Eddie Cantor coined the phrase “It takes 20 years to become an overnight success.” His public debut was in 1907, singing in a music hall. Cantor spent a decade touring, refining his craft, developing new material and finally made his Broadway debut in 1918. It wasn’t until 1927, after another decade, that he reached notoriety with Kid Boots in 1923.
Gradually to suddenly applies to successful outcomes as well as devastating outcomes. This is the because the power of compounding affects our upside just as much to as impacts our downside. Seth Godin refers to how incremental daily progress is what actually causes transformation.
“Showing up, every single day, gaining in strength, organizing for the long haul, building connection, laying track — this subtle but difficult work is how culture changes.”
Seth Godin
The same is true for organizations. Some of the best, well known brands such as McDonald’s, Nike, and Starbucks all had their twenty years of success making.
Even looking at companies out there today; we can see them building their craft, refining their brand, and building customer loyalty. Peloton, the creator of the indoor, connected biking experience, is a great example. They are eight years into their journey and already have over 2.5M members and their members now regularly complete 1M workouts a day. They’re just getting started. For sure, Peloton has seen a bump in both members and workouts as a result of the lockdown(s) in the USA and UK but in April 2020, its debut ‘Live from Home’ ride broke the record for the largest live class. They had over 23,000 participants.
Peloton is looking to the future, aiming for 100 million subscribers, through broadening their product portfolio, expanding their geographic reach, and creating better experiences. People aren’t necessarily going back to the gym and Peloton may well provide an alternative to those looking for a competitive spin class experience at home. We are looking forward to following their success.
What Cantor and Peloton, and so many others, make so blatantly clear is the need for consistency and repetition. Whether it is singing a song or hosting an online class being consistent is really important. I’m sure Cantor sang to a crowd of a few on more than one occasion and Peloton had classes that were attended by only one or two participants. Consistency builds reputation, facilitates feedback, and allows you to refine your message and product. Repetition unlocks your value proposition and makes it available to everyone.
In the same way that gradually can lead to devastating consequences so too can it lead to success. The difference comes down to our values, beliefs, and attitudes. Or culture. It is up to you; success is within your reach. You too can become an overnight success!