In 30 seconds
Business growth and selling more are usually a top priority for business leaders, and this has been the case for the last 50 years But, our societies -with the rise of inequalities- and our planet -of limited resources and in a state of environmental degradation- cannot sustain growthism (growth for the sake of growing) anymore. We must look for better ways of doing business, models that deliver better outcomes for business, people, and the planet.
In 2 minutes
Business growth and selling more are usually a top priority for business leaders.
‘How do we sell more? How do we grow market share? How do we get more customers to buy more? How do we increase margins and shareholder return’? have been ringing out through boardrooms, C-suites, and sales team meetings for the last 50 years.
However, we are at a tipping point where societies -with the rise of inequalities- and our planet -of limited resources and in a state of environmental degradation- can longer sustain this infinite growth for the sake of growing (or growthism).
This 50+-year obsession with growing bigger faster, while extracting value at the cost of humans and the planet is killing us. Growthism is not human-centred.
Umair Haque, Director of Havis Media Labs and author of Betterness: Economics for Humans says “Just as positive psychology revolutionized our understanding of mental health by recasting the field as more than just treating mental illness, we need to rethink our economic paradigm. Why? Because business as we know it has reached a state of diminishing returns–though we work harder and harder, we never seem to get anywhere. This has led to a diminishing of the common wealth: wage stagnation, widening economic inequality, the depletion of the natural world, and more. To get out of this trap, we need to rethink the future of human exchange. In short, we need to get out of business and into betterness.”
There are practical remedies, decisions, and actions we can take now to bend the curve towards a better future. For example, shifting to value creation and selling better instead of more, delivering what our clients need in a way that is economically, environmentally, and morally sound; and being businessworthy, getting the ‘making money’ curve and the ‘making a difference’ curve come together – we need to make money while making a positive difference to other people; merging profit with a higher purpose while acting ethically and responsibly.
It’s time we rethink growth and look at the various options available to us, especially those options that deliver better business and societal outcomes for humans, humanity, and the planet.
It’s time we rethink growth.
PS – Selling Better instead of selling more is worthwhile. In fact, Selling Better has been proving to be more profitable than selling more.
Remember, everybody lives by selling something.
Stories from the field:
Thank you! I know I have already said this but I will say it again. It was a fantastic day. We walked away with some practical tools and ways of elevating our way of doing business, growing our sales and selling better! You were engaging, insightful and aligned the content and delivery to suit our team. Looking forward to our follow up sessions.
I had a client meeting on Wednesday and applied the WWW and gained plenty of F’s!
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