My Gut Reaction to the ‘Flywheel’ Buzzword
I’ve noticed that every time I run across the term ‘flywheel’ in productivity or creativity circles, I have an immediate negative gut reaction. When I hear this term, I can’t help but picture a housefly sitting on a mechanical wheel in a machine.
I keep encountering terms like ‘creative flywheel’ or ‘productivity flywheel’ in my reading, but it’s primarily from one creator. Am I the only one who doesn’t like this term?
When I hear the term ‘flywheel’ applied to a productivity or creative system, It sounds like someone is trying to be cute or inventive. Or maybe it is an attempt to gain attention, to use something different than ‘system.’ It just turns me off when I see it.
The Original Meaning: From Engines to Boardrooms
I’ve tried to educate myself to accept it. I looked up the term flywheel. It was initially used to refer to a heavy wheel that makes an engine move smoothly by storing kinetic energy and keeping the engine at a constant speed throughout its cycle.
In recent modern business writing, it has been appropriated and modified to refer to a circumstance in which small, consistent positive actions accumulate over time, building momentum and eventually leading to significant business growth.
My Simple, Repeatable Blogging Process
However, the way creators are using this term—to describe a repetitive creativity or productivity process—is not really a ‘flywheel’ at all and does not fit either definition.
For instance, I use a process to develop and eventually publish a blog post. I start by recording an idea and a few thoughts, then move that to a mind map when I’m ready to develop it. I do some research and build out my mind map over time. When I’m ready, I dictate a rough first draft using the mind map as a guide. Next, I extensively edit the draft. When I’m ready to publish the blog post, I upload it to WordPress and add formatting. When I’m ready to publish, I hit the publish button.
My process does not follow the business definition of small, consistent, positive actions that accumulate over time and build momentum, eventually leading to business growth. I don’t even have a business.
I’ve identified a series of actions that work for me to develop and publish a blog post. I follow this process, publish a post, and then use the same process to develop and publish another blog post. This process doesn’t magically turn into a ‘flywheel’ just because I have multiple blogs at different points in the process at any given time.
Skip the Cute Buzzwords; A Curmudgeon’s Privilege
So why not just call it a ‘process,’ which is what it is? Oh, I know, someone will point out that words change their meaning over time. I get that, but in the case of ‘flywheel’ the meaning of a synonym to ‘system’ hasn’t been adopted to the point where there’s a recognizable ‘change in meaning.’ It’s just a few creators trying to be cute, or misunderstanding the term, or seeking marketing attention.
I’m probably just being an old curmudgeon here and blathering on about why a term turns me off. But that’s okay. It’s my blog, so I get to write about what I want.
And BTW, I didn’t use my ‘creativity flywheel’ to develop and publish this post—I just used the same old process I always do. 😉
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