Building Momentum: short-term wins, the J-curve, and the Big Mo

Jim Collins's published metaphor from Good to Great (2001): organizational change is like pushing a heavy flywheel. The first turn takes enormous effort and produces little visible motion. The second turn is slightly easier. By the hundredth turn, the wheel is moving on its own momentum. The published claim: there is no single dramatic push that gets the flywheel moving; it's the accumulated effect of disciplined, consistent turns in the same direction. Most leaders look for the dramatic push ("the launch event") and miss the actual mechanism (the consistent turns).