The Simplicity of growth – Let’s get optimistic!

Growing revenue and profit are aspirations of most companies, while also being the biggest challenge! Ironically in quieter economic conditions, it appears many organisations are missing simple growth opportunities.

It is unfortunate that many companies focus more on the barriers to success rather than defining the opportunity to pursue. For example a company that has a wonderful product in a burgeoning area of technology struggled to enter new markets. The reason on reflection was that there was no systemic commitment to the opportunity. As a result a lot of energy and money was spent breaking down internal pockets of resistance, who were more focused on highlighting why they could not succeed. Restrictive and conservative mindsets prevailed.

Our mindsets are determined by the questions we ask. Some questions have the potential to catalyse breakthroughs and inspire transformations. Others lead to stagnation and demoralization. In situations like the one outlined above, the prevailing mindsets of management and teams is negative, creating an inward looking culture that stifles courageous decision making.
When you look at the underlying issues for growth, it often means you need to work longer, faster, smarter, more innovatively, with improved tactics, higher levels of discipline …. Are you tired yet? Now you can understand why many attempts to grow the business fail.

So keep it simple, a systemic commitment to the task (and a positive mindset) needs to be in place right from the beginning to give you the best chance of success. Once you have that commitment, set about leveraging that passion and drive, to achieve your goals.

Recognising there are many factors (including positive mindsets) that impact growth we have distilled our factors of success that when deployed well deliver you the growth you desire:

1. Define the future state – ensure all critical players are engaged and work backwards to succeed

2. Create the teams objectives – use critical measure of performance and targets to focus activity

3. Determine which systems and processes will be required – be real about the changes that will need to be made to ensure success.

4. Prepare your people well – create the mindsets and team code of conduct, and development pipeline that enable you to succeed.

5. Be real about expectations – be prepared to be resilient in the face of opposition – you will succeed!

If you want to explore any of the points highlighted in this article contact Damien at damien@10khr.com.au