The Momentum Flywheel

Jim Collins says that this flywheel concept was huge in Amazon’s success. And Brad Stone, who wrote the book The Everything Store about Amazon’s rise,called it Amazon’s “secret sauce.”

Jim Collins says in the short book that,“Each component in the flywheel sets you up for the next component, indeed, almost throwing you around the loop.” 

What comes first? What comes next? What comes after that? Each step propels the next step, which propels the next, almost like a chain reaction… Jim Collins says Stanford Graduate School professor Robert Burgelman once told a classroom full of students in 1982 that the greatest danger in business and life lies not in failure, but in achieving success without understanding why you were successful in the first place. Jim Collins also says that “when you deeply understand the underlying causal factors that give your flywheel its momentum,” you can avoid this trap.

So how do you come up with your flywheel? Here is a summary of the steps from page 9 of Jim Collins’ Turning The Flywheel:

Create a list of successes you’ve had.

Create a list of failures and disappointments.

Compare the successes and disappointments, and ask,“What do these successes and disappointments tell us about the possible components of our flywheel?”

Reduce the steps to between 4 and 6 steps Draw it out.

Where does it start?

What comes next?

What comes after that?

Jim Collins says this is how you build greatness. There’s no single defining action, no grand program, no single killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment…. “Rather, it feels like turning a giant, heavy flywheel.” Pushing with great effort, you get the fly wheel to inch forward. You keep pushing, and with persistent effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn. You don’t stop. You keep pushing. The flywheel moves a bit faster. Then at some point – breakthrough! The flywheel flies forward with almost unstoppable momentum.”