Rhythm and momentum are important components of business success and failure. Starting from the comments of the famous Japanese swordsman Musashi Miyamoto on rhythm, this article explores the dynamic of direction in business and sets forth practical steps that companies can take to strengthen and maintain business momentum.

Musashi Miyamoto and the Concept of Rhythm

The Book of Five Rings was written by the famous Japanese swordsman Musashi Miyamoto in a cave near Kumamoto, Japan around the year 1645.

The book, which was meant to serve as a guide for people seeking to follow the way of the sword, contains many concepts and observations that are applicable not only to swordsmanship and martial arts but also to many areas of life.

The Book of Five Rings contains many concepts that are applicable not only to martial arts but also to many areas of life.

Early in the book, Musashi Miyamoto discusses the concept of rhythm. These comments provide so much opportunity for reflection that I quote them here at length:

“There is a rhythm to everything, but particularly in the martial arts, if you do not train in its rhythm it is difficult to succeed. To indicate some of the rhythms of the world, there are those for the Way of Noh Drama. When the rhythms of the musicians playing wind and string instruments are coordinated, the entire rhythm is balanced. In the military arts, there is a rhythm and timing in the release of the bow, in the firing of a rifle, and even in mounting a horse. You cannot ignore rhythm in any of the arts and accomplishments.”

Musashi Miyamoto then goes on to discuss the nature of rhythm in other areas:

“Moreover, there is rhythm in the formless. Concerning the position of a warrior, there is a rhythm to rising in the service of his lord, and a rhythm for retreating from it; there is a rhythm to being in harmony with others, and a rhythm to not being in harmony with them. In the Way of Commerce, there is a rhythm for becoming a wealthy man, and a rhythm for ruining oneself with wealth. The rhythm is different according to each and every Way. You should discriminate thoroughly between the rhythm of success and the rhythm of failure.”

In the Way of Commerce, there is a rhythm for becoming a wealthy man, and a rhythm for ruining oneself with wealth.

Musashi Miyamoto, The Book of Five Rings

Rhythm and Momentum

Rhythm is an important part of momentum. While momentum can be defined in different ways, in physics momentum is the product of force and velocity. An important characteristic of momentum as compared with scalar quantities is that the force that momentum generates has the tendency to continue in the same direction. This is very powerful physical and, in areas other than physics, psychological property.

In sports, the concept of momentum is typically used to describe individuals or teams who successfully and repeatedly execute a certain movement, scoring points or winning matches. Players who demonstrate this momentum are described at times as being “on a roll” or having a “hot hand.”

While there is significant debate about how useful the hot hand phenomenon is at predicting sports performance, it is of course true that success and failure in sports can certainly occur in strings of wins or losses rather than as simple scattershot outcomes or results that alternate between positive and negative.

There are often several phases in the development of momentum in sports.

Development of Rhythm. The first phase is that a certain movement which is vital for scoring or threatening to score, such as making basketball shots, serving a tennis ball or passing a soccer ball effectively, begins to fall into a repetitive pattern.

Momentum Expansion. The second phase is as this pattern of movement leads to some type of positive results, such as scoring a point or gaining offensive ground, it tends to generate other positive results. For example, for a soccer team that is passing well, members of the team may begin to play with more focus or simply raise their level of playing intensity. The longer this momentum continues, the more it is likely to positively affect other people on the team.

Momentum Jumps. The third phase of the development of momentum is that the stronger it gets the more it has the ability to be maintained even when several or even all of the parts of an activity are broken. For example, a team with very strong momentum may be able to win a game, rest for a week and then immediately continue the same level of play and win again.

The other relevant component of momentum in sports is that it can have a correspondingly negative impact on opposing teams. As a team begins to lose it can undermine its own confidence and teamwork which can increase the likelihood that they will mistakes or lose focus which can create further opportunities for the team with momentum to score.

Momentum and Business

The concept of momentum clearly also applies in business, finance and economics.

For companies, the more a company starts to succeed, the greater the likelihood it will positively affect worker morale which can lead to better business results. As results begin to improve, better potential employees are attracted to the company, which can strengthen business performance even more. This trend can positively impact in many ways the perceptions and actions of a company’s investors, credit partners, suppliers and clients.

The powerful role of momentum can very strongly been seen in many components of financial markets, from how stocks are traded, to currency prices to credit costs. This is due, not only to core stock, sector or market fundamentals, but rather the pricing, exchange rate or liquidity momentum that is generated by negative or positive market sentiment.

Momentum even has a powerful impact on a country’s economy. Strengthening or deteriorating levels of consumer confidence, for example, directly impact if and how money is spent. Moreover, perceptions in the market that a country or certain of its economic sectors are emerging or taking a turn for the worse can have an important impact on the decisions of investors. Large influxes of capital into or out of a market can affect many public and private sector decisions which in turn can affect consumer confidence.

Building and Monetizing Business Momentum

With these observations in mind, the next step is to see if we can identify some practical steps that businesses can take to try to build and sustain business momentum.

Have a Clear Vision of the Goal. Keeping in mind Musashi Miyamoto’s example of rhythm and music, it is very difficult to build any kind of momentum if people are not playing the same piece of music or, in business, not trying to reach the same goal. The means that it is very important for a business that wants to build momentum to have a clear business plan and make sure that everyone is working toward the same goal.

Break the Business Plan Down into Repeatable Tasks. Abstract goals are not enough. The second step for a business looking to build momentum is to break down large business goals into cocrete tasks that are small enough to be regularly repeated. If you watch a tennis player, they often have a set routine for preparing to serve the tennis ball that they repeat over and over again. These repetitions help create physical and psychological interconnectedness between preparing to serve, serving and playing after the ball is put into play.

If you are in sales, the sales process can be broken down into components such as making a certain number of calls a day or meeting a certain number of prospective clients. If you run a restaurant, the business can be broken down into the components of preparing and serving a certain number of meals. If you are a writer, momentum could be built by writing a certain number of words each day or if you have a finished manuscript contacting a certain number of agents or publishers.

Work to Leverage Momentum Internally. As momentum builds it should be actively leveraged so that its positive benefits can be used to strengthen other departments in a firm. One way to do this is by redirecting efforts of people in a firm who are engaged in activities that are not creating firm value to those that are. Another way is to reinvest profits that come from momentum in other firm activities or departments that can help reinforce positive business activity.

Publicize and Monetize Momentum. As momentum leads to positive results it should be positively reinforced and publicized inside the firm and with relevant third parties, such as clients, investment partners and creditors. Firms should also try to quickly take advantage of the positive effects of momentum, such as through renegotiating credit terms or obtaining valuable new partners and contacts, which can further improve business results and increase the likelihood that positive momentum will continue and be able to resist different types of shocks.

Regaining Business Momentum

As illustrated in physics, sports and business, the factors that contribute to maintaining momentum can be very fragile and it can become easy for momentum to lose force or be completely broken.

This is due in part to the fact that any activity is the consequence of a combination of psychological, firm, and external competitive and market factors that are always in flux. Since people often react in very different ways to these factors, it can be very easy for the path of a business to become less clear, rhythm to be lost and momentum to lose force. When this happens businesses can easily start to drift or worse yet develop bad or counterproductive habits that take them down negative and value-destroying paths.

When business momentum is broken, the most important thing is to not let the loss of momentum become converted into a habit which leads to the creation of negative rhythm and momentum.

Remaining mindful of the fact that this is an ever present risk, businesses should try to shake off the negative perceptions of events that caused the loss of progress as quickly as possible, reset and return to a clean business slate which is focused on core company values and a clearly defined business plan. From there, the next step is start at the beginning with renewed focus on simple tasks, convert the carrying out of those tasks into a rhythm and convert that rhythm once again into momentum.

Conclusion

While business success or failure has many different components, what activities are carried out by a firm and how they are carried has a very important impact on business performance. Breaking goals into steps, building steps into habits, turning habits into rhythm and converting rhythm into momentum can be a very powerful corporate behavioral loop to create positive business results and maintain significant competitive advantages.

To refer to Miyamoto Mushashi’s comment on rhythm in the Book of Five Rings, this is one way to convert the formless into form.

The photo for this article was taken from Unsplash. The photographer is Jonathan Ching.