Blue Elevator Blog

Growing Too Fast – in Sports

I’ve heard that symptoms of steroid use among athletes are injuries such as muscle tears, torn ligaments and tendons, etc.  Steroid use is, in fact, building significant gains in muscle; however, these gains in muscle are happening at a pace greater than the surrounding tendons’ and ligaments’ ability to handle the extra force being generated.

Growing Too Fast – in Business

We can draw some parallels from this when it comes to business.  For the record, steroid use is bad – but business growth is good!  Here’s the parallel: when we are blessed to grow, we get excited because we begin to see the long-awaited gains materialize.  The phone starts ringing.  Orders pick up.  We get busier.  Revenue increases.  All good stuff!  And then, little mistakes start happening – simple mistakes, really.  Pretty soon the excellence you had found when things were flat gives way to mediocrity when things begin to grow.

If you are observing this in your organization, it may be time to tighten things up a bit.

Growing Too Fast – the Challenges

The challenges of growth are real and the issues need to be addressed.  Otherwise, the huge step forward in sales growth ends up becoming two steps backwards.  This decline in quality is something that can even hinder growth.

• The athlete that took the steroids to get ahead finds himself missing the rest of the season because he tore a tendon.
• Similarly, the business owner or organization that doesn’t tend to grow might find the wheels starting to wobble.

Growing Too Fast – it Depends

Can you grow too fast?  Perish the thought!  The message here isn’t to not grow too fast – but rather – WHEN YOU DO GROW, MAKE SURE YOU BUILD THE PROPER INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH.

Think about it!  If you and your organization would like to discuss whether your infrastructure and processes can support growth, contact us!