Have you ever wondered why the most “disruptive” companies of the last decade seem to be the ones currently scrambling to repair their shattered reputations? In Move Fast and Fix Things, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss offer a high-octane corrective to the Silicon Valley mantra that dominated the early 21st century. As we navigate the complex landscape of 2026, the authors argue that speed shouldn’t come at the cost of stability, and that the most successful leaders aren’t the ones who break things, but the ones who have the operational excellence to fix them while maintaining momentum.
The book serves as a masterclass in organizational repair, dismantling the false binary that suggests you must choose between being fast and being responsible. Frei, known for her high-stakes “fix-it” roles at companies like Uber and WeWork, brings a grounded, battle-tested perspective to the table. She posits that the “Move Fast and Break Things” era left behind a wreckage of toxic cultures and eroded trust that we are still cleaning up today. In 2026, where brand loyalty is fragile and transparency is non-negotiable, “breaking things” isn’t a badge of honor—it’s a liability.
At the heart of their philosophy is a rigorous approach to trust. They revisit the “Trust Triangle”—composed of Authenticity, Logic, and Empathy—as the essential infrastructure for any fast-moving team. The authors provide a literal “one-week” playbook for identifying the root causes of organizational failure and implementing sustainable fixes. It’s not about slowing down to be careful; it’s about building a foundation so strong that it actually enables you to move even faster because you aren’t constantly pausing to patch leaks.
What makes this particularly relevant for our current era of AI-driven efficiency is the focus on the human element. While our algorithms can optimize for speed, they often lack the “Logic” or “Empathy” components of the trust triangle required to keep a human workforce engaged. Frei and Morriss remind us that leadership is a service profession. By prioritizing the success of others and the health of the system, leaders can create an environment where radical candor and high-speed execution coexist without the inevitable burnout we saw in the previous decade.
Ultimately, Move Fast and Fix Things is a blueprint for the “clean energy” version of tech leadership. It moves us away from the extractive, “growth at all costs” mindset and toward a model of regenerative leadership. It’s a compelling argument that the ultimate competitive advantage in 2026 isn’t just your tech stack, but the speed at which you can build, break, and—most importantly—rebuild trust.
If your organization were forced to move at double its current speed tomorrow, which part of your “Trust Triangle” would be the first to snap, and what are you doing to reinforce it today?