The Paradox of Past Success

On how everything is about momentum

Success is great. Hands down, 10/10, would recommend.

Past success however can be a different story, because the past success becomes a referance point of what new success must look like.

Multiple times I’ve seen and felt progress slow down because we keep referencing to a past project or a past culture. Like the standard was set in that past, and even trying to interfere with that standard is a misuse of the (already used) costs in time/money.

It makes no sense, yet here we are dwelling over it.

But, what even made that past success a success in the first place?

Well, it’s all a game of momentum.

The game of momentum

Success usually comes when there is momentum.

Momentum can come from multiple things, for example:

• A clear why of what we worked towards
• Great insight from discovery work
• True collaboration within the team
• Great communication from everyone
• Innovation and, importantly, curiosity and open minds
• Experimenting first
• Enough funding and space to keep focus

The momentum comes because a group of people scrambled together to find out what they were building. They probably tested a lot of things, which in the end created something that, in hindsight, was a success.

The team riffed, jived or whatever you want to call it, based on a clear vision.

Bill Walsh, the late football coach, said it best: “The score takes care of itself”.

“You can’t completely control the outcome of a game, but you can control the effort you put into your training, and if you relentlessly focus on improving, you increase your chances of success. Focus on continuously bettering yourself, and the score will take care of itself.”

The thing with momentum is that it comes and goes, and it’s normal for short periods to not have it. But, when it’s there, you must exploit it.

So, don’t be nostalgic. Your ex wasn’t all that and the project that did well had a bunch of flaws.

Instead, follow what the All Blacks rugby team did when they needed change: “When you’re on top of your game, change your game.”

Hey, you made it to the end! 🎉

P.S. If you want to read about momentum, you can start with having your own standards: Winners and Losers Have The Same Goals

P.S.S. You can of course follow me on Medium, and Linkedin or Goodreads.

If you would like more stories like these, check out Failing Forward.