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If It Doesn't Drive Your Flywheel, Just Say No

February 26, 2024

We recent­ly had a great debate, with a cou­ple of CEOs, about why it’s so hard to devel­op and sus­tain a pow­er­ful, high­ly effec­tive growth strategy.

At the core of the dis­cus­sion was how many CEOs with great busi­ness­es end up killing their own growth and finan­cial performance.

What a dis­cus­sion we had! I wish we had record­ed it to share with others.

Too Much Excitement

In almost every case, it was because – in moments of excite­ment and oppor­tu­ni­ty – the CEO start­ed to do doing too many things that were out­side their core strategy.

For exam­ple, one com­pa­ny, just get­ting momen­tum in their first mar­ket, start­ed in a sec­ond, and then got real­ly excit­ed about an oppor­tu­ni­ty in a third and fourth mar­ket. All the ener­gy spent on a series of events, invest­ments and ded­i­cat­ed exec­u­tive time to chase mar­kets three and four pulled focus away from mar­kets one and two, which start­ed to seri­ous­ly falter.

After a bit of an awak­en­ing, they had to slash mar­kets three and four, and get back to basics.

Dou­ble Down on the Basics

In all the oth­er exam­ples and sto­ries we shared, there were two main rea­sons why com­pa­nies failed:

  • They hadn’t crys­tal­lized or clar­i­fied their core strat­e­gy and what makes their busi­ness thrive
  • They lacked the dis­ci­pline to stick to their core strat­e­gy, in moments of pas­sion and opportunity.

They over- or under-invest­ed time and resources and went a mile wide and an inch deep on their plans, when they should have dou­bled, tripled and quadru­pled down on the core things that real­ly worked in their business.

Do One Thing Well

Suc­cess lies in pick­ing one thing and doing it very well.

In Good to Great, Jim Collins talks about hedge­hogs and fox­es, based on the ancient Greek para­ble ​“The fox knows many things, but the hedge­hog knows one big thing.” His Hedge­hog Prin­ci­ple is about doing one thing incred­i­bly well, over and over again, to get bet­ter and better.

That approach works for peo­ple, too.

In his book The Social Ani­mal, author David Brooks talks about research by Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia psy­chol­o­gist Dr. Angela Duck­worth who found that suc­cess­ful peo­ple tend to be those who find and relent­less­ly chase one future goal, in con­trast to those who, as they dart from one inter­est to anoth­er, are much less like­ly to excel at any of them.

Not Every Oppor­tu­ni­ty Is for You

Oppor­tu­ni­ty will always knock on your door – and it’s human nature to get excit­ed, espe­cial­ly for entre­pre­neur­ial leaders.

But that doesn’t mean you have to answer.

You’ve got be focused on what you absolute­ly must do to win, in the next three years. Oth­er­wise, your strat­e­gy and your per­for­mance — whether in terms of growth or prof­itabil­i­ty — will suffer.

Sim­ple, Guid­ing Principles

That’s why our team works with com­pa­nies to imple­ment sim­ple tools – like Jim Collins’ Hedge­hog and Fly­wheel – to clar­i­fy and crys­tal­lize the who and what of a win­ning strategy.

Core prin­ci­ples, done with excel­lence, guide you to make the right choic­es. The dis­ci­pline to do so is up to you.

The Chal­lenge

  • What do you need to do to make your win­ning strat­e­gy clearer?
  • How could you make bet­ter deci­sions to ensure you stick to your strategy?

If you need help to stay on track, call us.

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About Lawrence & Co.
Lawrence & Co. is a growth strategy and leadership advisory firm that helps mid-market companies achieve lasting, reliable growth. Our Growth Management System turns 30 years of experience into practical steps that drive clarity, alignment, and performance—so leaders can grow faster, with less friction, and greater confidence.

About Kevin Lawrence
Kevin Lawrence has spent three decades helping companies scale from tens of millions to hundreds of millions in revenue. He works side-by-side with CEOs and leadership teams across North America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Europe, bringing real-world insights from hands-on experience. Kevin is the author of Your Oxygen Mask First, a book of 17 habits to help high-performing leaders grow sustainably while protecting their mental health and resilience. He also contributed to Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0). Based in Vancouver, he leads Lawrence & Co, a boutique firm of growth advisors.