening and how much is happening, by default they don't think anything is happening."

One PACE team lead was direct about the tension: "Reality is that these came on top of the day job. It was not like we were really freeing up." This isn't a complaint about the program. It's a structural gap. When people aren't given the time to practice, even the best training fades. And that's exactly what some participants described: the tools becoming familiar as language but losing their substance as practice. Another team member noticed that "people have sort of picked up on it and they're using the language, but without the understanding behind it."

The resources exist. The portal has content. But people need motivation to engage with it. One team member was candid: "Even though I've seen the Ways of Working kind of pop up on that main screen, I never once clicked on it." It wasn't until the refresher session that the purpose and value of the tools came back to life for them. The content is there. What's missing is the connective tissue: a community, regular touchpoints, and visible leadership that keeps the practice alive between formal engagements.