Push for Growth

PUSH FOR GROWTH

Is Growth for the Sake of Growth What You Really Want?

Leaders everywhere are struggling to find the best way to satisfy customer needs while maintaining a reliable, skilled, and engaged workforce.

I recently met with Bill, a client of mine, and asked him this clarifying question, “Can you tell me why you bought out three other companies in the past year and a half?”

Bill is the owner, and president, of a service company he started 25 years ago.

 “That’s simple. To grow,” he replied.

“Why do you want to grow?”

“Why not? Growth is good.” He smiled at me in a patronizing way that indicated he wasn't sure why he'd hired someone who didn’t understand such a simple concept to help his company.

 “Well,” I replied, “here’s the reality. Since you started this growth campaign, two long-time key leaders who were instrumental in the success you enjoyed in the decade and a half before you decided to acquire these companies, have left. Two of your three remaining top-level managers don't trust each other and are in constant conflict. Most employees fear one and feel sorry for the other. They're burned out; many are thinking of leaving and have resigned themselves to do what they need to survive and nothing more. Finally, a large number of customers have closed their accounts in the past six months. Let me ask you this, have the results of the changes you’ve made met your expectations? Is this really what you planned to do?”

Bill didn't respond because he didn't like being asked those questions. I wouldn't either. But, we both knew the answer was, “No.” He was learning the hard lesson that growth for the sake of growth is no more effective at helping you get what you want than punching yourself in the face because you want to know what it feels like to punch someone in the face.

Change is NOT Evil!

Neither is Bill. He really did want to make positive changes. He certainly got changes just not the ones he really wanted.  Successful change happens for organizations because of one, or more, of the following reasons:

1.  Relationship Dynamics- People connect with each other when they see a net-positive value-proposition in doing so (intrinsic, extrinsic, or a combination of both) and they adjust their level of investment according to the value they get out of it in relation to their expectations.
2. Innovation- Someone does something new and different that creates the potential for a redistribution of one or more resources in a given culture, community, or market.
3. Growth- Someone seeks the prospect of meeting the needs of more people than they have in the past.

The order of the three points listed above is important… critical actually. There is a very strong human tendency to want to cut around the process and get straight to the good stuff. It’s easy to see that growth can lead to more mutually beneficial relationships, more business. More business can mean more profits so that’s where we think we want to focus.

The Change-Pull Effect

There are two fundamental problems with trying to create growth for the sake of growth:

1. It undermines the ability to deliver a net-positive value for all key stakeholders involved because it assumes no considerations are necessary to continue to meet their needs before growth-focused action occurs.
2. It assumes innovative solutions that will redistribute resources in a mutually beneficial manner for all stakeholders involved will just happen.

So, in the case of Bill’s company the desire for growth created different and new behaviors (purchasing new companies with the prospect of serving more customers) that resulted in a net-negative value delivered and over time the various stakeholders engaged less at variable rates. Some key leaders and customers divested completely while others adjusted how they related to each other and the company.

Bill and his company were experiencing problems caused by the “change-pull effect”. It happened when Bill created a vacuum through self-serving changes in how his company operated expecting everyone to adjust and fill in the gaps. It’s a technique…not the recommended technique…but a technique, just the same. What typically happens is: Growth pulls away from the innovation because the affected stakeholders perceive they’re being excluded so they resist. They pull back.

The whole point is, real mutually beneficial relationships are magical- When one occurs, every stakeholder involved walks away from interactions, transactions, and situations feeling like they've gotten more out of it than they put in. See? Magic.  It’s the reason why you can’t skip past the relationship dynamics; the magic will be lost.

The change-pull effect doesn't only happen during acquisitions; it can also happen when an organization attempts to launch new products, new, services, new customers, new locations…any time changes are made to grow for the self-serving sake of growth.

When You're at Risk

• The best time to stop, listen and adjust is before you create negative pull-change effects. In other words when this kind of conversation happens:

Any employee- “How-are-we-going-to…”

You- “We’ll figure it out.”

Any employee-“I just wish we'd think this through first.”

