Comments on: When Companies Stop Growing, What Do They Do?

By: Andrea Simon

Andrea Simon — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:22:40 +0000

I am writing a book on how companies get “stuck” and why, and how they restart their growth. Your article i stumbled upon and it is quite good. Would love to know if you have some actual case studies of companies that got off the plateau following your suggestions? or didn’t. As an anthropologist fascinated by the interesection of the brain and culture i think this is all about how we see, feel and think in a particular way that limits our ability to change our world view, even though our brains are quite plastic and can change. Thoughts much appreciated. Andi

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:02:53 +0000

frankly derek, I have to agree with your plateau description, its beautifully conveyed.
I have faced it myself.
Not getting into too much of my life kind of stuff, just for sharing basis, I would like state that I myself have shifted from family business to job, which has been emotionally very hard.
The change is because my decade old family business after growth in sales, quality and service saw a plateau in 2 yrs time, couldn’t understand where to go next, I took the plunge of doing a job.
This period is my plateau, where I know I am impatiently digging for an opportunity. I am searching not only opportunity but also gaining knowledge, exposure so that I could re-enter business to cover next milestone, with more diversification to grow vertically.
I just hope atleast people who realize plateau, get lucky to get a couple of chances, to take risk.

By: The Plateau – If you’re at a Flat Point in your Business « Sage Wedding Pros

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:58:02 +0000

[...] of Prevential.com wrote recently about ways to overcome a plateau. These are my favorites of his recommendations and some of my [...]

By: How to Be a Novice and Join the Newly Successful

How to Be a Novice and Join the Newly Successful — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:15:34 +0000

[...] nothing. If you’re not looking for a way to change or differentiate, you are sitting on a growth plateau and you will remain there forever. If you want to join the new success you need to be doing [...]

By: Derek

Derek — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:26:06 +0000

While I would love to say its easy to just improve your quality and service, sometimes that isn’t the answer. Sometimes its completely abandoning your quality and your service and starting fresh.

By: JWRmedia

JWRmedia — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:57:07 +0000

Very, very nice well written article. Thanks for the excellent information.

Yes, if you find yourself not growing much, improve your quality and service, and that could give you the boost you need!

Thanks again.

By: Consumers Don’t Trust Company Blogs, Find People to Help with Your Business, Sell Your Company and More | Abaminds Entrepreneurs

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:30:10 +0000

[...] When Companies Stop Growing, What Do They Do? – What can you do when your business reaches a growth plateau? Will it stay there forever? [...]

By: Christina @ Northern Cheapskate

Christina @ Northern Cheapskate — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:41:24 +0000

Thank you so much for this article. I have been at a plateau for a couple of months now with my blog, and I have been putting down a lot of ideas on paper for how to break through. Thanks for reminding me that plateaus are good things… that challenge all of us to be better. !

By: Derek

Derek — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:28:04 +0000

@Doug The opportunity cost and opportunity gain is one of the main reasons why you need to get past the plateau. Some plateaus mean you need to exist the business, whereas other plateaus mean you need to put more focus on it.

One of the reasons I used the Steve Jobs example is because he executed this plateau theory perfectly. Ditched the dead weight and focused on the good stuff.

By: doug mitchell

doug mitchell — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:25:13 +0000

It seems that so few people stop and realize these plateaus because introspection (self/biz/other) causes pain and forces confrontation of either skill gaps or emotional gaps.

I am conscious of this in my business now since we’ve just started accelerating growth. We’re already reaching a point where MY involvement in certain activities, though pleasing to me, is inefficient and carries a large opportunity cost. So we’re spending (investing) to extract me from those processes. Introspection + Acceptance + Change = Crossing over the Plateau (or Chasm in Geoffrey Moore’s book example).

Physically, I’ve just realized that every time approach a certain weight/body fat goal, I self sabotage to stay comfortable. Weird but true. Totally subconscious plateau. Didn’t realize it until 2 weeks ago. Same formula applied so now making changes.

I think President Bush would say, “Plateaus are hard”. Getting past them is harder.