We’ve all heard the Silicon Valley mantra popularized by Facebook: “Move Fast and Break Things.” It championed a trial-and-error approach that fueled rapid software development and platform growth. But as Facebook itself and other industries have learned, sometimes tragically, there’s a critical distinction between when to “move fast and break things” and when a more cautious, responsible approach is paramount. For Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs), especially those whose services are critical to their customers, understanding this balance is vital.

When “Breaking Things” Has Real Consequences

Facebook’s early mantra worked for them for a time. Their platform grew exponentially. But well-publicized outages, privacy issues, and user trust erosion eventually led them to amend their slogan in 2014 to “Move Fast with Stable Infra(structure).” The focus remained on speed, but with a new nod to stability (though perhaps still underemphasizing security and safety at the time).

The reality is, if Facebook goes down, the impact, while annoying, is generally minimal for most users: missed cat pictures, delayed social updates. No one typically gets physically hurt or faces financial ruin. It falls more into the category of an entertainment or social utility outage.

But what about businesses where the stakes are far higher?

• Companies like Boeing are entrusted with millions of lives annually. Their tragic experience with the 737 Max, where a rush to market seemingly overshadowed fundamental design safety and pilot training, cost 346 lives.
• Major banks hold society’s financial trust. The 2012 RBS software update failure impacted millions, delaying paychecks, stalling home purchases, and causing widespread financial distress due to a poorly tested update pushed in the interest of speed.
• Power grids, healthcare systems, and critical infrastructure providers all have an undeniable duty of care.

If these types of organizations adopt an unbridled “move fast and break things” mentality, the consequences can be catastrophic in real human terms. Similarly, SMBs, especially when their technology underpins core operations, customer data, or financial transactions, also have a duty of care. Blindly applying a “move fast and break things” ethos can be reputationally devastating, legally costly, or operationally crippling.

The Fractional CIO’s Role: Guiding Responsible Innovation and Technology Adoption in SMBs

As a fractional CIO, I work with SMB leaders to navigate this tension. While agility and speed are important, they must be balanced with a clear understanding of risk and responsibility, especially when implementing or updating critical IT systems. This means:

• Assessing Criticality: Understanding which systems and data are “mission-critical” for the SMB and its customers, and applying a higher degree of diligence to changes affecting them.
• Implementing Agile Practices Responsibly: Agile development and deployment can be powerful, but they must include robust testing, quality assurance, security protocols, and contingency plans, especially for core systems.
• Prioritizing Stability, Security, and Reliability: For foundational IT infrastructure and systems handling sensitive data, these cannot be sacrificed for speed alone.
• Making Informed Risk Assessments: Helping SMB leaders understand the potential downsides of rushing a technology deployment versus the benefits of a more measured, validated approach.

Balancing Speed with Need and Duty of Care

If your SMB has a duty of care to its customers, or if it trades on the trust built through reliable execution, you must balance your speed of innovation and deployment with those critical needs. Delaying an update or a new product launch to ensure safety, security, and reliability is not a weakness; it’s a sign of responsible leadership.

This doesn’t mean abandoning agile practices. It means incorporating extra layers of validation, rigorous testing, and strategic oversight to ensure that speed is balanced with safety, stability, and the trust your customers place in you. If your business has minimal real-world impact from an outage or a glitch, you might have more latitude to launch quickly and iterate. But if your customers rely on your business for their livelihood, safety, or critical operations, you better be sure new products, features, or systems work as intended before they go live.

What’s Next

Don’t blindly adopt the “move fast and break things” mantra. Instead, move at the right pace to thoughtfully balance customer value, customer risk, and your inherent duty of care. This nuanced approach is key to sustainable innovation and helping your SMB “Succeed Sooner” responsibly.

Is your SMB struggling to find the right balance between the need for speed and innovation, and the imperative for stability, security, and customer trust in your technology initiatives? If you’re looking for a strategic partner to help you navigate these complexities and implement technology responsibly, let’s connect with Succeed Sooner Consulting.