If You’re Not Growing You’re Dying? Why?

A good many years ago I was sitting in a managers retreat. A few years into my tenure with a company I would ultimately spend 11 years at before leaving to start a company.

I was really in no mood to hear speeches about who we would be that year. My son was just over a year old I think. Frankly I was looking for an exit and not a pep talk. Professionally I was hating life. Wasn’t even a balance thing. It was a fit thing. I felt I no longer fit and needed a change.

Then the phrase came that nearly sent me out the door in a blaze of expletive filled glory.

“If you’re not growing you’re dying.”

It was not then and is not now an original statement or thought. Cottage industry has been built around that phrase.

Worse than the platitude, there was this wave of folks in the room who now wanted to help me because my geography had become the weak link it was thought (not me necessarily but it was believed that there was more in the region to be had).

I was actually insulted because I considered myself a growth bulldog. Did not need a rally. My numbers were pretty damned good also.

This being said. At some point we and I turned a corner and I became an example of growth within the organization. I don’t know what brought the spark back. Maybe it was no longer buying formula and diapers (thankfully my boy was a great sleeper, otherwise I might have really gone over a cliff).

Roll forward to now.

Now I am getting bombarded by coaches and groups and other stuff seeking to separate me from revenue, to give to them, to “10X” my small firm. Some of its compelling. Some of it once I dig seems like just a scheme. Lots of testimony by other coaching and marketing businesses — almost seems like a multi-level thing (AmWay).

They aren’t using that phrase that came close to sending me storm out of that conference center in SoCal nearly a decade ago. But they might as well. Same premise.

Leads me to question. Why growth?

In business that’s like blasphemy. To say I’m not necessarily interested in 10x, or whatever is the hot new way to put the statement that’s included in the title of this post, almost sounds like I should not even be in business to some I’m sure.

Does growth make you better? More honorable? Complete as an operator? More upstanding? Plenty of examples that show growth for growth sake leads to some bad behavior. Really just trophy mounting in some cases.

Don’t get me wrong. I like money. I’m a capitalist. Happy to be where I am and do want to do better (not necessarily more).

But growth to say you’re growing and not dying is exhausting. Most of the metrics used and statements made to promote your growth trajectory are bullshit. Growing against a competitor or an industry is not impossible to measure (Wall Street analyst do it for a living), but it’s really imperfect and not really meaningful as it’s used by many companies. Not To me at least in this moment in time. Lots of WWE off the top rope statements abound about the best, fastest, whatever, whatever.

Turns out I’m not original in this contrarian sentiment. I did a search for the phrase “If You’re Not Growing You’re Dying.” I wanted to find its origin. I found others using it as a counter cry to sell some other types of coaching and training courses at the top of the search results. Apparently there may be an anti-growth cottage industry brewing.

So in some respects I’m adding to the noise. Lots of that. I’m not selling any course though. And I’m not interested in being you’re coach.

You should do what you want. I’m not an influencer and seek no industry in that market. Just merely struck me to let out some thoughts after reading a few pitches that have broken through the junk filters in my email.

Back to my question of why? Why growth? Do you really need it to survive. What’s it good for?

Like competing, and measuring how you’re doing against peers, it should be debated. By everyone who has an opportunity to facilitate “growth” or change in an organization. In most organizations I think growth is really a false flag for change and reconfiguration or a pivot.

Needing growth to feel like you’re still alive seems like you may already be dead. Certainly fearful of something. Obsolescence being one. Not feeling you’ve been beaten by someone or thing, another.

Does growth lead to improvement? Or does it just mean you’ve acquired more?

Having acquired more than you previously had seems like a habit that you can never fully satisfy. Habits are fed. They can become addictions and afflictions. Those aren’t good. An addiction seems like the real death to me.

Growth can become an addiction. And, for its sake, not always a good one that leads where you really want to go. And, not always a set of positive outcomes.

The upside of getting all of these pitches promising to 10X me if I just work their system is it’s brought about some real philosophical thoughts to the surface for me to consider.

Growth is not bad. Neither is success. Neither is measuring.

However, we all need to determine what that all looks like. And, it really is not as easy as saying any of the following:

1. We’re the best.
2. We’re #1.
3. We’re the fastest.
4. Gold standard.
5. Industry standard.

And a list of lazy statements that could reach a large multiple.

If wanting to be something above is you’re reason to pursue growth, I don’t see how you will ever arrive. It’s too shallow. Unrooted.

Weather you agree or not. Thanks for reading. Troll or meme if you like.

If you have a course to sell, my contact information isn’t hard to find.

If you’re open to a conversation that could be fun.

Cheers. I hope you’re road leads you where you actually want to go.