One of the prevalent beliefs in Silicon Valley is to optimize for speed. Be it The Lean Startup or Blitzscaling, much of popular advice about building products puts an emphasis on speed. The idea is that getting a product out there sooner is better than waiting for the perfect product — sometimes you don’t know what the perfect product is without testing the waters and then iterating on it. While that mindset is highly valuable in many situations, I’d like to talk about an alternative approach: timing and precision.
Timing
When I first set foot in a Martial Arts fighting gym, I was terrified. Everyone looked tough, and I wasn’t sure if I could fit in. While I knew I was strong and could develop my fight cardio over time, I wasn’t as explosive as some other fighters, whose impressive speed is determined primarily by genetics.
I asked my coach Simon:
“How can I ever compete if I won’t ever be as fast as these guys?”
He responded:
“Remember: timing beats speed. Every time.”
Over the next few years of practicing Muay Thai and Pekiti-Tirsia Kali [1], I developed a fighting style that primarily focused on range, angles, and timing, as opposed to one that relied on athleticism and explositivity. While I don’t expect to turn pro, I started being able to hold my own — or at least fare better — against more experienced sparring partners. At one point, I even prevented a potential robbery, but I’ll say more about that another time.
Precision
At work, though, I’m the opposite. As a former competitive debater, I thrive in situations where I must think on my feet to respond to questions and challenges. Over time, it became clear that there was a trade-off: although I could win an argument most of the time, logos was typically not as effective as pathos in convincing others. In other words, I still failed to achieve my ultimate goal: persuading others. I’ve lost track of the number of times I reflected on how I could have handled discussions differently and how that could have changed how the other person reacted.
This applies to written communication as well. When I see a roadblock or inquiry in an email or on Slack, I’m usually tempted to respond immediately. Countless times, I would reread my response after the fact and realize that I could’ve worded my response much more thoughtfully. Nowadays, when I get a tricky email or Slack message, I ask myself, “What would be the impact if I were to respond a few hours later or tomorrow morning?”. If the answer is “little to none,” then I allow myself more time to contemplate the issue before responding, so that I can do so in a more thoughtful manner.
Timing and Precision
The importance of timing and precision can be applied to product development as well. Back in 2001, Bill Gates had already envisioned a world with touchscreens, and the following year, Microsoft revealed its Smart Display initiative. While they had developed very powerful software, there were a lot of issues:
- The hardware touch screen was not sensitive enough.
- Cable connection was not powerful enough to support streaming.
- Due to bandwidth constraints, only one smart display could be connected with a host PC at a time.
- Due to lack of fast internet or Wi-Fi, every smart display around the household had to be connected to the same PC via cables.
Needless to say, the initiative was a flop, and Microsoft discontinued this product line in December 2003, less than a year from its launch.
Four years later, Steve Jobs unveiled the world’s first iPhone, which included a touchscreen and required only a single button. It was an immediate hit: despite commanding a price of $499 (close to a low-end laptop) and requiring a two-year contract with a telecom carrier, Apple sold 6.1 million units in a year, creating a new market category: smartphones.
While Gates conceived of the idea first, his hardware partners weren’t ready yet. Jobs timed the iPhone’s release to the market just right:
- Hardware manufacturers were able to make the correct glass screens and capacitors to capture user touch, and
- Wi-Fi was much more prevalent in 2007 and had faster speeds.
Jobs had also driven a wedge into the market with high precision by:
- targeting the mobile market, thus removing the need connect to a computer, other than for charging purposes;
- leveraging the existing market dominance of the iPod; and
- marketing the iPhone as a 3-in-1 device that people needed: a “widescreen iPod with touch controls,” a “revolutionary mobile phone,” and a “breakthrough Internet communications device.”
Over the years, I have observed that it is very common for smart and ambitious people to optimize on speed. The modern dilemma of information overload has trained us to search for instant gratification. However, as my coach said, “Timing (and precision) beats speed. Every time.” It’s important to take a step back from our busy lives and ask ourselves, “Does this really need to be addressed right away?” and “Is this the most effective way to solve this problem?” before plowing forward with whatever comes to mind.
[1] Pekiti-Tirsia Kali is a Filipino martial art based on stick and knife fighting. It’s a self-defense and combat system, as opposed to many other sports-based martial arts.
For more musings on tech culture, organization building, and management, follow me on Twitter @kenk616.
