From the outside, good-to-great transformations look like dramatic, almost overnight transformations. But from the inside, they feel completely differentâthere was no single defining action, no grand program, no miracle moment. It was a quiet, deliberate process of pushing a giant flywheel, turn by turn, building momentum until breakthrough.
Picture a huge, heavy flywheelâa massive metal disk mounted on an axle. Your task is to get it rotating as fast as possible. You push with great effort, and the flywheel moves an inch. You keep pushing, and after hours of sustained effort, the flywheel completes one full turn.
âYou keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a bit faster, and with continued great effort, you move it around a second rotation. You keep pushing in a consistent direction. Three turns⊠four⊠five⊠six⊠the flywheel builds momentum⊠seven⊠eight⊠you keep pushing⊠nine⊠ten⊠it builds momentum⊠eleven⊠twelve⊠moving faster with each turnâŠâ â Jim Collins
Then at some pointâbreakthrough! The momentum of the wheel kicks in your favor. Youâre pushing no harder, but the flywheel is spinning faster and faster. The huge heavy disk flies forward with almost unstoppable momentum.
No single push makes the difference. Itâs the cumulative effect of all the pushes in a consistent direction.
When researchers asked good-to-great executives to name the one defining action or program that made the transformation happen, they couldnât point to one. They described it as a gradual processâa series of good decisions, diligently executed, that accumulated over time.
The press and outside observers see only the breakthrough. They donât see the years of quiet, persistent pushing that preceded it.
In contrast, comparison companies followed a very different patternâthe doom loop. Instead of quiet, deliberate pushing, they lurched back and forth, launching new programs with great fanfare, only to abandon them for the next big thing.
Flywheel:
Doom Loop:
Good-to-great companies made acquisitions after developing their Hedgehog Conceptâusing acquisitions to accelerate the flywheel. Comparison companies often tried to use acquisitions to create momentum they hadnât built through discipline.
Flywheel Accelerator: Acquisitions used to push the flywheel fasterâafter the concept is clear and momentum has begun. The acquisition fits the Hedgehog Concept perfectly.
Doom Loop Driver: Acquisitions used to jump-start transformation or compensate for lack of momentum. Often doesnât fit any clear concept; a desperate reaction rather than a strategic acceleration.
Krogerâs transformation exemplifies the flywheel effect. When they faced the brutal fact that their traditional grocery stores were obsolete, they didnât launch a dramatic restructuring. They began methodically changing their stores, one by one, year by year.
When all the good-to-great concepts click togetherâLevel 5 Leadership, First Who, Confronting Brutal Facts, Hedgehog Concept, Culture of Discipline, Technology Acceleratorsâthey create an integrated system that builds tremendous flywheel momentum.
âEach piece of the system reinforces the other parts of the system to form an integrated whole that is far more powerful than the sum of the parts. It is only through consistency over time, through multiple generations, that you get maximum results.â â Jim Collins
The flywheel concept requires a different way of thinking about success. There are no shortcuts. You cannot skip the buildup. You must have the patience to push and push and push in a consistent direction, even when progress seems slow.