The Flywheel Effect: Why Persistence Drives Real Growth
Last week I wrote about persistence, the kind of persistence it takes to climb a mountain when your legs are screaming and you still have hours left to go. There’s a moment in every long push where you know quitting isn’t an option, even though nothing in your body feels strong enough to keep going.
Business has those same moments.
They just look quieter.
You do the work, you invest the energy, you make the tough calls. You tighten the systems, coach the team, clean up the financials, improve the leadership rhythms. And for a long time… nothing seems to move.
That’s the part most owners misinterpret.
They think the effort isn’t working.
But what’s really happening is the flywheel.
The Flywheel Effect
Jim Collins describes it like pushing a massive steel wheel. At first you lean into it with everything you have and it barely budges. But you keep pushing. Turn after turn. Inch after inch.
Then something subtle starts to happen.
The resistance changes.
The wheel starts to move with you rather than against you.
Momentum begins to build.
And once it does, it becomes hard to stop.
Every business transformation works this way.
There is always a long season of heavy pushes before the momentum shows up. Nothing about that season is glamorous. Most of it is invisible.
But invisible doesn’t mean ineffective.
It means compounding.
What the Research Says About This Season
Harvard’s research backs this up in three important ways.
The “Progress Principle” (Amabile & Kramer) They found the biggest driver of motivation isn’t praise or big wins — it’s small, meaningful progress on important work. Even tiny steps forward change how you feel, think, and lead. This is the emotional fuel that keeps you pushing the flywheel when no one else can see motion yet.
Organizational Grit (Duckworth & Lee) Grit isn’t a personality trait… it’s a culture. Teams that stay committed through long cycles of slow results eventually outperform the ones that depend on early wins for motivation. Momentum favors those who expect the lag and keep going anyway.
The Real Nature of Innovation (Pisano) We romanticize innovation, but HBR notes that the cultures that actually innovate are the ones willing to tolerate discomfort, setbacks, and long periods without clear payoff. In other words: the flywheel always feels slow at the start. That’s the job.
What This Means for You as a CEO
When you’re leading a business through change such as new systems, new roles, new clinics, new expectations — you’re going to spend a long time pushing before anything spins.
Most owners pull back too early.
Not because the work isn’t working.
But because they expected momentum before it was possible.
Here’s the reframe: The delay is part of the design.
You’re not just building a result. You’re building capacity, alignment, capability, and leadership. Those always lag the effort.
But once they catch, things start to move fast.
Where to Put Your Energy This Week
A few questions to ground you if you’re in that quiet, heavy-push season:
What meaningful progress happened this week, even if the results aren’t visible yet? Where is your team slowly gaining capability, even if they still need coaching? What systems are beginning to stabilize? What decisions felt slightly easier than last month?
Those small indicators are not trivial. They’re the beginnings of the flywheel turning.
One Last Thought
The most successful leaders I work with aren’t the ones who get the fastest results. They’re the ones who keep pushing with clarity, consistency, and intention long before the results show up. Because they know momentum doesn’t reward intensity. It rewards consistent energy and effort.
If you’re in the season where the wheel feels impossibly heavy, keep going. This is the part that makes the breakthrough possible.