Go Slow to Grow Fast

This weeklong pause taught me many things about pursuing excellence in any field, among them the power of going slow to go fast.

Happy Swim Tech Campers. Photo courtesy of Margaret Rivard.
Happy Swim Tech Campers. Photo courtesy of Margaret Rivard.

[We have three complimentary seats available for a private gathering on September 7 for CMOs, CEOs, and Growth Officers to help you innovate through some rough economic waters. Keep reading for details.]

Summer is flowing along. I am still basking in the glow of Swim Tech Camp. I spent six days along the shores and islands of Vermont’s bucolic Lake Memphremagog. I swam with intrepid mermaids, men, and paddlers from across the country.

The weeklong pause taught me many things about pursuing excellence in any field, among them the power of going slow to go fast.

The Toothless Sharks – our winning relay team. Photo courtesy of Charlotte Brynn.

Slowing down doesn’t come easy to me. I started open water swimming at age five, much to the chagrin of my anxiety-prone Mom. I would rush to get to the other end of the lake. I built my confidence for swimming under myriad, unpredictable weather conditions and currents.

Since then, I have accumulated fifty-six years of bad stroke habits.

Coaches Charlotte and Shannon quickly found them. Video clips don’t hide much. Their expert swim drills forced me to glide slowly and with intention.

The drills frustrated me at times. But I stuck with them. For six days. I believed in the process.

The “need for speed” mindset also halts marketing innovation.

We rush to embrace agile marketing, to organize 10-day sprints, and to impose constraints. Have you heard the urban myth that modern marketers are supposed to operate this way? I have. But it’s not always the right swim lane.

Many promising marketing innovations never see the light of day because we do not fully understand the importance and timing of the idea incubation process. Naming your idea, then allowing ample time for testing and idea sharing, are essential steps in any innovation cycle.

That’s why we invited Whitney Johnson to help us embrace idea incubation on September 7. She will help us launch our 6th annual CMOs Leading Innovation Conference (CLIC ’22). We are also giving away autographed copies of Whitney’s latest book, Smart Growth.

This interactive CLIC ’22 intro workshop happens in Washington, DC. You’ll walk away with an innovation preparation formula–including the tools, talking points, and frameworks to earn commitment and to set the stage to incubating your innovative ideas.

In other words, you will learn when, and how, to go slow to grow FAST.

For a limited time, we have three complimentary seats available for this dynamic discussion on September 7 from 9:30-11 am ET. If you are a CEO, CMO, or growth leader, and you are interested, contact me.

You will love meeting Whitney. I met her through our 100 Coaches community. In a word, she’s an innovation dynamo!

Whitney leads Disruption Advisors, a tech-enabled talent development company. Her “Disrupt Yourself” LinkedIn Livestream and podcast attract some of the top innovators and market leaders from around the globe.

Whitney was named by Thinkers50 as one of the ten leading business thinkers in the world in 2021. She was the cofounder of the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen, an innovation icon and pioneer.

With global events, inflation, and layoff threats swirling around us, it’s tempting to hope for a “back to normal” state. It’s not happening. We need to swim towards a new, more favorable shore.

Want to dive in with us? Drop me a note before these September 7 seats disappear.

(You might prefer to join us for the full conference in Charleston, Nov. 3-4. That’s great, too! Check out the agenda and the incredible lineup of speakers here.)

– Lisa

Happy Swim Tech Campers. Photo courtesy of Margaret Rivard.

Copyright 2022, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

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