Fast Isn’t the Same as Forward
What it takes to create smart velocity
In a world obsessed with speed, it’s easy to confuse movement with momentum. But what if the problem isn't how fast we're going, but what direction we're moving in?
The Titanic was moving fast when it hit the iceberg.
WeWork was moving so fast they didn’t see the foundations crumbling underneath them.
ChatGPT was moving fast when DeepSeek seemingly changed the rules of the game.
What they all have in common, is that the humans involved didn’t course-correct, despite having the time.
At Brink, we’ve spent years working inside systems where speed is a priority, but so is clarity of direction. Through those experiences we’ve come to see that real progress doesn’t always look like a sprint. Sometimes, it starts with stillness, reflection, or even going slowly on purpose. And sometimes, it’s about accelerating but within clear guardrails, like when rapid prototyping and fast iteration are the smartest moves.
In short: Speed isn’t the problem, but blind speed is.
So, the question we’re looking to answer this month is: What does smart velocity look like?
📡 Signals Detected
A few of the recent data points that have reinforced our thinking about the tension between action and progress:
UN Trade and Development warning against prioritising speed over systemic strengthening, and calling for longer-term planning and coordinated investment, rather than short-term bursts of “growth at any cost”.
Forum for the Future advocating for intentional pauses to reflect on direction and strategise, especially when addressing complex systemic challenges.
This study exploring how the brain employs both fast and slow synaptic changes to optimise learning. Essentially it shows how the brain reacts quickly to correct errors in the moment, but real, lasting learning happens when you can step back and learn from what’s happening.
The UN Global Pulse report that emphasises that successful innovation scaling requires deliberate pacing, structured support and a shift from ad hoc efforts to systematic approaches.
🤷 The ‘So What?’: Real speed starts with trust
Velocity in innovation isn’t just a technical challenge. It’s a human one.
When working on complex innovation programmes, we often see a familiar temptation: teams under pressure to show progress lean toward proving that their product or service is wanted. That’s because demonstrating demand ("People like this!") feels faster and simpler than grappling with tougher, but ultimately more valuable, questions like "Can this scale?" or "Is this sustainable?"
When we looked closer at why this pattern kept emerging, we found it wasn’t because teams didn’t know better; it was because the environment around them didn’t always make it safe to fail early. Without strong signals that uncovering risky assumptions is encouraged (even when it means failing on Sprint 1), teams naturally fall back on safer, easier wins.
What this tells us is that genuine progress happens when:
Teams trust each other enough to call out risks early.
Leadership rewards curiosity and experimentation, not just delivery.
Structures flex and adapt in response to learning, rather than collapsing under pressure.
And, crucially, cultivating smart velocity means making intentionality a measurable part of the system. Asking questions like:
Where are we heading? Momentum only matters if it’s moving us toward something meaningful.
How will we know we’re on track tomorrow, not just five years from now? Using smart, proximate indicators, the kind of simple measures that show quickly when you’re drifting off-course.
📣 Help make some real progress 📣
In a world overloaded with noise, progress demands clear-headed people willing to listen to what matters, slow down at the right times, move fast when it counts, and build the kind of trust that makes all that possible.
At Brink, we’re gathering those people - partners, fellow travellers, friends - to reflect on what’s worked, where we’re stuck, and what it will take to move the needle on the big, preventable challenges we all care about.
If you believe smart velocity, not just speed, is what this moment demands, we’d love you to be part of the conversation.
🧠 Cultivating useful velocity
Smart velocity feels fast because it's been built slowly enough to be smart, flexible enough to survive stress, and human enough to adjust as reality shifts. But it won’t happen by accident. It’s the result of deliberate choices made along the way.
Here are three core principles we’ve learned to hold onto when building real, resilient momentum:
1. Start small, scale smart
Good velocity starts with experiments that are designed to scale (or fail) with intention. Pilot early, test with real users, and design for feedback loops, not just launch dates.
2. Direction is everything
Clarity beats chaos. High-velocity teams ground themselves in shared purpose, decision-making values, and clear roles. Agree upfront on what ‘good’ looks like, how decisions will be made under pressure, and which proxy signals you’ll use to track progress.
➡️ Read how we built high trust teams to test edtech during the pandemic
3. Go slow to go fast
The best teams pause to make sure they’re moving in the right direction before accelerating. Pre-mortems, foresight exercises, and reflection rituals are not luxuries, they’re fuel for smarter action.
Progress isn't just about pace, it's about purpose. A sharper question, a clearer checkpoint, a braver pause. If you’re thinking about which changes you could make to trade frantic speed for useful velocity, we've pulled together some resources to help you shift gears and go further, faster, on purpose.
📚 Brain Food
🗞 Read: "Need Speed? Slow Down" Harvard Business Review
This classic HBR article explores how slowing down to reflect, align, and think systemically leads to faster and more sustainable outcomes later. Essential reading on why good velocity is a product of deliberate pauses, not endless acceleration.
📖 Long Read: Evolution of Trust in Business Delivery" World Economic Forum (PDF)
This WEF report shows how businesses that build deep trust with stakeholders, through transparency, consistency, and long-term thinking, ultimately move faster and scale more effectively. Trust turns friction into flow.
📺 Watch: Margaret Heffernan - The Human Skills We Need in an Unpredictable World
In this TED talk, Margaret Heffernan argues that resilience and adaptability - not speed alone - are the real advantages in a chaotic world. She shows how slow-building capabilities like trust, collaboration, and experimentation outperform knee-jerk action.
👤 Follow: Dr. Jennifer Garvey Berger — Leadership and Complexity Expert
Jennifer Garvey Berger’s work focuses on leading through complexity and change. She emphasises that in fast-moving, uncertain environments, leaders must slow down their thinking to stay adaptive and effective. A must-follow for anyone working in innovation, systems change, or complexity leadership.
🎧 Listen: Ezra Klein on "Process vs Progress"
Ezra Klein discusses how bureaucratic systems often confuse activity for achievement; and how slowing down to rethink processes can actually unlock faster, more meaningful progress. A sharp conversation about systemic friction and intentional action.
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1365 kPa is also about the pressure inside a typical scuba tank. Perfect for deep dives, but disastrous if rushed. Another example of velocity without control making things more difficult.
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