Why deliberate pace beats reactive speed
Leaders who move fastest are often the ones who deliberately slow down, operating at the speed of insight rather than anxiety through strategic pause and reflection.
Natalie Nixon's Fast Company piece makes an argument worth considering: the leaders who move fastest are often the ones who know when to slow down. She pulls from Navy SEALs training—"slow is smooth, and smooth is fast"—to show that people stuck in constant motion tend to get outpaced by those who build in time for thinking.
Her framework distinguishes between chronos (clock time, deadlines) and kairos (the right moment, quality time). She proposes a rhythm called "Move. Think. Rest." Move gets you out of your head through intentional activity. Think creates space for actual reflection instead of just reacting to whatever's on fire. Rest lets you recover—emotionally and cognitively—instead of burning out.
For teams building AI systems or launching new platforms, this matters. That extra week you spend refining your governance framework can save you months of scrambling to fix compliance issues later. You're not slowing down—you're choosing where to invest your attention.
The pattern holds: while others churn through endless activity, you get the clarity that comes from taking time to think things through. It's the difference between reacting out of anxiety and acting from understanding.
Leaders who move fastest are often the ones who deliberately slow down, operating at the speed of insight rather than anxiety through strategic pause and reflection.
