Small, consistent changes or improvements, when compounded over time, can lead to significant outcomes.

Examples:

• Shifting the route of an airplane by just a few degrees results in landing in a completely different city.
• Cancer grows undetectably for most of its life, then quickly dominates.
• Bamboo spends years building roots underground before shooting up 90 feet in six weeks.

Where does this idea come from?

• Compounding effects

What's similar to this idea?

• Shifting the route of an airplane by just a few degrees
• Compounding
• Compounding interest
• Installments
• Kaizen

What's opposite of this idea?

• The learning curve
• Law of diminishing returns
• Quality efforts or deep work over incremental progress
• Progress isn't always linear
• Focus on immediate, high-impact efforts rather than slow, steady gains

Where does this idea lead to?

• A slight change in daily habits can guide our life to a very different destination
• Relationships compoundsRelationships compoundsSmall acts of kindness and positive behavior in interactions accumulate over time, creating a broad and strong network of connections. Examples: * Helping others inspires reciprocal help, fostering stronger relationships. * Consistently being a bit nicer in interactions can lead to meaningful, long-term connections. * Networks grow and strengthen as positive behaviors are reflected back over time. Where does this idea come from? * The Aggregation of Marginal Gains * Social reciprocity What'
• Productivity compoundsProductivity compoundsSmall, consistent increases in productivity add up significantly over time, transforming outcomes in the long run. Examples: * Completing one extra task each day may seem minor but has a substantial cumulative impact over a career. * Automating repetitive tasks or mastering new skills frees up mental energy for higher-level thinking and innovation. Where does this idea come from? * Good habits * Compounding * The Aggregation of Marginal Gains What's similar to this idea? * Mastery * Autom
• Knowledge compoundsKnowledge compoundsLearning consistently over time creates transformative results, as ideas build upon one another like compound interest. Examples: * Reading a single book won’t make you a genius, but a lifelong commitment to learning changes your perspective and depth of understanding. * Each new idea not only adds to your knowledge but also reshapes your understanding of existing ideas. * Warren Buffett describes knowledge as something that builds up like compound interest. Where does this idea come from?

Status: #idea
Tags: habit, marginal gains, compounding, continuous improvement

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References

Atomic Habits by James Clear > Chapter 1