On the evening of March 26, 2024 at 12:45 AM, a Singaporean cargo ship named the Dali left its dock and began heading down the Patapsco River in Baltimore. The weather that evening was clear but windy, causing faster than normal currents in the river. Eleven minutes after leaving dock, the huge cargo ship which weighed over 116,000 tons fully loaded would begin its turn to navigate under the Francis Scott Key bridge that spans the river. One minute after reaching maximum speed, the ship lost all power. At that point, the ship is powered only by its own momentum and to some degree the currents. One minute later, the pilot ordered the crew to drop the anchor. This maneuver would require 1/3 of a mile of distance to stop the ship’s momentum, but the vessel was only hundreds of feet from the bridge. Though the speed of the ship was decreasing, four minutes after losing power it slammed into a column holding up a span of the bridge causing a catastrophic collapse of the entire bridge. This collision resulted in the deaths of six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of impact.

Momentum is a powerful force. In terms of physics, Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion. This principle explains the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. The same is true for people and even for entire organizations. Momentum (either positive or negative) has a directional power that is very difficult to check.

All of my professional career was in the hospital industry, which is more susceptible to the effects of momentum than most industries. This is due to the fact that hospitals serve local markets and have very little ability to leapfrog to other markets. Once a negative reputation is earned, it is difficult to alter the unwanted momentum it creates. Early in my career, I worked at a hospital in the suburbs of Atlanta. Our company had six hospitals in the Atlanta metropolitan statistical area at that time, and all but my hospital for various reasons were in a very weak position compared to their competitors. Within six years of my arrival, all of the other five hospitals were either sold, closed, or in one case successfully relocated to a more favorable market. Many strategies were employed in this market to try to turn the tide, some of them very logical and with much merit. But in the end, very little could be done to stop the negative momentum.

Since building positive momentum is a key to success, here are a few insights that will help generate the kind of inertia you want.

Build team energy (positive vibes) by assembling a cohesive, talented, and focused team. In order to do this, the hiring process must be focused and consistent in successfully filling roles according to the specific requirements of the position. Also, any team members who are a drag on team energy must either be redirected successfully or removed. These topics will be addressed in more detail in an upcoming post.

Set clear goals and communicate them frequently. Team buy-in is important in setting goals and is best accomplished through early involvement. Repetition helps to drive memory and habits. Goals (and progress on them) need to be reiterated in a frequent cadence so that everyone will understand they are not just set and forgotten. us

Focus on quality. Business reputations are built on delivering high quality, high value products or services. An important aspect of quality is the perceived level of customer service provided. As a hospital CEO, I focused on many quantitative metrics that measured quality compared to the mean hospital. These included measures such as complication rates or infection rates. But often the public’s perception of quality has as much to do with the level of customer service provided as it does the actual statistical measures.

Celebrate milestones. Broader, long-term goals need to be broken down into smaller goals that can be celebrated once achieved. Your team will need to know that their efforts are leading to progress, and don’t want to wait until the completion of something that may span months or years.

Regularly evaluate progress and adjust as needed. Not all tactics are successful, and leaders need to be comfortable in acknowledging when that occurs and ditching them as needed. Knowing what is working can also help the team leverage those actions for even better results.

Failure to focus on these principles can lead to setting unrealistic goals, poor communication of milestone results, and drift of purpose. Strive to make momentum work in your favor.

References:

Chris Myers, “A Business in Motion Tends to Stay in Motion,” Forbes, August 15, 2015.

Farzana Abdulhusein, “The Power of Small Wins: Building Momentum to Achieve Big Goals in the New Year,” Forbes, January 22, 2025.

Mike Cangi, “The Cycle of Success: How Momentum Turns Habits Into Results,” Forbes, October 8, 2024.