Moving fast, or building capacity?

Chatting with Ray the other day, he posed the question (in a specific context): “Are we looking to move fast, or build capacity?”

This afternoon, as I was reflecting on the events of the day, I remembered something my old Sensei once said:

In the Honbu (“Headquarters”) style, you can get good fairly quickly, but only a very few people achieve greatness. Lots of people stick with it because it’s so enjoyable to practice.

In our style, it takes a long time to get good, but if you stick at it, almost anyone can achieve greatness. Very few people stick at it long enough because it’s so rigorous.

This Dojo, the Founder’s Dojo, is for teaching teachers.

I realised that this has influenced my thinking for over 30 years. I’m more interested in teaching teachers than teaching students. I’m more interested in leading leaders than managing reports. I’m more interested in effectiveness over efficiency. I’m more interested in long-term outcomes than quick results.

I don’t think it’s a question of “which is better?”, but rather “what are we trying to achieve?”