“Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste.” – Benjamin Franklin
The saying “slow is smooth, smooth is fast” originated in the US Special Forces, but the fundamental principle behind it has been around for much longer, often shared with the expression “haste makes waste.”
The underlying principle is that it is more efficient to do things right the first time. When we rush into doing something, we run the risk of making mistakes and producing inferior results. An added benefit of being deliberate is that with enough practice you can actually become quicker and more efficient at doing the task.
This is an important concept for leaders in any organization. There is a fine line when strategic planning between taking decisive action, and moving too fast. As it turns out, there is great benefit to taking enough time to think about the challenge first. This allows time to assess the situation, develop a strategy, plan, think of different scenarios, and then take purposeful action.
A risk in moving too fast is you do not think things through. You miss clues. Opportunities pass you by. Risks hit you head on because you never anticipated them. Sloppy execution exposes you to a better-prepared competitor.
Military Origins
Special Forces operators carefully prepare for military operations. For example, US Navy SEALs train for missions slowly at first. They walk through the plan and rehearse responses to different possible scenarios. They rinse and repeat until they have a smooth cadence. They practice at slow speeds to build up their comfort level and “muscle memory”, which allows them to execute quickly in combat.
When you consider that modern infantry combat centers around mobility, there is a lot of logic to this approach – there are four typical scenarios in urban combat:
- Don’t move – you risk getting pinned down and surrounded.
- Move too fast – risk of being exposed to enemy fire with no cover.
- Move too slow – risk of being outflanked.
- Move too hastily – risk of losing situational awareness and running into a trap.
Movement is very important. Clearly, nothing good happens if you are not moving. However, you cannot move too quickly or slowly, you must move with purpose. Of course, there are situations where moving fast is necessary and potentially lifesaving for soldiers – the goal is to move as quickly and perfectly as possible. This is where preparation, practice, and leadership comes in.
For military operators this is a critical way to prepare for difficult challenges, and ensure successful outcomes. With this diligent preparation behind them, they can then perform the operation quickly and efficiently out in the field.
This approach applies equally well to the world of work.
In the World of Work
We live in unprecedented times of unpredictability and disruption. This VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) environment can sometimes make it challenging to know what to do next.
Many business leaders fall victim to the dangerous assumption that the only way to win in this environment is by running full speed ahead at all times. This popular myth has been glorified by business media, and is magnified by our 24/7, always on, society.
Pick any field, and at the highest levels of achievement and performance, you will find professionals who have trained extensively using this principle to prepare. For example, even when they are moving incredibly fast, elite athletes do not look rushed – they appear relaxed, with purposeful but fluid movements. What we do not see without the benefit of slow motion and expert analysis is that their movements have been finely tuned and optimized through a lot of repetitions, hard work and coaching.
The same observation applies to professionals in any field you can think of – surgeons, master electricians, enterprise sales reps, marketing executives…they all reach the pinnacle of achievement through hard work, deliberate practice, and never rushing. They have a strategy, develop a plan, and then execute. Over time, they perfect their craft and become quicker and more efficient.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
A Sailing Example
When the skipper of a sailboat wants to change directions, it is called tacking the boat. During a race, this critical and carefully timed maneuver can cause the boat to gain or lose position depending on how well it is executed by the crew. There are many variables to consider, including boat speed, wind speed and direction, waves, crew, and proximity to other boats. If you turn too quickly, you shave off speed; turn too slowly and you lose momentum. The goal is a slow but steady, smooth turn with the wind catching the sail at the perfect moment and accelerating the boat out of the turn in the new direction.
Tacking is a skill practiced constantly by sailboat racing crews, and speed is the reward. They know races are often won or lost by a few seconds, and executing this crucial maneuver smoothly and quickly is a critical factor to winning.
Too Slow Can Be Fatal
While slow is smooth, too slow can be fatal.
Leaders must strike a delicate balance between being thoughtful and taking action. The downside to taking a slow approach is that in some organizations it can devolve to “paralysis by analysis.” Teams end up spending so much time thinking and planning that they lose momentum and opportunity passes them by.
A difficult part of leadership is properly designing the solution, but also instilling a sense of urgency to get it done. In this context, urgency does not mean being frantic or that it must be done immediately. Urgency means having a bias for action, but also doing it well.
Movement is the underlying force behind the “slow is smooth, smooth is fast” philosophy – movement that is thoughtful, with a purpose and proper planning, but also deliberate and unrelenting.
Conclusion
A hurried soldier makes a careless mistake and puts their life in harm’s way, an unprepared athlete loses a game against an inferior opponent, and a hard charging executive makes an ill-considered decision. While the stakes are different, the solution to preparing for each situation is the same.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
-Onward
