Small Wisdom 4: Momentum matters

There is no stability without momentum. And sometimes you just need a push.

This is the 4th post in a short series of birthday-inspired reflections on “small wisdoms” I have learned over the past decade or two. You can read the first in the series on the personal and organizational power of gratitude, the second on recognizing when you’re the weird one, and third on making everything material for transforming into something greater.

When I was kid, I had this idea that to ride a bike I should learn how to balance first.

So I sat on my bike, in the driveway, trying to steady myself before I started moving. 

After watching me for a while, my mom finally shook her head, came out of the house and gave me a push. Then she ran behind, pushing the bike until I could make it go by myself.

What’s the takeaway?

There’s no stability without momentum, not with biking and often not with life.

Plus sometimes you need an outside push to get you going. 

“Momentum solves 80% of your problems.” - John C. Maxwell

I’ve since found paying attention to momentum to be a critical skill, particularly if you are starting something new or when you find yourself stuck.

Do you have it? No? Then, where can you find momentum? Can you use it?

It’s one of the most important lessons I’ve learned and yet it’s one I constantly had to relearn. I have a habit of pursuing passions without paying enough attention to where the wind is blowing.

For example, when I finished grad school, I was hellbent on starting a toy design company that drew on the inspiration of kids and parents in developing countries. It was creative and based on firsthand observations, but I struggled to get it going.

Finally, I managed to secure a meeting with Alan Hassenfeld, CEO of Hasbro. He listened to my pitch politely, but then told me frankly:

“This just isn’t a focus for us, let me know when you have some momentum.” 

I was devastated. But I left that meeting looking for momentum, which eventually took me to Kenya, India and Brazil working on an entirely different business. But that’s another story.

Momentum is energy, when you have it, so much more is possible. When you don’t, so much is harder or impossible.

So when you are looking to get rolling on your proverbial bike and start something new, pay careful attention to momentum.

Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Don’t take it personally

If you are in a rut, don’t beat yourself up. Being stuck is unlikely to be due to your personal value or capabilities. Not 100% any ways. You are probably just hanging out in a place with no momentum.

But you need momentum. You can’t change orbits without it.

Momentum is necessary and often sufficient

I’ve seen it again and again throughout my career, two people who are equally creative, capable and hardworking, but the one who succeeds is the one who had momentum or chose the opportunity where momentum could be found.

Product leader Michael Levinson used to advise new PMs at Facebook to think about organization first when considering what role to take: before manager, product and team. At the heart of his advice was to look for parts of the business that were stable and had momentum because it gave you the most reliable place to grow.

Building momentum by yourself takes time

In the U.S. there’s the phrase “to pull yourself up by your bootstraps” around an American ideal of being self-made.

Physics-defying nature of that phrase aside—and apparently its original use was sarcastic—in reality it’s really difficult to build momentum on your own. It takes time.

If you want to do it quickly, you almost always need external momentum or something you already have that you can turn into momentum: e.g. distribution channels, a good brand, money spent well etc.

Show up where the momentum is

In Improv Wisdom, Patricia Ryan Madson advises us to “just show up”:

"Love your parents? Pay them a visit. Need to write? Sit down at your desk. Want to have more friends? Show up at a volunteer job or a class in a subject that interests you. Need to exercise? Go to the gym or walk to the park. Believe in ecology? Take a plastic bag to the neighborhood park and pick up the trash."

Often change just comes from showing up somewhere new, where you can be surrounded by people doing what you want to do. Finding a good reason to be there is sometimes all the strategy you need.

For example, Stanley Jones once told me that his customer acquisition strategy for his mission-driven website agency was just working out of the Impact Hub in San Francisco, where he could be surrounded by people that needed his services.

It worked.

You need to paddle, but not all the time

As a surfer, you can’t catch a wave without paddling. But if you paddle too much, or too soon, you can miss the wave and exhaust yourself quickly.

So you need to take action to take advantage of momentum you find, but make the action purposeful and directed.

Practice doing what you want to do, regularly, in a place where people value it. Take breaks, ask for feedback, adjust and do it again.

And if it’s not working, try showing up somewhere new.

You don’t need to blindly follow momentum

You don’t have to go where momentum takes you, you just need to use its energy.

After all, a kite rises against the wind, not with it. You can even sail into the wind, but you can’t sail without it.

Create a Venn Diagram of 1) what you’re passionate about, 2) what you are good at, and 3) where you can take advantage of momentum, and then use it to chart a path to places you can go.

You’re looking for momentum to propel you where you want to go, or to create unanticipated opportunities you never considered.

Momentum begets momentum
- Gil Penchina

In closing, the best way to create momentum is to borrow some that already exists.

Then do your best to stay in front of it, or to launch yourself to somewhere new.

Start pedaling, but don’t be afraid to ask for a push.