Making Slow Work, Embrace the Slow

Slow is the persistent constraint of product development. Engineering teams move too slow, customers move too slow, finance and legal move too slow.

So how do we combat slow? Let's change our perspective and look at slow as an attribute that forces us to be better. We can't change the root cause, but we can influence. Managing constraints is a primary part of the job and the velocity constraint needs to be well understood and embraced just as any other constraint.

Slow is a forcing function. It forces us to edit and be concise. To hone in on the core value proposition and the highest priority activities that deliver value to customers.

Tight scope and tight product value props mean less to implement, less friction in adoption, less complexity in business models. It forces incremental steps and allows rapid progress even when some of the inputs are slow.

Slow can be frustrating, but for your mental health and for the health of your products, embrace it.