Growth versus Expansion

Often businessmen mistake expansion for growth. One thing is sure; expansion is not equal to growth. What these businessmen mean is up-scaling. But up scaling does not necessarily read growth.

Growth and expansion could not be more different. Growth is mostly seen as a result (consequence). However, before being a result, it is a process (cause) with its proper laws, nobody can alter. Growth is per definition a biotic process. Non-biotic entities or systems do not grow. Let me put it in simple words; can one make a chair grow? Even after hosing it? Or even after nourishing it? Off-course not. And there is a simple reason for it; there is no life in the chair molecules. Growth is entirely based on the law of multiplication. Whatever is multiplied has the same characteristics (genes) as what it is multiplied of. That is how growth works. No multiplication – no growth.

Expansion contrarily is not based on multiplication. What happens with expansion is that the original structure is blown up to an exponent of its original size. Molecules can increase their mass, however they cannot multiply. The increase in size is achieved by reducing the cohesion of the molecules.

In case of indiscriminate expansion, we see a self-fulfilling prophecy in action. If expansion was calculated from a company’s start, chances are that the expansion will be stable. However, in most cases expansion was not part of the original setup, but a decision along the journey.

Let’s look at the downside of expansion. Everything – and I mean everything, has a weak spot by principle (also a strong spot). With expansion one benefits from the strength in order to expand, though in the same time concentrating all the pressure and stress on the weak spot. The expansion will continue until the weak spot can no longer hold and the whole system collapses.

Biotic growth only occurs when the insufficiencies are nourished and strengthen. One cannot benefit from the strength. In fact the insufficiencies are slowing down the whole process immediately. From the very beginning the insufficiencies will have their affect on the growth expansion. Opposite to expansion, only by increasing the resistance growth will occur.

With expansion this is different. The size will increase despite the weak point, not slowing it down. If you don’t know what the critical point is, the collapse will be abrupt and final. Many companies don’t know what the critical point of their expansion is. As long as the expansion increases their size, benefiting from their strengths, they will continue the expansion, and obviously concentrating more stress on the weak points until total and final collapse.

Companies who adopt biotic growth will see gradual increase in size, leaving enough time to intervene and to strengthen the company from within.

The current economy has collapsed because of the indiscriminate expansion fever, concentrating all the stress of the expansion on the weakest point. The weakest point were the “toxic mortgages”. The collapse was structurally present and it was just a matter of time before the actual collapse kicked in. However I believe that the crisis in this proportion has been engaged by a series of expansion models depended on each other. With a chain of expansion models, once one system collapses, the pressure and stress on the other systems increases and the breaking point will induce collapse even more rapidly, like a domino.

No economic model is indestructible, nor the expansion nor biotic model. All systems have their weaknesses and if not taken into account, they will ultimately collapse. The biotic business model requires a totally different mindset in order to generate results. You must be a cultivator in order to generate growth. Only cultivators are successful in growth. Always identifying and nourishing what the company is most lacking of. In fact the biotic system only works by releasing the pressure from the weak points over and over again.

The current crisis has the benefit of confronting us with what didn’t work. Now there will be enough openness to consider other paradigms like biotic business growth. Indiscriminate expansion has led to indiscriminate collapse.

When you come to think of all this, is not more than come sense, simple wisdom. Though when it comes down to making more and more money, wisdom and common sense take a vacation.

Narrow is the way that leads to life

Recently, we announced that the name Greenhouse|BBC will disappear in 2012 (if you want to know why, please read our previous post).

The logo below reveals the new name for our company: Narroway.

Narroway…. why Narroway?!?

This name is inspired by a quote of Jeshua Ben Yosef (a.k.a Jesus of Nazareth) stating ‘narrow is the way that leads to life‘. We feel that this expresses well the spirit behind our approach and what we believe in, in short: our brand. Since 2004 we have helped our customers to grow by adopting ‘life’ paradigms.

The narrow way represents the constant choices leaders are facing to ensure the viability and sustainability of their companies, brands, organizations and even themselves. It is by being coherent and making consistent choices that companies, brands, organizations and leaders will become stronger.

