Growth Drivers: Scalability
In the last two videos we talked about Productivity and Clarity, two of our drivers of growth. Our third driver is Scalability; the ability to grow fast. You can have clarity of direction and a productive workplace, but if you are constrained in other ways, if you don't understand your pressure points, or resources are not allocated correctly, we will still fail to grow. This can be very frustrating, with growth restricted and constrained, and your organisation limited and impeded. But if you have Clarity and Productivity and you add in the pragmatic Scalability to the mix, hold on, you'll have the proverbial tiger by the tail. Leadership in this area is often forgotten but as Martin L Abbott quite rightly observed, “If you can’t lead, you can’t scale.”
Healthy things grow, it should come naturally; plants animals and companies. A small acorn can grow into a massive Oak tree. But if constrained by lack of light, space, nutrients or water, it won’t grow, regardless of the potential in the seed. The potential remains, it’s only the environment that changes. It’s the same with our companies; we need to look at our operating environment. It’s vital to scrutinise the drivers, the constraints and the values we operate on, and support growth through ensuring pressure is in the right places, responsibilities clear and resources allocated effectively. Our Stragile method has a clear set of ways this can be achieved.
One of the common issues we see in growth companies is that they, in an effort to grow, lose the innovative, entrepreneurial culture and it's replaced by bureaucratic and over complex structures. All this is done with the best intentions, and yes you do need more structure, and yes you do need better processes, but they should be tested and refined and reviewed constantly and continually, in order to simplify. The processes and structure should support the people and the growth not the other way round.
Scalability sits between ‘Equip’; the ability to reduce constraints and resource to execute effectively and ‘Explore’ which is the ability to discover understand and focus on what will bring success. Knowing what to focus on and reducing constraints and resourcing effectively is what gives you the ability to grow.
So, Scalability is important, but it doesn't sit by itself, the other two drivers of growth are Productivity and Clarity. In the last three videos we’ve covered these three drivers, why they’re important and how to build them. If this series has resonated with you, then now is the time to find more about our Stragile method, and how you can achieve your $100 million breakthrough, book a 15 minute ‘Discovery Call’ via the link below or at thoughtpatrol.com Talk soon.
