Gradually, Then Suddenly — How The Future Actually Happens

In The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway writes a fascinating exchange...

“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked. "Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually, then suddenly."

I vividly remember the moment years ago when my mentor Terry shared the idea of “gradually then suddenly" with me. Terry is one of my absolute favorite humans. He’s also one of those people where you need to come to the conversation prepared with a notepad, ready to furiously scribble down the amazing things that fall out of his mouth every couple minutes.

This idea — “gradually, then suddenly” — felt like some kind of emotional “slap” when he shared it. It was immediately poignant, like the idea itself had some kind of natural resonance with the universe, like it’s somehow playing at the same frequency as reality.

So not surprisingly, this idea has had a lot of staying power in my mind over the years.?

And the older I get, the more it seems to describe additional parts of life.?

Originally, I connected “gradually, then suddenly” to things like illness and finances. There’s a point when our older loved ones go from “having an illness” to “they are ill.” There’s a point at which people have to declare bankruptcy. In the past, I’ve mostly thought about this idea in these more negative ways — when sickness turns nasty or when someone experiences great financial loss.

For whatever reason, I never applied this concept to something like success or wellness. But it now seems obvious that this same phenomenon clearly happens on the more “positive” side of life, too.?

Consider the moment when a social movement goes from embers to a conflagration, allowing society to suddenly make real changes. Or when the revolutionaries gather and the dictator finally gets overthrown.?

Or how about the "10-Year Overnight Success?" This is a more realistic version of the more popular “Overnight Success” (in which we pretend that someone can actually become successful in something overnight). A "10-Year Overnight Success" is much more akin to what actually happens; Malcolm Gladwell of course did a great treatise on this in The Tipping Point, introducing us all to the concept of 10,000 hours, like the Beatles playing a thousand crappy gigs before “bursting onto the scene.”

Until recently, I never connected that idea with the concept of “gradually, than suddenly,” even though they’re clearly the same thing…!

So my curiosity about the “gradually, then suddenly” phenomenon endures, and these days I find myself thinking about it in the “social constructivist” sense.

As in, what kind of things should we be doing “gradually” right now to create the kind of “suddenly” we want later??

Isn't all preventative health care built on this notion??

The formation of all good habits?

Also probably compound interest??

And hopefully a work revolution??

So here are my questions for us all...

What are the little things that we can do today — slowly, deliberately, gradually — trusting someday we’ll see that those seemingly small actions were actually deposits into the account of our collective future??

How might you use this idea to create the kind of future you want to live in?

If you’re a leader in an organization, how could you gradually create the future that your team, colleagues, and customers want and need??

What kind of seeds will you plant today that will sprout at some unknown point down the road, suddenly bursting forth from the ground, making the world a little bit more green, and a little bit better…?

Your suddenly is coming.?

So right now, do intentional things gradually.