The Flywheel Effect: How Small Actions Create Big Wins Over Time
The Illusion of Overnight Success
These days, we’re bombarded with stories of “overnight” success—startups skyrocketing to billion-dollar valuations, creators going viral, businesses seemingly thriving from day one. But the truth? Those are the exceptions, not the rule.
The rule—the thing that separates those who succeed from those who don’t—is simple: consistent, focused action over time.
And that’s exactly what the Flywheel Effect is about.
The Flywheel Effect: Why Small, Repeated Actions Matter
The Flywheel Effect, introduced by Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, illustrates how consistent, incremental efforts compound over time to produce significant momentum. Collins likens it to pushing a massive, heavy flywheel:
"Pushing with great effort, you get the flywheel to inch forward, moving almost imperceptibly at first. You keep pushing, and after two or three hours of persistent effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn."
Success in business, leadership, and personal growth follows the same principle. Nothing big happens overnight. It’s the accumulation of small wins, stacked on top of each other, that creates real progress.
The biggest challenge? Getting the damn thing moving in the first place.
The Early Grind: No One Is Coming to Do It for You
One of the toughest lessons I learned when I became an entrepreneur was that no one is going to save you.
When you’re in a corporate environment, there’s always someone above you—setting deadlines, holding you accountable, pushing you forward. But when it’s your own business, there’s no one coming to tap you on the shoulder and say, Hey, you need to get moving.
I remember waking up some mornings, exhausted, questioning everything. The work was good, but it was relentless. And yet, the responsibility for growth, for momentum, for making things happen? That was mine.
No one was going to sign up the next customer. No one was going to make the business more efficient. No one was going to build my business for me.
It had to be me—day in, day out, showing up and putting in the effort.
That was a brutal but necessary shift in mindset. And it was the same in my corporate career—whether it was delivering a warehouse project in six to nine months instead of the standard 12 to 18, or quadrupling pick rates from 30 to 120 in one of our facilities.
The process was always the same:
It’s never one big moment that changes everything. It’s the accumulation of effort.
Building the Flywheel: From Theory to Practice
So how do you actually apply the Flywheel Effect?
Here’s what I've learnt, applying the theory in practice:
1. Identify Core Activities
Momentum doesn’t come from doing everything—it comes from doing the right things, repeatedly, until they compound.
For me, when we were scaling our last-mile logistics company, we had to pinpoint the few activities that mattered most:
If we had spent all our time trying to perfect a website or over-engineer marketing campaigns before we even had a working system, we’d have never built momentum.
You have to focus on the actions that actually move the needle.
2. Maintain Relentless Consistency
Once you identify those core activities, the next challenge is to show up and execute, every single day.
When we increased the pick rate from 30 to 120 in our warehouse, it didn’t happen in a single leap. It happened like this:
It took six to nine months of small, relentless improvements.
I still remember betting the warehouse manager that we could hit 120. He told me it was impossible. I said, Believe me. Trust me. We can do this.
And we did.
It didn’t happen because of one big breakthrough—it happened because we tested, applied, measured, and pushed forward every single day.
3. Avoid the Perfection Trap
One of the biggest momentum killers is the idea that things need to be “perfect” before you start.
How often do people say:
Yes, planning matters. But planning without action leads to stagnation.
The reality? Nothing is ever perfect. If you wait until everything is “just right,” you’ll never start.
Instead, get to 60%, 70%, 80% ready—and then move.
Start small. Test. Adjust. Improve. But get moving.
4. Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs
Another concept from Jim Collins that pairs well with the Flywheel Effect is the idea of firing bullets before cannonballs.
What does this mean?
When you’re unsure, take small, low-risk shots first.
Once you find a winning approach? Go all in. Fire the cannonball.
I’ve tried to apply this as often as possible, as this forces momentum. You don’t have to bet everything at once. Start small, validate, then scale.
The Role of the Leader: Keep the Flywheel Moving
Momentum isn’t just about getting the flywheel turning—it’s about keeping it moving. Leaders need to get hands-on in removing roadblocks.
I used to walk the warehouse floor daily, not just to observe but to identify just one bottleneck slowing us down. Once we found it—whether it was a misplaced workstation or a slow picking process—we fixed it immediately. Small, quick fixes kept the flywheel moving. Then we repeated that the following day and so forth.
Once momentum builds, your job as a leader is to:
Final Thought: Success is a Grind Before It’s a Breakthrough
I’ve seen it firsthand—both in corporate roles and as an entrepreneur. The biggest wins come after months (or years) of consistent effort.
There’s no substitute for action, focus, and grit. So the real question is: Where in your life or business do you need to start pushing the flywheel?
Because once that wheel starts turning, everything changes.