“Be quick, but don’t hurry.” — John Wooden
We operate in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world — nothing has proven that more considerably than the last year in the pandemic. When things are crumbling at a fast pace, it may feel like you can’t afford to slow down because the work will just keep piling up and you’ll fall even more behind. When I’ve proposed to clients the need to slow down, one client said, “How can I slow down when things are moving so fast?”
While a holiday to unplug and recharge is often necessary or the practice of meditation is hugely valuable, the slowing down we’re talking about here is in the midst of the fast pace and not outside of it.
There’s an expression that speed kills and Coach John Wooden, the legendary coach of the UCLA basketball team, wanted his players to operate at that edge just before it was no longer possible to be in balance. Slowing down allows a leader, and basketball player alike, to remain in balance, properly assess the options and act appropriately.
Although slowing down might feel like exactly what you should not do, the practice of stopping or slowing down actually positions you to be more effective and move even quicker in the end. Here’s why.
1. It allows you to remain controlled while moving fast.
Learning to slow down will allow you to create the necessary space in your day to remain controlled while moving fast. This keeps you and the organization in balance and focused, constantly determining the best options.
There are many pitfalls in this volatile world that, if you’re not taking the time to work through, you risk falling into. I call these S.C.A.R.E traps, and they include include:
Stories— When faced with complexity, we often reach for the simplest story — based on what we remember from past experiences. Then we overlap that similar story to our complex situation. Your desire for a simple story blinds you from the real story.
Control— When things get complex our natural response is to immediately control the situation, thinking that this is what leaders are supposed to do. However, in practice, control acts like a trap, it strips you of the influence you’re hoping to have.
Agreement— the aim to ‘get along’ has been our focus for millenia. It’s certainly not a trap when it’s used for survival. However in our complex world, longing for agreement will rob you of great ideas.
Rightness— Being right feels great, but your sense of rightness doesn’t mean you’re actually right… it’s just your version. Needing to be right is a trap, because it forces you to ignore data and other perspectives that might lead you to truth or better ideas.
Ego— so much energy is spent protecting our seemingly fragile egos. This is the single biggest cause of wasted resources in nearly every organization today.
If you’re go-go-go and not slowing down, stepping back, or getting the helicopter view of the situation, you’re likely to fall into one of these traps. Slowing down gives you awareness of all these and allows you to respond appropriately from a place of purpose. The best CEO’s operate from this place and the practice is often imperceptible to those around you.
2. You position the company in the right way to speed up when you need to.
If you’re driving a race car, you need to slow down on curves so you can speed up in straightways. There are moments in business where you must move quickly (i.e. seize a new idea, tackle a problem, course correct) and slowing down enables you to do that, by knowing you have made the best decision and then acting in the best possible way given the circumstances. It gets you laser focused, and when you take on the mindset of constantly creating time to slow down, you can be quick without hurrying. When you get the thinking time to work through the best options, you get mindful of self, situations and others, and you build awareness around all the factors at play.
3. It creates more sustainable leadership.
In the 1960’s, Coach Wooden was one of the first to utilize the full-court press. A full-court press is often used to steal the ball from the opponent. That’s not why Coach Wooden used it. He used it to get the opposing team to hurry and thereby disrupt their flow. As said before, speed kills. Moving too quickly often leads to breakdowns. You know this with your car. If your car is running constantly at 7000 rpms, it will break down. In business, the same is true. Operating at a breakneck pace fighting fires, squeezing in work between constant meetings, having your day be dictated by your inbox and going days without lunch or connecting with your team members is not sustainable. Work is indeed busy and success it’s all about pace. Creating space to slow down in anticipation of putting the pedal to the metal will allow you and your team to go farther and longer and make wiser decisions in the process. If leadership is not sustainable and resilient, then the company does not function.
How to Practice Slowing Down:
Use this framework to get started:
Slow down. Physically stop or pause as you are about to begin something (i.e. an activity, project, your day, etc…). This allows you to be intentional and create a space for the next three steps.
Think. Being mindful about anything, sets you up for a better outcome. Too many times, we simply run on “automatic pilot.” Before beginning and throughout any given activity, plan time to think.
Ask. Ask yourself and others key questions to enable you to take better, more informed action.
Act. Take action or execute the plan you created, based on what you learned during the Think and Ask steps.
Interrupt Your Daily Pattern
How many times have you driven somewhere, and on arrival wondered how you even got there? You were on autopilot, your brain and mind somewhere else entirely. This is why interrupting our daily pattern is so important, it forces us to get conscious and question what we’re doing instead of just doing it without thinking. For my clients, the best way to interrupt their patterns is by asking themselves questions. Questions have a beautiful way of waking us up in the midst of being in a hurry. Here are some questions to introduce in your day:
What am I doing?
What’s most important?
Why am I doing this?
What’s our plan?
Who is most important right now?
Create the Space for the Question
Interrupting your pattern is one thing, creating the space for the question is another thing all together. Normally, leaders don’t operate from a place of questions, they operate from knowing and certainty. When you don’t create space for different types of questions, you’re likely to fall into one of the trappings named above. In a complex world, these just don’t work. This may look like moving to a different chair in your office, taking a few deep breaths, or if you’re in the middle of a situation, taking 3-5 seconds before you respond. Breathe, ask yourself what’s most important and then respond. Our brains are amazingly agile and able to do all this in a manner of seconds.
Take the Next Step:
- Decide when and how you’ll integrate “Slow Down” each day.
- Enroll a colleague or your team to practice slowing down together.
- At the end of each day, take five minutes to evaluate how it went. What was the impact of stopping or slowing down on you personally? What outcomes did you experience?
- Check in with those you are practicing with you to share your experiences
The people you lead and your colleagues are looking to you to set the tone, to see things clearly, make good decisions, and ask better questions. A sure way to elevate your leadership is to utilize the practice of learning to slow down. If you want help implementing these strategies into your workplace, feel free to contact me here.