I’ve worked at many different types of companies, from small 15-person startups to global public companies. With that experience, I have learned the valuable lesson of how much strategy is actually required to get desired results.
In a larger organization, there are usually more resources in money, time, and people. You have more specialized roles, so everyone can give a little more TLC to their craft. In smaller companies, you’re often wearing multiple hats and are concerned just about getting critical projects done. I currently work in a small to mid-size company that requires both. At times it feels like some people want to spend hours and hours meeting until they feel safe enough to make any sort of decision while others are charging ahead with little thought. I find it more difficult getting people to speed up than getting others to slow down. I never execute a project blindly, but the amount of strategy that is required must take into consideration the level of urgency of the project. That’s when people need to realize they don’t have the luxury of whiteboarding every single thought or feeling.
I’ll give an analogy, and I love analogies. When there’s a hole on a boat, there isn’t time to discuss the best way to fill that hole. You need to get in there and fill that hole based on your gut instinct and your past experience. Once it’s temporarily filled then you can discuss the next course of action with a little more leisure.
There are inflexible people who are unwilling or incapable of working in conditions that are less than ideal. This becomes dead weight on your little sinking boat.