Why the hardest fought gains matter the most
If you’ve ever started a fitness journey, you know the feeling of “newbie gains.”
At first, the progress seems almost magical. You pick up a set of dumbbells for the first time and, within weeks, the weight that once felt impossible now feels light.
You lace up your shoes for a daily jog and your mile time drops by full minutes in the early weeks. The energy, the visible results, the quick wins, they all build momentum and reinforce your commitment.
But then the curve bends. What was once easy progress slows dramatically.
Adding another 10 pounds to the bar requires weeks of focused training. Shaving off a few more seconds in your mile time demands strict discipline in diet, recovery and technique. The same level of effort that once produced visible leaps now yields only incremental gains.
Psychologists Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner studied this pattern in the 19th century. Their work led to what is now known as the Weber–Fechner law, which describes the relationship between stimulus and human perception.
Simply put, our ability to notice change is not linear. Instead, perception follows a logarithmic curve: each new increment must be proportionally larger than the last to even register.
A one-pound increase feels obvious when you are lifting 10 pounds, but imperceptible when you are lifting 200.
In mathematics, this is captured by a logarithmic function:
- At the beginning, relatively small inputs create large perceptual differences.
- Over time, ever-larger inputs are needed for the same perceptual impact.
This is why early fitness gains feel so dramatic and why later progress feels so elusive. And this same dynamic applies to organizational leadership and change.
Quick wins and early momentum
When leaders step into a new role or launch a major initiative, small actions often yield disproportionately large results. A renewed communication plan, a listening tour or an early symbolic action can instantly shift the tone.
Staff notice. Parents notice. Students notice. The organization feels different and momentum builds.
Much like the first weeks in the gym, these early “newbie gains” are real but also amplified by perception. People are highly sensitive to initial movement because they are comparing it against a relatively low baseline.
The plateau effect and diminishing returns
As the change process matures, the Weber–Fechner law begins to assert itself. Incremental improvements require greater resources, more precise strategies and deeper systems. Gains still occur, but they are harder to see and feel:
- Academic performance: Moving students from “below basic” to “basic” may happen quickly with foundational supports, but lifting them from “proficient” to “advanced” requires layers of enrichment, differentiated instruction and sustained investment.
- School safety: A first wave of safety measures (secured entrances, visitor protocols and visible drills) creates immediate perceptual impact. But achieving measurable improvements in deeper safety outcomes, such ase reducing threats or building student trust in reporting systems, requires long-term cultural work and collaboration with external agencies.
- Culture building: Early on, symbolic gestures like new slogans, celebrations or recognition programs shift morale. But over time, embedding those values into daily practice demands changes in hiring, evaluation, professional development and shared leadership structures.
The perception problem emerges here: stakeholders may interpret the slower pace of visible improvement as stagnation, even though the organization is actually tackling more complex, structural challenges.
Leadership implications
This is where leaders must internalize the lesson of Weber and Fechner. Change is not only about generating progress; it is also about managing how progress is perceived:
- Anticipate the curve: Set expectations that early wins will taper and later progress will be less visible even as it becomes more important. This reframes plateaus as natural rather than as failures.
- Reframe success: Help teams recognize that the smallest improvements at later stages are often the most significant. A tenth of a point rise in graduation rates may represent dozens of lives redirected.
- Manage perception, not just performance: Leaders must tell the story of incremental progress so it registers. Without intentional communication, staff and stakeholders may not perceive meaningful change even when it is happening.
- Deepen the work: Just as athletes must evolve their training routines, organizations must adapt strategies, institutionalize processes and build resilience to sustain improvement.
From fitness to flourishing
The Weber–Fechner law reminds us that human perception is not a straight line. The first changes feel big because they are contrasted against a low baseline. Later changes feel small, not because they are insignificant, but because our perception adjusts.
For leaders, this is both a warning and an opportunity. It is a warning that early excitement will inevitably give way to the grind of harder, less visible progress.
But it is also an opportunity: the ability to help organizations appreciate those incremental gains, and to sustain discipline through the plateau, is precisely what separates short-lived initiatives from deep, lasting transformation.
The final seconds shaved off a runner’s mile time; the final tenths of a graduation percentage point; the final stretch of building a strong culture—these are the hardest fought and they matter most.
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