Leadership advisor Anne Morriss challenges a widely accepted idea in modern business, the belief that progress requires a certain amount of damage.
The phrase “move fast and break things” has come to define how many organizations approach growth, reinforcing the belief that speed and care cannot coexist.
Morriss argues that this trade-off does not hold.
Through her work helping organizations repair the consequences of rushed decisions, she has seen that the most effective leaders move quickly while improving the systems and relationships around them.
“The most effective leaders move fast and fix things.”
Morriss lays out a way of working through problems that unfolds over the course of a single week, offering a structure that replaces hesitation with momentum while avoiding unnecessary damage.
Starting with the Right Problem
The work begins by understanding what the problem actually is.
Leaders tend to approach challenges with confidence in their initial diagnosis, particularly when those challenges involve other people. Assumptions form quickly and can go untested.
Morriss suggests replacing certainty with curiosity.
Instead of declaring what is wrong, she encourages turning that assumption into a question and testing it through direct conversation. Speaking openly with the people involved, even when it feels uncomfortable, often reveals a more accurate picture of what is happening.
These conversations often shift the problem itself, sometimes revealing the leader’s own role in creating the conditions they are trying to change.
A Week That Builds Momentum
Morriss organizes this approach into a five-day cadence that balances reflection and action, with each day building on the last:
- Monday is for understanding, using curiosity and direct conversation to uncover what is actually driving the issue.
- Tuesday is for experimentation, where a “good-enough” plan is tested with the goal of learning rather than getting everything right.
- Wednesday is for perspective, bringing in people whose experiences differ in meaningful ways to challenge assumptions and strengthen the approach.
- Thursday is for storytelling, helping others understand the change by connecting past, present, and future in a way that feels honest and grounded.
- Friday is for action, moving forward with urgency once direction is clear and removing anything that slows progress.
Each day builds on the last, allowing leaders to move forward quickly without relying on incomplete assumptions or isolated thinking.
Trust Built Through Action
Across the week, a consistent theme emerges, with progress depending on trust, and trust developing through visible behavior rather than intention alone.
On Tuesday, that might mean acknowledging a mistake or having a conversation that has been avoided. On Wednesday, it could involve seeking input from someone whose perspective has not been included before. By Thursday, it requires telling a story that reflects reality without simplifying it for comfort.
These moments are not dramatic in isolation. Their impact comes from repetition.
Over time, they shape how people interpret decisions and whether they believe change is being handled with care.
In environments where decisions move quickly, trust becomes the condition that allows that speed to be sustained.
Why Urgency Matters
By the time Friday arrives, the emphasis shifts toward execution. Morriss places particular importance on urgency as a signal that the problem is being taken seriously.
Leaders often wait for complete certainty before acting, especially when the stakes are high. Morriss argues that this instinct frequently delays progress more than it protects it.
Acting with a clear direction, even when some uncertainty remains, creates movement that can be refined through experience.
The question of timing becomes about whether action is being postponed without reason.
A More Deliberate Pace
Solving problems at speed requires a rhythm that combines curiosity, experimentation, perspective, alignment, and urgency.
Leaders rarely look back and wish they had taken longer to address important problems. More often, they recognize that delay allowed those problems to deepen while teams adjusted to conditions that should have changed.
A different pace is possible, one where problems are approached with clarity, tested through small steps, strengthened through diverse input, and carried through with intention.
In that approach, moving fast does not require breaking things. It requires fixing them as you go.
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