Is All Organizational Growth Created Equal?

As William S. Burroughs said, “When you stop growing you start dying.”

It's important to continue to grow an organization for any number of reasons. But how to grow and what kind of growth to take on are tough strategic questions.

However, something as simple as understanding the key drivers in your business model — whether your organization is a corporate entity or a nonprofit – will lead you to the correct answers.

For example, key drivers within your organization will tell you whether or not growth should be centered around:

• Securing a better market position
• Increasing market penetration
• Entering new markets
• Aligning more tightly with your organization's mission
• Creating operational efficiencies to improve profitability
• Launching a new offering
• Updating an existing offering
• Re-engaging existing customers
• Engaging with a new type of customer
• The list goes on...

Without taking the time to explore key drivers, it's too easy to fall into the trap of choosing a growth strategy that appears valid but misses the mark. Here's how to avoid that trap:

• Examine your business model and uncover its key drivers.
• Consider strategic ways to grow your organization based on those drivers.
• Develop growth scenarios for strategies under consideration.

Analyzing each scenario will make the best approach for growing your organization clearer than ever.