De-load Moments: The Magic of Toggling Fast and Slow

It seems today in business we are stuck in a single gear: go as fast as you can. And while, of course, speed of execution is important given the relentless change that is occurring before our eyes, there is also a need to periodically slow down; to go slow; to pause what one (or a larger entity) is doing to validate that what we are doing is still relevant, urgent, of value.

Is ‘pausing’ built into your weekly/monthly operating cycle? If you are like most companies I visit, the short answer is NO, hence the reference to (most) companies being stuck in overdrive. As true as it is in our personal lives where we find value in periodically stepping back to evaluate our work, our health, our relationships with others, so too is there value in larger corporate systems periodically pausing to evaluate its work, its health, its relation to the broader ecosystem in which it works and operates; asking, in effect, is all good and what course corrections are warranted.

We know the consequences of living our personal life in overdrive – we breakdown; we get sick; we collapse. The corporate organism is no different. It is not immune to same outcomes. Hence, what is needed is for leaders and staff alike to both acknowledge the need to pause but more importantly ‘build in’ deliberate pauses into its daily/weekly/monthly operating patterns to reflect; to learn; to refresh and rejuvenate, as needed.

We refer to such pauses (which can range from a few hours to an entire week) as ‘deload’ moments. There are many benefits (individually and collectively) to embracing and embedding ‘deload’ moments in one's work patterns:

• Chance to reflect on current strategy, approach, direction

• Ability to course correct; to make strategic and/or operating adjustments

• Ability to re-direct resources to higher-value, higher-leverage activities/opportunities

• Opportunity to engage in real dialogue with others; to question one another; to challenge and validate underlying assumptions driving current operating plans; team execution

• Ability to consider changes occurring internally/externally to the company to ensure ongoing alignment (horizontally and vertically)

The question we always get on our consulting engagements is where can we do this? That is, what are the ‘practice fields’ of opportunity to embed such deload moments? As it turns out, many opportunities exist to insert a deliberate ‘pause’ in your otherwise busy day/week/month.

They are:

• Extend your monthly operational reviews to include an additional 1-5 days of reflection time

• If doing Agile, take a 1-week break in-between your monthly sprints OR if doing 2-week sprints, insert a 1-week break after (2) successive sprints

• Conduct quarterly week-long ‘sensing’ journeys to evaluate current conditions for needed course corrections

• At a project level, insert periodic ‘pause points’ into your project plans to evaluate your current progress and what is wanting to emerge

There is no shortage of opportunities that one could find to insert a deliberate pause point; to slow down long enough to see what wants to emerge. Your creativity is only limited by your own ability to pause; to slow down; to think. It might be counter-intuitive to say, but all my 25+ years of operational excellence experience suggests that when we periodically slow down, we also, believe it or not gift ourselves the ability to speed up.

For those of you who have experienced this phenomenon, you know a special truth. Embrace it and continue to LIVE it. For all others, test the theory yourself. In time, you will learn, as I did, the magic of toggling fast and slow.

Related Reading

• Rapid Learning Cycles - Why They Matter!

• Going Slow to Go Fast Later

• Do Your Meetings Pass the 'So What' Test?

Facing a complex change challenge in your organization? Book an OD consultation with Henosis Partners.