Q #11: Has there been any recent breakthrough thinking about how to achieve and then sustain profitable growth?

In this series, Bob Morris poses a key question and then responds to it with material from one or more of the business books he has reviewed for Amazon and borders.

Yes. Some of the most interesting ideas are examined in Discovery-Driven Growth: A Breakthrough Process to Reduce Risk and Seize Opportunity, co-authored by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan. During the planning process, they suggest the following guidelines:

1. Take advantage of organizational processes. “Although you want to reduce the assumption-to-knowledge ratio, [fidcivery-driven growth] works best when supported by otger organizational processes.”

2. Manage the growth agenda. If growth really is an important goal, “have it in the number one, two, and three position on the agenda at every significant management meeting”; it must occupy a significant portion of everyone’s time and energy.

3. Maintain high tolerance of experimentation and disappointments. Having a failure-intolerant culture suppresses the generation of new ideas. Worse yet, “failing to balance tomorrow’s opportunities with today’s requirements in resource allocation usually shortchanges the future.”

4. Develop appropriate measurement and reward systems. How?

• Create common stakes within a “win-win” situation.
• Don’t involve people who have no prior experience with growth projects.
• Set an organizational standard for growth metrics at all levels and in all areas.
• Reward effective learning, rather than task completion.
• Create time to allow people to think about opportunities…and to allow insights, answers, solutions, etc. to reveal themselves.

You may wish to check out this Web site:

http://discoverydrivengrowth.com

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob