The downside of rapid growth and what leaders should do instead
Rapid growth may seem like a good idea, but all too often it starts as an exciting dream and eventually turns into an unsustainable nightmare.
By Jayson Krause, Managing Director of Level 52 & Author of The Science Behind Success
Brick By Brick
I use to get a big thrill taking quick business trips to work with clients in Asia. An injection of adrenaline thinking about how quickly I could leave North America, hit the ground running in Singapore, and then get home as quickly as possible. Many times I’d spend more time in the air than I did on the actual ground for some projects.
However, one time was different. I was working with a global business centre as they sought to inject a deviant, values-based approach to innovation. After the multi-day workshop completed, instead of rushing home, I took a flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit the famous temple of Angkor Wat, something that had always been on my bucket list.
I arrived in Cambodia with only a plane ticket, no hotel, and a vision to see one of the world’s most magnificent creations that has stood the test of time.
If you don’t know what Angkor Wat is, the first thing you need to do is Google it and look at some of the awe-inspiring images. It’s the world’s largest religious monument ever built. Constructed as a Hindu temple in the 12th century, it spans over 160 hectares and will activate your inner adventurer as you see large trees growing out of the sides of the Ta Prohm. Tap into your inner Lara Croft by walking through this stone cold behemoth and feel like a tomb raider transported into world’s passed by.
When I got there, I hired a private tour guide to take me through the large site, temple to temple, hot and humid as hell, sweat drenching my shirt and pants. We trekked through each temple, stopping to admire the construction and detailed artistry adorning each relic. Even though my guide had delivered thousands of tours, he still spoke in reverence at what had been built and kept saying the same thing over and over again as he shook his head in disbelief, “Brick by brick. All of this built brick by brick.”
So what is the difference between something that’s built to grow fast and something that is built to last? Brick by brick, or fibre by fibre.
Two Types of Growth
Physiologically, there are two types of growth strategies. Sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar. The names aren’t important, but what they provide are.
Sarcoplasmic is the growth method bodybuilders use to train. They grow the outer fascia of the muscles to be big and look good. The bigger you get, the more resources and work it takes to maintain that size and stay that big. There isn’t much of a correlation to functional strength as you get bigger and with this type of training, body-builders tend to be big but slow and simply, less functional. The objective is more about optics – you train to look good. And of course, some seek to accelerate their growth curve by injecting steroids or HGH so they can achieve their growth goals faster.
Metaphorically, companies can do the same thing. They fall victim to the belief that bigger is always better. To get more people for faster growth, they inject resources to grow faster, until they reach a tipping point of diminishing returns. They quickly lose any evidence of being dynamic, have little-to-no agility to respond to external stimulus, and eventually can’t continue to pour the immense amount of resources and energy to sustain their size and have to pull back. This strategy quickly makes them flabby and ineffective.
You may be living in the past, telling stories as you look at the black and white pictures of you flexing on the stage, lights reflecting off your oil-drenched body. Don’t get upset if this is you – I’m not making fun of you, I kind of was you. At least, tried to be you. I’m just explaining the physiology.
Myofibrillar hypertrophy is when you strengthen the contractile proteins instead of the outer fascia. You train to be explosive (think Olympic weightlifter or sprinter). You train to be dynamic, agile, explosive… all of those things. You train to specifically be good at something, not necessarily look good, although, training in this way does also tend to present well. The important thing here is that the core is strong and the contractile proteins are explosive. You resist the urge to simply look chiseled out of stone, but make your proteins a critical mechanism to deliver results. It takes longer, requires a strong foundation and is way more sustainable and easier to activate even after periods of low training cycles.
Metaphorically, great leaders take the same approach to how they lead others and grow a strong sustainable team and business. Along with building their own strong personal foundation, they find ways to strengthen the contractile proteins within their business. They develop and strengthen their people to be dynamic high-performers, they tend not to throw money at unneeded mercenaries or invest in resume-builders to simply fill a quick gap while they chase an unsustainable growth curve.
What kind of growth inspires you more? Your ego naturally loves the optics and attention by having people celebrate your greatness and shower you with the finest gifts from the nearest village, and that’s totally fine – you can learn from your mistakes. However, the meaningful leaders we love working with commit to the long, arduous practice of pushing, brick by brick, to build something that transcends their quarterly report or even their career. There were no names etched on the walls of the Angkor Wat, yet almost a thousand years later people revel in what was created.
What are you building? Is it brick by brick or a rapid house of cards?
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