This is the deck Frank van den Driest and Marc de Swaan Arons presented at the Star5 summit in Panama in November 2021. It introduces IRG, sets out the Humanized Growth Study and its seven building blocks of growth, and closes on a profile of the growth leader.
IRG states its purpose as helping CMOs and other growth leaders drive more humanized growth by connecting them to peers, experts and thought leadership. The deck lists the vehicles for that: the IRG100 program, the IRG1000 online platform, masterclasses and the Humanized Growth Series.
Key findings
- The starting premise is that traditional business growth formulas are lacking.
- The study combines more than 750 qualitative inputs, more than 5,000 quantitative responses across markets and functions, an AI analysis of more than 3,500 growth publications, and behavioral analysis of more than three million LinkedIn members.
- The analysis works by contrasting over-performers and under-performers on revenue growth, in order to answer what it takes to win.
- Growth leaders are far better connected inside their organizations. The study reports 5.5 times more connections with senior leaders and 3.5 times more connections with other functions, both horizontally and vertically.
The seven building blocks
The seven are abundant markets, multiple models, evolving experiences, open culture, an anticipative organization, whole-brained thinking, and humanized growth. The deck groups them by why, what and how.
Each block is illustrated as a move from one thing to another. Abundant markets means going from pet food to pet care. Multiple models means moving from shelves to cafes and subscriptions. Evolving experiences means going from a library to daily mixes.
Open culture is the shift from procedures, structure and quality to innovation, change and entrepreneurship. The anticipative organization is the shift from an oil tanker to a flock of birds. Whole-brained means pairing data with human insights, and technology with human creativity.
The seventh block is the one that names the whole argument. Humanized growth is the move from shareholders to all stakeholders.
Why the stakeholder set changed
The deck traces the widening of the stakeholder set over time. Before COVID the focus was customers and capital markets. At the outbreak, colleagues and community entered the frame. What remains is a multi-stakeholder version of growth covering colleagues, customers, community and capital markets.
The new leadership context is described as one where the license to operate is being challenged and systems are being questioned. Then the pandemic arrived, and with it an increase in empathy, a move from a professional facade to family reality, and from working separately to working together.
Two external markers are cited. Laurence D. Fink of BlackRock asking companies to show how they make a positive contribution to society, and the 2019 statement of the US Business Roundtable.
The leader the study describes
The da Vinci growth leader profile has five traits: curious and agile learner, connected and collaborative, servant leader, speed and impact obsessed, and courageous and inspiring storyteller.
Scope and limitations
The deck is summit material. It reports the headline numbers of the study and the structure of its findings, and leaves the method behind the over-performer comparison to the study itself.
Source
This page summarises Star5 on Real Growth, by Frank van den Driest, Marc de Swaan Arons, November 19, 2021.