If you’re experiencing hypergrowth, the daily frustrations and stresses that come with this intense period can feel overwhelming: you’re hiring fast, fulfilling customer needs, and trying not to drop any of the many balls your company is now responsible for juggling.
In this period, it’s easy to make mistakes: in the name of expediency and getting the job done, you may focus on finding the “least common denominator” to solve the problem (i.e., hiring the person who is semi-capable yet available, patching together a tech solution that will do for now but leaves vulnerabilities in the company’s infrastructure, etc.). These “quick fixes” can lead to longer-term problems that can manifest years later, even leading to the destruction of the company. These patchwork solutions don’t do you any favors in the short-term, either; they keep the company from reaching its full potential.
If your company is currently in a state of hypergrowth or on the verge of hypergrowth, here are five principles to keep in mind that will enable you to keep a long-term perspective while navigating the demands of the short term.
1. Take time to think about “how,” not just “what.”
When managing hypergrowth, issues that threaten to slow the company down are never about the tech. (Well, rarely.) Once you find a magic product-market fit, the issues hinge on people and process—and the implosion at OpenAI is a prime example. An $86 billion deal was put in jeopardy. Seven hundred employees threatened to walk out. Why?
The OpenAI board said they wanted more transparency; they couldn’t trust their CEO Sam Altman.
The WSJ reported that “Altman this weekend was furious with himself for not having ensured the board stayed loyal to him and regretted not spending more time managing its various factions...”
We can ascribe the OpenAI meltdown to a failure of emotional intelligence: a breakdown of trust, communication issues, loss of social capital, and failed conflict resolution. No tech solution can solve your people problems. Take the time to focus on how you and your teams are working together, not just what you’re working on. It's hard to measure the direct ROI of this approach—until it's not.
Elsebeth Johnson uses the term “macromanagement” to describe the big, strategic questions which guide the company, such as: Why does this company exist? What do we offer our customers? What do we not offer our customers? Why does our offer bring value to our customers? Elsbeth advocates leaders consider these questions on a weekly basis–not yearly, at the annual offsite.
No one else will calendar this time for you; if you let it, your day will be run by others who are prioritizing their urgent tasks, not necessarily your important ones. Consider putting structures in place that will make creating and seizing this focused time a part of your routine, such as blocking time on your calendar in multi-hour increments (yes, it can be done). The more that deep thinking becomes a part of your routine, the less you will be caught off guard by ever-rotating set of challenges hypergrowth brings.
2. Define a range of outcomes that you measure yourself against.
There’s no one right answer in hypergrowth because there are too many unknowns at the fast pace of growth. You’ll be better prepared to deal with the unexpected if you allow for a range of outcomes, rather than one strict benchmark. Ask the question: “Are we directionally correct in our progress?” Then adjust as necessary for efficiency.
As Dorie Clark writes in her book The Long Game, aiming toward a range of outcomes implies a long-term perspective and may involve lowering the bar on lesser important metrics in the short term. Adopting simple rules for business areas that are causing bottlenecks is one way to reduce friction and head toward your desired outcomes.
These simple rules are a set of guidelines for company operations and strategy, which leadership develops in collaboration with department leaders. Simple rules allow for easier decisions; for example, in their HBR article, Donald Sull and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt shared that a recruitment firm in Poland developed the rules “any new product must support at least one of the company’s current priorities” and “at least two departments must support a project.” The rules your company adopts will vary based on your specific circumstances, but they should be clear and easy to implement in decision making.
3. Systematize at every turn.
How you do something is as important as what you do. You must focus on creating processes that are replicable and scalable – or you’ll pay the price later. Maybe your company currently can’t afford your ideal tech stack, but what can you afford that will make your life easier today and allow you to expand in the future? Duct tape doesn’t scale; systems, processes, and operational rigor do. Create an automatable system whenever and wherever you can.
In periods of hypergrowth, there are inevitably fires that need to be put out–weekly, daily, hourly. Yet don’t focus too much on the firefighting: as Peter Senge writes in The Fifth Discipline[1] , this will create an organization of firefighters. In my book No Dumbing Down, I write about how organizations hurt themselves when they place an emphasis on the urgent at the expense of long-term, replicable, scalable success. Get the systems in place that will minimize friction and keep you moving forward.
4. Over hire.
Over hire strategically–just a bit. Don’t focus on the optics of suddenly bringing dozens or even hundreds of new people on board; “over hire” means for skills, not just for people. You need people who can do the job at hand, but also those who can see the bigger picture and know what next steps should be taken to support the company’s growth. It’s always better to over hire than under hire.
What about development? Yes, talent development can and should be part of the organization’s strategy, but you also must consider, “Do I have time to develop this person into the new or expanded role?”
The debate about whether to hire an overqualified candidate can cause confusion for leaders; yet as Amy Gallo writes in her article, there is less risk than leaders fear in hiring someone deemed “overqualified” for a particular role. Gallo provides a useful set of guidelines for hiring: think broadly about the organization’s talent needs (now and in the future), consider how you’d accommodate a promising candidate’s skillset, and pay candidates what they are worth.
Leaders may miss out on promising talent when they view the hiring process too narrowly.
Hypergrowth companies will sometimes prioritize hiring for culture fit – for example, hiring people who are curious learners with a bias for action– not overfocusing on the depth of a set of technical skills which may be more easily learned.
5. Expand your definition of success.
Success for a leader of a company in hypergrowth amounts to much more than this quarter’s numbers: the leader should measure success by the company’s ability to sustain growth. McKinsey reports in The Mindsets and Practices of Excellent CEOs that strong CEOs set the corporate strategy by focusing on beating the odds: they must have a vision for where they want the company to be in five, ten, fifteen years. The CEO does this by considering the value their company offers, opportunities in the marketplace, the demands of stakeholders and customers, and their own personal aspirations and values. Strong CEOs take a measured approach to expectation setting; they aim high yet are grounded in the reality of what it will take to achieve long-term objectives.
And yet so much of the relentless pressure in our culture pushes us toward doing what’s easy, what’s guaranteed, or what looks glamorous in the moment. In her book The Long Game, author Dorie Clark argues for a different approach. Clark argues the importance of doing small things over time to achieve our goals–and to keep at them, even when they seem pointless, boring, or hard.
With this measured approach, the sustained success is its own reward–outside of any securing of investment, influx of new hires, or extra-profitable quarter. CEO’s who successfully navigate hypergrowth and come out on the other side keep this long-range view and renew their commitments to the processes that support and enable growth.
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Mastering Hypergrowth: 5 Strategic Principles For Long-Term Success - Forbes
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