In leadership and research, the toughest challenges rarely have straightforward solutions. Often, you don’t have all the data and the connections between actions and results aren’t always obvious. Human behaviour, for example, can be unpredictable. I’ve learned that speed—the steady rhythm of trying, learning and adapting—is essential to making meaningful progress amid uncertainty and complexity.

Speed doesn’t mean rushing or cutting corners. It’s about cadence: an iterative rhythm of doing, learning and improving. We start with a minimum viable plan and then act. Good enough, not perfect. We evaluate honestly, discuss openly what worked and what didn’t, and apply those lessons to the next iteration.

This approach requires teams who communicate clearly, take genuine agency, and foster transparency. Only with those qualities can continuous improvement become truly embedded in how we work.

This matters because many of the challenges we face in education, research or organisational development are complex and cannot be solved by a single, perfect solution. Instead, we chip away at them over time. Having studied for a PhD myself and then supervised more than 65 PhD students, I have witnessed this process in action. A PhD is not about solving a problem in one leap. It is about iteration: testing ideas, learning from setbacks, refining questions and gradually deepening understanding. The more you learn, the more you know; the more you know, the more you learn. It is a virtuous cycle.

As Andrew McAfee emphasises in The Geek Way, rapid iteration and empowered teams are essential to adapting and thriving amid complexity. This mindset is precisely what we cultivate at Euro University of Bahrain. In many ways, this mirrors how we approach challenges: purposeful momentum through continuous learning and honest reflection.

Speed is not about haste; it is about thoughtful progress.

𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘮 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺.