Speed: How Leaders Accelerate Successful Execution

CHAPTER 1

SPEED MATTERS

In skating over thin ice, oursafety is in our speed.

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Much change has occurred in the past few decades in virtually every area of our lives. One of those changes is the dramatic increase of speed in daily business activity. Speed in business is partly a reflection of the overall increase in speed in every area of life. Shopping is faster, delivery is faster, meals are faster, and accessing information is quicker.

• Technology is a major enabler of speed within business. The Internet, smartphones, and personal computers enable access to information that used to take a week to occur in seconds.
• Competition now comes from all over the world, with every firm seeking to be first to market? Why? Because ...