Change and Newton's Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the greatest minds in human history. Some of his contributions were:

• The modern telescope.
• Spectral analysis and identifying the seven colors in the rainbow.
• Calculus.
• The law of universal gravitation.

And, to explain the motion of the planets, he created his 3 laws of motion. It's these 3 laws that I will be talking about. They are:

1. An object will continue in its state of rest or uniform motion unless compelled to change that state by an external force. (Also known as the law of inertia.)
2. If a net force acts on an object, it will cause an acceleration of that object.
3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

You may be asking how this has ANYTHING to do with leadership, motivation, or Toastmasters. Let me give you some examples.

Newton's 1st Law of Motion:

An object will continue in its state of rest or uniform motion unless compelled to change that state by an external force.

I love the fall - especially college football! Saturdays will find me in my favorite chair from 9 a.m., and "College Gameday" on ESPN, to 1 or 2 a.m. Sunday morning watching the games on the west coast!

Unfortunately, the lawn still needs to be cut until late November or early December. I, the object, will continue in my state of rest (sitting in my comfy recliner) and the lawn will never get mowed. UNTIL, that is, the object (me) is acted upon by an external force (my wife "suggesting" the lawn needs to be mowed - TODAY)!

The external force isn't always positive. Let's say you belong to a corporate Toastmasters club. For years you've stayed between 20 and 25 members. You're always a Distinguished Club, sometimes making Select Distinguished. There were even those two years where you were a President's Distinguished Club! Then, your company downsizes, lays off a bunch of employees and, between one meeting and the next, you lose half your club's membership.

Newton's 2nd Law of Motion:

If a net force acts on an object, it will cause an acceleration of that object.

What this really means is that, the more acceleration you apply to an object, the faster it goes.

In 2003 the space shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas during re-entry. What happened was that a lightweight piece of heat-absorbing foam broke off during takeoff and, at full acceleration speed, broke off chunks of heat-shield tiles that were meant to protect the shuttle during re-entry. If the fastest major league baseball pitcher were to throw that same piece of foam against a wall, it wouldn't even put a dent in the drywall. But, because of the speed the shuttle was going, it caused enough damage to eventually destroy a billion-dollar shuttle and kill seven astronauts.

If your club has a good Vice President Membership and Vice President Public Relations, spreading the word about Toastmasters and your club, working hard to make sure the guests get to the meeting, working hard to get them signed up - your club will grow at a certain pace - slowly but surely.

Now, imagine that, in addition to your Vice President Membership and Vice President Public Relations - EVERY member in the club is working to spread the word, invite guests, make sure they enjoy the meeting, and get them to join. Just imagine how fast your club would grow in that scenario.

Newton's 3rd Law of Motion:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The simplest example of this is a balloon. We all remember blowing up balloons, letting go of them, and watching them zoom around the room until they ran out of air. This is Newton's 3rd Law of Motion in action. It's the same as a jet aircraft or a rocket. Thrust comes out the back and the jet or the rocket moves in the opposite direction.

The District Director has every right to go in front of the District Executive Committee and say, "This is the way it's going to be." The District Director is in charge of the District and answerable only to Toastmasters. I've seen District Governors and Directors that operated this way.

OR ... the District Director can work to build consensus and get buy-in from everyone. While there will be times that DO call for unilateral decisions, I think we can all agree that consensus-building is the way to go because - if you try to force something down someone's throat, you'll get an equal and opposite reaction - and they'll force it right back at you.

See? You didn't think physics was applicable to leadership, motivation, or Toastmasters!