Dec 12 - Bottlenecks vs Precision Mindset - What we can learn from Pit Crews
In today's environment, speed without precision is reckless.
But precision without speed is irrelevant.
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🧭 In this Issue
- 🏎️ Governance bottlenecks are rising as AI-driven complexity increases, making security, compliance, and architecture teams critical—but often slow, reactive gatekeepers instead of accelerators.
- ⚡ Pit Crew identity is the new model: high-performance teams mitigate risks with speed + precision, acting decisively instead of pointing to processes, forms, and tickets.
- 🔍 Watch out for false tradeoffs: safety vs. speed, security vs. usability, compliance vs. velocity are not opposites; precision unlocks both simultaneously—just like elite racing pit stops.
- 🤝 Adopt Pit Crew Ownership: shift from passive box-checking to co-owning business outcomes—clearing obstacles, enabling progress, and treating the team’s win as your win.
- 🎯 Precision mindset is the 21st-century advantage: disciplined urgency, fast risk resolution, and rule-guided enablement turn governance from friction into fuel for the entire organization.
🏎️ From Speed Bump to Pit Crew: A New Model for High-Performance Governance
As the world becomes more AI driven and more complex, companies increasingly struggle with gatekeeper bottlenecks: security, compliance, AI governance or architecture review and approval processes that are required to ensure compliance, strategic alignment and risk management.
Leading firms are learning to address gatekeeper bottlenecks by nudging their governance, security, compliance and architecture teams toward a new identity: Pit Crew.
In racing, the driver gets the spotlight, but championships are won in the pits.
A race car screeches to a stop. and in the next 2 seconds, 12 people give the car an update. For Pit Crews, high performance means delivering risk mitigation with speed AND precision.
Not one or the other. Both.
A great pit crew is the ultimate high-performance model for governance and risk mitigation teams: fast and precise, urgent and disciplined, safety-focused and speed-obsessed. They operate with one focus: the team must win. Every action, every gesture, every fraction of a second is aligned to that focus.
This precision mindset is exactly what today’s governance, security, architecture, and compliance teams need in order to deliver value in the 21st century operating environment..
Because in many companies—especially in regulated industries—the opposite happens. Gatekeeper teams slow things down. They rightly point out risks (security, compliance, tech debt, legal etc), but then take no ownership to actually remove or resolve the risk. They point people to a process. They request a form. They ask for a ticket. And all too often show little concern for the success of the team.
But imagine if we could inspire these teams to behave more like racing team pit crews - high performing teams that work with precision and speed.
3 Key Principles to Help Your Governance Teams adjust to the 21st Century operating environment.
1. Pit Crews Don’t Just Call Out Risks — They Resolve Them Fast
A world-class pit crew doesn’t just tell the driver "Hey your fuel is low, you better do something about that" or "We can't let you proceed, your tires are getting worn."
They act. They refuel the car, change the tires and more. All with practiced precision.
A good pit crew doesn't just recognize risks - they resolve the risks quickly so the mission can continue. In their world, a lack of speed is a clear sign of lack of competence.
Great governance, compliance, security and architecture teams have the same mindset. It’s not enough to raise flags and slow things down. High performing teams clear obstacles, guide the business through complexity, and get the initiative safely back on track—fast.
Think about a required process step or artifact in one of your most critical security or compliance processes. Who is best suited to do that step or create that artifact and do it really well???
- A person who's never done this before? Or
- A person who has seen dozens of these and can quickly determine which parts are most critical and relevant to the current situation?
The best gatekeeper teams don't abandon an initiative owner to stumble through a process they barely understand - they work side by side with the initiative owner to address risks and required steps in the most optimal way.
In a business context, we want to identify the risks: the security, compliance, AI, or other risks that will endanger the success of our business partners - then resolve those risks quickly so our business partners can get back out on track and win.
2. Precision Teams Reject False Tradeoffs
Poor teams accept lazy binaries:
- “The car can be safe OR fast, but not both.”
- “The system can be secure OR easy to use, but not both.”
- “We can be compliant OR we can move quickly, but not both.”
But smart companies - just like the top pit crews - recognize these as false tradeoffs caused by lack of precision mindset.
