Facebook’s internal motto for its first decade. Not move fast and be careful. The breaking is named, accepted, and put in the sentence. It was retired in 2014, which is itself part of the story — the company iterated on its own motto.
business
The written warning
Die Abmahnung. German employment law generally requires a formal written warning before a conduct-based dismissal, stating the behaviour, why it is unacceptable, and what happens if it recurs. The employer cannot escalate directly. The law inserts a step and requires it to be documented.
The earnings call
American public companies hold a quarterly call in which executives take questions from analysts, and the recording and transcript are made public. The company’s own account of its performance is delivered in a forum it does not control, and anyone can listen.
Six Sigma
Developed at Motorola in 1986 and adopted across American manufacturing and services. Its core cycle — Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control — begins with measurement of what is actually happening. The improvement is derived from the data, and the control phase exists to hold the derived process in place until the next measurement.
Exempt employees
American wage law divides employees into those entitled to overtime pay and those exempt from it, and exempt status covers most professional and managerial roles. For those workers the law places no limit on hours and requires no additional payment.
The honourable merchant
Der ehrbare Kaufmann. The honourable merchant — a German commercial tradition with roots in the Hanseatic League, still taught by the chambers of commerce and written into their codes. The merchant’s standing rests on conduct: keeping to what was said, dealing straight, not exploiting an advantage. Charm is not on the list.
Yield management
American Airlines built the practice in the 1980s: the same seat on the same flight sold at many different prices depending on when it was bought, by whom, and under what conditions. It spread to hotels, car rental, cruise lines and events. An entire American industry is built on the proposition that a fixed price leaves money unclaimed.
The status column
American project tools display the state of every commitment as a field — green, amber, red, or on track, at risk, blocked — updated by the owner and visible to everyone. The design assumes the status changes. A system built for agreements that hold at the level they were set would not need the column at all.
The ombudsman
German banks, insurers, energy suppliers and public bodies maintain ombudsman schemes: free, binding on the company up to a threshold, and available before any court is approached. A complaint has somewhere to go that is not a lawsuit.
The playbook
An American football playbook is a compilation of what has worked, tested in practice and revised weekly. The word crossed into business intact. A playbook is not a manual derived from principle. It is a record of plays that succeeded.