When Growth Hurts You

Grow too fast and you'll reach the cliff

Author

Peter Giordano III
April 25, 2024

[Read time: 3 minutes]

You may (secretly or openly) want to grow fast — but anything more than a sustainable limit is dangerous.

You've probably heard the saying, "If you're not growing, you're dying."

However, let's add a twist: "If you're growing too fast, you're just speeding up the dying process."

Take a moment to absorb that.

Growth makes you feel like you’re doing something right.

The faster you grow, the more “right” you feel. However, an unclear pursuit can hurt you.

Because the pace of growth matters.

I'm writing to help you reframe your perspective because I'm guilty of not understanding the importance of pace.

By the way — this isn’t the only time I’ve written about the nuances of growth. Nearly 9 months ago, I wrote about optimization and scale, and understanding which type to use will save you from unnecessary problems.

While sales may be the face of growth, your fulfillment process (operations) dictates the pace.

Let me explain.

Every business has three distinct personalities:

  • The entrepreneur who drives the vision

  • The manager who maintains order and consistency

  • The technician who executes the work

The technician's primary objective is to own the fulfillment process — the work required to fulfill your promises to your customer.

  • For the landscaper, it’s the physical labor to make your customers’ lawns and gardens look spectacular.

  • For the business coach, it’s the weekly conversations with your clients to ensure they (and the business) think and operate clearly.

  • For the beverage manufacturer, it’s maintaining inventory levels and production schedules.

Your fulfillment process is intimately linked to time. Even if you're not doing it, someone on your team is.

It's arguably the most critical revenue-generating activity because fulfilling promises is the backbone of a long-standing business.

Grow too fast, and you’ll reach the cliff.

Optimizing your process creates space for growth.

The dangers of slow growth are obvious, but fast growth can be even more dangerous.

Eventually, things hit capacity, and your business reaches "the cliff"—the point where it can no longer sustain “one more” anything.

It means every “one more” falls off the cliff, which results in:

  • broken promises

  • missed deadlines

  • customer dissatisfaction

Everything that falls off the cliff echoes loudly.

I will be realistic here — any driven human pushes for better, faster, bigger, and even more.

But focusing too much on being a great technician often blinds us to the cliff's looming presence. I’m sure you have already experienced the cliff’s consequences.

One misstep won't ruin you, but it's a terrible feeling to break promises.

And for those inclined to think deeply, the fear of that broken promise lingers, affecting our operations, if only temporarily.

The crux of the matter is this: redefine what growth actually means so you can ditch the dopamine and focus on what you can realistically handle.

Because sustainable growth (type and pace) is the sweet spot.

Thanks for reading,

Peter

(speaking of growth)

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If you missed last week’s post:

Last week, I wrote:

7 Thoughts On Problem-Solving (For Problem Solvers)

It’s about the nuances of problem-solving that we don’t often think about. These thoughts will change how you think about your life and business problems.

Read it here if you want to become a better problem solver.

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