How to Move Fast Without Breaking Your Transformation?

🚀 The Cost of Speed: Why Moving Too Fast Can Kill Transformation

Faster Isn’t Always Better—Here’s Why

Speed is a prized asset in business. We hear it all the time—"Move fast, break things."

But in transformation? Moving too fast can break the wrong things.

The pressure to deliver results quickly often leads organizations to push initiatives forward without ensuring they’re truly ready. Speed becomes the goal, instead of sustainable change.

The result? Teams scramble, execution suffers, and transformation efforts become rushed, reactive, and riddled with misalignment.

How This Plays Out in Organizations

This obsession with speed can show up in different ways:

🔹 Leaders skip critical thinking time to get to execution faster. 

🔹 Decisions are made based on urgency, not strategy. 

🔹 Teams are forced to pivot so often that clarity is lost. 

🔹 Pressure builds to show quick wins, even if they don’t serve the long-term goal.

It starts with good intentions—let’s move fast, let’s be agile—but before long, the pace outstrips the organization’s ability to absorb the change.

The Symptoms: How You Know Speed is Working Against You

When an organization is moving too fast without enough depth, the warning signs are clear:

❌ Confused teams constantly shifting priorities without real direction 

❌ Execution teams feeling overwhelmed and unclear on the bigger picture 

❌ Decisions made in firefighting mode rather than thoughtful strategy 

❌ High levels of burnout with little actual progress to show

You’ll see a pattern: more effort, more meetings, more reporting—but not necessarily better outcomes.

Why This Hurts Transformation Efforts

⚠️ Shortcuts lead to costly rework. What gets missed in the rush will eventually need fixing—often at a higher cost. 

⚠️ Trust in leadership erodes. When teams feel they’re being pushed too hard with no clear direction, engagement drops. 

⚠️ Big-picture goals suffer. Leaders focus on quick wins and reporting “progress” rather than setting up a foundation for long-term success.

Instead of meaningful transformation, you get activity without impact.

What Can We Do Instead?

Moving fast isn’t the problem—moving fast without depth is.

Here’s how to balance momentum with sustainability:

✅ Slow down at the right moments. Thinking time is not wasted time—it prevents future rework. 

✅ Prioritize clarity over speed. If your team doesn’t understand what they’re delivering and why, speed won’t help. 

✅ Make strategic pauses. Not every delay is bad—some are necessary to ensure alignment and avoid avoidable mistakes. 

✅ Align speed with readiness. Instead of pushing forward at all costs, ensure teams have the capacity, capability, and clarity to execute well.

Final Thought: It’s About Sustainable Speed, Not Just Speed

🚀 Transformation is about making real shifts that last—not just getting things done quickly.

If speed comes at the cost of clarity, alignment, and long-term success, then it’s not an advantage. It’s a liability.

Before you push harder, ask yourself—are we moving fast in the right direction? Or are we just moving?

#Transformation #Leadership #Change #FutureFit #StrategyExecution #ImpactOverSpeed

📑📓 [Sustainable Speed in Transformation Workshop Series - SOLD OUT]

Practical Transformation Learning—Shaped by You

Last week, I launched the Sustainable Speed in Transformation Workshop Series, and I’m thrilled and grateful to share that all three sessions are now officially sold out.

The interest was incredible. Thank you to everyone who joined the waitlist, sent messages, and shared the details with others in your network. 🙏

Since then, I’ve received a wave of emails and LinkedIn messages asking one simple question:

“What’s next?”

Over the last few months, I’ve been watching some clear patterns emerge across the organisations, teams, and individual professionals I work with.

🔹 Leaders navigating transformation in increasingly complex environments 

🔹 Teams eager to sharpen how they execute without burning out

🔹 Individuals seeking tools that help them lead better, think deeper, move faster without losing focus, and accelerate their career progression.

And it’s clear: there’s a growing appetite for practical, real-world learning that helps leaders and practitioners not just manage change—but truly lead it.

So, before I finalise what’s coming next, I want to ask you:

💬 What kind of transformation & change Leadership learning do you want to see offered?

Is there a skill you’ve been meaning to develop? 

A challenge you’ve seen across your organisation? 

A gap in capability that you wish had more support?

I’d love to hear: 

✅ What you’d like to learn next 

✅ What your team would benefit from 

✅ What kind of workshop would be a game-changer for your program or career

📩 Just comment below and let me know what you’d love to see brought to life.

Together, we’ll shape what’s next in practical transformation learning—driven by what you need most to lead change that lands, lasts, and leads forward.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas!

🎉💎We are launching Women in Change Community for Australia & New Zealand

Check out this message from the Women in Change Founder 👇

🔗Read all about it here 👇👇👇 🔗🔗Women in Change ANZ

Till next week

Jess Tayel

Founder of the Transformation Leadership Institute and People of Transformation membership & community.

Enable Organizations to Become Future Fit Through their Transformations & Change efforts.

Elevate Change & Transformation high-performing leaders to soar above the sea of sameness and achieve new heights in mastery, influence, & impact without the drag of going solo or slow progression.