Ep 1. Pause For Quality
- Andy Golding
- Aug 31, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 28, 2025
Why Slowing Down Gets You Further, Faster
Scaling a business is messy. There’s no neat framework or 99-slide deck that can prepare you for the human side of growth. It’s fast, it’s noisy, and it often feels like you’re just trying to stay upright on a fast-moving treadmill.
When everything feels urgent and time-sensitive, the instinct is to speed up. Reply faster. Ship faster. Decide faster. And that’s exactly where so many of us trip up.
The first principle we talk about on The Chaos of Scale is simple, but it changes everything: Pause for Quality.
Fast Isn’t Always Forward
Your inbox is probably bursting, your Slack is pinging nonstop, and you’re firing off messages in every direction just to keep things moving. At least, that’s what you think you’re doing.
But here’s the catch: rushing to respond doesn’t always move the work forward. Too often, a quick “done” reply leaves the other person scratching their head: Wait, what do they mean? What are they actually asking me for?
Blurry communication creates blurry results. And in an environment that’s already chaotic, half-baked answers don’t solve problems—they just kick the can down the road.
The Lesson I Didn’t Want to Learn
I first learned this the hard way. Back when I co-founded my first company, I was all about responsiveness. Strike while the iron is hot! Get back to clients before they lost interest!
But my co-founder, Brad, did things differently. He’d pump the brakes. He wouldn’t reply until he could give his full attention.
It drove me crazy at first. Then I noticed something: his slower, more thoughtful replies got us further, faster. Instead of sparking endless back-and-forths, his emails closed loops. They moved conversations forward. They created clarity instead of confusion.
That was my first real glimpse of the power of quality over speed.
Why 'Pause For Quality' Matters in Scale-Ups
In a growing company, leaders and employess are stretched thin. The MD with too many direct reports and junior team members who need extra hands-on guidance. Competing priorities everywhere you look.
The default mode? Dash off whatever response comes to mind, just to keep the wheels turning.But here’s the irony: when you communicate fast instead of well, you leave loops open. You invite more questions. You multiply the noise instead of reducing it.
Three minutes spent writing a clear, thoughtful response now can save hours of confusion later.
How to Pause for Quality (Without Stalling Everything)
So how do you put this into practice? A few simple shifts:
Take the beat. To borrow from the brilliant Viktor Frankel: Between stimulus and response, there’s a space. Use it. Even 3 minutes of pause can make a significant difference to the quality of communication.
Choose substance over speed. Ask yourself: am I trying to get it done, or get it done properly?
Sleep on it. If the stakes are high, waiting until tomorrow might give you the clarity you need.
Ask better questions. Instead of “What’s the fastest way to done?” try “What’s the fastest way to done properly?”
It will feel uncomfortable at first—especially in a high-growth environment where urgency is the default. But the payoff is huge: fewer pings, less noise, clearer communication, and progress that actually sticks.
Your Action Item
To build the habit of 'Pause For Quality': do nothing immediately.
The next time you get a request, resist the urge to fire back your first thought. Let it sit. Give yourself permission to pause—whether that’s a few minutes, a few hours, or even a day.
In a scaling business, the real shortcut isn’t speed. It’s quality.
Business growth is messy, but the human side doesn’t have to be.
Pause for quality, and you’ll find you get further, faster.
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