• The second-best-time to adjust is as soon as possible after you’ve created negative pull-change effects.  The conversation will probably sound like this:

 Any employee- “Now that we've,  <>, how am I supposed to….?”

You- “You’ll figure it out” (See what you did there? Your employee does.)

Any employee- “OK, I'll do my best but I just wish we’d thought this through first!” 
(Thinks to self: “In the end, I'll have fixed the problems they created and they'll get all the credit. Maybe this isn’t the best place for me.”)

The Solution: Create Push-Change Effects

The solution for Bill, and people who have created similar punishing change-pull effects in their own organizations is…more change. But, here the change must begin with them. They need to change how they think so they can create positive push-change effects for their key stakeholders which will create opportunities for growth. Here’s how they can do it:

1. Focus on the needs of the people they wish to serve and seek to understand the gaps between those desires and the value the organization can currently deliver.
2. Closing the gaps identified in #1 takes innovation- new and different decisions, behaviors, tools and processes. When innovation creates more efficient use of resources the capacity to serve is increased and the conditions for successfully meeting the needs of more people are set.
3. Grow by seeking new mutually beneficial relationships and then reap the additional profits.

The solution may seem like it takes longer to get what you really want than just seeking growth for the sake of growth…because growth is good. But, it doesn’t. Just ask Bill. He’s got a lot of work to do now…relationships to mend.

Have you experienced the Change-Pull Effect before? Share your story and what you learned from the experience in the comment section below! Be a part of the conversation!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Eakin is the author of Finding Success and the Success Engineer at BoomLife. LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM...

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Don't Be Confused About Why People Leave

Do you have key employees who, if you lost them, would leave such a hole in your company or team that you're not sure you could ever fill it? Do you know what would make them want to stay with you? Do you know the real reason about why they might leave?

A friend of mine started working for a startup company a few years ago. She managed the operation as the company grew from less than 50 employees to over 200. It's easy to see that she's been critical to the company's growth and financial success. She recently gave her boss two week's notice. She accepted another job and took a large pay cut. 

The Awesomeness...and the Confusion 

First, I'm happy for her because she found the courage to make this difficult decision. She had to conquer her fear that she and her husband would not be able to make ends meet. In the end, they decided the most important influencing factor was her satisfaction in the work she was doing. I want to celebrate their level of faith that fulfilling the human spirit is more important than filling the bank account. You see, they recognize they have a challenging money problem. They also recognize they're capable of finding solutions. BOOM!! (picture a fist bump explosion here)

On the other hand, I also know her boss. He's confused and never saw it coming. Why did she leave? He's concerned about how he's going to make things work, although he won't admit it. I can hear it in his voice. Meanwhile, he's doing what entrepreneurs have a tendency to do, focusing on the best solution to this complex problem. 

My concern for him is this: I'm quite sure he recognized the opportunity that's been lost for him and his company. The future value of the value she'd helped him create in just a few short years instantly turned to zero.

In his rush to fill the vacuum, has he taken the time to understand why that opportunity was lost and how he could have seen it coming? 

Was it About the Money?

When she was hire, in the early days of the company, he pitched her a value-proposition that looked like this: "I can't pay you very much right now. But, if you help me grow this company, your compensation could more than double in the next few years."

He gave her a few small raises along the way. He provided a few perks and she appreciated them. But, as the Company realized the success he envisioned, the ratio between the rewards he promised in relation to the growth and the rewards he provided were miles apart.

It's easy to think this means it was about the money. But, actually, it wasn't. She heard that initial value-proposition, she bought into it, she delivered what she promised. He delivered part of it. But, it was easy for her to see the gap and it caused her to wonder if she could trust him, especially while she watched him spend money on things the company didn't really need.

So, money was a part of the problem, but not the real root cause. It was trust. He offered her more money the minute she told him she was leaving. She turned his offer down. Nobody who takes a job that pays them less money than they're currently making does it because of the money.

Other Key Factors

My two friends think in different ways. 

She knows that you can't make everyone happy so the best you can do is build a structure that creates accountability and be consistent so that people can be satisfied that they are being treated as fairly as is reasonably possible. 

