The Flywheel & Your Strategic Activity Map

The Flywheel is more than just Momentum—It’s Strategy in Motion

“No matter how dramatic the end result, good-to-great transformations never happen in one fell swoop… Rather, the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel.” – Jim Collins, Good to Great

Jim Collins’s Flywheel concept has become a go-to metaphor in business circles—a simple, compelling image that captures the power of sustained effort and compounding results. But what many miss is this: the Flywheel is more than just a metaphor for momentum. It is a strategic architecture—one that implicitly outlines a company’s activity system and operational logic.

In other words, the Flywheel isn’t just about what happens when you do great work consistently. It’s also about how your organisation is strategically designed to generate that momentum in the first place.

From Concept to Strategy: The Flywheel’s Hidden Depth

At first glance, the Flywheel looks like a loop of interconnected steps that reinforce each other. For example, Collins gives Amazon’s Flywheel as:

• Lower prices on more offerings
• Increase customer visits
• Attract third-party sellers
• Expand the store and distribution
• Grow revenues and lower cost per unit
• Then pass savings back to customers

And the cycle repeats.

While this appears to be a simple causal loop, a deeper look reveals that it is actually a strategic activity map—a coordinated system of actions that reinforce one another to deliver a competitive advantage.

What Is a Strategic Activity Map?

Michael Porter introduced the concept of an activity system—a network of choices and capabilities that reinforce a company’s positioning. He used diagrams to show how a company’s core strategic position (e.g., low-cost airline) is supported by a series of interlinked activities that drive coherence and trade-offs.

Unlike linear plans or goal-setting frameworks, an activity map shows the interdependence of actions, and how choices in one area support or constrain others.

Now compare that with Collins’s Flywheel. Each step in the Flywheel is:

• A key strategic activity
• Connected to the next in a reinforcing loop
• Dependent on execution in prior steps
• Designed to build cumulative advantage over time

It is an activity map—just in circular form.

Why This Matters: The Flywheel as Strategic Engine

Recognising the Flywheel as a high-level activity map unlocks its true power:

1. Strategic Clarity

The Flywheel clarifies how a company wins, not just what it does. Each element represents a strategic choice—how to attract customers, how to grow value, and how to reinvest that value for long-term success.

Netflix’s Flywheel includes personalised recommendations, which increase user engagement, leading to higher retention, which allows more investment in content, reinforcing the competitive advantage.

2. Alignment & Focus

A well-defined Flywheel acts as a strategic filter:

“Does this initiative accelerate the Flywheel?”
✔️ If yes, prioritise it.
❌ If no, reconsider or deprioritise.

Apple’s Flywheel is centered on seamless user experience. Every decision—from hardware to services—must reinforce this Flywheel, which is why Apple avoids licensing its iOS to third-party manufacturers.

3. Operational Discipline

Each component in the Flywheel depends on the others. Breaking one link weakens the entire system.

Southwest Airlines built its Flywheel around low costs and fast turnaround times. Every operational decision—from standardised aircraft to no-assigned seating—reinforces this Flywheel.

4. Reinforcing Advantage

Like Porter’s activity map, the Flywheel ensures that activities reinforce and protect one another in ways that competitors can’t easily replicate.

Tesla’s Flywheel leverages direct sales and gigafactories, allowing economies of scale, which lowers battery costs, making EVs more accessible, reinforcing market leadership.

Putting It to Work: Building Your Strategic Activity Map

If you want your Flywheel to act as your high-level strategic activity map, consider this process:

1. Define the Core Outcome
   What long-term result or effect are you trying to achieve (e.g., customer loyalty, market leadership)?
2. Map the Reinforcing Steps
   Identify the key actions or activities that build on each other to drive that result.
3. Test for Fit and Logic
   Ensure each step leads logically to the next and contributes back to the core.
4. Align Capabilities and Metrics
   Assign ownership, key capabilities, and performance metrics to each step in the Flywheel.
5. Use It to Drive Decisions
   Let the Flywheel guide initiative prioritization and resource allocation.

Practitioners Insights: Strategy in Motion

Collins’s genius lies in showing that greatness isn’t a moment—it’s a motion. The Flywheel gives companies a way to visualize the system behind their momentum.

And when we recognise it as a strategic activity map, we stop treating it as a metaphor and start using it as a tool—one that connects purpose, action, and performance in a tightly integrated loop. 

Add the sub-flywheels and you have the complete key activities that need to be optimized to accelerate the momentum of the Flywheel and achieve the Winning Aspiration of the enterprise.

In short: The Flywheel is strategy—just not in the traditional static sense. It’s strategy in motion.

Every Strategy session that we conduct with clients – we develop, challenge and refine the company’s Flywheel and then use it in subsequent strategy sessions to assist defining key focus areas and in execution. Contact us to explore how we can support you!

TED BONEL, SCALING UP PRACTITIONER – STRATEGY & EXECUTION BUSINESS ADVISORS

Are you looking to scale your business and execute strategy with clarity and impact? I help CEOs and founders turn big ideas into real-world results, guiding small to mid-market companies through tailored strategic insights that drive growth.

My expertise lies in simplifying complexity—bridging high-level strategic frameworks with the practical realities of running a business. Unlike many consultants who focus solely on theory or execution, I specialise in both—translating strategy into actionable, transformative steps that deliver lasting results.

Let’s explore how I can help your team achieve its objectives. Contact me at tedb@strategyandexecution.com.au to schedule a free 30-minute discovery meeting.

ABOUT STRATEGY & EXECUTION

For over 20 years, Strategy & Execution has supported leaders and organisations in developing and executing winning strategies. We provide expert facilitation, executive education, and hands-on consulting to help businesses refine their strategic direction and implement it effectively.

Using proven methodologies like Scaling Up, E-Myth Mastery, Outthinker, and more, we challenge conventional thinking and equip organisations with the tools to accelerate growth. Our approach is dynamic—combining deep business experience with practical execution. We don’t just advise; we roll up our sleeves and work alongside you to make strategy happen.

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