Disciplined Action, Flywheel and the Doom Loop

Moralis Business School Onboarding Course
#1
  1. What is the Flywheel Effect?
  2. Why is it important?
  3. What is the Doom Loop?
  4. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?
  5. How do we avoid the doom loop?
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#2
  1. Snowball effect
  2. Hard at the beginning, easy with time
  3. Failure method
  4. Not being prepared
  5. It is easiest to avoid than to react, be proactive
#3
  1. What is the Flywheel Effect?

when starting you start slow but keep pushing the wheel keep the momentum and things would move faster

  1. Why is it important?

the concept is to be consistent in the efforts of the initial work, thing big start small at the beginning is very hard but requires time and patience and discipline, but gradually it would be easier until almost effortless.

  1. What is the Doom Loop?

is the consequences of not being discipline or always reacting; can cause reaction without understanding; change direction everyday can lose direction and generates disappointment.

  1. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?

reacting, not thought changes in plan, adquisition, new leadership, not hiring the right talent, no build up, no accumulated momentum ; all this will generate disappointing results.

  1. How do we avoid the doom loop?

discipline people, discipline thought, discipline action ; step forward consistency doing one thing at its best (hedgehog concept)

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#4

  1. What is the Flywheel Effect?
    The Flywheel Effect is the analogy of working on a project and pushing a flywheel until it reaches momentum and the teams can enjoy the results. This applies to new projects, to help us understand that - like a heavy flywheel - things are harder at the beginning, but progress requires time and patience. Eventually, the project will achieve momentum, and it will require a lot less effort to keep “the flywheel moving,” but the team has to work with a concerted effort and push in the same direction for it to work.

  2. Why is it important?
    This analogy is important because it gives us an easy and highly relatable way to envision progress in a company, as well as an understanding about why it is important that everyone in a team works within the same framwork and how that impulses projects towards success.

  3. What is the Doom Loop?
    The Doom Loop is the opposite of the flywheel concept. It happens when instead of disciplined people, actions and thoughts, we have reactive people, actions and thoughts.

  4. What mistakes do some companies make that make them fall into the doom loop?
    Mistakes that cause companies to fall into the doom loop are:

  • Reactive thoughts: Not focusing on the direction (mision and vision) of the company, and therefore having impulsive thoughts about any other random “exciting” new thing.
  • Reactive actions: Being impulsive and taking decisions without thinking about how they fit into the hedgehog criteria, and how that will affect the momentum of the company.
  • Reactive People: People who think and act reactively.
  1. How do we avoid the doom loop?
    By working according to the framework of the comapny (to build great things), and joining efforts with the rest of the team to “push the flywheel” in the same direction to achieve the desired results.
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#5

1. What is the Flywheel Effect?

  • Building something great is like pushing a large, heavy flywheel. At the start you push it with all your might and it hardly moves. The longer you push it with great effort, the more it moves, to the point where the same push you did at the start is now pushing the flywheel many turns. At some point momentum kicks in and you breakthrough, the flywheels own weight is working for you.
  • This same analogy should be applied to our work
    Key takeaways:
  • when working on something new, it takes time and patience
  • whatever we do is hard at the beginning and then gets easier
  • if we are persistent with pushing, one day we will see that things move by themselves without much from us, this is the breakthrough moment

2. Why is it important?

  • it is important for success and greatness
  • At first the momentum is unnoticed, but then it grows exponentially and we dominate the market

3. What is the Doom Loop?

  • When we are reactive
  • Reactive thoughts and actions - we jump on new trends without thinking about how they fit into the hedgehog concept
  • Reactive people - hiring fast without finding the perfect candidates

4. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?

  • They react to new trends without understand, jump on bandwagons and acquire fad companies
  • This starts the downward spiral of disappointing result doom loop
  • They may also hire too fast the wrong people
  • or hesitant to fire the wrong people

5. How do we avoid the doom loop?

  • we must always stick to the hedgehog concept and flywheel effect
  • ‘do one thing better than anyone else’
  • Consistent high effort, builds momentum into a flywheel breakthrough
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#6

1. What is the Flywheel Effect?

it is like compound interest

2. Why is it important?

because it tells us starting something is a very hard thing but with continuous efforts, it becomes less hard and it can reach a point that the whole thing becomes an easy task

3. What is the Doom Loop?

this is the opposite of the flywheel effect and it is because of finding a lot of opportunities and tracking all of them.

