The hidden cost of speed
How slowing things down can help you make better decisions
Happy Solstice!
Every year, I'm always very appreciative of the fact that the longest night of the year takes place already before Christmas. So that when Christmas arrives, you know the days have already started getting longer again.
And with every new year, there is always a natural opportunity to reflect on what has been and what is to come.
2025 has been an in-between year for me. It started with me realising that the timing for the AI startup we were building was off, which is one of the hardest career calls I've ever had to make. But, with some rest and new experiences, I look back and realise that it was the right decision.
Getting back to consulting, teaching, working with executives, and having time to think and write has been great. So it's all ending on a positive note, and I'm excited to see what 2026 has in store.
There have been a lot of new followers joining in the last few weeks, and I just wanted to say hi and welcome! Like always, I will take a break over the holidays, so this will be the last newsletter for the year.
But before I retreat into eating too much fruitcake and reading novels, I wanted to talk a bit about speed.
2025 has been a year where many leaders and organisations have been trying to keep up with the world. Implementing AI technology, decoupling supply chains from geopolitical risks, rebuilding business models — all while cutting costs (and often heads).
It's been a lot of pressure on everyone involved. But was it necessary?
While urgency is critical when we talk about climate change and, to some degree, geopolitics, most other things can wait.
Sure, we can pretend that AI adoption is essential for companies to survive in the upcoming year or two. Still, if we take a second look at who drives the narrative, it tends to correlate with financial stake in the technology. And doing things right is usually a more effective strategy than doing them fast.
Just because something is important does not mean it is urgent. Urgency is about time. Importance is about consequence.
And if you are anything like most humans, you will not make your best decisions under time pressure.
Still, we see an increased emphasis on speed across society. In politics, there is a tendency in many countries to "fast-track" investigations and to make rapid changes to legislation and incentive systems, under the argument that we need quick political change. And while that might be true in extreme cases (such as global pandemics), there is actually a point to democracy being slow, since it involves and affects large groups of people.
The same urgency argument is often seen in organisations. And here I'd better start confessing that I've frequently been frustrated by the slow pace of change in the projects I've worked on — but I'm beginning to view things differently.
I’ve seen quite a few organisations that jumped headfirst into layoffs, only to now be rehiring for the very same roles they cut.
I also see many organisations constantly changing strategy, never staying with one long enough to reap any real benefits.
When strategies change faster than organisations can absorb them, people stop taking them seriously. Initiatives overlap, priorities blur, and frustration grows because nothing is given enough time to show results.
Speed makes sense when decisions are reversible. But many of the decisions leaders rush into today are not. Layoffs, restructurings, and strategic pivots are definite and costly, and they get even more expensive if something needs to be reversed later.
Many business decisions, such as promotions and investments, reward leaders and organisations for acting rather than getting it right. The benefits of speed are immediate and visible. The costs of poor judgment tend to surface later — often under someone else’s watch.
Yes, some decisions benefit from urgency. But most others demand patience, disagreement, and time to think. Treating them all the same creates the illusion of progress, but rarely the outcomes we hope for.
In a world that constantly demands faster answers, choosing when not to rush may be one of the most essential leadership skills we have.
Patience is a virtue, they say.
Isn't that a perfect reminder when we move into the winter holidays? Take some time off, don't rush. And let's make both smarter and slower decisions in 2026.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
Anna
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DATA and GEOPOLITICS — Switzerland has decided not to use Palantir, a major US surveillance intelligence company, for government projects, worrying that sensitive Swiss government data could become accessible to US authorities. Swiss lawmakers raised concerns about losing control over their own data, relying too heavily on a foreign company for important government work, and whether these complex systems could be appropriately understood and held accountable under Swiss law. Many governments worldwide currently use Palantir for both domestic and foreign surveillance, a practice that might change after the US's new security strategy. (Link to article in German).
