Leadership In FastTime: Move Quickly

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leadership - move quickly - image MOVE QUICKLY — There is a fundamental truth about leadership in a world that is operating on Internet Time: laggards lose. Organizations need speed, and the speed of the leader and their team determines the speed of the organization. The world's most successful companies have leaders who move quickly to spot new opportunities, mobilize resources and bring new products and services to market faster than their competitors.

A prime example is Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson. You are probably familiar with the Virgin brand from its music megastores and airlines. What you may not know is how rapidly Virgin has launched one new business after another. “Often the window of opportunity is very small," explains Branson. "So speed is of the essence."

In the vast majority of situations, time is NOT on your side — the slower you move, the less chance you have of achieving your objectives. One reason is Murphy's Law, which states that "anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Another reason for speed is the ever-changing environment. No matter how theoretically perfect your original plan may be, as the execution timeline lengthens, its value depreciates because the context changes.

leadership - moving too slowly - image

Those who operate with a Move Quickly mindset tend to win for a number of reasons:

• External competitors are outpaced.

• Internal opposition to change is pre-empted.

• Key planning assumptions don’t become obsolete.

• There are fewer unanticipated consequences.

• Implementation gaps quickly surface and can be corrected.

• Fast wins create a positive psychology in the organization.

• Desired results and benefits are accelerated.

How fast should you move? The answer is simple: move at the speed you need to succeed. With few exceptions, this means moving faster than the rate of change in your environment and faster than your competitors.

“I am truly amazed by how
much we accomplished in
how little time. We met some very aggressive goals.
—Hardy Wentzel
Fmr. Leader Weyerhaeuser Canada

“This process has changed the way I work…my attitude, my perspective and my behaviors.”
—Mike Roberts, Fmr. President,
McDonald’s Corporation

“These principles were at the core of the transformation at Motorola. We used them to launch fast, fundamental change and they worked!
—Sandy Ogg
Frm. Director, Motorola

“In my 21 years in HP / Agilent, this is the best business plan I’ve ever seen rolled out.”
—Glenn May
Frm. Agilent Technologird
SPG Corporate Account Manager

“Things are buzzing within LG Electronics Mobile Phone Division thanks to your tireless guidance and efforts.”
—Bernard Lieu
Senior Strategy Manager,
LG Electronics

“A very big personal thanks for all that you did for me and my team. The FastTime® Mentoring process has proven to be a turning point in the Execution of our business."
—Barney Saunders
Fmr. VP Agilent Technologies

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