What Happens When You Strap a Rocket to a Tortoise?

In the fable which depicts the race between the hare – fast, elitist, arrogant – and the tortoise – methodical, determined, humble – the hare takes an early lead, but slacks off, only to be overcome by the slower tortoise who perseveres and stay’s focused throughout the race. Thus, championing the idiom Slow and Steady Win’s The Race: If you work slowly but constantly, you will succeed better than if you work fast for a short while and do not continue.

In today’s modern landscape information travels at the speed of life, creating a professional environment better suited for the hustle of the hare, which is in direct contrast with the slow and steady philosophy that has pervade business strategy for years.

With consumer attention spans shortening and industry trends shifting it is safe to say that “business as usual” is a thing of the past. The window of opportunity to build rapport is narrow and in most instances we are forced to grow or die when establishing a customer base and/or strategic planning within a company.

That said, adopting a growth mindset does not directly oppose the values implied by the character of the tortoise, but the mindset does move at a different speed. Recognizing the change is unavoidable: working smarter to compensate for a dramatic shift in the customer acquisition, sales and strategic planning cycle require the tortoise to learn a few things from its former rival the hare.

The tortoise has to find a way to move faster, without losing a connection to the qualities which made the slow and steady approach a mainstay prior to the information age.

What happens when you attach a rocket to a tortoise?

• The Tortoise Learns to Hustle on the Fly
• The Tortoise is Seen By more Clients
• The Tortoise Works Smarter

The Tortoise Learns to Hustle on the Fly

Even at a slow pace effective planning and customer engagement has required methodical implementation of processes, plans and campaigns. Adherence to “tried and true” steps has been a cornerstone of business for the tortoise until now.

Today, we have to apply the same discipline which allowed us to focus on policy and procedure better than the competition -- who slacked off – to methodically adapt to a faster journey from point A to point B.

The Tortoise is Seen By more Clients

One of the major drawbacks of creating in an Information Age is that – everyone else in the world is creating too! Moving at a slow pace will limit your ability to present the right material to your audience.

The worst place you can be is out of sight and out of mind. To win the race you will have to be determined to find out what your audience needs, and insure that as many people in your target market see your products as soon as possible.

The hare is sure she's the speediest animal in the forest, so imagine her surprise when a tortoise challenges her to a race. She’s so sure that it's going to be easy to win the race that she stops to take a nap.

Lesson: Don’t sleep. The only way to insure professional sustainability and continued success – is to grow. Growth is the most basic and universal of drives through which all biological, physical, chemical, psychological, and cultural processes are intrinsically equivalent; and a cornerstone of professional success in a modern socially connected environment.