Momentum

Momentum

The other day I was outside playing with the kids on the swing when my four year old kept asking to be pushed. After explaining Newtonian physics, swinging your legs building and maintaining momentum… I was still pushing. However, it dawned on me that companies are affected by momentum as well. Think about it, how many companies are consistently good at adapting to change? Take a look at Netflix for example, they started out with a business model to disrupt Blockbuster by sending DVDs in the mail, then after winning that market, they pivoted to providing media digitally, now they’ve pivoted again to developing and providing content. They’ve been able to do that because they’ve maintained their momentum, never resting on their laurels, always looking for the next thing and accelerating when they needed to reach it. Conversely, there is a story like Kodak’s, a company that completely owned the photography market, but they took their foot off the accelerator, their swing slowed down and despite trying to regain the speed they once had they simply were unable.

Newton’s first law: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion (unless, or until a force acts upon it)

TLDR: Be a force of acceleration in your company, not a break.

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Originally published at Radical Consulting.