Speed is a Leadership Issue

310 words | ~1.5min read

Are you going fast enough? Most of the time, the answer is no. We always want to deliver faster than we did last time. Or to deliver more than we did last year. But speed is not a work-product issue. Speed is a Leadership Issue.

The system you are working is in perfectly tailored to get the results you currently do. And doing the same thing again, hoping for a different result is the definition of insanity! Speed is a leadership issue, because it is a work-system issue. If you want better speed, you have to change the work-system. And leaders own the work-system!

So if you want your system, your team, your org to go faster, you have to change the system. How do you do that? Start by asking what the future needs to look like. Consider development flow. You could describe the new future state with a target Cycle-time. For example you might target a cycle time of 10 days or less. This is basic vision casting and communication. Not just “We need to be better…”, but “We need to be better. And here’s what that looks like!”

With “What that Looks Like” in hand, the next question is: What has to be true if the system is going to perform that way? You’ll probably find a lot of these. Filter "New Truth"s for those within your influence. Then from those you can influence, focus on the bottleneck. Every system has a bottleneck. Only by addressing the bottleneck can we improve the flow thru the system.

Fixing a bottleneck will cause the system to shift. Let the system settle into it’s new normal. Then repeat this process. Pick your target. Identify "New Truth"s. Filter, and focus. Then fix. Be a Leader who iterates. Speed is a Leadership issue. Own your work-system! Pick logical evolution, over hopeful insanity!