Want your E-commerce Project to Move Faster? Try Slowing Down: New Data Supports the Tortoise and Hare.

 

 By most people's definition, I'm a fast mover.  I learn fast. I speak fast.  I walk fast (I'm only about 5'2 so I have to in order to keep up with everyone else), and I get things done fast.  One of the reasons I've stayed in the digital world and embraced e-commerce as a career is that it's an industry that likes to move as fast as I do. 

Why then, do I become so frustrated when I hear clients say "we've got to move fast on this; I expect to get a new site up in XX days", or when the first question they ask is "so, how fast will this get done?" I like to work quickly.  I respect speed, as a general rule.  But, I detest poor execution.  My frustration typically surfaces when the client is moving too quickly to execute well.  In other words, they are jumping recklessly into execution before they have given the necessary strategic issues the time, thought and discussion that they deserve. 

Having spent plenty of time in the "real world" running e-commerce businesses, I have seen my fair share of short deadlines and jammed project queues.  I've also seen plenty of big hairy complex projects breeze through execution on time, on budget and error free, despite tight deadlines. I can cite example after example where taking time to define strategy or delaying production to deal with an unexpected strategic issue has sped projects along, and probably even saved them from total failure. 

At last, I now have some data to back up my experience and beliefs. 

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review, "Need Speed? Slow Down", got me so excited that I actually left my tea water boiling on the stove and almost ignited my home (seriously).  In a study of 343 businesses (conducted with the Economist Intelligence Unit), here's what they found: 

• Companies with the "go go go" approach had lower sales and lower profits than those that paused at key moments to be sure they were on track. 
• Firms that took the slower approach improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 25% higher operating profits over a 3 year period. 

Not convinced? Here's what I consider to be the true enlightenment of the article: not all speed is the same.   HBR explains that there are two types of speed, and companies often confuse or intermingle the two.

First, there is operational speed, which is increasing the pace of production.  Then, there is strategic speed, which is reducing the time it takes to deliver value.  The key here is that strategically fast companies, as odd as it may sound, take their time.  They take the time up front to be sure they have alignment, definition and commitment to success.  They take the time to review how the work is going along the way, and they take the time to capture and communicate lessons learned. 

My personal take, based on experience, is that operational speed without strategic speed is a no-win proposition, or a least a short lived one.  You can pile on more resources, remove production bottlenecks and horsewhip everyone to go faster faster faster.  But, if the strategic alignment, reflection on progress and post-game recapping isn't taking place, the operational gears will grind to a halt.  Decisions won't get made at critical times.  Team members will become demoralized and confused. Quality will suffer. Customers will leave (or never show up). 

If you are lusting after speed, ask yourself which kind of speed and why. To deliver value? To reduce operational time/cost? Or to quiet down an impatient CEO or board member?  First step: be honest about what's driving the need for speed.  Second step: if strategic speed is what you want (and it probably is), slow down.  Put some time in getting aligned and reviewing progress. You'll probably deliver a lot faster and make your customers (and that impatient CEO or board member) a lot happier.   

See you at the finish line.  I'll be the one in the hard green shell.