As the world of work changes so quickly in today’s VUCA environment, the pressure on leaders to continually speed up to keep up is high.
Yet there’s huge value to be had in strategically applying a more reflective approach, and slowing down.
The ‘go slow to go fast’ concept as a means to gain strategic advantage isn’t a new one. In fact, Festina Lente was the motto of Roman Emperors Titus and Augustus. Translated from latin: ‘make haste, slowly’.
A ‘high action, go go go’ approach is often perceived to be the best and fastest route to results. Yet it’s often the converse that applies; and it is frequently the leaders and organisations that leap headfirst into action with the intent of being ‘commercial’ who are, in reality, the least effective.
But with the world moving so quickly around you, how do you ensure you’re balancing the fast with the slow - and always taking a strategic step in the right direction rather than a hasty step in the wrong direction?
Here are five things to get you started.
Wise words: This quote by former President Lincoln is useful to reflect on in terms of how your natural approach impacts the way you lead, particularly during times of pressure and uncertainty.
What insight can you draw from it? (And if you had to chop down a tree would you get right in there and ‘go, go, go’ or would you be like Lincoln?)
Research: Published in the Harvard Business Review in partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, Jocelyn R. Davis and Tom Atkinson show real evidence behind the value in organisations taking a beat. In studying 343 high performing businesses they found:
“The companies that embraced initiatives and chose to go, go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating profits than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.
What’s more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating profits over a three-year period.”
Where does your leadership team naturally exist on the spectrum of pace?
Are there any assumptions that need to be re-examined?
What opportunities could reviewing the balance bring you?
Bullet time: If you find things are going too fast, step into the Matrix and hit the Bullet Time button. (Click the link in the image below for a Keanu Reeves demo, 40 seconds in)
In cinematography the ‘bullet time’ technique is used for the extreme transformation of time and perspective; allowing the audience to see events that would be imperceptible at high action speed and giving you the ability to move around the scene and experience it from different points of view.
When everything else is moving around you at high speed, what unique perspectives could taking a moment of bullet time thinking bring your leadership?
Speed up: If you’re in the need for speed, look to the OODA Loop to guide you in making fast and accurate decisions. It might just be the antidote to VUCA. Developed by military strategist and U.S. Air Force fighter pilot John Boyd, it is a model that can help guide rational thinking in high pressure, chaotic and complex situations.
What can you do to bring more OODA into your leadership, when you need it?
Read: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman describes two systems of thinking; system one being fast and intuitive; and system two being slower and more deliberative - and how they impact on your decisions, choices and being. Alternatively you can watch: this Talk at Google by the Nobel Laureate himself.
Which thinking system do you use to guide your leadership decisions?
Is it where you always need it to be?
Where would adopting more of the opposite style serve you and your team even better?
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