Direction first, speed second
The CEO of the IT company where I started my career was the embodiment of the word “productivity.”
An energetic businessman whose entire day was scheduled down to the minute, he made every moment count. He closed deals, gave presentations to partners, issued directives on office reorganization, held meetings with his team, actively participated in product development — and overall, seemed to be everywhere at once.
If someone came to him with a proposal or a problem, an answer would come instantly. He made every decision quickly, guided by the principle that a well-handled issue is a quickly handled issue.
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Most of those decisions weren’t good. For example, a $300,000 advertising campaign was launched just two months after development had started. It consisted of outdoor ads in the city center — despite the product being expected only nine months later and the target audience being located in another region.
Later, it turned out that the entire business was built on patented technologies that didn’t belong to us — technologies my boss had simply “borrowed.” He eventually ended up in prison, and the business shut down.
Since then, I no longer see high productivity, decisiveness, and intense activity as signs that something meaningful is being built. In fact, more often than not, they make me cautious — and that instinct has never failed me.
Outward productivity is energy-intensive. That’s why leaders who have gone the distance without burning out often come across not as hyperactive machines, but as calm and thoughtful thinkers.
The same applies to companies. To paraphrase Drucker, nothing is sadder than watching a team of smart, energetic people moving quickly in the wrong direction.
Direction first, speed second.
