What is the obsession with growth? I can’t figure it out.
We are obsessed a country with growth, obsessed as businesses with growth, and obsessed as individuals with growth. I hasten to add this largely refers to financial aspects, not our waist lines.
Yet when I ask business owners and leaders why they are keen to grow the revenue by 10, 20 or 30%, they provide me with very little in the way of insight. They can’t seem to clearly articulate the reasons. If there was an objective (need for exceptional profit for reinvestment in capital equipment, etc) I could understand it, but often it just seems “because”.
That’s quite sad really. If you don’t know where your business is headed then why add all the extra stress on yourself and employees by pursuing growth for the sake of it. I have seen far too many people become downright miserable as their businesses “grow”, and see no real happiness in society as we pursue higher GDP growth.
For goodness sake – have a purpose, have a vision, have a mission – know where you are going and what you need to do to get there. Growth may not be needed. In fact a smaller business may be more effective, and dare I say, profitable.
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