This means discerning between what sounds good and what is good, between what is pleasing and what is constructive, between dominating and stimulating. Walking the narrow way always entails making clear choices when vagueness would be easier, going against the ‘flow’ when those around you consider that foolishness and standing by your values and believes when compromising would be so much easier.

Some may say that we just like to be contradictory and make our lives difficult – we would say that in the end, you always reap what you have sown.

There are times when the narrow way feels uncomfortable, because it is not the road of the majority. However, if you want to go your own way according to your personal calling, the narrow way will be a strong foundation, a life style and a stimulation to pursue your vision. It is a path that generates value and ultimately makes you fruitful. You will attract those stakeholders that will strengthen your organization, brand or leadership and repel those that have an opportunistic, short term view who would end up weakening your organization, brand or leadership.

The narrow way will discourage those who are not looking for value, and attract those who are looking for value. If you have the patience and determination to stay on the narrow way, you will grow naturally and not loose time in ‘short cuts’ that will end up stealing your time.

Our new logo

We are called to…

…increase the value of leaders, organizations and brands by raising their level of unexchangeability, so that their growth potential is unlocked and they are enabled to accomplish their vision.

…increase the decision power of leaders in order to allow them to make pertinent and sustainable choices that result in growth and fruitfulness on personal and corporate level.

…offer proprietary innovative tools, enabling an accurate assessment and monitoring of the growth process that increases the level of control and efficiency, while reducing the required decision time.

…promote the biotic way of thinking by raising awareness of the benefits of the biotic principles and creating synergy with all our stakeholders.

For the future we aspire to…

…have become the international reference in personal and corporate growth optimization thanks to our growth process parameters that enable objective benchmarking.

…have developed a set of best-in-class tools that are unparalleled in performance and pertinence, thanks to the continuous research and development as well as the adoption of new processes and technology.

…have promoted the principles of biotic growth to complementary fields of expertise, thanks to their universal relevance and our continuous research and development with partners from other sectors.

…have developed an institute where consultants, experts and students work together and are solicited by leaders in every field of society, thanks to the effectiveness of the biotic and spiritual principles.

Our fundamental values and choices

To clear the way for effective solutions, we acknowledge that right choices will only make it to successful concretization, when there is a spiritual willingness to overcome egocentrism.

In order for people and organizations to unlock their potential and experience growth in a tangible and sustainable way, our solutions originate from a ‘life’ paradigm, governed by biotic laws, since growth is a living (biotic) process.

For people and organizations to benefit from our knowledge and solutions, we always search for ways to communicate complex concepts in the simplest possible way.

For our solutions to be sustainable, we always approach every challenge and solution as a unity of inseparable physical,  psychological and spiritual aspects that are interrelated.

To spawn the desired behavior from our stakeholders and to build fruitful relationships with them, we must always do unto them what we would like them do unto us.

For people and organizations to be freed from what impedes their growth, we always speak the unembellished truth, but without judgment and with a sincere concern for their needs.

In order for us to develop solutions that really matter to people, we always demonstrate our care for them through an attitude of servanthood.

The future

There is nothing more fulfilling than doing what one believes in!

We are excited about entering 2012 with our new name and a regenerated spirit to serve our customers with a new élan. We surely didn’t chose for a popular name or for a popular positioning. We chose for a name that might (should!) polarize. We chose for a positioning that will make a difference in the life of those we have the privilege to work with. This comes with much responsibility. We cannot settle for appearances, we have to deliver real and concrete results.

Does the Narroway approach of life and value creation resonate with you? Then leave a comment below or contact us for your roadmap to biotic growth.

The End and The Beginning

It has been seven years since we started Greenhouse|BBC – seven years of pioneering in the market by introducing the concept of biotic growth in branding. In the Orient, seven years is considered to be a full cycle. So this seemed the right period for us to look back and ask ourselves some poignant questions regarding our future.

What have we learned? Will it impact our vision, our values and how we serve our clients? What will be the effect of these learnings for the coming seven years?

We can summarize our learnings in 2 key findings:

1. A decline in sustainability on all levels.
2. Brand owners shy away from making coherent choices to increase the health of their brands to make it fruitful. Instead they prefer short term fixes making them feel good.

If you have the patience to read this whole blog you will discover why we are making such bold statements and the future role we see for Greenhouse|BBC.

