Is speed the key to success?
In a landmark Harvard business review paper researchers showed that getting a product to market on time is more predictive of overall profitability than meeting investment goals or delivering later with more features. This paper spawned a cult of speed amongst managers. I won’t argue that getting to market soon enough with a product is important to business successes, but it is hardly a guarantee of success. Sony’s Betamax was earlier to market than VHS, but recording time and cost ended up being a more important factor. Southwest Airlines was hardly 1st to the airline business, but it is certainly more profitable than many earlier to market companies. I am all for speed--I hate analysis paralysis--but speed has its pitfalls and qualifiers too. In the "Book of 5 Rings" speed as a fundamental strategy in warfare is discouraged because it is not always applicable. For example what if the battle is on marshy ground? It is hard to be fast if you are stuck in a bog. It is better to have a core approach that is less sensitive to environmental conditions. Speed doesn’t make sense if we don’t have a strategy. As Roland May said: “Man is the only animal that runs faster when it is lost”. Purposeless running leads to fatigue and confusion—it usually doesn’t do much good for business to just try random things without a plan.
Market windows are one of the reasons that the cult of speed is so popular. While I don’t deny that windows of opportunity exist, my experience is that if these windows open, they usually open later and linger longer than predicted. People are not very good at predicting the future—don’t let them stampede you into movement for movement’s sake.
Market windows are one of the reasons that the cult of speed is so popular. While I don’t deny that windows of opportunity exist, my experience is that if these windows open, they usually open later and linger longer than predicted. People are not very good at predicting the future—don’t let them stampede you into movement for movement’s sake.
posted by VanceH- @ 1:09 AM
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