This one page summary sets out IRG’s architecture for Real Growth. Its premise is that companies wanting sustained top-line growth have to reject the formulas of the past and build something in their place.
Seven principles follow. Each one is scored twice, once for growth overperformers and once for growth underperformers, so the page reads as a set of gaps rather than a set of ideals.
Key findings
- The widest gap on the page is market view. Growth leaders score 85 percent on assessing and understanding market developments against 33 percent for laggards.
- Leaders are far more willing to accept new business models, at 66 percent against 38 percent, and the page says overperformers do not let spreadsheets dictate strategy.
- Delivering ever-evolving experiences separates the two groups sharply, at 77 percent against 22 percent.
- Competitive agility shows the same pattern, at 66 percent against 14 percent, tied to organizing to win wars through micro-battles.
- On growth ambition, impact on people is the top answer for 35 percent of one group against 20 percent for the other, with bottom line profit the counterpart.
What the seven principles are
The first three are about the outside world. Take an abundant market view, which means excelling at spotting and choosing the right wave. Adopt multiple models rather than letting spreadsheets set strategy. Embrace evolving experiences, staying beautifully dissatisfied.
The next three are about the company itself. Foster an open culture marked by innovation, change, and entrepreneurship. Be an anticipative organization that wins through micro-battles. Attract whole brains by bringing technology and creativity together and putting data at the heart of decisions.
The seventh is Humanized Growth, and it is about ambition. Overperformers focus on the people they serve rather than on the bottom line.
Culture and talent
Culture is measured by what people call their own. Innovation, change, and entrepreneurship is the top culture description for 28 percent of one group against 21 percent of the other, the narrowest gap on the page.
Talent shows a wider gap. The ability to attract whole brained talent runs at 64 percent against 25 percent.
What the architecture rests on
The evidence base is stated on the page: more than 500 vision interviews with thought and industry leaders, more than 1500 survey respondents, and AI analysis of more than 3500 documents.
The conclusion drawn from it is a three part reimagining. Leaders have to rethink what they define as their market and offer as solutions, how they organize themselves for success, and why they do what they do.
Source
This page summarises Institute for Real Growth: Architecture for ‘Real Growth’, by Institute for Real Growth, 2019-03-21.