Growth and performance are staples of the business lexicon – goals to be pursued. Yet how thoughtful are we when we talk about growth, how considered are the thoughtforms that drive our actions?
Often it can be about squeezing more from the existing structure in its current state. And that path may be costly – burnt out colleagues, damaged customer relationships, or dwindling suppliers because we’ve squeezed them too. Whilst this approach may deliver increased productivity and profit in the short to medium term ultimately it will undermine the business.
Instead of a single-pointed focus on growth (tethered to increasing profit) perhaps we should be adopting a mind-set of progress…toward some better/improved state, continually moving forward and upward. This may take us into the area of change or, its more radical big brother, transformation and away from simply pressuring what we’ve got into yielding more. And one of the biggest changes confronting us is this shift in mind-set.
When we’ve made this step, we must articulate what we mean by progress…a more holistic definition that doesn’t preclude profit but also prizes and supports the wellbeing of all stakeholders, in all dimensions, and delivers prosperity for all including the business and the wider society it serves. That would truly be progress.