  A simple lemma bounds $\mathrm{s.d.}(T)/\mathbb{E} T$ for hitting times $T$
in Markov chains with a certain strong monotonicity property. We show how this
lemma may be applied to several increasing set-valued processes. Our main
result concerns a model of first passage percolation on a finite graph, where
the traversal times of edges are independent Exponentials with arbitrary rates.
Consider the percolation time $X$ between two arbitrary vertices. We prove that
$\mathrm{s.d.}(X)/\mathbb{E} X$ is small if and only if $\Xi/\mathbb{E} X$ is
small, where $\Xi$ is the maximal edge-traversal time in the percolation path
attaining $X$.