4. What mistakes do some companies make that make them fall into the doom loop?

because they are a trend follower, not a trend maker. this leads them to jump on many trends in the market and they can focus on a singular thing

5. How do we avoid the doom loop?

hedgehog concept and flywheel effect

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#7

  1. When you apply constant pressure in the same direction over a period of time to a large (seemingly immovable at first) object, it starts to move very slowly in the beginning but then over time it picks up speed and before long it is moving faster and faster even though you are still applying the same effort as before.

  2. It ensures direction/progress and prevents the doom loop.

  3. No accumulated momentum, unsure of direction, reacting without first understanding.

  4. Some companies choose not to confront the brutal facts, this can lead them into a doom loop.

  5. Disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action and sprinkle in a little bit of magic along with the flywheel effect and voila!

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#8

What is the Flywheel Effect?
Building something great is akin to pushing a large, heavy flywheel. You start slow but keep pushing it and then it gets faster until it reaches its momentum.
Why is it important?
When we start it take patience but keep pushing it will be easier and it will move by itself when there is a breakthrough and we finally get to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
What is the Doom Loop?
The opposite to disciplined thought, people and actions are reactive thoughts, actions and people.
What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?
They are hiring fast without finding the perfect candidates, prioritizing speed of hiring instead of building quality world-class teams.
They are jumping on new trends without thinking about how they fit into the hedgehog concepts, launching new products and ideas without validating the hedgehog criteria, adopting new tech without analyzing how it fits into the hedgehog.
How do we avoid the doom loop?
With disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action and the flywheel effect.

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#9

Disciplined Action, Flywheel, and the Doom Loop

Flywheel Effect. Building something great is akin to pushing a large, heavy flywheel. The momentum we build every day can be compared to a flywheel.

Key takeaways to remember - Why it is important

  1. When we are working on something new, we understand that it takes time, and patience is required.

  2. Whatever we do it is always hard at the beginning then it gets easier.

  3. We have patience and keep pushing that flywheel, then one day we will find it is moving by itself with very little effort from us.

  4. That is the time of breakthrough brought about by consistent and diligent hard work and patience.

  5. We finally get to enjoy the fruits of our labor

Doom Loop is the opposite of disciplined thought, people and actions are REACTIVE thoughts, actions, and people.

Mistake #1. Reactive Thoughts and Actions - jumping on new trends without thinking about how they fit into the hedgehog concepts, launching new products and ideas without validating the hedgehog criteria, adopting new tech without analyzing how it fits into the hedgehog
Mistake #2. Reactive People - hiring fast without finding the perfect candidates, prioritizing speed of hiring instead of building quality world-class teams

Implement the Flywheel framework and focus on it in order to avoid the Doom loop.

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#10

  1. What is the Flywheel Effect?
    It describes how building momentum on an ambitious undertaking is slow at first but goes faster and faster provided we are working in the right way.

  2. Why is it important?
    Guides us in how to achieve breakthrough and how to avoid mediocrity.

  3. What is the Doom Loop?
    Describes how disappointing results and reaction without understanding inevitably leads compounding loss of momentum of the flywheel, and failure.

  4. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?
    They hire reactive people, prioritizing speed of hiring instead of selectively building a world-class team.
    They jump on new trends without making sure they satisfy the hedgehog concepts. Don’t validate, but move on hunches and feelings.

  5. How do we avoid the doom loop?
    Follow the guiding principles and focus on building the momentum of the flywheel through disciplined people, thought and action.

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#11

  1. The flywheel effect means building on previous momentum. Once you start taking action slowly, it will take momentum and it will become faster and faster.

  2. The flywheel effect is important because in order to build great things you need to be patient and keep delivering effort, knowing that at some point, the breakthrough will happen and that the momentum will work for you.

  3. The doom loop is basically the opposite of the disciplined thought, people and actions. The doom loop is basically when you have reactive thoughts and actions by making rash decisions. The doom loop is also when you have reactive people, basically when you hire fast without finding the perfect talent.

  4. Some mistakes which companies make are: acquiring a certain company which is not in line with their point of strength, thus diluting the company. Another mistake is taking along some new tech without thinking if it is in line with their core strength and value. Another mistake is hiring fast people without thinking if they are fit for the world-class team they want to build.

  5. In order to avoid the doom loop you need to see if the decisions you make are in line with your hedgehog, basically your core strength. You need disciplined people, thought and action, together with the hedgehog in order to achieve the flywheel effect, instead of the doom loop.

