Slow down now blog

That’s the premise in this post from Carmine Coyote, the prolific author of Slow Leadership. Here is a good example of why slow is not the same as lazy. But I have to ask this question, do we want to get there faster?

My first reaction to a comment like “It may seem counter-intuitive” [ to slow down in order to get there faster], is to object. But I, and probably you, dear reader, are slow.

However, Carmine is right, about counter-intuition in this case. Our biology impels to to act quickly in an emergency. We are filled with adrenaline (and who knows what other chemicals) when we need to react quickly.

But most of the time, we are not in a life-threatening situation. Sometimes, you have to go in the wrong direction to get to where you want to go. Think about the freeway on-ramp. Sometimes you have to go north if you want to go south.

Rushing is of course a revolting subject, but it must be discussed. Rushing is a reality, and there is much time abuse in the world. Slow Leadership is about management. Here is a quote:

One of the worst aspects of today’s macho management is that it encourages decision makers to operate with a minimum of input. Haste forces them to work with summaries and headlines prepared by others. They rarely have the chance to explore the options for themselves. Even choices that might involve massive costs and huge potential profits or losses are taken on the basis of headline figures summarized on a single sheet of paper or a few PowerPoint slides.

I am sorry that this quote mentions the word PowerPoint which may be offensive to readers. I know many have suffered through such presentations, and I don’t want to cause anxiety.

I am all for simplicity, but I am with Carmine, rushing leads to oversimplification. That’s a problem.

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In those far-off times, before we invented language, this is how we communicated.

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Thank you to Roy, who left a comment yesterday on the previous post. Slow is not lazy. Although one can have a lot of fun with the idea that “slow,” is a life for the dissolute and decadent, in reality slowing down is necessary.

Rushing to action is the bane of the business world. Seth Godin, marketing guru, has this funny post about the problem of not taking the time to think though what needs to be done. Speed is often a substitute for thinking. There is a lot of value to slow in the impetuous and unthinking business world.

America is an action-oriented culture. There is a lot of energy and dynamism here, but we do tend to overdo it sometimes. Action is visible, whereas thinking or considering is invisible.

How can you be considerate and calm on a diet of sugar and caffeine? That’s the sort of diet I see people living on in the workplace. It’s no wonder that many in business are so impulsive and resist calm consideration.

Slow can be hard work, but accepting a slow process has a better chance of success. I write for small businesses. It takes time to produce a polished piece of writing that does the job it is supposed to do. And that writing is based on some slow thinking and the willingness to think before acting.

It’s the carpenter’s motto to measure twice, cut once. Slow is an investment. It’s not lazy.

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Slowing down somehow seems wrong. Well, doesn’t it? Doing less seems even more subversive. Folk wisdom tells us that haste makes waste. So what do we do? We try to cram every moment with activity, because we see time as a commodity to be used up. I am guilty of cramming.

What is time? Saint Augustine said that he knew what time was, so long as no one asked him. What a wag!

I’ve been asked to write a piece for another blog on, “How to Slow Down.” Now this piece is supposed to be practical: never my strong suit. If you would like to chime in with your suggestions, please do.

If you’re like me, you try to do just one more task before leaving for an appointment. I call this time greed. So my first tip, is going to be leave early.

Praxis
It’s one thing for me to spout this piece of advice, but quite another to put it into action. Politeness is a casualty of speed. I think consideration and politeness are worthy virtues. It’s hard to be patient and considerate of others when you are worried about what other people are going to think of your showing up late.

Not everyone worries about showing up late. I used to work for a large healthcare company and managed, by some fluke, to get a promotion. The fellow who took my job started out doing a fair days work. But after a while he came in later and later, and left earlier and earlier. His excuses became harder to believe. In the end, he was calling to say that he couldn’t come in that day because he couldn’t find his keys, or his shoelaces were tied together. Well something like that.

The Black Swan
But most of us do worry about being late. When we rush, all sorts of bad things happen. We have no “wiggle room,” as a friend of mine is wont to say. We need to think about the Black Swan. The Black Swan is the title of a new book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable). Black swans are unlikely events that you just never thought about. OK, an earthquake is a good reason for showing up late. But there are a myriad of smaller contingencies.

A chance to slow down
Leaving early is likely to allow us to slow down. We could even commit a few acts of random kindness. How about not trying to run pedestrians down in the crosswalk? How about stopping and letting other motorists go first. How about just considering that the red light means stop? How about enjoying the ride?

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Here is a true story of my first outside sales call. It’s a story of ineptitude posted to my new business blog. Can humor and business coexist?

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