'Move Fast and Break Things': Pros and Cons of the Concept

“Move fast and break things” means approaching work and innovation with an emphasis on speed and experimentation. This motto insists it’s more worthwhile to make mistakes and disrupt technologies along the way than to play it safe at a slow and steady pace.

The phrase is more popular in fields like software development, in which making and fixing errors has less of a real-world impact than “breaking things” would in an industry where people’s lives or livelihoods are directly on the line.

The phrase “move fast and break things” became popular in the world of Silicon Valley startups in the early aughts. It gained a great degree of prominence when Facebook (now Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it the official motto of his company, going so far as to hang a poster citing the phrase in every office.

Journalist Jonathan Taplin also named his book chronicling the rise of big tech company CEOs and entrepreneurs (including Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Peter Thiel) after the phrase, further solidifying it in the cultural lexicon.

Basing your company methodology around the advice “move fast and break things” can reap positive benefits. Here are just three pros of putting this advice into practice:

1. 1. Higher risk and reward ratio: When you free yourself up to “break things,” you take on greater risk in the hopes of yielding a more substantial reward. For example, making tweaks in software could lead to an app crashing or to a successful new feature. By contrast, a more conservative and cautious approach guarantees a steadier drip of rewards but less potentiality of happening upon a major one as well.
2. 2. Increased innovation: “Move fast and break things” served as the backdrop motto for the digital transformation of the twenty-first century. By speedily and ambitiously experimenting with algorithms, companies successfully connected the world and supplied a steady stream of information like never before in history.
3. 3. More dynamic work environments: A more freewheeling approach to new product development can lead to a more dynamic work environment for everyone. When employees throw caution to the wind—at least to a certain extent—there’s a greater sense of freedom to innovate and explore new options.

“Move fast and break things” is an innately disruptive piece of advice, so it’s unfortunately common to experience a few disadvantages from following it closely. Keep these three cons in mind:

1. 1. Decreased stability: As technology progresses into more spheres of people’s lives, it’s become increasingly crucial for it to remain functional at all times. For instance, if a blockchain ledger keeps track of people’s money and transactions, maintaining a stable infrastructure is far more important than “moving fast and breaking things.” Additionally, if your company broke too many things over a year, consumers would likely seek a more reliable alternative.
2. 2. Greater risk of errors: One of the key benefits of the “move fast and break things'' philosophy is also one of its main disadvantages: the propensity to make errors and build on them. While this might work well in a field like software development, there are other industries in which any error can prove far too costly. For example, a health care provider would have to forgo this advice completely. For that matter, even the most laissez-faire companies must temper their approach with occasional caution.
3. 3. Less direction: Whether in software development, e-commerce, or something else entirely, a sense of direction and a plan of action can prove very helpful in meeting goals. When you “move fast and break things,” you forgo having such a compass by opting toward an attitude of constant creative destruction instead. While both approaches have their benefits, this lack of direction can make it easier for your projects to derail.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by business luminaries, including Sara Blakely, Chris Voss, Robin Roberts, Bob Iger, Howard Schultz, Anna Wintour, and more.