Find Your Fulcrum: The Key to Achieving Your Greatest Goals

I had it wrong for years.

I remember the quote attributed to Archimedes this way, “Give me a lever long enough, and I shall move the world.”

A more accurate attribution is, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”

The addition of those seven words has changed the way I look at strategy as a driver of personal and organizational success.

Leverage – It’s not just about physics.

As a refresher, leverage is the ancient physics principle for amplifying effort. Without it, the engineering marvels of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece would have been impossible.

Like a lot of words, “leverage” has been adapted for other purposes. It is synonymous with power, influence, or control. It is also used as a verb to describe an action that maximizes our advantage.

We can use leverage (and by extension levers) in an endless number of ways: credit, debt, skills, physical location, technology, talent, organizational culture, market, capacity, and even digital images.

There are, no doubt, more, but you get the point. Our interest in finding and utilizing the correct levers to move whatever world we are hoping to move sometimes feels like an obsession.

Let’s look at Archimedes differently.

If we see our goal as the world we want to move, then effort and time become our lever.

We’ve been taught that extending our levers by investing endless hours, grinding through obstacles, and believing that sheer persistence will eventually move our world.

Lengthening our lever with effort and time is often not enough, however. Even the longest lever won’t get the job done without the right fulcrum placed at the right place at the right time.

Strategy is the fulcrum that determines how effectively effort is translated into results. A well-placed fulcrum allows us to achieve massive impact with far less force. The right fulcrum—whether it's choosing the right market, focusing on high-impact activities, or leveraging key relationships—amplifies your efforts and accelerates success.

History proves this point. Innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders who have changed the world didn’t just work hard. They positioned their fulcrum wisely, using strategic thinking to amplify their influence and efficiency.

Time and hard work are essential, but ask yourself this before endlessly pushing harder: Is the right fulcrum in the right place? If not, reposition it.

Finding the right fulcrum is the missing piece for transforming effort into exponential progress, helping you move the world—not with brute force, but with brilliance.

Randy Pennington is an award-winning author, speaker, and leading authority on helping organizations deliver positive results in a world of uncertainty, complexity, and change. He is a leading thinker and conversation generator on helping organizations flourish. To learn more or to engage Randy for your organization, visit www.penningtongroup.com, email info@penningtongroup.com, or call 972–980–9857 (U.S.).