Business has an obsession with growth. And usually unlimited growth. A target is set, and we always laud people for beating it. Sometimes with an accelerator for beating it significantly.
But although growth is seductive, without scale, it ends up destructive.
That’s because the growth that we tend to focus on is top line. Usually sales or revenue. But top line growth often destroys organisations that haven’t worked on scaling themselves.
I’ve seen this first hand. In a previous life, our sales numbers were going through the roof, while our team members were walking out the door. The sales puzzle was solved, but with poor leadership and a lack of positive culture, people looked elsewhere. Which was creating a serious cash crisis. And sucking the fun out of work.
Because while growth may be about sales, revenue or this year’s profit, scale is about values & culture, robust (but not over-complex) processes, people & structure, resilience and optimism, impact and contribution.
And sales, revenue and profit.
Back to the Clash, the question should never be “Should I scale or should I grow?”
You need both.
Every Wednesday we hold an intimate 60 minute strategy and execution clinic where we go through our Build on Purpose framework, and then discuss one question that's on the mind of each attendee. CEOs / founders only, and max 5 in each session. If this sounds interesting, sign up through Zoom here.