I have heard this phrase a million times in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a few times in my professional life. I've always nodded my head but never really grasped what this meant. Finally tonight I type the phrase into KZfaq and within the first few minutes, I totally understand it now. Thanks for this clear and concise explanation of a pretty deep "simplicity"

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast... I LOVE IT, thank you Shane!

everyone has ripped this off of military SpecOps as they developed this mantra... at least give props to the OG's of this... I learned this in the Marines back in the 90s and it was not new then.

The Smooth Operator mantra is SO true - especially for photo/video work. Just experienced it today during a shoot where I filled in as assistant / sound guy / B-camera op. Working in PR, I do lots of photo/video stuff (corporate I guess would be the appropriate term) as part of my job. On occasion, external production companies are involved. I have worked with and learned from a bunch of pretty smart people. Over the years I think I have gotten closer to being a „smooth operator“. I wouldn‘t say I am there yet but certainly a lot closer than when I started out. Do I still fail sometimes? Sure. Everyone does. And failing is not always your own fault. I have experienced really good shoots and also got dragged into absolute train wrecks at the last minute, where nothing would work, no prep work had been done, schedule was a joke, talents stood around with nothing to do, while the director/DOP was an absolute diva about everything, did not communicate at all, refused any assistance, micromanaged everything and insisted on using equipment they never tried out before…they were all bark but no bite if you catch my drift. Those shoots *really* tested my patience and I just wanted to scream at some point. Because I knew with 100% certainty that I could have wrapped the whole thing up in like 2.5 or 3 hours instead of nearly 8. And also without having the talents stand around for two hours because someone had to faff around with their equipment. The fact that on one occasion I (trying to be as good an assistant as I could be, given the circumstances) got looks of sympathetic pity from one of the talents did not help. They later told me that they really felt bad for me because I had tried so hard to get and keep things moving and to make sure everything was in the right place at the right time, but had no chance to because others were digging in their heels at every turn, changed things last minute that had been agreed on already etc. Which goes to say that a good team is what makes or breaks a production. Might sound obvious (because it is), but once you saw how badly things can go, it makes you appreciate a good team even more. That said: Being calm and slowing down is extremely important, not only in order to avoid breaking expensive stuff. If you have inexperienced talents in front of the camera, this is even more vital. If you are scurrying around frantically all the time and look super stressed, this rubs off on your talent and they are even more nervous than they already are anyway. Communicating to the talent in a clear and concise way about what is happening and making sure everyone is on the same page at all times is crucial to avoid confusion and chaos on set. If someone forgot something….no big deal. You take your time, go and grab what you need. Meanwhile everyone else can go have some water (also very important…stay hydrated while shooting!), stretch, take a breath and be back here in 5. Today’s shoot ended WAY ahead of schedule, too. Not to toot my own horn, but I guess today the team and I must have done something right. And I am one baby step closer to becoming a smooth operator. But this certainly did not come overnight.

This is awesome! When we're feeling rushed, we're more likely to make careless mistakes. I've definitely done this before while baking! Recently I was baking an orange cake, and I knew I didn't have much time to do it, so I put the batter together really hurriedly. Partway through, I realised I'd forgotten to add in the baking powder, which meant the cake would turn out flat and hard, and that I had to start over entirely! It would've saved a ton if time if I had just slowed down and been more careful the first time 'round. Love this advice.

Had a trainer that told me this and since I have become the smoothest operator as a crew leader. Each of our jobs get done beautifully, we take our time with each one but end up being the first team back to the office unless we help one or two of the other teams.

Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful.

I've heard you say this before, and it is a gem of a mantra!

I used this phrase with a manager at work, because his frenetic style turns a month long project into 6 months of rework. He mocked the phrase for two years saying “slow is fast and fast is slow, right, JMFS? Lolol”. He gets worse as time goes on. I have deduced he has a personality disorder called OCPD. Very myopic, self-righteous disorder that buries their anxiety by trying to micromanage the world around them. By playing dumb and not reacting to his manufactured emergencies, I create boundaries where I can keep my skill set growing under the radar. It is odd that a person in leadership would feel threatened enough to hate seeing people grow, but that is OCPD for you. Thankfully, I can stick with the value behind the original statement regardless of the OCPD manager’s contrarianism.

BTW this applies 100% in restaurant kitchens as well. In the culinary world, what makes a great chef or cook are the little things and when you are rushing, the little things get neglected and "little" mistakes that are made add up...

This is a racer's mantra

Working on to become a smooth operator but before that, I am accepting the fact that I’m a slow clumsy operator in my first course creation.

Very true Shane

Also applies in racing (sim) instead of whipping the steering wheel feeling like w @professional” steering smooth and braking slow and steady will make you faster

most of new meticulous task is like Non-Newtonian fluid to me

I am watching this in 1.5x speed.