Michael Smith is Chief Commercial Officer at Sonendo®, a medical technology company focused on saving teeth from tooth decay.
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It’s easy to consider those companies that have already been through the scaling process and look at them with a mixture of envy, adoration and impatience. The idea that "they" are "there" and "we" are "here" can leave us feeling like the only way to get there is to undergo an elongated sprint of Olympian proportions.
But the truth is that most companies that scale don’t do so overnight. The way to scale sustainably is to do so over an extended period so that actions compound to produce a company that is scaled, sustainable and healthy.
The idea of rapid growth in scale is an objective and concept I’m passionate about. Doing the work to grow a company to ten times its size doesn’t happen by accident. Rather, it's the effect of a deliberate and consistent progression toward that goal, and it requires first putting in place the people, programs, processes and platforms required.
Small changes compound to make a big difference.
In this article, James Altucher talks about the importance of a consistent 1% improvement each day. It's important to be okay with succeeding and failing in the process, knowing that progress will come from the momentum that is developed. Echoing this, James Clear posits that a 1% improvement each day can result in being 37% better within a year. The small changes aren’t often seen in the moment but compound over time to produce staggering results.
In this piece, Seth Godin makes the important point that no reasonable person would set a goal of running a marathon in six weeks. It would leave the person destined to fail. Rather, we find small, marginal improvements are what really matter. Similarly, Jim Collins asserts that great companies, those that succeed in generating consistent, above-market performance, are the ones that make consistent progress time and time again, day after day. He describes this in the context of the 20-mile march.
And as discussed in a piece from Harvard Business Review, Sir David Brailsford championed the concept of marginal gains and continuous improvement in breaking the British cycling team’s 70+ year losing run to become the most high-performing team in the sport.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, it’s still easy to get distracted by the audaciousness and the belief that success and scale are achieved quickly in an almost mythical way. The pressure that comes to all of us for results perpetuates this need and this desire. But without a doubt, the best way to create a sustainable scale is with consistent and considered improvements. Here, I will break down how to navigate the four Ps of scaling for leaders.
1. People: Prioritize company fit.
Our goal as leaders is to grow the quantity and quality of the people in our organizations. All of us may be better suited to a company at a particular point in its development, but identifying the right candidates for the job and making sure that the talent pool continues to grow is essential. Selecting people for their cultural fit with the company and their ability to take on more responsibility as the company grows is more important than hiring for technical ability.
2. Processes: Monitoring and flexibility are crucial.
As companies grow, processes need to be established and redefined. It’s easy to think, particularly in smaller, entrepreneurial companies, that the idea of a new system or process may stifle creativity and ideation. There’s no reason for this to be true. Establishing what good looks like and systemizing its implementation shouldn’t be confused with the often-unnecessary bureaucracy that is synonymous with large, multilayered organizations.
3. Programs: Projects can be just as important as products.
I consider a program any project or initiative which is designed to further the company’s development, whether it be of an internal or external nature. It’s common for new leaders to think that it’s only the company’s products that allow it to grow, but oftentimes it’s the programs that support the company’s expansion that enable profitable growth. Having an individual or team of people who are responsible for the design, delivery and execution of these programs can be a game-changer.
4. Platforms: Ability to scale is paramount.
Developing a digital platform and technology stack that allows for scalability is now table stakes. The cumbersome enterprise resource planning (ERP) software or outdated customer relationship management (CRM) or communications platform can inhibit growth and put friction in the internal and external ecosystems. As much as possible, these platforms should be developed with growth and scaling in mind.
The development of these four areas doesn’t happen overnight.
No single initiative is going to be a deciding factor in whether a company is able to effectively scale. The answer is consistent and continuous improvement in each of these areas—being okay with making progress on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis to establish a healthy organization.
It’s the 1% daily improvements that allow this. It’s the small wins and changes that enable progress. It’s deliberate and sustained progress. And it’s being okay with wins and losses along the way.
And ultimately, it's enabling and facilitating a culture where this is expected, recognized and rewarded.
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