In business，there’s a speed difference:It’s the difference between how important a firm’s leaders say speed is to their competitive strategy and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size.Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.

In our study of 343 businesses，the companies that chose to go，go，go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What’s more，the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines，averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three­year period.

How did they disobey the laws of business physics，taking more time than competitors yet performing better？They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean.Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value).Simply increasing the speed of production，for example，may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference.But that often leads to reduced value over time，in the form of lower­quality products and services.

In our study，higher­performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary.They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking.And they allowed time to look back and learn.By contrast，performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time，paid too much attention to improving efficiency，stuck to tested methods，didn’t develop team spirit among their employees，and had little time thinking about changes.

Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right，rather than plough ahead full bore，are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top.

Have you ever been ill? When you are ill, you must be unhappy because your body becomes hot, and there are pains all over your body. You don’t want to work, you stay in bed, feeling very sad.

What makes us ill? It is germs (细菌). Germs are everywhere. They are very small and you can’t find them with your eyes, but you can see them with a microscope. They are very small and there could be hundreds of them on a very small thing.

Germs are always found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope, we shall see them in it. So your father and mother will not let you drink dirty water.

Germs aren’t found only in water. They are found in air and dust. If you cut your finger, if some of the dust from the floor goes into the cut (割开处), some of the germs would go into your finger. Your finger would become big and red, and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs would go into all of your body, and you would have pain everywhere.

Doctors in hospital emergency rooms often see accidental poisonings(意外中毒). A frightened parent arrives with a child who swallowed a cleaning liquid. Or perhaps the harmful substance is a medicine. Or it might be a chemical product meant to kill insects. These are common causes of accidental poisoning.

In cases like this, look for medical help as soon as possible. Save the container of whatever caused the poisoning. And look on the container for information about anything that stops the effects of the poison. Save anything expelled(被强迫排除) from the mouth of the victim. That way, doctors can examine it.

In the past, some people forced poisoning victims to empty the stomach. They used a liquid— syrup of ipecac(催呕剂)— to do this. But an organization of children’s doctors no longer advises parents to keep syrup of ipecac. The American Academy of Pediatrics says some poisons can cause additional damage when they come back up the throat.

Millions of people know a way to save a person who is chocking on something trapped in the throat. The method is commonly known as the Heimlich Maneuver or abdominal thrusts. The American Red Cross says a rescuer should first hit the person on the back five times between the shoulder bones. These back blows may ease the choking. If the airway(气管) is still blocked, the Red Cross suggests pushing hard five times along the victim’s abdomen. The abdomen is the area between the chest and the hipbones(髋骨).