The Art of Patience: Why Rushing Is Killing Your Business

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The email arrived at 6:47 AM on a Thursday. "We need this proposal by COB today." My coffee hadn't even cooled down yet, and already someone was expecting miracles. Sound familiar?

After seventeen years in business consulting across Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, I've watched more companies implode from impatience than from any actual crisis. We've created this bizarre culture where "urgent" has become the default setting, and patience is somehow seen as weakness or laziness.

Wrong. Dead wrong.

The Myth of Speed Equals Success

Here's what nobody wants to admit: most urgent requests aren't actually urgent. They're just poorly planned. I've seen executives demand "immediate" market research that could've been started three months ago. I've watched teams burn themselves out delivering rushed presentations that sit untouched for weeks.

The real kicker? In my experience, about 67% of "emergency" projects could wait at least 48 hours without any meaningful impact on outcomes. But try telling that to someone who's convinced the world will end if their PowerPoint isn't perfect by 5 PM.

Why Australians Struggle With Patience More Than Others

We're a nation built on "she'll be right" attitudes, but when it comes to business, we've somehow adopted this American-style urgency addiction. It's killing us.

I remember working with a mining company in WA where the CEO wanted to completely restructure their safety protocols in two weeks. Two weeks! These were procedures that had been developed over decades. When I suggested a six-month phased approach with proper consultation, he looked at me like I'd suggested we use carrier pigeons for communication.

Guess what happened with the rushed approach? Three major compliance issues within the first month, two workplace incidents that could've been avoided, and a workforce that felt completely blindsided. Sometimes slow and steady doesn't just win the race – it prevents disasters.

The Hidden Costs of Rushing

Every rushed decision creates ripple effects. I've calculated that hasty recruitment decisions cost companies an average of $47,000 per bad hire when you factor in training, lost productivity, and eventual turnover. Yet I still see managers hiring the first halfway decent candidate because they "can't wait any longer."

Here's a controversial opinion: sometimes leaving a position vacant for an extra month is better than filling it with the wrong person. Your team can adapt to temporary understaffing. They can't adapt to a toxic colleague who'll be there for years.

The same principle applies to client relationships. I once had a client in Sydney who wanted to pitch to a major retailer within a week of our first meeting. No research, no strategy, just "let's get in there and see what happens." I convinced them to wait six weeks, do proper preparation, and understand the client's actual needs first.

Result? They won the contract. Their main competitor, who rushed in with a generic pitch the previous month, didn't even get a callback.

When Patience Actually Pays Off

Look at companies like Bunnings or Woolworths. They didn't become Australian institutions by making snap decisions. They test, they trial, they measure, and then they roll out. It's methodical, sometimes frustratingly slow, but it works.

I worked with a tech startup that wanted to launch their app nationally after testing it with just fifty users in Melbourne. Fifty users! I suggested expanding the trial to 500 users across three cities and waiting another two months. The founder thought I was being unnecessarily cautious.

Those extra two months revealed a critical bug that would've crashed the system under heavy load. What seemed like delay was actually preventing a disaster that could've killed the company before it really started.

The Patience Paradox in Leadership

Here's where it gets interesting. The best leaders I know are incredibly patient with strategy and planning, but ruthlessly decisive when action is actually required. They understand the difference between being patient and being passive.

Take crisis management. When COVID hit, the leaders who thrived weren't the ones making dramatic announcements every day. They were the ones who took time to understand the situation, consulted with their teams, and then acted decisively when they had clarity.

Practical Patience: A Framework

After years of watching companies succeed and fail, I've developed what I call the "48-Hour Rule." Unless someone is literally bleeding or the building is on fire, most decisions can wait at least 48 hours. This simple pause prevents about 80% of regrettable business decisions.

For bigger decisions – hiring, restructuring, major investments – I recommend the "Sleep On It Seven Times" approach. If you still feel the same way after a week, you're probably onto something. If your enthusiasm has waned, you've just saved yourself significant time and money.

The Australian Advantage

We actually have a cultural advantage here. Our "no worries" mentality, when applied correctly, can be a massive business asset. Americans rush into everything and burn out. Asians work incredibly hard but sometimes miss opportunities to innovate. Europeans plan everything to death but take forever to execute.

Australians, at our best, can be patient enough to plan properly but decisive enough to act when needed. We just need to remember that patience isn't procrastination – it's preparation.

When Speed Actually Matters

Don't get me wrong – there are times when speed is crucial. Customer service issues, safety concerns, or genuine market opportunities with closing windows. The trick is recognising these situations from the fake urgency that dominates most workplaces.

I once worked with a restaurant chain that took three weeks to decide on a new menu item while their competitor launched a similar product and captured the market. Sometimes patience becomes paralysis. The key is knowing the difference.

The Bottom Line

In my seventeen years of consulting, the most successful business owners I've met share one trait: they're patient with planning and ruthless with execution. They don't confuse motion with progress or urgency with importance.

Next time someone demands an immediate response to a non-emergency situation, try this phrase: "I want to give this the attention it deserves. Let me review this properly and get back to you by [reasonable timeframe]."

Most people respect thoughtfulness over hasty responses. And if they don't? Well, that tells you something about whether you want to work with them anyway.

Patience isn't about being slow. It's about being smart. And in business, smart always beats fast in the long run.