The Brachistochrone Curve

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The Core Reframe

“Where do you want to improve so much that you are willing to get temporarily worse to get there?”

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Episode Transcript

Hi there, my name is Cameron Conaway. Welcome to 3-Minute Reframe.

So in physics, there is a fascinating problem called the Brachistochrone curve. It asks for the fastest path between two points. Intuition tells us the answer must be a straight line. But physics proves that the fastest path is actually a curve—a path that looks longer but uses gravity to accelerate.

This concept has inspired me for years, reminding me that straight lines aren’t always the fastest way to get where we want to go. Progress isn’t always linear, nor does it always feel linear.

Consider NBA superstar Steph Curry. In high school, he was shooting from his waist. To excel in college and have a chance in the NBA, his father told him he had to completely rebuild his mechanics. Curry spent months literally getting worse at shooting so he could eventually become the greatest shooter in history. He refers to those months as “the most frustrating summer.” Curry had to dip into the curve to accelerate.

I see this same dynamic in workplace feedback. Many leaders strive for maximum efficiency, assuming that direct, straight-line feedback is always the best path. But if the receiver isn’t ready, or the psychological safety isn’t there, or it’s just not the right moment in time, that “efficient” straight line often leads to a dead end. Sometimes, the longer, curved path of relationship building is actually the fastest way to behavior change.

This concept has helped me reframe my own career. When I stack myself against other business school professors, I often see their clean, linear backgrounds—BA to MA to PhD to Tenure. A straight line. My path was an investigative journalist, a mixed martial arts fighter, a poet, and over a decade in corporate marketing. It was a wild, nonlinear curve. But I’ve learned that it is precisely that indirectness that allows me to shine in ways a straight line never could.

So I have two invitations for you today. First, where in your life might your expectation of a “direct path” be clashing with a reality that requires some curve? And second: Where do you want to improve so much that you are willing to get temporarily worse to get there? Try it on and I’ll see you next week.

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