The Flywheel effect is a concept developed in the book Good to Great. No matter how dramatic the end result, good-to-great transformations never happen in. The key is you build it over a long period of time. The power of a flywheel is that it’s an underlying logic, it’s an underlying architecture. Build Momentum for your Life Purpose with the Flywheel Effect by Jim Collins. Jim Collins is a big proponent of preparation.
For my last “To the Point” column (see below), I’d written about Jim Collins’ new monograph, and how it could be worthy exercise for your farm equipment company.As I mentioned in the last piece, we immediately placed a bulk order shipment for Collins’ book. And since I committed to sharing what our Management Team here discovered after a “group read and discussion,” here goes.Over two meetings in 1 week, we wordsmithed our version of a company flywheel — and the 6 spokes that cycle and power our enterprise. Again, the spokes are to be viewed as the “inevitable consequence of the step that came before.” Collins’ model is predicated on the fact that if you feed any part of the flywheel, it’ll accelerate the loop.The resulting illustration — which is to be applied across all divisions of our business — is pictured below. Lessiter Media Flywheel, created in Spring 2019 after LM’s Management Team read and discussed Turning the Flywheel by business author Jim Collins.The illustration helps define how success at our place ought to happen, even if it’s a never-ending quest to get there. Hopefully, that wheel will be turning faster a year from now.When first introducing the flywheel concept to our entire staff here, I wove in some observations from my peer group meetings and other benchmark-type travels. It’s becoming increasingly clear that our advantage as a small company (and covering focused niche audiences) must be about speed, smarts and action. It isn't really a choice that’s ours to make — we must do business this way.Our business must be able to find its advantages by being close enough to our customers to see their needs — sometimes before they do.
By being able to implement a new product or program, or respond to a need without stalling out in bureaucracy. To report out our performance swiftly and in time to make needed “game-time” adjustments. To find ways to leverage our structure and people assets to keep feeding the flywheel.It was an interesting exercise for our Management Team, much like previous work in values, mission and purpose that never fail to stimulate deep thought and debate. And if the illustration helps even one individual on our team more clearly see their purpose in the larger machine, it’ll be worth the “engineering time” put into building our flywheel.Several of you emailed me that you also bought Collins’ book (a quick read).
What did you learn that you can apply to your own business?To the Point: Build & Feed Your Flywheel as a Momentum-MachineOriginal blog published March 11, 2019Familiar to entire farm equipment business, the flywheel example illustrates how alignment can get your business humming. Continuously feeding the flywheel can get an organization to a place of nearly unstoppable momentum, says business author Jim Collins.In the troughs like we’ve faced in ag machinery lately, it isn’t difficult to find a motivation to uncover ways to refine our organizations. It also maintains faith and confidence as we choose to work on what we can indeed control.I was among those who placed my pre-order for Jim Collins’ newest “monograph” as he calls it,.
Collins is one of my favorite business authors, and with the familiar machinery symbol and analogy, I figured you and I might enjoy a head start on understanding this principle, which earned a brief mention in Good to Great.Turning the Flywheel arrived at my house last week and went right into my carry-on bag last Wednesday. I read the full 37 pages on a 90-minute flight last week, and immediately put in an Amazon order for copies for our entire leadership team. It is a quick read; it took more time to type this column today (on another flight) than it did to read the book. (By the way, the summary concepts in the Appendix is worth your $10 alone.)Through case studies of several businesses (and even a Kansas public school), Collins shows how a focused pursuit illustrated via a flywheel can lead to momentum and sustainable gain for any enterprise. Take the opportunity to let your tech show you a flywheel in his work bay and explain how it functions. Then, think of a giant heavy flywheel and for just a moment, the 5 or 6 spokes that “cycle” and power your business.
![Jim Jim](/uploads/1/2/4/2/124284441/797110778.jpg)
Flywheel, 1802 Steam LocomotiveThink about the flywheel moving an inch, then a full turn and on to where it’s moving faster and forward “with almost unstoppable momentum,” he writes.The author’s sketch on Amazon’s lifecycle is shown below. He says the best flywheels identify components that are the “inevitable consequence of the step that came before.” Again, after a company nails the first component and the next, it’s a chain reaction that’s self-energizing, and to some extent, self-delivering.My scribbling on the Delta napkins includes lists of words that could be used on a farm equipment flywheel, as well as for our own B2B media company. But I’m sitting on them here because that’s an exercise you’ll do with your leadership team. That’s what we’re doing with our purchased copies, with a discussion to come at our next EOS quarterly meeting. Collins’ book will reveal some thought-provoking questions about past successes and failures and what your differentiating components are, or are not.
A companion guidebook to the number-one bestselling Good to Great, focused on implementation of the flywheel concept, one of Jim Collins’ most memorable ideas that has been used across industries and the social sectors, and with startups.The key to business success is not a single innovation or one plan. It is the act of turning the flywheel, slowly gaining momentum and ev A companion guidebook to the number-one bestselling Good to Great, focused on implementation of the flywheel concept, one of Jim Collins’ most memorable ideas that has been used across industries and the social sectors, and with startups.The key to business success is not a single innovation or one plan.