F1 pit stops take about 2 seconds. Indy and NASCAR crews complete 5–15 coordinated tasks with millimeter accuracy. Safety doesn’t have to slow you down - precision actually makes high speed possible.
This is the mindset shift organizations need:
Security and speed are not opposites.
Compliance and usability are not opposites.
Precision is what makes both possible at the same time.
Life is full of tradeoffs. But watch out for False Tradeoffs. False Tradeoffs occur when:
- We believe that only A or B is possible, and we believe we must choose only one option.
- Contrary to our belief, a wider range of choices (A-Z) may actually possible: we can have A, B, or C-Z...or we could have A both A & B.
- We then make poor decisions or accept poor performance because we are not considering all available options with a precision mindset.
Do not allow yourself or your team to get stuck inside the limitations of false tradeoffs.
3. Pit Crews Think Like Owners, Not box checkers
Some teams just checks boxes. A Pit Crew wins races.
That’s the difference between a team that sees itself as a passive advisor vs. one that understands its role as a co-owner of business outcomes.
Pit crews don’t say:
- “Well, I told them about the issue—my part is done.”
- “They didn’t follow the process—not my problem.”
- “We’re here to enforce rules, not to help them win.”
Instead, they see the team's success as their success. The driver’s risks are their risks. The team’s victory is their victory.
That’s what Pit Crew Ownership looks like. And that's a great phrase to use with your teams. Pit Crew Ownership. Ask it often. Are we taking ownership like a Pit Crew does? Are we demonstrating Pit Crew Ownership here?
Taking ownership drives behaviors that build trust and accelerate results.
Imagine governance teams that operate that way. Imagine security teams that take accountability for enabling progress, not stopping it. Imagine architecture teams that see each initiative as their race to help win.
I actually know some that do.
Today's complexity requires more precision
Every industry—finance, healthcare, energy, technology—is becoming more complex, more regulated, more exposed to cyber threats, and more dependent on rapid innovation.
In today's environment, speed without precision is reckless.
But precision without speed is irrelevant.
A pit crew's precision mindset blends both:
- Awareness + action
- Control + momentum
- Safety + velocity
- Discipline + urgency
- Rules + purpose
This is what high-performance looks like in the 21st century.
A Call to Today’s Gatekeeper Teams
If your role touches risk, compliance, security, data, architecture, or technology governance, realize that you are not simply an advisor or a referee. You are part of the competitive engine of the company.
Your job is not to slow things down...your job is to keep the organization in the race and help it win safely.
Your value increases when:
- You accelerate outcomes vs delaying them.
- You guide teams through complexity rather than sending them off to try to navigate on their own.
- You co-own results rather than disclaim responsibility.
- You use rules to enable rather than just create friction.
- You refuse to fall into the trap false tradeoffs and instead use a precision mindset to create outcomes that are beyond expectations.
Great pit crews don’t wait for someone else to fix the problem.
Great pit crews don’t hide behind process.
Great pit crews don’t fear speed.
Great pit crews fear sloppiness, delay, and losing.
Be that team.
Closing Thought
Every company has drivers—product owners, clinicians, analysts, engineers, executives—all trying to move initiatives forward. They’re pushing the limits. They’re competing in faster and more demanding markets.
They need you.
Not as a speed bump or detached advisor.
But as their pit crew—the team that helps them go faster and safer, by bringing a precision mindset.
High-performance organizations are built on high-performance support teams.
And the teams that embrace this mindset—the precision mindset, the ownership mindset—will be the ones that transform governance from friction into fuel.
Sources and further reading
Red Bull Racing Honda Team's Guide to Pit Stops - How this team set the world record fastest pit stop of 1.82 seconds.
Formula 1 Fastest Pit Stop Award 2025 - includes video of pit stops from multiple angles.
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Ralph Perrine
Ralph Perrine
Opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not reflect the official positions of companies or organizations those individuals may be affiliated with. Not financial, investment or legal advice, and no offers for securities or investment opportunities are intended. Mentions should not be construed as endorsements. Authors or guests may hold assets discussed or may have interests in companies mentioned.
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