“Gradually, then suddenly.” Ernest Hemingway
Often used for negative things.
Partly because the quote is negative. It’s the response of a character in the Sun Also Rises, to the question how did he go bankrupt.
Partly because we just don’t notice the “gradually, then suddenly” of most overnight successes. They often don’t happen overnight at all. They are the result of the slogging we do to get to the tipping point. We’d rather celebrate the suddenly part of it. We soon forget the gradually.
Both these are often the arch of an exponential curve.
A curve we become all too familiar with this year. Again, a curve we haven’t liked watching.
I’m hoping the vaccine will have the same effect in 2021. Gradually, then suddenly.
I heard a medical expert on CBC news use the metaphor that the vaccine is like using a kid’s water pistol to put out a raging fire. One jab at a time, like one squirt. And we won’t see the impact for some time.
Only, I think we may find that the gradual accumulation of jabs will have an accumulation of effect. Gradually, then suddenly.
And then we can can return our metrics focus to be solely on the metrics of our businesses. And watch our own traction. Gradually, then suddenly.
