In 2018, I got an opportunity to work for World Food Program and travelled to Moroto, as we got closer to our destination after a very long road trip, I saw group of young men race to dig a well before sunset, their energy high, their shovels hitting the ground with urgency, dust rising, sweat pouring, and elders watching quietly from under a tree. We stopped and observed.
An old man finally stood up and asked them a powerful question: “Who told you there is water here?” The shovels slowed, the rhythm broke, and silence replaced the noise, because no one had asked that question; they had simply followed the first man who started digging. One young woman, who had been fetching water from a distant stream, stepped forward and said, “The water is that way,” pointing beyond a rocky ridge. She walked, not ran, and the group hesitated, then followed her.
We left and proceeded to our journey. A week later, as we returned to Kampala, we were informed that the woman had found water while the others stood around a deep, dry hole; exhausted, proud of their effort, but holding nothing.
Speed without clear direction destroys value.
I stood in a boardroom in Kampala in March, mid-quarter review, watching an executive team present impressive dashboard; green lights, completed tasks, accelerated timelines; and yet revenue was flat, customer complaints rising, and staff burnout visible in their faces. You fell like asking, “What exactly are you executing so quickly?”
Where in your organisation are people busy but not effective? Where are you rewarding speed instead of clarity?
Speed without direction destroys value. You can run fast in the wrong direction and still arrive at failure; just earlier.
Consider the diagnostic I use in these moments, something I call the “Execution Alignment Check.”
- a) What are we trying to achieve, specifically, this quarter?
- b) What are the three actions that directly move that goal?
- c) What are we doing that looks productive but does not contribute?
We did this exercise right there. Ten minutes. No slides. No excuses. One executive stopped mid-sentence and said, “We are doing too much that does not matter.” That was the turning point.
Weak teams celebrate activity. Strong teams measure impact. Weak teams move quickly to avoid hard conversations. Strong teams slow down to ask the right questions before they accelerate.
Clarity of direction is more important than speed!
You may be thinking, “But we cannot afford to slow down.” I understand that pressure. I have felt it myself. If you do not pause to align, you will spend more time correcting than progressing. The leaders who get this right experience four things very quickly. First, they gain recognition because their decisions start producing visible outcomes, not just reports. Second, their teams accomplish more because effort is focused, not scattered. Third, results improve; growth becomes intentional, efficiency becomes real. And fourth, leadership becomes lighter, because the organisation begins moving together instead of pulling in different directions.
I told that team something I want you to remember:
“Execution is not about speed. It is about precision and clarity of direction.”
If you act on this, your organisation becomes deliberate, focused, and effective. If you ignore it, you will continue celebrating motion while results quietly deteriorate.
Before your next management meeting, confront these questions:
Are we clear on what truly matters; or just busy doing everything?
Where are we confusing speed with progress?
What must we stop immediately to create space for what actually drives results?
If these questions make you concerned, good. That is where real leadership begins.
If you are serious about turning execution into results, not activity, let us have a conversation.
- a) Strategy Appropriateness Audit; Is your strategy future-proof?
- b) Strategy Execution Audit and Culture Transformation
- c) Board Maturity Assessment and Strategic Briefing
Most organisations do not fail because they are slow. They fail because they are fast in the wrong direction. Let us fix that.
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