The Best Way to Speed Up Is to Remove Steps, Not Move Faster

When something takes too long, the instinct is to do each step faster. But the real leverage is in doing fewer steps altogether. Cut the unnecessary meeting. Skip the redundant approval. Eliminate the report nobody reads.

Efficiency is not about running faster on the same hamster wheel. It is about asking which parts of the wheel you can remove entirely. The fastest way to do something is to not do the parts that do not matter.