He wants everyone to be happy and have fun at work. He thinks the way to do that is not create cumbersome rules and structure.

She values the personal relationship and puts it in front of the transaction.

He values the things success brings and prioritizes the transaction over the relationship.

Here's how things went down:

• She quickly became dissatisfied when he didn't allow her to create a structure with which she could lead the staff and hold them accountable.
• He became dissatisfied any time he recognized a gap between the things the employees on their staff did and his definition of acceptable professional behavior...a definition that was never documented and never fully communicated.
• Her dissatisfaction turned to frustration as she watched his emotional reactions and suggested solutions which he rejected.
• His dissatisfaction turned to frustration as he failed to solve the same problems over and over again.
• As he continued to react to situations based on emotions, he never felt he could trust his employees.
• Employees became confused about what they were supposed to be doing because no clear expectations were ever given. A lot of turnover in the staff resulted. 
• She became frustrated in her efforts to create the kind of high-performance work environment he said he wanted, and she knew how to deliver, because he wouldn't allow her to create the structure needed. So, she lost trust that she would be able to lead in his company the way she envisioned she could.
• She worked extremely long hours through the growth, the turnover, the shortage of resources, and her personal need to fulfill her responsibilities. No matter how many unplanned problems she had to help solve throughout the day, employees still needed to get their paychecks, invoices still needed to be created and sent to customers, the bills needed to be paid. She arrived at six thirty and often worked until ten at night for weeks and months at a time. He worked a normal work day.
• He failed to recognize the gap between the value-proposition he promised and what he delivered. The loss of trust weakened the connection for her.
• He failed to help her be the leader she really wanted to be. His lack of trust in her abilities further strained the connection.
• He failed to recognize her efforts and to reward them in meaningful ways. It's important to say, "You're doing a great job," but there comes a point where that's just not enough. She felt her efforts were unnoticed, under-valued, and unappreciated. One day she asked herself, "Why should I continue doing this?"  The love was lost.

Could He Have Prevented it?

The simple answer is, yes. But only if he'd seen it coming. 

Could He Have Seen it Coming?

Again, yes. But, only if he was looking...and listening...only if he valued his relationships with all of his key stakeholders more than the transactions that created wealth for his company...only if he were willing and able to measure the strength of the relationship as much as he measured the bottom line.

Business success is based on the value of the transaction. 

The transaction only happens if the relationship is seen as mutually beneficial by all involved. So, which is more important? The transaction or the relationship? Which one sets the conditions for success for the other?

I know you're smart. You know the real answer.

How to Create Mutually Beneficial Relationships

1. Create Connection- Strengthen the attraction!
• Define your value-propositions with every key stakeholder so expectations are in alignment on all sides.
• Employees as well as customers as well as vendors....
2. Create Trust- Strengthen the bonds of connection!
• Build the structure that creates accountability.
• Engage key stakeholders so they can help you identify your greatest opportunities for Innovation, Growth, and Profits.
• See what they see.
• Listen!
3. Create Love- Help them to love working for you!
• Deliver what is promised. 
• Be honest when you can't and about why.
• Show you're willing to do the work to fill the gap.

I use a system I call GPS Theory to create meaningful and lasting mutually beneficial relationships. The system is based on the principles of Connection, Trust, and Love and has allowed me to expand my definition of success so I can create values-driven success for the people with whom I love to spend my personal and professional time! The magic happens for me because I create if for others. I'm able to create if for other because they help me see what I need to see instead of what I want to see. This helps me actually meet their needs instead of trying to convince them that what I'm giving them does. It works in every personal, professional, and organizational situation. My clients see it this way too!

How do you ensure you're creating mutually beneficial relationships based on Connection, Trust, and Love? 

My friend, Peter Beaumont, from ConnXN, and author of The Relationship Roadmap, just published an article on building trust with customers. He's a relationship expert so you may want to check it out.

BUY THE BOOK!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Eakin is the author of Finding Success and the Success Engineer at BoomLife. LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM...

READ A SAMPLE CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK