# Why Speed Is a Byproduct, Not the Goal (with Dawna Ballard)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-productive-conversation-406235/why-speed-is-a-byproduct-not-the-goal-with-dawna-ballard
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-productive-conversation-406235/why-speed-is-a-byproduct-not-the-goal-with-dawna-ballard.md
Podcast: [A Productive Conversation](https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-productive-conversation-406235)
Published: 2026-05-20T07:34:00+00:00
Episode link: https://aproductiveconversation.transistor.fm/s1/658
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/633e9a4d/e3a71ded.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a-productive-conversation-406235/episodes/why-speed-is-a-byproduct-not-the-goal-with-dawna-ballard
Duration seconds: 3537

## Resource

This episode is brought to you by Your Clockwise Week—a personalized weekly structure built around your actual life, not an ideal one. If your week feels full but not fitting, you can learn more at mikevardy.com/yourclockwiseweek . We've built entire systems around moving faster — faster responses, faster workflows, faster outputs. But speed isn't something you pursue. It's something that shows up when you've built something worth moving through quickly. That distinction came up early in this conversation and stayed with me long after we stopped recording. If you've ever felt like you were moving fast but not actually going anywhere, this episode is for you. Dawna Ballard is a professor of organizational communication at the University of Texas at Austin, where she specializes in chronemics — the study of time as it relates to human communication. Her book, Time by Design: How Communicating Slow Allows Us to Go Fast , draws on decades of field research across medical settings, child advocacy networks, and organizations of all kinds to make a case that's both counterintuitive and deeply practical: slowing down your communication is often the fastest thing you can do. Six Discussion Points The distinction between time — the clocks, calendars, meetings, and appointments we design — and temporality — the natural rhythm of relationships, sleep, learning, and meaningful conversation — isn't just semantic. It's the lens through which everything else about productivity either clarifies or collapses. The Children's Advocacy Centers case study is one of the most compelling real-world arguments for slow design: agencies handling urgent child abuse cases discovered that pausing for regular 90-minute monthly meetings didn't cost them time — it gave them speed, trust, and accuracy a…

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## Transcript

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