FAST in Action

When I talk about FAST I find it really interesting to see the reaction from the audience, many are nodding along, others look deep in thought wondering how FAST would impact their approach and organizational setup.

FAST challenges the way people think; it demands that they get clear about goals and look to keep things simple.

Complexity is the enemy of execution and it should be avoided, but too often it’s a barrier to hide behind because of a lack of understanding. But when leaders don’t understand, how can they articulate what needs to be done, how can they create the belief in their teams when the ‘What’ and ‘How’ are still shrouded in mystery.

FAST strips all that bare!

FAST asks tough questions.

Questions that need to be answered if you’re going to be successful. I can see people asking themselves what does this mean to me as I talk about the various elements such as Focus, Accountability, Simplicity and Transparency.

During the talks, I am always asked questions, with people looking to understand the concepts, or challenging whether such detailed understanding of What, Who and How are really needed.

My favourite part of the talk is always the final Q&A because it’s here that people stop to ask me what FAST is and start to ask detailed questions about how it would apply, and how would we implement it in their situation.

This is where the real learning happens as we look to apply FAST.  It’s great to see people become inspired as they start to understand and see the benefits that FAST will bring them.

As a speaker I get to talk on FAST in all kinds of situations to large groups of entrepreneurs, to groups of CEO’s, to college  students studying business and management and the feedback I get is always great feedback such as FAST is Fun, Actionable, Straightforward and Thought provoking.

Whilst I enjoy sharing FAST in all these situations my favourite FAST talks are when I get to speak to the management teams of one company.

In these talks the Q&A starts to get very specific,  do they have the right Focus, are they being Accountable, have they kept things Simple and do they have the right Transparency to drive and manage their business.

This sparks some great conversions both with myself, but also between the colleagues as they look to see in which areas they could use FAST to make improvements.   It also gives me a bit more insight into their business and allows me to make suggestions, recommendations or ask probing question with the goal of moving them forward in their thinking.

I don’t just like talking about FAST, I love to help people apply FAST, as this is where the real benefits come from.

Often that external view can see through some of the obstacles that companies get caught up in, the old adage that we can’t see the forest for the trees is often as a result of being too closely involved. The external view also doesn’t see sacred cows and can challenge some long standing approaches which no longer add value.

Being FAST practitioner, rather than just a straight forward speaker, I love the challenge of helping companies address the challenges they face, and help them overcome them underachieve amazing results.

That’s why I love what I do.

If you would be interested in having me come to your company to talk on FAST and help you achieve better results please contact me at gordon@leadership-principles.com.