Less haste, more speed

How to get more done as a Quality Leader.

Less haste, more speed.

That’s one of my mum’s mum-isms.

Mainly, it used to irritate me because she was usually right. It would have slipped out as an admonishment when I’d raced through something in an effort to get it done or be first or move on to the next thing. And because I was racing or didn’t plan, I ended up costing myself time. 

And as much as it pains every child to admit their parent was right, she was. Those mum-isms extend well beyond childhood. The message, and the lesson, is that speed without direction is not a smart move. It’s the opposite of efficiency. It’s motion. And we often confuse motion for progress. It’s not. 

It’s hard to resist “speed” when we’re overworked, stressed, understaffed, and balancing work with taking kids to hockey practice, buying a birthday present for Sammy’s classmate’s party, and figuring out how to gather enough volunteers for the school fundraiser. 

But “fast” only helps if you’re clear.

And clear only happens if you slow down enough to think.

And we really resist doing this. Why? 

I think it’s because when we think, we look like we’re not doing anything. And there’s such an obsession with producing and doing, doing, doing, that we just don’t allow ourselves the one thing that would actually make us more efficient in the long run. It’s madness. But a lot about our modern world, and way of living and working, is madness.

We treat clarity (i.e. thinking) like it’s some kind of luxury that we earn once things settle down. Once there are no more fires. Once we can breathe again.

But we’ve got it backwards. We’ll have fewer fires and be able to breathe again, once we take the time for clarity.

When you have clarity, decisions are easier. Better. Conversations are shorter. Follow-up is less frequent. Pushback is less pushback-y.

This is what it means to be more proactive. And this thinking and clarity isn’t just about big things like decisions… it’s about everything. Including “little” things like, “What’s the best way to approach this little pickle with Robert? How might he react? How will I handle that, knowing what I know about him? Do I even know him? How will I get to know him?”

These little things, which usually involve understanding who you’re dealing with and how to approach specific situations, are actually the biggest things when it comes to getting stuff done at work. 

My mum was right —

Less reacting, more pausing.

Less rushing, more thinking. 

More thinking, more clarity. 

More clarity, better decisions.

Better decisions, better actions.

Better actions, better results.

So yes… less haste, more speed. 

If you want to think through what clarity could look like in your specific situation, that's exactly what I help people with.

Book a call.