How Long Do You Want to Tolerate That Your Organization is Hindering Growth?

Abstract

Do you ever wake up in the morning and think “Now let’s do everything we can to make sure nothing changes for a while”? If you did, you wouldn’t be reading this book. If we want to talk about how profitable growth can be achieved, an essential prerequisite is that we agree that growth is indispensable to securing progress, prosperity and fulfillment. Of course from time to time the media puts out grim scenarios implying that growth is bad per se, that we have nearly reached the limits of growth, and that all those who make growth a priority are automatically ruthless neo-capitalists; and of course it’s true that there will always be some people who jump on board and use theories on the alleged limits of growth for their own purposes.

Let’s be clear: Those who don’t grow, die. Those who call for putting growth on hold for a while underestimate the internal drive human beings feel when they pursue a new idea. Championing stasis equates to negligence; calling for a global hold on growth is paramount to calling for the world to hold its breath—and both approaches, if pursued long enough, end in the same way: in death.

In Chap. 1 you will learn why profitable growth doesn’t just focus on the last line of you balance sheet, why innovations are the motors of growth, what the lethargy of the individual means to growth, and you will finally get to know archetypical brakes to growth.