… it’s the fast that eat the slow. The full title may be too long to be a Combi story heading but this book, focusing on the virtues of being fast in business, does not take long to read and it’s a great stimulus for anyone who wants to do more, faster.

Authors Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton have subtitled their book “How to use speed as a competitive tool in business.” With plenty of real life examples (not all of them American), Jennings and Haughton give their recipe for:

• Fast Thinking – by anticipating and spotting trends
  “Speed, merely for the sake of moving fast, without a destination in mind is haste.”
• Fast Decisions – by applying rules and reassessing strategies
  “The reason slow thinkers are unable to make quick decisions is that each represents a move into uncharted waters.”
• Getting to Market Faster – by exploiting your advantages and institutionalising innovation
  “The fastest companies in the world don’t waste time sitting around a conference table processing visions."
• Sustaining Speed – by remaining flexible and keeping close to the customer
  “… a few businesses are constantly fast and first to market, scoring one big win after another, and achieving huge growth year after year.”

If we’ve piqued your interest enough to read it you’ll have to grab a copy from the library (when I return it) or from amazon.com, which has new and used copies.