The Need For Speed
Humanity's quest for speed hasn't diminished. In fact, it permeates everything we do.
Whether we're talking about air travel and spaceflight, sports and the Olympics, suppliers and
purchasers, or companies and business decision-making, speed plays a key role in all of them.
There is risk in every business decision. And sometimes those decisions take time. But time is
no longer an ally. Customers want speed of service. Purchasers want speed of delivery. And
business operations want speed for greater efficiency. When the pace of business
accelerates every single day, time means money.
McKinsey, in a 2020 survey of executives, found that speed was "an essential ingredient for
outperformance in time of unprecedented change."
THE NEED FOR SPEED | 2
The survey reported that during the COVID-19 pandemic, executives said their
organizations were making extensive changes to increase the speed at which they could
adjust strategic direction, make and implement tactical decisions, and deploy their
resources. Survey responses also noted that making a special effort to gain speed paid
off. Fast organizations outperformed others by a wide margin on a range of outcomes,
including profitability, operational resilience, organizational health, and growth.
