An apocryphal quote of Albert Einstein’s is: “Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.” Drip theory, the concept that small, consistent changes over time can have a significant impact, suggests that this principle applies beyond finance to many areas of business, leadership and life. In this era where we are all looking for the ‘big score’ and the ‘home run’, it is often those who are persistent in the small changes that have the bigger impact. It’s often said that the Grand Canyon was created by a small river slowly eroding the rock over a million years.

Late one night, I noticed some water under the kitchen sink. I opened the door to the cabinet under the sink to find a pipe with a slow drip, once every five seconds. So, I did what any good homeowner would do: I stuck a bucket under it and went to bed.

The next day, Monday, I called the plumber, who said they could make it out on Wednesday. As it was a slow leak, this seemed perfectly fine to me.

Tuesday morning, I again noticed water on the floor under the sink. Thinking the leak had expanded, I opened the cabinet door again. To my surprise, the leak was still going at the same speed it had been, but the bucket, a rather large bucket, was filled. I emptied it but when the plumber got there the next day, it was again filled to overflowing.

And that’s when I first realized the immense power of “Drip Theory.” Tiny changes can quickly add up to big trouble or big gains.

It’s also true in reverse, and it is why credit card debt is so difficult to get out of. The interest quickly gets so large that just paying it is a challenge. Of course, credit card interest rates are quite large, often on the order of 15% to 20% annually, but even a much smaller rate can be quite challenging to overcome.

We live in an age when we want everything right now. For instance, people often go on crash diets, and they lose a lot of weight quickly, only to regain it quickly once the diet is over. This leads to the so-called “yo-yo diet.”

A decade ago, I decided I was getting too chubby; that 190 pounds on my 6’0” frame was a bit more than I wanted. I set out to be 175 pounds. I embarked upon a crash diet, carefully watching and recording my caloric intake, and within two months, I was at 175. It was a real struggle. I denied myself most pleasures and used willpower to reach my goal.

But six months later, I was at 195, a bit more than when I had started out! This seemed to be my new normal and a very steady weight for me. My diet had worked, but once I stopped being so vigilant, things went back to being worse than before.

A year ago, now at 205, I set out again to lose some weight. The main purpose was that I wanted to be healthy in my middle age. I tried a very different tactic. I hired a personal trainer, started lifting weights twice a week, running five times a week, and most importantly, watching my diet.

This time, instead of a crash diet, I set the diet up so I would lose a quarter of a pound a week. This meant eating 125 calories a day less than I had before. With a typical donut coming in at 350 calories, this reduction is almost unnoticeable. But, in theory, over the course of a year, I would lose thirteen pounds, which is a substantial amount.

Over time, I started to move toward a paleo diet, trying to avoid processed foods including cold cuts, which had until then been my favorite food. While I haven’t entirely cut out processed foods, I’ve moved a long way in that direction. I also made sure I was getting enough protein to help support building muscle from my workouts.

I find the results better than I would have thought possible. Because I decided on this drip campaign of improving my health by improving my weight slowly over time and slowly adding healthier habits, I was able to recognize that my goal was not to reduce my weight but to improve my fitness. I’ve done just that. My fitness indicators, such as waist size and VO2MAX, have improved impressively. My VO2MAX has improved from far below average, to the seventy-first percentile, above average for my age.

The point being that not only does doing things drip by drip allow for a more sustainable long-term result, but it also allows more room to pivot if needed. Once I realized that I didn’t actually care at all about my weight, only my fitness level, then I was able to change my diet to make sure I was supporting building muscle instead of just losing weight.

To be clear, I’m not saying that drip by drip is always the best way to do things. Sometimes quick and decisive is best. Certainly, in an emergency situation and with many business opportunities a rapid and decisive all-in approach is required. But the power of drips is immense and should be considered as a strategy whenever looking to do anything.

In business, I see too many companies swinging constantly for the fences. That is certainly a winning strategy for some companies in some environments, but I’m confident many companies would be better off looking at small incremental gains over a long period of time.

Business culture is an area where drip theory reigns supreme. I’ve seen many attempts to change a company’s culture by trying to ‘boil the ocean’ and make large changes all at once. Heck, I have tried to make this sort of radical change multiple times. But company culture is the ‘stickiest’ of things; it doesn’t like being changed and often bounces back to where it was before.

I’ve found that the best way to change culture is little by little, piece by piece, drip by drip. Of course, this can be difficult if the company is pushing for quicker, more radical change. In that case, it’s important to go with the company’s goals. After all, leadership all rowing in the same direction is even more important than any individual’s leadership. But if you have the chance, culture change drip by drip is far more effective, and more likely to stick, than radical change.