Sustainability does not just happen

The current economical, financial, social and political turmoil shows that today ‘sustainability’ is challenged not only in business, but in every aspect of life. Since 2004 we have been advocating for biotic growth instead of expansion. For a good reason! The indiscriminate quest for expansion has enticed business leaders all over the world to create and push an economic model that generates volume by inflating it. They do not seem to realize that such models eventually collapse like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Why? Expansion is the increase of volume/size by decreasing the cohesion between its intrinsic parts. In other words, it looks bigger but this is the result of weakening it. Just like a balloon. By inflating it, it gets bigger and bigger till the membrane becomes so stretched that by inflating it just a little more it will tear and explode.

How is it different from biotic growth? Biotic growth occurs thanks to the increase of internal strength. Organizations and societies as living organisms need to be strengthened by increasing their coherence and nourished in a balanced way, to make them healthy. This results in fruitfulness and sustainable growth. Here growth is the natural consequence of an increase in strength, not a weakening.

Sustainability does not just happen, it needs to be there by design. If we look at brands and organizations as an inflatable entity, then collapse is going to happen by design (greed will make sure that leaders do not know when to stop till it is too late).

We believe that a biotic approach is the only way to sustainability. By adequately nourishing brands and organizations as a living organism, strength will be gained and growth potential unlocked. The key to obtaining growth is therefore finding ways to increase strength. Hence our clear opposition to the expansion thinking on growth.

Does that mean we have all the answers? We do not, but we do know that the way to find them is the biotic way. This will not deliver instant quick fixes and profits, but it will lead to true sustainable growth.

The word biotic is a scientific term for alive. Nature is sustainable by design. It has inspired scientists from a variety of disciplines to be creative and develop products and processes that work — why not let it inspire brand owners, leaders and institutions to be creative and develop solutions that work?

Why is it that today’s (business)leaders have adopted a non-biotic paradigm to govern their and our world?  After all, the environment is biotic (here we find the resources for production) and the consumers (people) are biotic. So, where is the catch? Society is constituted of people within an environment. Both are alive and vulnerable. Both need to be nourished. However, today we have drained the life out of both people and the environment. Never has there been such a wealth of resources and never has there been such a poverty. Material, emotional and spiritual poverty.

Seven years ago we didn’t know that today biotic growth would be this relevant. We assessed how companies, societies and leaders made their choices and concluded that this could not go on forever.

We did not expect that our assessment would be proven right, with the beginning of the crisis in 2008.

Today, more than ever before we are certain that the biotic way we embarked on is the way to life and consequently to sustainability. We understood that branding is not limited to the world of consumers, but the same principles apply wherever one person or group is asking another person or group a type of effort in return for a promise.

The biotic way is a narrow way. Not everyone wants to take it, because of impatience. Biotic growth is not available at the push of a button, it requires cultivation. It takes time. It has seasons. It does not fit into quarterly reports and targets.

The human factor: the difference between success and failure

The second thing we learned is equally fundamental. Even the best strategies may never be implemented. They can only contribute to success, if there is a strong willingness to make coherent choices. We have learned that similar to a medical specialist, we can identify an illness and even what has caused it, but we cannot force people to change the very lifestyle that caused it in the first place.

For us, more than delivering a strategy our vocation is to bring positive change, facilitate true biotic growth. In all honesty we cannot say that we always succeeded in this. We always did succeed in identifying the growth blockages and to propose the appropriate strategy for unlocking the potential for growth. We always were complimented by our customers for the obvious pertinence and actionability of our strategy. Where we did not always succeed is having all our customer adapt their policy and make coherent choices conform to the brand strategy they approved. That came as quite a surprise! How could it be that a person acknowledges that he has a challenge, that he asks you for your help and expertise, that he recognizes the proposed strategy as the right one, that he finds the proposed steps and recommendations practical and actionable — and then does not implement them?!?

The human factor, so intangible — yet so determining, made the difference. This made us think. We wanted to go back to the conception of Greenhouse|BBC. The discovery and adoption of the biotic methodology as used today, was the result of a quest. Contrary to what some may think, it was not just a mental quest but also a spiritual quest. The quest for the discovery of indisputable and sustainable intelligence in nature as an expression of intentional design.