It is the act of turning the flywheel, slowly gaining momentum and eventually reaching a breakthrough. This book talks in detail about the concept of Flywheel introduced in Jim Collins' book which I highly recommend.It provides 7 steps to capturing your own flywheel:1. Create a list of significant replicable successes your enterprise has achieved.2. Compile a list of failures and disappointments.3. Compare the successes to the disappointments and ask, “What do these successes and disappointments tell us about the possible compon This book talks in detail about the concept of Flywheel introduced in Jim Collins' book which I highly recommend.It provides 7 steps to capturing your own flywheel:1.
Create a list of significant replicable successes your enterprise has achieved.2. Compile a list of failures and disappointments.3. Compare the successes to the disappointments and ask, “What do these successes and disappointments tell us about the possible components of our flywheel?”4. Using the components you’ve identified (keeping it to four to six), sketch the flywheel.5.
If you have more than six components, you’re making it too complicated; consolidate and simplify to capture the essence of the flywheel.6. Test the flywheel against your list of successes and disappointments.7. Test the flywheel against the three circles of your Hedgehog Concept.After describing The Flywheel concept in detail it goes through 7 examples of Flywheels across different fields:1. Amazon.com FlywheelLower prices on more offerings - Increase customer visits - Attract third-partysellers - Expand the store, extend distribution - Grow revenues per fixed costs2. Vanguard FlywheelLower-cost mutual funds - Deliver superior long-term returns for clients - Build strong client loyalty - Grow assets under management - Generate economies of scale3.
Intel FlywheelDesign new chips that customers crave - Price high before competition catches up - Drive down unit costs - Harvest profits even as prices fall - Reinvest profits into R&D4. Giro FlywheelInvent great products - Get elite athletes to use them - Inspire weekend warriors - Attract mainstream customers - Build brand power - Set high prices and channel profits into R&D5. Ware Elementary School FlywheelSelect teachers infused with passion - Build collaborative improvement teams - Assess student progress, early and often - Achieve learning, each and every kid - Enhance reputation as a great place to teach - Replenish the passionate-teacher pipeline6. Ojai Music Festival FlywheelAttract unconventional talent - Unleash transcendent creativity - Forge immersive four-day experience - Ignite passionate reactions - Amplify community support - Enhance local and global reputation7. Cleveland Clinic FlywheelGet the right medical professionals - Cultivate a collaborative patient-centered culture - Work across specialties for best health outcomes - Attract patients from around the world - Fuel the resource engine - Invest in the best facilities, research and peopleBesides showing real-life applications of The Flywheel Jim Collins also share a map for the journey from Good to Great. For the first time ever he ties all the principles from his books (Built to Last, Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall, Great by Choice) into one coherent whole.This holistic framework consists of four stages:Stage 1: Disciplined peopleStage 2: Disciplined thoughtStage 3: Disciplined actionStage 4: Building to lastInside the stages he describes the concepts from all of his books which you can read about in more detail on his.Both the practical application of The Flywheel and also the framework of Good to Great makes this a very good and valuable book. Always a solid read.
Key takeaways for me that I haven't thought about before: I normally looked at the flywheel as just a momentum builder within an organization that continues to speed up. However, now I think a more true analogy to Jim Collins fly wheel is the addition of how each components that you put on the flywheel all build into each other and have an exponential effect on the sum. Reviewing your flywheel periodically to make sure that each segment builds into the next is probably a wis Always a solid read. Key takeaways for me that I haven't thought about before: I normally looked at the flywheel as just a momentum builder within an organization that continues to speed up. However, now I think a more true analogy to Jim Collins fly wheel is the addition of how each components that you put on the flywheel all build into each other and have an exponential effect on the sum.
Reviewing your flywheel periodically to make sure that each segment builds into the next is probably a wise thing to do annually. Good to Great is one of the best explorations of what it takes to create a truly successful business for longevity. In Turning the Flywheel, Collins focuses on one of his most tactical details from the book, distiling an incredible body of research into the best 45 minutes you could spend on your business's future. It might seem like an easy exercise to put together flywheel steps, but discounting the sophistication of the concept would be a mistake. The sequence of steps is vital to the flywhee Good to Great is one of the best explorations of what it takes to create a truly successful business for longevity. In Turning the Flywheel, Collins focuses on one of his most tactical details from the book, distiling an incredible body of research into the best 45 minutes you could spend on your business's future. It might seem like an easy exercise to put together flywheel steps, but discounting the sophistication of the concept would be a mistake.
The sequence of steps is vital to the flywheel's function, as is evaluating and ensuring you are executing at each stage so the momentum compounds.For extra credit, listen to Jim and Tim Ferriss talk about how he implements and thinks about these ideas in his own life.