Have you ever seen that video of Mark Zuckerberg speaking in regards to the distinction between Meta’s and Apple’s growth approaches?
For some motive, LinkedIn retains serving me a clip from the September 2024 episode of the Acquired Podcast.
At the start of that phase, Zuckerberg notes that Meta takes a special strategy than Apple relating to product technique:
“We’re the alternative of Apple…They take this strategy that’s like, ‘We’re going to take a very long time, we’re going to shine it, and we’re going to place it out.’ And perhaps for the stuff that they’re doing that works, perhaps that simply matches with their tradition.”
In different phrases, they transfer slowly, and we transfer quick.
However you may see that Zuckerberg visibly struggles throughout this 8-minute phase to separate the concepts of velocity and agility. When questioned about prioritizing velocity and releasing suboptimal issues, he backtracks, saying, ‘Nicely, I don’t wish to overstate it.’
Step by step, he works his technique to the belief that he means their capacity to study and adapt shortly — in different phrases, their agility:
“Product technique is about studying and iterating as quick as attainable…If we are able to study sooner than everybody else, we’ll win.”
The punch line, nonetheless, lies within the viewers’s response. Most LinkedIn feedback (and the articles protecting the interview) interpreted the clip as Zuckerberg saying that velocity defines an awesome technique.
One commenter stated, “Velocity is every thing in advertising and marketing.”
Spoiler alert: It isn’t.
The pitfalls of reckless velocity
I wrote lately about how the “transfer quick and break issues” motto has permeated advertising and marketing’s tradition.
I’ve seen too many advertising and marketing groups rally round new expertise and actions within the identify of prioritizing velocity. Firms encourage groups to “fail quick” and ship increasingly more content material and iterative promoting sooner.
In 2025, most entrepreneurs will transfer considerably sooner than in 2015. Advertising has turn into extra environment friendly and extra algorithm-driven. Sadly, it’s additionally turn into extra superficial.
Have entrepreneurs hit “peak velocity,” the place the downsides of fixed acceleration outweigh the advantages?
Velocity isn’t inherently dangerous. In reality, it’s vital in particular situations — resembling responding to buyer wants (as Jay Baer factors out), managing crises, or adapting to fast market modifications. But velocity for velocity’s sake can result in chaos and, paradoxically, hinder the capabilities it’s meant to boost.
Final yr, I labored with a company whose advertising and marketing workforce was so centered on optimizing their automation instruments to launch electronic mail campaigns sooner and cheaper that they failed to acknowledge the implications. Their prospects have been buried underneath a relentless wave of emails — refined, personalised, and, sadly, overwhelmingly poor content material.
This reckless velocity tradition makes groups really feel just like the work is going on to them slightly than with them. No person questions the place the content material got here from or whether or not it’s the correct content material for the purpose — there’s no time for that.
Priorities turn into muddled, collaboration breaks down, burnout surges, and the strain to ship sacrifices creativity, studying, and, in the end, high quality.
Take into account Meta for a second. The corporate began rolling out AI-driven (ostensibly pretend) profiles platform customers might chat with. After some severe blowback over the past couple of weeks, Meta has determined to delete these profiles (at the least for now). None of those decisions have been a great search for the model. (I speak extra about that misadventure on this video and article.)
Fb could also be giant sufficient to climate this misstep, however the lesson for smaller manufacturers is obvious: Shifting too quick has severe penalties.
However what’s the higher approach?
The reply is identical one Zuck in the end settled on: Agility.
Intentional agility is a much more efficient technique to strategy advertising and marketing efforts. It entails deliberate, considerate, and adaptive motion slightly than racing ahead for the sake of momentum.
Intentional agility: Greater than velocity
Agility has additionally turn into a buzzword in advertising and marketing, touted by many as the one approach innovation and adaptableness can occur. However, too usually, individuals wrongly conflate agility with velocity.
Velocity refers to how briskly you may transfer in a straight line, whereas agility describes the power to shortly change route with a objective.
So, “If we are able to study sooner than everybody else, we’ll win” truly means, “If we are able to course of the place we must always change route extra shortly than everybody else, we’ll win.”
That’s intentional agility: the power to reply successfully to vary constructed on a basis of experience, preparation, and deliberate follow. It’s about figuring out when to behave shortly and when to pause, assess, and plan.
It’s about transferring ahead with intention, not simply momentum.
Transfer towards inventing issues deliberately
On the coronary heart of this dialogue is a philosophical shift for advertising and marketing groups: from valuing fast, iterative change to prioritizing deliberate, inventive progress.
Cease lengthy sufficient to query the necessity for fast change. For instance, ask:
Why do we want the Ferrari of selling automation methods when our technique requires a truck?
Why do we have to determine how one can get to 42 AI-generated variations of content material when three will get us 95% of the way in which to our purpose?
Why do we have to create 100 items of content material for that social media channel when it’s not delivering the specified degree of profit?
Once I work on content material advertising and marketing methods for organizations, I usually suggest altering the content material creation course of to start out with the story slightly than the containers (e.g., the designed asset).
For instance, in the event that they’re planning a thought management piece, I like to recommend they keep away from saying, “We’d like a white paper!” As a substitute, I like to recommend they outline the story first after which plan whether or not it ought to be a white paper, an e-book, a webinar, a podcast, an electronic mail, or the entire above.
The No. 1 pushback I get on this advice is, “It sounds such as you’re going to decelerate the content material creation course of.”
My reply is, “Yup, completely. And by doing that, you’ll exponentially improve your re-use and repackaging capabilities.”
Intentional agility as a strategic benefit
In a world obsessive about velocity, it’s tempting to equate velocity with progress. Nevertheless, essentially the most profitable organizations perceive that actual progress comes from transferring with objective.
Happily, I’m noticing increasingly more advertising and marketing leaders elevating their fingers and saying, “Perhaps it’s time to pause, take a breath, and decelerate.”
By shifting the main focus to intentional agility— towards inventing issues deliberately and away from breaking issues shortly — you may create a piece atmosphere that’s extra sustainable, modern, and impactful.
So, the subsequent time you face strain to maneuver quick, don’t. Take into account whether or not you’re merely chasing velocity or driving towards a significant vacation spot.
Then transfer ahead — deliberately.
It’s your story. Inform it properly.
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising Institute