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#12
  1. The Flywheel Effect is when in the beginning you might not move quickly forward but even one inch makes a difference in momentum. Until you’ve gained enough momentum that you move faster and faster with less effort.
  2. It is important because you have to understand when working with something new it might take time and requires patience. It will be harder in the beginning but easier later on.
  3. The doom loop is when instead of being disciplined we are reactive and jumping on things without analyzing or validating.
  4. They hire fast without making sure the candidate is perfect, and they focus on speed over quality teams.
  5. Stick to the hedgehog concept. Take your time to analyze or validate new ideas and then build momentum by moving forward step by step.
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#13
  1. Similar to a snowball effect. When you start, you start slow, but by constantly pushing the wheel, this builds momentum and things start moving faster.
  2. Being consistent in our efforts of the initial work, despite being hard at the beginning, it becomes easy with time. It’s also how we envision progress in our company.
  3. Doom Loop is the opposite of the flywheel concept. It what happens when instead of having discipline (people, actions, thoughts), we have reactivity on those 3 areas.
  4. Having reactivity: thoughts (not focusing on the mission and vision, having impulsive thoughts), actions (being impulsive and taking decisions that don’t fit in the hedgehog criteria), people (folks who think and act reactively).
  5. Working focusing on our hedgehog criteria, to build great things, by constantly pushing the flywheel in the same direction, without forgetting about our talent density and values.
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#14
  1. Flywheel Effect is putting so much effort at the beginning and then not needing to put as much later because whatever progress and effort you did earlier made things a lot easier after.
  2. It is important because it helps us understand the difficulties we have to go through at the beginning and that we get to enjoy the fruit of our efforts after.
  3. It is the opposite of Disciplined thoughts. Making decisions quick without analyzing things properly.
  4. Reaction without understanding
  5. Follow the hedgehog concept
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#15

  1. What is the Flywheel Effect?
    It is putting a lot of effort at the beginning to get things moving but then using that movement to your benefit as you are not working harder but it is moving faster

  2. Why is it important?
    Because it shows how things can have a lot of difficulties at the beginning but later it will be easier and give results

  3. What is the Doom Loop?
    The opposite, it would include doing things without great discipline and negatively impacting other things, leading us into a death spiral

  4. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?
    Acting reactively, without thinking nor taking into consideration the enterprise values, its mission or vision or people

  5. How do we avoid the doom loop?
    Following the hedgehog concept, being great at just pushing the flywheel in the correct direction

1 Like
#16
  1. What is the Flywheel Effect?

This analogy refers to when creating something great it usually takes time and effort. But with persistence and focus it starts to gain momentum and at some point takes off with less effort. Like a flywheel that uses it’s own weight to increase it’s rotation speed with less effort of the individual/team that started turning When we are working on something new, time and patience are required Whatever we do it is always hard at the beginning then it gets easier. We have patience and keep pushing that flywheel, then one day we will find it is moving by itself with very little effort from us. That is the time of breakthrough brought about by consistent and diligent hard work and patience. We finally get to enjoy the fruits of our labour.

  1. Why is it important?

It shows that any organization needs a team of disciplined (people, thought, action) doing great work every single day to build momentum until the point of a breakthrough and succeed in achieving the vision of the company. For Moralis this goal is where we are a household name and are dominating whole markets.

  1. What is the Doom Loop?

The opposite the flywheel. It is when disciplined thought, people and actions are REACTIVE thoughts, actions and people.

  1. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?

–Reactive Thoughts and Actions -React without thinking things through and analysing why that happened and how to get back to, or stay on the hedgehog actions. For example, jumping on new trends without thinking about how they fit into the hedgehog concepts, launching new products and ideas without validating the hedgehog criteria, adopting new tech without analyzing how it fits into the hedgehog
–Reactive People - People who react before thinking of the consequences of that action. For example, hiring fast without finding the perfect candidates, prioritizing speed of hiring instead of building quality world-class teams

  1. How do we avoid the doom loop?

Take time and hire the perfect candidates that will build a quality world-class team. Follow the “first who, then what” concept to create the right people who can create a flywheel effect and help push the organization forward and to success.

#17 
1. What is the Flywheel Effect?

It is about continuing to put forward effort and building momentum. After it is turning on its own from you not quitting. It is much easier to keep moving.

2. Why is it important?

Consistent continues effort makes future work and results easier.

3. What is the Doom Loop?

Always going to what looks like an easier fly wheel does not get results.

4. What mistakes do some companies make that makes them fall into the doom loop?

They follow trends and research. Trends change like the direction of rain. Following the new cool thing does not lead to accomplishment.

Hiring mass numbers of people with the idea of just needing bodies and not the right people creates a constant turn over of people. That is not a team.

5. How do we avoid the doom loop?

The single most important discipline is fanatical adherence to the Hedgehog Concept by shunning opportunities that do not meet your singular “better than anyone else” criteria.