Speed Will Outperform Your Best Strategy

What Codie Sanchez Learned from Bill Perkins

You will lose the deal.

Not because you’re not good.

Not because you didn’t plan.

Because you moved too slow.

Codie Sanchez* runs multiple companies.

She buys boring businesses.

She makes them grow.

She credits a lesson from her mentor, Bill Perkins**.

Perkins is a hedge fund guy. High risk. High return.

He told her:

• Speed wins.
• Not brains.
• Not capital.
• Not planning.
• Speed.

Codie changed her process.

She created a rule: 24 hours from idea to action. No delay. No meetings. No perfection. Do something. Then refine it. You can steal this. You should.

How long does your team take to go from idea to action?

Be honest.

Do they:

• Ask for another deck?
• Wait for sign-off?
• ook more meetings?
• Argue over wording?
• Are they busy planning?
• Or are they building?

Planning doesn’t make progress.

Doing does.

Perkins gave Codie one line. It stuck: “You’re already too late if you’re still thinking.”

She took it seriously. You can, too. Here’s how she changed her culture.

1. 24-Hour Rule

If someone has an idea in a meeting, they test it by the next day. Not perfect. Just real. A landing page. A phone call. A pricing test. Not big moves. Just fast ones.

2. Clear Boundaries

They don’t need permission to try. But they own the outcome. That means: Autonomy with accountability. Trust, not control. Speed with direction.

3. Data over opinion

Forget debating. Run the test. Let the numbers speak.

What about you?

• Are your systems set up for speed?
• Do your people wait for approval?
• Do you reward motion or caution?
• When something fails, what do you say?
• Is failure a cost or a clue?

Codie’s teams fail often.

They recover faster.

Speed creates feedback.

Feedback sharpens judgement.

The reward is not in perfection.

The reward is in velocity.

Here’s what you can do this week:

• Pick one idea your team talked about but didn’t try.
• Ask someone to test it by Friday.
• Remove one approval stage.
• Let your team own the next step.
• Set a timer.
• Give them 24 hours.
• Launch a small version.
• Report back.

See what happens.

Smart people love to plan.

They believe thinking equals doing. It doesn’t.

You’ve seen this before.

• Smart teams stall.
• Experienced leaders wait.
• The window closes. The next move is yours.
• Will you talk about it?
• Or act?

We teach leaders how to get moving. Faster decisions. Cleaner execution. Smarter reflection. You don’t need more strategy. You need movement.

Bring this to your next workshop. You’ve waited long enough.

*Codie Sanchez (opens new window)

** Bill Perkins (opens new window)