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Because founders Larry and Sergey were (and are) very strong-minded leaders involved in every major decision, Eric knew he couldn’t make huge unilateral choices. In my many years at Google, I saw Eric Schmidt use this approach to decision-making on a regular basis - probably without even thinking about it. Most importantly, some decisions don’t need to be made immediately to maintain downstream velocity.ĭeciding on when a decision will be made from the start is a profound, powerful change that will speed everything up. Some decisions can’t be easily reversed or would be too damaging if you choose poorly. It might behoove you to wait for more information. Some decisions are more complicated or critical than others. This isn’t to say all decisions should be made quickly. If, by way of habit, you consistently begin every decision-making process by considering how much time and effort that decision is worth, who needs to have input, and when you’ll have an answer, you'll have developed the first important muscle for speed. The key takeaway: WHEN a decision is made is much more important than WHAT decision is made. The process of making and remaking decisions wastes an insane amount of time at companies. Do you remember the last time you were in a meeting and someone said, “We’re going to make this decision before we leave the room”? How great did that feel? Didn’t you just want to hug that person? General George Patton said that, and I definitely subscribe to it. MAKING DECISIONSĪ good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week. What are the building blocks of speed? When you think about it, all business activity really comes down to two simple things: Making decisions and executing on decisions. Your success depends on your ability to develop speed as a habit in both. And, when enough members of a team exhibit this set of habits, and are rewarded with reinforcement, compensation, and promotions, the organization itself will gain velocity. Through a prolonged, proactive effort to develop these good habits, we can convert ourselves as founders, executives and employees to be faster, more efficient company-building machines. I believe that speed, like exercise and eating healthy, can be habitual.
#We need speed how to#
It’s pretty clear that fast equals good, but there’s relatively little written about how to develop the institutional and employee muscle necessary to make speed a serious competitive advantage. What they fail to grasp is that speed matters to the rest of the business too - not just product. Many people would agree that speed and agility are how you win when it comes to product. Hence the “move fast and break things” mentality, the commitment to minimum viable products and agile development. In tech, speed is seen primarily as an asset in product development. Speed is a defining characteristic - if not the defining characteristic - of the leader in virtually every industry you look at. All else being equal, the fastest company in any market will win. I’ve long believed that speed is the ultimate weapon in business. Here he shares his tips for making speed fundamental to your company. He’s well known for building Google’s enterprise apps division into a $1B+ global business. This article is by Dave Girouard, CEO of personal finance startup Upstart, and former President of Google Enterprise Apps.