Why Slowing Down Can Help You Move Faster

For many organizations (including our own), moving quickly has long been a mode of operation. It’s been weaved into the cultural DNA from the early days.

The belief (and sometimes reality) is that the faster we move and execute, the more separation we put between ourselves and the competition. In the pursuit of innovation and market positioning, one must move fast and break things.

But speed comes at a cost only realized downstream. Over the past few years, I’ve come to discover the value of slowing down. I’ve learned it is possible for one to move faster simply by slowing things down.

And I realized it during a game of pick-up basketball.

Monday night pickup

It was a usual Monday pickup basketball game. I arrived a little earlier to run through my standard warm-up and put up some short-range jumpers.

Having played since middle school, my game could be described as follows – solid 3pt shot, quick first step but lacks overall athleticism, always looking to aggressively attack the basket, decent passer, tough (aggressive) defender, highly competitive.

But that night things weren’t going my way. Everything felt rushed. I was attacking too often and at the wrong times. I was putting up shots too early in the possession. I was moving too fast for my own good.

And then it happened. On a rough defensive play, I felt a little twinge in my ankle after trying to steal the ball. It wasn’t enough to force me to sit out, but it took away some of my key weapons – my quick first step was gone and I was way too slow to make any aggressive moves towards the basket.

So I was forced to change my game. I was forced to slow down.

I took my time bringing the ball up instead of pushing the pace on every possession. I wasn’t overly aggressive and trying to attack too often, only when I could. I let the plays develop more. I let the game come to me.

I suddenly started playing better. By slowing down, my game improved. At that moment, I realized I could actually be more effective on the court by slowing the pace, by doing less.

The downside of moving quickly

While moving fast is praised in today’s work culture, it comes at a cost.

When you move fast, for one, you increase your chances of making mistakes. This is a standard compromise we make – the ‘break things’ part of the equation. But it’s important to reassess this equation as your team and organization grow. Mistakes become magnified as you grow and the calculus changes

When you move fast, you have less time to think and reflect because you’re constantly in motion. You have less time to properly assess previous work, to re-prioritize your activities and correct course if need be because you’ve already got the next thing lined up and waiting.

If you’re moving quickly on the wrong things, you’re only going to get to the wrong destination faster.

When you move fast, it puts a lot of stress on the system. It puts a lot of stress on the team doing the work. When there’s not enough breathing room to pause, rest, and reassess, it becomes less enjoyable and less sustainable.

Slowing down periodically can help alleviate these issues.

When you slow down, you give yourself more room for error to work with which makes it easier to identify, correct, and deal with mistakes along the way. You end up taking fewer bad shots.

When you slow down, you create space for thinking. You are able to reassess and reprioritize your activities more effectively and course correct as needed. You allow yourself to zoom out and see the court better. You allow the game come to you.

When you slow down and reassess, you allow the players to catch their breath, to take a time out where they can regroup and reassess the game plan. You allow them to actually enjoy the game they’re playing.

Slowing down isn’t easy, but it’s necessary.

It starts with shifting the narrative culturally. If you’re a leader, it’s about empowering your team to slow down, think, challenge, and assess their activities as they need to.

As individuals (particularly those working at fast-growth organizations), it’s imperative to be proactive about slowing down. Carve out thinking time in your calendars. Reverse pilot marginal initiatives. Say no when you need to.

Being effective is not about moving quickly on everything. It is about choosing the right things to focus on and identifying when it makes sense to push the throttle and when to ease off. It’s an important balancing act we all need to strive for.

Go ahead, take a moment. Slow down. You might just play better.

✌