Most of us grew up with a very one dimensional idea of “growth”. More revenue, more clients, more employees, more products. Simply more of everything!

In my consulting work, I often see businesses pursuing growth in numbers without a solid business model. They replicate mediocre solutions and copy paste strategies to show growth in revenue, market share, and profitability. But these gains are short lived because the business remains inherently weak.

It makes me think about the other kind of growth, the one we rarely measure, even though it is the one that actually changes the trajectory of our lives and our organizations.

This is the growth that is about development rather than expansion. Not bigger, but better. Not more juice but better juice!

This second type of growth is subtle. It doesn’t always show up on dashboards or balance sheets. It shows up in competence, maturity, and refinement. The same resources, arranged in smarter ways. The same hours, producing more meaningful work. The same team, creating deeper impact.

And yet, so much of our energy goes into chasing the visible, countable kind of growth. The “number of units produced and sold this year” kind of growth.
Because it’s easy to measure, easy to reward and easy to brag about.

But the real value, for individuals and businesses, often sits in the invisible improvements. More options, better design, higher quality decisions. Smoother processes, reduced friction, greater clarity and better use of time.

All hard to quantify but obvious when we look back.

I honestly believe that the future belongs to people and organizations who consciously prioritize this type of growth which provides depth over breadth, sophistication over scale and clarity over clutter.

And those who understand this shift early will quietly, but decisively, pull ahead.

Worth thinking about 🤔