Together We Go Far — And Often, Slow

The mantra of the Flying Labs Network is captured in an African proverb: Alone we go fast, together we go far. What we sometimes forget is that going far together almost always means moving slowly. A large group cannot be nimble. If we are truly committed to traveling together, then we must also commit to moving at the pace of the slowest among us, and to seeing their slower steps not as burdens, but as their own kind of gift.

This is the reality of a decentralized, bottom-up system. Here, ways of working are fundamentally different. You don’t hand down instructions; you offer suggestions. You can only move quickly on projects that don’t require others’ direct input. And if agreement is needed before action, progress will naturally take longer. Speed is not the priority — shared ownership is.

In a top-down system, leaders issue directives and others implement them. In a network, decision-making is distributed. Networks thrive on trust and clear boundaries, enabling members to act without waiting for permission. Roles are fluid and members wear different hats depending on context and expertise. Success, too, is self-defined. Rather than following imposed metrics, members lean on shared learning. Change arises through co-creation; without it, members disengage.

Collaboration in this kind of system also looks different. It often looks like lots of scheduled meetings and even more rescheduled meetings. Meetings are often unpopular in the modern workplace and many would be happy with fewer of them. But in a network they are essential: They are conversations. They are connections. They are consensus. It takes a lot of time, true, but you cannot build trust and relationships without making the time to talk with the people you are journeying with. 

In our work with the Flying Labs Network this commitment to allowing the journey to take as long as it needs to take shows up in how individual Flying Labs rely on the strength of the Network. Some Flying Labs have the capacity to work towards specific shared goals while others do not. But because all share the name Flying Labs, the visibility of one strengthens the visibility of all. Someone encountering one active Flying Labs, online or in person, knows instinctively that many more exist. Even those with fewer resources still benefit from being part of the Network, drawing strength from those who can do more. In this way, the Network allows different strengths to serve the whole until every member is able to carry more of the load.

When going far together, you have to make space and invite people into it again and again. You have to remind and follow up. Because while it can look like drudgery, it is actually care. It is showing that you care enough about a person’s presence and perspective to make adjustments that allow them to show up. You are going to come up with brilliant ideas and be raring to go and then you are going to remember that we are moving at the pace of the group. You have to share your ideas, risk conflict and frustration, make room for others. These are things that are present wherever two or more are gathered. You are going to lengthen your timelines because that is what is necessary to nurture trust and practice care. A project you thought would take three months may take a year, and one you expected to complete in a year may stretch into three. Along the way, you will need to course-correct, wait for the right opportunities, listen and listen some more, and tend to relationships.

It is a heavy responsibility to always look for the humans in the work. But without it, then why are we walking together at all? When you are going far together, the journey itself is the destination. Yes, we are journeying to a better world for all, but we are also building it as we move, step by step. In this light, perhaps rushing to hit metrics and targets matters less than the fact that we are walking together. Perhaps just that we are going together is success enough.