March 7, 2025
Article
Harvard Business Review (website)

Leaders Can Move Fast and Fix Things

Format:Electronic

Abstract

The assumption embedded in Silicon Valley’s famous “move fast and break things” ethos is that we can either make progress or take care of people, one or the other. A certain amount of wreckage is the price we have to pay for creating the future. The authors have spent the last decade helping business leaders clean up that wreckage, and one of their main lessons is that this tradeoff is false. The most successful change leaders solve problems at an accelerated pace while also taking responsibility for the success and wellbeing of their customers, shareholders, and employees: They move fast and fix things. Leaders who tackle big problems don’t need to slow down, they need to take a breath and take a few mission-critical steps before sprinting, including: 1) Make sure you’re solving the right problems; 2) Build more trust as you go; 3) Involve people you don’t know—and who know more than you do; and 4) Tell a better story.