Go slow, to go fast.
Have you fallen into the trap of spinning, where action is what you value most?
Do you feel like the faster you move the more effective your business will be?
When businesses first start out, they all aim to provide an amazing service, the best quality product, and the ultimate customer experience. They tend to (or should) have true clarity on WHY they start out – whom they are for, and the difference they want to make.
But sometimes in the midst of balancing all the chaos of making things happen, businesses can lose their way.
You’ve heard the expression ‘go slow, to go fast’…
We believe it is all about taking your time to get your thinking right first, then using that to frame all you do. Your decisions. Your team. Your culture.
What does it mean to ‘go slow’?
We often hear from our clients that they want a new website or a new logo. It’s a common misconception that all it takes to revamp a business is to freshen up its packaging… to add a new shiny veneer.
But what if you move into developing something without truly understanding what makes it different, the strengths, and what your customers truly value?
‘Going slow’ means taking the time to understand and pinpoint why your business exists, what the absolute best version of your business is, and to portray all of that from the inside out. Only after fully understanding this, can you move on to communicating that message.
Once you have laid the groundwork, everything else moves fast.
“No matter what your reason for wanting to start your own business, developing the foundation is the same. Laying a solid foundation for your business will provide you with a road map to follow as you build your business.” – Jeanne A. Estes
Take Apple for example, one of the biggest companies in the world, offering a limited range of top quality products. They’ve learned over time to go slow. It wasn’t always this way though.
There have been many Apple products, services and strategies that were ill-conceived and utter failures. They were trying to enter markets that weren’t inline with their core audience, create products that were unnecessary, and ultimately focus on quantity over quality.
When Steve Jobs rejoined Apple, he made the strategic decision to cut back on the numerous amounts of products on offer, and regain strategic focus on providing amazing products their customers actually valued.
“What I found when I got here was a zillion and one products. […] It was amazing […] I figured if I can’t figure it out working inside Apple with all these experts telling me about it, how are our customers going to figure this out? – Steve Jobs, 1998
Apple is all about thinking differently. They understand that people generally don’t care what a computer can do, but what they can do with a computer. This revisit to ‘starting slow’ catapulted Apple into the company it is today.
Think of your favourite company, and your least. What made you categorise them differently? It’s the way the business makes you feel as a customer. This can only be controlled by a business if the groundwork has been done.
Consistency will be a result of brutal clarity about WHY.
When is the last time you slowed down and thought about what true focus might bring to your business?
At Cruxy we are strong advocates of businesses with a WHY. We don’t start any project, not matter how big or small, without first bringing this to the surface.
We help businesses hone in and focus on issues that are central to business growth, and instigate change for long-term impact.