Asked this question by executive coach and author of _Your Oxygen Mask First_ [Kevin Lawrence](https://lawrenceandco.com/kevin-lawrence), this week’s masterclass participants offered up:

_Not focused enough, things not in your control, leaders get bored, other priorities, people get distracted, it can be difficult to keep up the momentum, context is always changing, we over think it, too much focus on the short term, lack of consistency and a common commitment, and the companies get big, dumb and slow._

Kevin says the answer to "Why is sustainable growth so rare?" is **spatial orientation**, just like a pilot might experience - and explained below.

Why is sustainable growth so rare in organisations? 

A pilot uses 4 forces to keep a plane in the air and moving forward:

·       Lift (from the wings).

·       Gravity (sucks it down).

·       Thrust (pushes it forward).

·       Drag (pulls it back).

CEOs, he says, have a similar model:

·       Opportunities (looking up).

·       Problems (looking down).

·       Courage (looking ahead).

·       Fear (looking behind you).

Forces on a CEO are like those on a pilot 

Kevin told the masterclass that, ideally, leaders should focus on driving growth (more “widgets” or “X”s). However, most leaders try to “pick money up from off the floor” by focusing on operational improvements.

“We think improving things is good, but if we FOCUS on improvement we don’t spend enough resources on growth,” he says.

Growth is all about allocation

_**Growth**_ only happens in the nexus of Opportunities and Courage.

_**Improvement**_, but not growth, happens in the nexus of Courage and Problems.

_**Analysis**_, but not growth, happens in the nexus between Opportunities and Fear.

_**Agony**,_ and no growth, happens in the nexus between Fear and Problems.

Kevin gave the example of a brilliant CEO who asked his team to come to him with problems between 8 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. – then he would turn up to work at 9 a.m.! But he would devote any hour of the day to hear ideas for growing the business.

Kevin says that in most dealings with CEOs he finds that strategic plans will often move to the bottom of the pile.

“They become improvement plans,” he says. 

So, to ensure you promote sustainable growth, beware these 4 enemies of growth:

**1.     The battle of the bicycles**

CEOs are accountable for tomorrow’s growth and today’s performance. It’s like trying to ride two bicycles at once – in most cases one bike has to be dropped so you can ride the other bike properly. Most CEOs will drop the “growth” bike, says Kevin.

**2.     The problem of pond hockey**

Using the analogy of ice hockey with friends on a frozen pond, Canadian Kevin Lawrence makes the point that a cobbled-together team of friends and B-players may not be the best team to scale a business.

“We need ACES in their places,” he says. These ace A-players require little supervision, do the work of 2-3 people, always deliver, and solve their own problems.

“Ideally you want 90% of aces in the key seats,” says Kevin.

**3.     The conundrum of conducting**

Conducting an 8000-piece orchestra is whole different game to conducting a smaller group of musicians. You must focus on mastering a few pieces, not the whole songbook.

For organisations to scale and grow they must also focus on “3 Big Moves” says Kevin.

“Be crystal clear on the 3. It’s not 13, it’s not 32,” he says. “Only have a few things that you master really well.”

**4.     The neurosis of numbers**

Many companies work with either “insanely simple” or “complex monstrosity” sets of numbers, says Kevin. He says complex companies can work effectively from a Google sheet with 12 lines on it.

“When it’s not simple, people don’t use the data,” he says. “A teenager should be able to look at the sheet and ‘interrogate and celebrate’ the information on it.”

The 4 enemies of growth

It’s clear most organisations would benefit from allocating more time to growth strategies. Yet Kevin says a lot of time is wasted on other things. He recommends being disciplined with your time.

In a previous masterclass for Growth Faculty he shared these actions on each of the four quadrants on the Forces of Growth matrix.

_**Analysis**_ areas:

·       STOP DOING: What is not relevant to your business right now?

·       ACTION: What are you overthinking? Can you try a bullet (a test that won’t put the company at risk), or do you only need 70% info?

_**Agony**_ areas:

·       STOP DOING: What is noise, or can be ignored?

·       ACTION: What needs to be dealt with?

_**Improvement**_ areas:

·       STOP DOING: What is low impact, and/or can be ignored?

·       ACTION: What adds real value?

_**Growth**_ areas:

·       STOP DOING: What is dangerous or a distraction?

A)    Outside of your flywheel/hedgehog (both [Jim Collins](https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/blog/Jimcollinsvideosnippets) concepts)

B)     Outside of your sandbox?

C)     Should be either a cannonball vs a bullet (Jim Collins concepts).

·       ACTION: Now: What should you focus on now, and with what % of your time? Later: What should you focus on later in Q3 or Q4 and with what % of time?

What do you notice about how time is allocated?

Kevin Lawrence’s Framework to Drive Growth

Leadership behaviours that help to grow and scale businesses

Kevin Lawrence

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Kevin Lawrence’s Framework to Drive Growth

Leadership behaviours that help to grow and scale businesses

Kevin Lawrence

Keep informedStay Inspired

Keep informed
Stay Inspired