A Flywheel: "We love you, but please don't visit."

Last week, I had lunch with Dave Genzink, a friend, partner of DML, and former colleague from my time with Partners Worldwide.  As he heard me share about some of the transitions we are seeing with DML this year (good ones!), he shared with me that it reminded him of a flywheel.

A flywheel is a mechanical device that stores rotational energy using inertia.  It acts as an energy reservoir, maintaining speed and providing a buffer for fluctuations in power or demand.  Think about a potter's wheel - when you push the pedal, the speed doesn't fluctuate because the flywheel stores the energy and uses it when needed.  

If you have read the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins, you are familiar with his talk about flywheels.  The difficulty is in getting this very heavy wheel to turn the first time.  It takes a lot of work. And once you achieve one turn, you don't stop.  You keep going until you get two, then four, sixteen, sixty, six hundred, one thousand turns.  Then ten thousand, then one million turns.  He says, "Big things happen because you do little things consistently and very well, and they compound over time."  He emphasizes the importance of consistency.

Jim Collins says, "Despite the differences between business and social-sector economics, a fundamental truth remains. Those who lead institutions from good to great must harness the flywheel effect. Whereas in business the key driver in the flywheel is the link between financial success and capital resources, I’d like to suggest that a key link in the social sectors is brand reputation built upon tangible results and emotional share of heart, with potential supporters believing in not only your mission but also your capacity to deliver on that mission."

Dave explained that the flywheel in ministry needs commitment, through long-term engagement and passion.  It requires alignment in what we do and say, as well as learning about what works and what doesn't.  It needs continuous improvement through the sharing of best practices.  And it needs momentum, by building on success and local ownership.

The story I shared with him that triggered the memory of a flywheel was that I was told by the DML Francophone leaders who are starting the work of DML in several French-speaking countries, "We love you, but please don't visit."  The presence of a white American can disrupt momentum by potentially undermining opportunities for ownership and contribution.  A flywheel that is moving well can slow down when those pushing begin looking for energy elsewhere.  These leaders continued by saying, "In a few years, when it's going well, then it would be good for you to visit and see what is happening."

I took this as a very positive sign, a sign of the flywheel turning now because of momentum and many more hands pushing it.  In fact, so far this year, we have seen THOUSANDS of new DML trainers trained across many countries.  

In French-speaking Africa, we are seeing amazing growth.  With over 300 million French speakers in 18+ countries, DML teams are moving!  This population frequently laments that many materials relating to faith and transformation are in English only.  Our partners have been working hard to ensure all materials are translated into French and are getting them out there!  We now have fully established teams in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Togo, and we have teams starting and in training in Chad, Congo Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal; and we have teams heading out very soon to Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Madagascar.

We aren't yet to the point of ten thousand or one million turns, but we are on our way!