Have you ever seen that video of Mark Zuckerberg speaking concerning the distinction between Meta’s and Apple’s improvement approaches?
For some cause, LinkedIn retains serving me a clip from the September 2024 episode of the Acquired Podcast.
Originally of that phase, Zuckerberg notes that Meta takes a distinct strategy than Apple relating to product technique:
“We’re the other 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 suits with their tradition.”
In different phrases, they transfer slowly, and we transfer quick.
However you possibly can see that Zuckerberg visibly struggles throughout this 8-minute phase to separate the concepts of pace and agility. When questioned about prioritizing pace and releasing suboptimal issues, he backtracks, saying, ‘Effectively, I don’t wish to overstate it.’
Step by step, he works his technique to the conclusion that he means their skill to be taught and adapt shortly — in different phrases, their agility:
“Product technique is about studying and iterating as quick as potential…If we are able to be taught quicker than everybody else, we’ll win.”
The punch line, nevertheless, lies within the viewers’s response. Most LinkedIn feedback (and the articles masking the interview) interpreted the clip as Zuckerberg saying that velocity defines an amazing technique.
One commenter stated, “Velocity is every little thing in advertising.”
Spoiler alert: It isn’t.
The pitfalls of reckless velocity
I wrote lately about how the “transfer quick and break issues” motto has permeated marketing’s culture.
I’ve seen too many advertising groups rally round new expertise and actions within the title of prioritizing pace. Corporations encourage groups to “fail quick” and ship increasingly content material and iterative promoting quicker.
In 2025, most entrepreneurs will transfer considerably quicker than in 2015. Advertising has change into extra environment friendly and extra algorithm-driven. Sadly, it’s additionally change into extra superficial.
Have entrepreneurs hit “peak pace,” the place the downsides of fixed acceleration outweigh the advantages?
Velocity isn’t inherently unhealthy. In reality, it’s important in particular situations — akin to responding to buyer wants (as Jay Baer points out), managing crises, or adapting to fast market modifications. But pace for pace’s sake can result in chaos and, paradoxically, hinder the capabilities it’s meant to reinforce.
Final yr, I labored with a corporation whose advertising workforce was so focused on optimizing their automation tools to launch electronic mail campaigns quicker and cheaper that they failed to acknowledge the implications. Their prospects have been buried below a relentless wave of emails — subtle, personalised, and, sadly, overwhelmingly poor content material.
This reckless velocity tradition makes groups really feel just like the work is occurring to them reasonably than with them. No one questions the place the content material got here from or whether or not it’s the precise content material for the purpose — there’s no time for that.
Priorities change into muddled, collaboration breaks down, burnout surges, and the stress to ship sacrifices creativity, studying, and, finally, high quality.
Think about Meta for a second. The corporate started rolling out AI-driven (ostensibly fake) profiles platform customers might chat with. After some critical blowback during the last couple of weeks, Meta has determined to delete these profiles (at the very least for now). None of those selections have been a superb search for the model. (I discuss extra about that misadventure in this video and article.)
Fb could also be giant sufficient to climate this misstep, however the lesson for smaller manufacturers is obvious: Transferring too quick has critical penalties.
However what’s the higher approach?
The reply is similar one Zuck finally settled on: Agility.
Intentional agility is a much more efficient technique to strategy advertising efforts. It includes deliberate, considerate, and adaptive motion reasonably than racing ahead for the sake of momentum.
Intentional agility: Greater than pace
Agility has additionally change into a buzzword in advertising, touted by many as the one approach innovation and flexibility can occur. However, too typically, individuals wrongly conflate agility with pace.
Velocity refers to how briskly you possibly can transfer in a straight line, whereas agility describes the flexibility to shortly change path with a goal.
So, “If we are able to be taught quicker than everybody else, we’ll win” truly means, “If we are able to course of the place we should always change path extra shortly than everybody else, we’ll win.”
That’s intentional agility: the flexibility to reply successfully to vary constructed on a basis of experience, preparation, and deliberate follow. It’s about understanding 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 groups: from valuing fast, iterative change to prioritizing deliberate, artistic progress.
Cease lengthy sufficient to query the necessity for quick change. For instance, ask:
- Why do we’d like the Ferrari of selling automation methods when our technique requires a truck?
- Why do we have to determine learn how to 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 stage of profit?
Once I work on content material advertising methods for organizations, I typically suggest altering the content material creation course of to start with the story reasonably 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 want a white paper!” As a substitute, I like to recommend they outline the story first after which plan whether or not it needs 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 suggestion 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 increase your re-use and repackaging capabilities.”
Intentional agility as a strategic benefit
In a world obsessive about pace, it’s tempting to equate velocity with progress. Nevertheless, probably the most profitable organizations perceive that actual progress comes from transferring with goal.
Luckily, I’m noticing increasingly advertising 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 possibly can create a piece surroundings that’s extra sustainable, modern, and impactful.
So, the following time you face stress to maneuver quick, don’t. Think about 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 nicely.
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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising Institute
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