Paul Adams - Moving Fast: Why Speed Wins, How Complexity Kills Momentum, and How to Handle This Tension As You Grow (Turing Fest 2022)

When a company has clear differentiation (the reason their customers choose them over others), everything in the business gets easier.

But a company’s differentiation only lasts as long as their ability to improve faster than others can copy. And one thing guaranteed about being successfully differentiated, is that you will be copied. Therefore speed of executing new differentiation is critical.

Success also means growth: more people, more teams, new roles. And as a company grows, it inherently becomes more complex. Complexity will kill momentum, which kills moving fast. Sadly, the default is often to slow down, get copied, get beaten by someone faster.

If you’re fast, this is your opportunity. If you’re slow, this is your biggest threat.

The good news for all sides is that moving fast is something you can control. As Intercom has grown from 10 to 100 to over 1000 people, we have obsessed with speed at every stage. And every time we have slowed down, we have been able to introspect, adjust, and move fast again at our new scale. This talk will explain how we do it, with pragmatic advice for all sizes of team.

Head to www.turingfest.com to learn more about Europe's best cross-functional tech conference.

Transcript

1. Moving fast: why speed wins, how complexity kills momentum, and how to handle this tension as you grow Paul Adams Chief Product O ff i cer, Intercom @padday
2. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay 6 Create a culture that fights for speed 7 Attributes of a culture that fights for speed 8 Give people purpose 9 Interrogate how decisions get made
3. 1 The world is moving at internet speed
5. The internet is still young…
6. Are you moving at 
 internet speed?
7. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race
9. If you’re not operating at internet speed, you’re losing the race.
10. Is this product the best one for me to choose? Now and into the future.
11. Are we ahead of the curve…
12. …or are we building yesterday’s technology tomorrow?
19. Your differentiation is only as durable and sustainable as your ability to improve it faster than your competitors can copy it.
22. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage
23. At Intercom, we obsess about speed, even more so as we get bigger. The more we learn, the more we come back to speed.
24. Fast gets good… Quicker than good gets fast.
25. If you can outperform on speed, you can win on speed.
26. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum
27. Speed vs Momentum
28. Speed vs Momentum
29. Momentum = 
 Velocity * Mass
30. Momentum = 
 Velocity * Mass How fast we execute In a speci fi c direction
 (our strategy)
31. Momentum = 
 Velocity * Mass How fast we execute In a speci fi c direction
 (our strategy) How big we are
32. Momentum is visceral. It is infectious.
33. Does it feel like your company has momentum?
35. Momentum builds Momentum
37. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay
38. Never be satis fi ed.
39. …because slowness is viral too.
41. Most bottlenecks 
 are created by people.
42. 1. New people join at the speed 
 of their last company. 

43. 1. New people join at the speed 
 of their last company. 
 2. There is a mismatch between 
 decision makers and decisions. 

44. 1. New people join at the speed 
 of their last company. 
 2. There is a mismatch between 
 decision makers and decisions. 
 3. People are incentivised by the wrong things. 

45. 1. New people join at the speed 
 of their last company. 
 2. There is a mismatch between 
 decision makers and decisions. 
 3. People are incentivised by the wrong things. 
 4. Leaders are asking the wrong questions.
46. Never be satis fi ed. Ask your best people: What are the things that most slow us down?
47. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay 6 Create a culture that fights for speed
48. Most people 
 want to move fast.
49. They’re probably right. It’s probably your fault.
50. You’ll quickly see changes 
 that just make sense.
51. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay 6 Create a culture that fights for speed 7 Attributes of a culture that fights for speed
52. 1 A culture that fi ghts for speed asks momentum building questions.
53. Why are we blocked? How do we unblock ourselves? Why can’t we decide now? Why are we waiting? Why aren’t we just chasing this down, fi nding a new way to progress? Who’s going to make this decision? Can they make it now? If not, when are they going to make it?
55. Why isn’t this live yet? Why was that person involved? Why is this taking so long?
56. 2 A culture that fi ghts for speed takes momentum building actions.
57. Let’s meet and debate now. Let’s decide with who we have now. Let’s decide with what we know now.
58. 3 A culture that fi ghts for speed makes every day count.
60. Making every day count is a mindset.
61. Don’t fuck around half the day. 
 Make every day count. 
 Then go home and live your life.
62. Company Strategy Quarterly Roadmap Team 6 weekly goals Team weekly goals Individual daily goals Making every day count
63. But how do you generate that 
 every day count mindset?
64. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay 6 Create a culture that fights for speed 7 Attributes of a culture that fights for speed 8 Give people purpose
65. Momentum = 
 Velocity * Mass How fast we execute In a speci fi c direction
 (our strategy) How big we are
67. Most people need to believe that what they are building matters.
68. They also need to believe in the process by which they build.
71. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay 6 Create a culture that fights for speed 7 Attributes of a culture that fights for speed 8 Give people purpose 9 Interrogate how decisions get made
73. Haste not speed = Panic
77. Find out what is said when leaders are not in the room.
78. 1 The world is moving at internet speed 2 You’re in a race 3 Speed is a competitive (dis)advantage 4 Momentum builds momentum 5 Fight natural speed decay 6 Create a culture that fights for speed 7 Attributes of a culture that fights for speed 8 Give people purpose 9 Interrogate how decisions get made
79. Thank you! Paul Adams Chief Product O ff i cer, Intercom @padday