Have you seen this video of Mark Zuckerberg talking about the difference between Meta and Apple’s development approaches?
For some reason, LinkedIn keeps offering me a snippet of the September 2024 Episode of Acquired Podcast.
At the start of this segment, Zuckerberg notes that Meta takes a different approach to product strategy than Apple:
“We’re the opposite of Apple…They take this approach of, ‘We’re going to take a lot of time, we’re going to polish it, and we’re going to release it.’ “And maybe for what they’re doing that works, maybe it fits their culture.
In other words, they move slowly and we move fast.
But we see that Zuckerberg visibly struggles during this 8-minute segment to separate the ideas of speed and agility. When asked about prioritizing speed and publishing suboptimal things, he backpedals, saying, “Well, I don’t want to exaggerate. »
Little by little, he realizes that it is about their ability to learn and adapt quickly – in other words, their agility:
“Product strategy is about learning and iterating as fast as possible… If we can learn faster than everyone else, we will win.” »
But the main thing lies in the public reaction. Most LinkedIn comments (and articles covering the interview) interpreted the clip as Zuckerberg saying that velocity defines great strategy.
One commenter said: “Speed is everything in marketing. »
Spoiler alert: it’s not.
The pitfalls of reckless speed
I recently wrote about how the motto “move fast and break things” has permeated the marketing culture.
I’ve seen too many marketing teams rally around new technologies and activities in the name of prioritizing speed. Companies encourage teams to “fail fast” and deliver more and more content and iterative ads faster.
In 2025, most marketers will evolve much faster than in 2015. Marketing has become more efficient and more algorithm-driven. Unfortunately, it has also become more superficial.
Have marketers reached “peak speed,” where the downsides of constant acceleration outweigh the benefits?
Speed is not bad in itself. In fact, this is essential in specific scenarios, for example to meet customer needs (as Jay Baer said underlines), manage crises or adapt to rapid market changes. Yet speed for the sake of speed can lead to chaos and, paradoxically, hinder the abilities it is intended to enhance.
Last year I worked with an organization whose marketing team was so focused on optimizing their automation tools to launch email campaigns faster and more cheaply that they failed to recognize the consequences. Their prospects were buried under a relentless wave of emails – sophisticated, personalized and, unfortunately, extremely poor in content.
This reckless culture of velocity makes teams feel like the work is on them rather than with them. No one asks where the content comes from or if it’s fit for purpose – we don’t have time for that.
Priorities become confused, collaboration breaks down, burnout increases, and the pressure to deliver results sacrifices creativity, learning, and ultimately quality.
Consider Meta for a moment. The company started rolling out (apparently fake) AI-based profiles with which users of the platform could chat. After serious backlash over the past few weeks, Meta has decided to delete these profiles (at least for now). None of these choices were good for the brand. (I talk more about this misadventure in this video and this article.)
Facebook may be big enough to overcome this misstep, but the lesson for smaller brands is clear: moving too fast has serious consequences.
But what is the best way?
The answer is the same one Zuck ultimately settled on: agility.
Intentional agility is a much more effective way to approach marketing efforts. It involves deliberate, thoughtful, adaptive action rather than rushing to build momentum.
Intentional agility: more than speed
Agility has also become a buzzword in marketing, touted by many as the only means by which innovation and adaptability can occur. But too often people wrongly confuse agility with speed.
Speed refers to how quickly you can move in a straight line, while agility describes the ability to quickly change direction for a specific purpose.
So, “If we can learn faster than everyone else, we will win” really means: “If we can understand where we should change direction faster than everyone else, we will win.” »
This is intentional agility: the ability to respond effectively to change, built on a foundation of expertise, preparation, and deliberate practice. It’s about knowing when to act quickly and when to pause, evaluate and plan.
It’s about moving forward with intention, not just momentum.
Moving towards intentionally inventing things
At the heart of this discussion is a philosophical shift for marketing teams: from valuing rapid, iterative change to prioritizing deliberate, creative progress.
Stop long enough to question the need for rapid change. For example, ask:
Why do we need the Ferrari of marketing automation systems when our strategy calls for a truck? Why do we have to figure out how to get 42 versions of AI-generated content when three will get us 95% of our goal? Why do we need to create 100 pieces of content for this social media channel when it doesn’t provide the level of benefits we want?
When working on content marketing strategies for organizations, I often recommend changing the content creation process to start with the story rather than the containers (e.g. the designed asset).
For example, if they’re planning an article on thought leadership, I recommend that they avoid saying, “We need a white paper!” Instead, I recommend that they define the story first, then plan whether it should be a white paper, e-book, webinar, podcast, etc. ‘an email or all of the above.
The #1 reaction I get to this recommendation is, “It looks like you’re going to slow down the content creation process.” »
My answer is: “Yeah, absolutely. And by doing this you will exponentially increase your reuse and reconditioning capabilities.”
Intentional Agility as a Strategic Advantage
In a world obsessed with speed, it’s tempting to equate speed with progress. However, the most successful organizations understand that true progress comes from purposeful action.
Fortunately, I’m noticing more and more marketers raising their hands and saying, “Maybe it’s time to pause, take a breath, and slow down.” »
By focusing on intentional agility – inventing things intentionally and avoiding breaking them quickly – you can create a more sustainable, more innovative and more impactful work environment.
So the next time you’re pressured to act quickly, don’t. Determine whether you are simply looking for speed or whether you are driving to a meaningful destination.
Then move forward – intentionally.
It’s your story. Say it well.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
