Built to Grow
A Survival Manual for Growing Companies
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As the complexity of the business grows, the problems begin to pile up. Each new sale seems to make things worse. More balls are dropped. More mistakes are made. More fires are being fought. More customers are unhappy. More profits are lost. Whatever way it appears, more and more things are going wrong. Read More
The shift from growth to decline is almost imperceptible at first, particularly by those inside an organization. After all, the organization still looks and feels successful. But the signs are there if you know what to look for. Slowly, the business has lost the creativity, risk taking, initiative, and flexibility that made it successful in the first place. Read More
A company may appear to be the picture of success, a company that all others would aspire to be. But your greatest fear shouldn’t be that you will have to compete with this company. Your greatest fear should be that you become this company. This company isn’t a model. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. It’s dying, and it doesn’t even know it. Read More
If you are going to be a leader, you are going to have to deal with conflict. It’s part of your job. If you can’t or won’t handle conflict in a straightforward and effective manner, then you shouldn’t be a leader. Dealing with conflict is one of the most critical abilities that determines the effectiveness of a leader, yet it is often one of the least developed skills. Read More
Unexpected losses of key people are one of the most costly and troublesome issues a business can face. With all the talk some leaders give about the importance of attracting and retaining top talent, you wouldn’t think there would be a revolving door in some companies. But so often there is. Read More
Business growth is simply not possible without change. But the business press and management gurus promise us that if we follow this or that formula for success, then all of our problems will disappear. These are false promises. Change is part of business and life, and as long as we are alive, we will have obstacles to overcome. Ignoring this most basic law of business growth is like ignoring gravity. Read More
Early in my career, I assumed that all business growth was good; I assumed bigger was always better. After a $1 billion bankruptcy, it’s safe to say that I was wrong. Looking back, I can see that we stumbled and fell over the same fundamental issues that I see growing companies tripping over today. Read More
Of course there’s no alarm that’s going to go off to warn of an impending business disaster. But there are many clues. As the leader of a growing business, you need to be on the lookout for these clues because these common mistakes are critical signals that foreshadow catastrophe. Read More
Successful growth companies have a healthy paranoia about their success. They know that competitive advantage deteriorates over time unless it is constantly cultivated and reinforced. And these companies are seriously concerned with future threats to their continued success. But far too often, once “hot” companies cool off because they are too focused on harvesting their success to notice the world is changing around them. Read More
Growth companies often slow down because they are too focused on harvesting their success to launch new growth initiatives. Complacency creeps in. They still seem to be doing well, but as the current business slows – as it always does – they aren’t prepared to replace it. The best they can hope for, unless something changes, is to stay flat. Read More
