For these organizations, growth is always a tool for accomplishing more, never an end in itself. Their leaders know that growth entails risk, but that growing is less risky than not growing. It is part of the genetic code of all living systems, and must become so for all organizations. Like all living systems, organizations that are not growing cannot survive. When an organization is growing, its people are too.
Growth is always a tool, never an end in itself.
Noel Tichy is professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at the University of Michigan, and is director of the Global Leadership Program, an executive-development consortium of 36 companies. To plot a growth strategy, identify the new and existing needs of both new and existing customers.