Slow and Steady Doesn’t Win the Race

From a very young age, we’re taught that slow and steady wins the race — the key message suggested in the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.

In the world of business, however, being slow is a losing move.

Think about it…

Being slow can be the difference between capturing market share, or not

Being the first to market, or not

 Getting the business or not.

You might think that this historic fable has nothing to do with how businesses are operated today, but if that’s the case, consider that popular theory suggests that we need processes, policies, standards, and even the necessity of a management hierarchy…all prerequisite in order for a business to be successful.

 But are they?

You know, I’ve long been a promoter of empowering employees; tapping into their increasing knowledge, experience and overall desire to contribute to the success of their organization. This is done by shifting decision-making abilities down further into the organization, to those who are actually doing the work.

It’s for this reason that I want to challenge you to consider this: by increasing the ability of employees to make decisions, and act on them, we actually increase the speed by which we can introduce new ideas, new solutions.

We can close business faster without waiting for approvals.

We can respond to customer needs faster, increasing customer loyalty.

 We can increase productivity, allowing employees to make changes to how they work.

 Of course, some of you may challenge this approach, suggesting that empowering employees will create chaos and anarchy, and to some extent you may be right.

But think about how process, policy and standards limit creativity, productivity and communication.

It’s time to stop limiting our employees capability, and instead give them the ability to do what they need to do, when they need to do it, and in a way that makes sense for them to do it.

Anarchy? Maybe. Success? Absolutely.

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© Shawn Casemore 2016. All rights reserved.