Flywheel: The Key to Optimizing Your Economic Engine

What is a Flywheel?

A Flywheel is a set of business drivers that propel your business forward. In the form of a wheel, these components slowly build momentum as each of them is optimized and the wheel begins to turn. “Each turn of the flywheel builds upon work done earlier, compounding your investment of effort” Jim Collins.

The Flywheel effect comes from Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great”.

Collins describes the good-to-great transition process; “…the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond”.

Collins explores the Flywheel further in his monograph “Turning the Flywheel” where he shares stories of Flywheel applications and seven steps to creating your continued momentum.

The Power of a Flywheel

We work with our clients to create unique Flywheels to clarify the economic engine for their business. In other words, the Flywheel’s cycle is the mechanism that drives cash into their business— and yours.

The flywheel builds on itself to deliver more cash. Each time it cycles through, the next cycle is stronger, faster, and more efficient.

How to Begin to Create Your Flywheel:

1. Create a list of significant success
2. Create a list of failures
3. Compare the successes to the failures to find the possible components of your flywheel
4. Use the components you’ve identified to draft your Flywheel
5. Consolidate the flywheel to a maximum of 6 components
6. Test your flywheel using the list of successes and failures and continue to make changes until the loop directly mirrors your biggest accomplishments
7. Test against the Hedgehog Concept