Thread by @ronhekier

The fastest surgeon I have ever known moved his hands slowly.

A two-time Olympic medalist rower coached me to slow down.

The most effective managers are often the ones who speak the least.

Let's learn what it means to say
"Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast." #ship30for30

When I was starting my surgical training in 1997, I already knew of the biggest tour-de-force for a general surgeon.

It's a Whipple procedure, an extensive and difficult surgery typically performed for cancer of the pancreas.

It’s a massive procedure which few surgeons perform.

The surgery is fraught with many areas where a mis-step can cause fatal bleeding.

For those that do this extensive surgery, it often takes 4 - 6 hours under ideal circumstances.

But one of our surgeons in my training program routinely performed this surgery in about 3 hours.

This kind of surgical speed is hard to put into context.

Imagine a runner finishing a 26 mile marathon while the rest of the pack has yet to cross the 20 mile mar..

This surgeon was faster than any I had ever seen, and on one of the most complex and dangerous procedures we do.

One day I asked him. “How are you so fast?”

His reply:
“I do the same surgery as everyone else. I might even sew slower than some. But in the end I am faster than most other people because my hands don’t perform any unnecessary movement like most do.”

His speed also ironically made him safer.

In this specific surgery which has many chances for getting into life threatening bleeding, being smooth reduced the risk of damaging fragile blood vessels.

Slow is smooth and not only fast, it's also safe!

I came across similar advice about 13 years ago while training for an indoor rowing competition.

I set up remote coaching by Xeno Muller, 2x time Olympic medalist whose gold medal win in 1996 set an Olympic record which stood for 16 years.

Xeno knows speed.

One of the most challenging parts of his training program were the workouts with a seemingly absurdly low stroke rate.

My form broke down when rowing slowly. I literally couldn’t do it!

I was upset. I was paying him to make me a faster rower and he was having me row slowly!

I asked Xeno to skip those practice sessions which had me to row slowly.

I reminded him I was on a deadline with the competition fast approaching. (Which he of course knew.)

But he kept the slow training sessions, telling me
“You never go fast if you can’t go slow.”

By rowing at a very slow pace my coach could easily see the inefficiencies in my technique.

The slower I rowed, the more pronounced and awkward those inefficient movements would feel.

Then we could eliminate them.

To be fast, I had to be smooth, which meant I had to be slow!

The same principle, "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast," exists in areas which that aren't physical but are more cognitive and cerebral in nature.

The most effective managers and supervisors who are the top of their field often seem to say little.

All of us have been impressed by someone at a meeting or lecture or debate who doesn't seem to say much, but when they speak they have a solution.

We all inherently respect a team leader who is deliberate and thinks before they speak and thinks before they act.

The most effective executives are often those who in a crisis will first slow down to listen and absorb facts and only after contemplation call for action.

Bezos, Cook, Nadella, the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, are never seen as being brash nor impertinent.

tl;dr

•Slick surgeons, top athletes, and effective managers move slowly.
•Control and precision reduces chances for errors.
•Smooth and deliberate action brings inefficiency to light.
•Contemplation and clarity make for a great team leader.