Slow is smooth. Smooth is Fast

Have you heard this saying? Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. I first heard it while fencing and apparently its original source is from the military. In that context, it’s all about shooting. When you’re pulling a trigger, you want to pull smoothly and evenly to stay on target. Because if you miss, you have to shoot again. And that wastes time. 

But more recently, I’ve been thinking about this in the context of creating in the age of the LLM. AI makes pulling the trigger so easy. Just drop in a prompt and there’s the ad idea, the strategy, the SEO terms. You name it, the LLM can create it. Quickly, but will it hit? 

The essence of SIS/SIF thinking is not to be slow but to be thoughtful. It means spending the time up front to think through the requirements, the measures of success and your approach. If anything, it’s more structured than a lot of the thinking I’ve had to do in the past. Because the AI is a tool but it’s up to us to aim it and to be truly thoughtful in how we bring it to bear.

So take it slow, so that you can go like hell.