Slowing Down to Achieve More

How Slow Productivity and Calm Companies are a Natural Fit in a World of Relentless Busyness.

You are connected. Always on. All hours. 

Availability and activity are the modern productivity indicators.

Are you building something that helps millions? Contributing to a groundbreaking pursuit? Going to Mars? Likely not. Most of your day is probably spent on emails and meetings. These tasks could be necessary, but they don't contribute to your company's mission or your personal growth. Admit it. Most of what you do doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Does it? Ask the thousands retrenched in the tech industry if their work mattered.

Emails, Zoom calls and projects you’ll forget. 

Boring. Uninspiring. Exhausting. A constant stream of communication. Real-time. No wonder people are restless, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled. 

The antidote lies in slow productivity, a term coined by Cal Newport. A philosophy for organising knowledge work efforts in sustainable and meaningful ways, based on three principles: 1) do fewer things, 2) work at a natural pace, and 3) obsess over quality. 

Imagine a scenario where the work we do matters. In that case, we’re not just going through the motions; we’re learning, solving pressing wicked and super-wicked problems, and using our brains to their full potential. This leads to personal growth and satisfaction, sparking creativity and energy. 

Chess players, musicians, and academics, among others, spend thousands of hours dedicating themselves to analysing, improving, and honing a craft. It’s a lifetime pursuit. The path from novice to professional is clear. This is not true if you work in digital.

You could argue that humanity’s most historic breakthroughs were done by knowledge workers. People who dedicated their work lives to something great. Isaac Newton spent roughly 22 years on Work of Principia Mathematica. Marie Curie worked for a decade on polonium and radium. Louis Pasteur, 15 years on pasteurisation. Albert Einstein, 8 years on the general theory of relativity. Florence Nightingale, 20 years on health-care reform. They were lucky; no one pinged them on Slack asking how they were progressing twice a day. 

By embracing slow productivity, we can reclaim the pleasure of thinking and doing things well. Anything worthwhile takes time. For most knowledge workers, work is something we squeeze in between meetings or after a child’s bedtime. This leaves little time for deep thinking or quality work. Slow productivity allows us to work at a pace that suits us, ensuring that we have the time and energy to produce our best work.

It sounds great, doesn’t it?

Most people love the idea of deep work and slow productivity. 

But where would you work?

We need businesses or workplaces where this can be a reality. 

Given that we are increasingly split between the real world and a digital economy, you’d think we’d have solved this. Knowledge work is the work. Like Henry Ford, we could make the most of all this new technology and build inspiring businesses and products. Also, work less. Yet, we seem to persist in creating ventures unfit for human well-being. Which means we are not making the most of talent. For the most part, we could be better and be doing something worthwhile. Perhaps it starts with not generating NFT scams, selling courses written by ChatGPT and creating AI agencies by the dozen to make a quick buck.

Consider the impact of slow productivity on society. If everyone goes home feeling drained, overstimulated, overwhelmed, and dissatisfied, society suffers. It spills over, and we become incapable of being a good spouse, parent, and citizen. But suppose we can create environments that foster well-being and allow for more meaningful work at a natural pace. Here, we can have enough margin to do more. It’s a goal that’s within our reach and worth striving for.

We can’t blame the 1% for all these problems. Small businesses collectively hire more than the Fortune 500. SMEs are failing us if they don’t create environments in which people thrive. Terrible businesses are everywhere. 

Calm companies may be our only hope.

We need calm companies. 

Some may roll their eyes, pointing out that calm companies have always existed. You don’t hear about them in the news. They quietly go about their business.

But we need more of them in the digital - the knowledge work realm has always been murky. We need them to help build a prosperous future. 

If slapping a brand on something that has always existed will make it work in the tech world, I’m for it.

I loved the phrase calm companies when I first heard it. Years ago, Tyler Tringas rebranded Earnest Capital into the Calm Company Fund with a thesis to invest in bootstrapped calm companies. Fellow bootstrapper Justin Jackson recently stated, “A calm company’s purpose is to provide exceptional service to customers while simultaneously improving the lives of those who work there.” While I disagree with his theory on fun, flexibility, and pace (an essay for a different day), it’s worth taking note of his rallying cry for more calm companies.

It's as simple as working with constraints while being profitable and kind. 

• A calm company is a profitable company. It has to be to be resilient. 

• A calm company is also a kind company. It’s suitable for people. It’s customers, and it’s the team.

• A calm company embraces constraints. It should not become a glutinous monster. 

To build a calm company is easier than you may think. 

• Operate in a market with strong demand.

• Build products people want, need or are insanely useful.

• Do fewer things but do them well. Care about quality.

• Treat customers well.

• Be profitable.

• Develop systems and policies to look after the people who do the work.

• Work at a manageable pace (the equivalent to a brisk walk, not an amble and not a sprint).

• Always have margin (both time and money).

Suppose people do their best thinking, problem-solving, and creative work by doing fewer things at a natural pace. Thus, we can obsess over quality in a company that does fewer things well for customers who love them.

Work matters if we do fewer things and stick to what’s needed, wanted, or useful. It’s also more likely to be exceptional. The mere act of creating something valuable can create joint satisfaction and meaning – for everyone. In this environment, work can both matter and be profitable. 

Slow productivity is good business.