One Click Faster

Set pace expectations by bringing every timeline in one iteration

Claire Vo
Bending the universe in your favor | Claire Vo (LaunchDarkly, Color, Optimizely, ChatPRD)

One Click Faster

"If you think something needs to be done this year, it needs to be done this half. If you think it needs to be done this half, it needs to be done this quarter. This quarter, this month. This week, today. End of day, in this meeting." - Claire Vo

What It Is

One Click Faster is a pace-setting framework for leadership teams that challenges the natural tendency to slow down as organizations grow. The core insight is that your natural timeline estimates are almost always slower than what's actually achievable, so you should systematically compress every deadline by one iteration.

Claire Vo developed this approach from her experience reminding late-stage companies they can still operate like startups. She uses it as an explicit expectation with her leadership team at LaunchDarkly to maintain startup-level velocity even as companies scale.

The framework addresses a common organizational anti-pattern: letting the pace of recurring meetings dictate the pace of actual work. When teams default to "let's discuss this at our next meeting," they're introducing artificial delays based on calendar cadence rather than actual constraints.

How It Works

The framework operates on two levels:

Timeline Compression:

  1. Year → Half - If you estimate something takes a year, plan for it this half
  2. Half → Quarter - If you think it's a half-year project, aim for a quarter
  3. Quarter → Month - Quarterly goals become monthly goals
  4. Month → Week - Monthly becomes weekly
  5. Week → Today - Weekly becomes daily
  6. End of day → In this meeting - Today becomes right now

Anti-Calendar Mindset:

  • Recurring meetings should not drive next steps
  • Ask "When can we actually make this decision?" not "What's our next meeting?"
  • Real timelines are based on what's needed, not what Google Calendar suggests

How to Apply It

  1. Make it explicit - Tell your leadership team directly that your expectation is to compress timelines by one click. Give them the specific language.

  2. Challenge default due dates - When someone proposes a timeline, ask: "What would it take to do this one iteration faster?"

  3. Separate artificial from real constraints - Many deadlines are based on meeting schedules, not actual dependencies. Identify which constraints are real.

  4. Model it yourself - Maintain a fast personal SLA. Never be the bottleneck. Respond quickly to unblock others.

  5. Create moments of self-checking - Before stating a due date, pause and ask yourself: "Is this right, or do I need to pull it in?"

When to Use It

  • When setting expectations with a new leadership team
  • When organizations feel like they're slowing down
  • When teams default to "next meeting" for decisions
  • When growth stage companies need to maintain startup velocity
  • When someone proposes a timeline and you sense there's slack built in

Source

  • Guest: Claire Vo
  • Episode: "Bending the universe in your favor | Claire Vo (LaunchDarkly, Color, Optimizely, ChatPRD)"
  • Key Discussion: (00:23:58) - Claire explains her one click faster framework for pace-setting
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

Related Frameworks

  • Fast Beats Right - Claire's life motto that prioritizing speed over perfection leads to better outcomes
  • Personal SLA - The idea that leaders should never be a bottleneck for their organization
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