In times of high stress, we want fast answers.  As leaders we feel the pressure be decisive.  But fast is not always best, and can sometimes lead us deeper into trouble. 

What we need is rapid deliberation.  With a little help from Wyatt Earp, and people who jump out of airplanes for a living, here’s what I think that means, and how we can put it to work for us.

Notes and Resources:

• Prefer to read?  Here’s the full post:  Rapid Deliberation: 7 Ways to Hit the Target While Under Stress
• In The Slow Fix Carl Honore digs even more deeply into how to be deliberately rapid.
• For more on what to do when crisis hits, check out:  How to Respond to Crisis:  Four Steps for Leaders
• Well-written The After Action Reviews  are a great resource to help leaders anticipate potential problems and prepare for their likelihood.
  
  

Quotable: 

“Fast is fine, but accuracy is final.  You must learn to be slow in a hurry.”  - Wyatt Earp

“Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”  - U.S. Army Jumpmaster adage

“’The action that follows deliberation should be quick, but deliberation should be slow.”  - Aristotle

“Haste trips up its own heels.”  - Michel de Montaigne

Related posts: 

Team Leadership: 4 Simple Steps to Getting Stuff Done

Are you Contagious? 3 Ways to Manage your Emotional Message

11 Key Rehearsal Techniques to Keep Your Plan From Getting Torpedoed

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Thanks for listening, and Lead On!