Fast
“Sometimes you have to go slow in order to go fast.”
- Paul Nadeau
We all like to go fast, right?
We work mostly with business owners, senior leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The only better idea than the one they have is the one they are going to have next. And as a coach who has run companies and teams, I always say:
“I’d rather spend my time bridling someone than kicking them in the tail to get them to move.”
I choose to work with these types of people because it is invigorating, fun, and they are the kind of people that change the world. (Cue Apple’s Here’s to crazy ones commercial from 1997). There is a tremendous multiplier effect. I like leverage.
But there are inherent tendencies in these types of leaders. There are tensions to manage. Like a squadron of “top gun” pilots, they move quickly, change directions abruptly, and are hard to slow down once momentum takes hold.
It is in those moments when Paul drops that simple, but arresting statement.
“Sometimes you have to go slow in order to go fast.”
We all inherently know it is true. It lands like scripture (written on their hearts) even if they aren’t operating from a Kingdom worldview. We all know we are going too fast and most entrepreneurs have experienced enough pain, as a result, to know it is true immediately. It doesn’t even require much explanation.
While the various map features on our phones have idiot-proofed most of our travel, we wouldn’t embark on a trip without having spent a lot of time investigating and doing some planning. It is amazing to me the incredible detail some people spend on planning a vacation, while doing a relatively small amount of the same before they launch into a new idea or in a new direction with their business.
Our methodical way of forcing a business leader to go slow so that they can go really fast later has cost us business. Many leaders we encounter just want help in defining and executing the company’s strategic plan. Our process forces a slightly slower route.
Identify the right core team.
Have that team define culture.
Craft a future vision of that culture lived out over time.
Build a strategic plan with goals, initiatives, and actions steps to most efficiently realize that vision.
They say you can’t put the cart before the horse. We wouldn’t do it even if you could.
We operate from a decidedly Kingdom worldview. We disclose that to the degree we feel our clients are comfortable. It is a Kingdom of goodness, order, excellence, and abundance. It has been defined, explained, and modeled by One who taught us that we need to go slow in order to go fast. Get still, quiet, thoughtful, and connected, so that our impact can be multiplied and change can happen exponentially.
Consider
How much has going too fast cost you in the past?
What are you going fast on right now?
Have you spent enough time “going slow” in order to be clear on your direction?
What do you need to stop and figure out before you move forward any further?