Today we realize that the key for growth are not structures, strategies or processes. Don’t get us wrong. All these are indispensable for growth, without them growth is impossible. However, the real key for social and corporate growth are hidden inside people.

‘Since 2000 I have spent much time exploring the human nature. Even though human nature has many facets and aspects, three dimensions are the backbone of every human being: they all have a body, a soul and a spirit (some may have other views on this – I will be glad to debate this with them). After studying the human nature empirically and spiritually, it is clear that the balance between these 3 dimensions determines how choices are made.’ (Matteo Piano)

This merits some further explanation. A body requires certain things to stay alive. It is focused on survival. What it needs is determined by nature. It has no preference. When it is hungry, it needs nutrients not a specific dish.

The soul is focused on gratification. It moves between pleasure and fear. It is attracted by pleasure and repelled by fear. Pleasure and fear are subjective and per definition not the representation of reality. It does not give any judgment whether something is good for you are not. Pleasure can be good or not. Also fear can be good or not. It depends. The soul is completely self-centered and has no capacity to discern what is good or not. It is the ‘feeling’ that determines what is acceptable or not. If it feels good, then it must be good.

The spirit is focused on discerning and this discernment transcends its ‘self’. It is by transcending one’s self that we are able to discern what is good for ourself and for others. Discernment is not based on feeling. Many times what is good for you does not feel good. Ask people who are overweight. Changing their eating habits does not make them feel good in the beginning. Many people fail to loose weight, because the road to less kilo’s does not feel good. However, those who are able to transcend their own feelings are able to succeed.

We live in the era of the rulership of the soul. Sending messages that make someone feel good is the foundation of successful advertising. Advertising and marketing thrive on the soul and its incapacity to discern what is good for someone or not.

Our goal and ambitions have not changed: it is still to contribute to real sustainable growth. However, this won’t happen if the conditions for it are not acknowledged, understood and respected. Without the integration of true spirituality in government and leadership, what we are facing today will only get worse.

The question we are asking ourselves and that we encourage everyone to ask is: are we part of the problem or part of the solution? This might sound cliché, but that does not diminish in any way the value and relevance of the answer.

Patrick Dixon, internationally acclaimed futurologist puts it clearly: ‘if from today onwards we would have no new inventions, with the technology we have today we could solve all the problems the World is facing’. Why is it not happening? Because just like everybody else, leaders do not make rational choices but emotional choices. And there you have the source of all the pain: leaders make choices that make them feel good — not that are good or do good to them and the organizations they lead.

Prof Marc Buelens, publicized an article in the Belgian opinion leading magazine ‘Trends’. He came with a sobering conclusion: the more power people have, the less they are open to divergent advise. This sheds a sobering light on leadership and explains why leaders often make choices that are clearly lacking good sense.

It will come as no surprise then, that we have decided to fully integrate all the above mentioned human dimensions in our work – body, spirit and soul.

So what does this mean for the coming 7 years? 

As our client or business relation, you are entitled to know how this is going to affect us and our work for you for the future.

Just like any brand owner should, we want to strengthen our brand – the one we believe in. Just like you, we have to be coherent and consistent with the values and principles driving it. As we want to make a difference and help you make a difference, we will advocate unequivocally for the principles that derive from life and generate living brands (organizations, product, services and leaders). We will therefore emphasize much more our identity as a biotic company who’s inspired by nature as source of intentional and sustainable intelligence.

This means that the spiritual side of our company will become manifest, not as a mystical veil, but as an effective way to discern and measure the intangible factors that really make a difference in how people (re)act. By integrating the spiritual dimension into branding, our advise and recommendations will become ever more actionable as our clients will be able to address the 3 human dimensions that could otherwise block any branding process.

We made sure that the biotic principles we adopt are both spiritually and scientifically sustainable. This is not contradictory! It actually is the key to a holistic approach that recognizes the importance and influence of the body, spirit and soul in all decision making by people.

Just like any brand should, we want to improve the life of our stakeholders. That is our supreme criteria.

From now on, we will work exclusively for clients who actively appropriate the ‘biotic way’ and make respective choices that lead to real and sustainable growth.

Expect from us a more black and white approach, with strong scientific backing.

Some will not like us anymore – and some will like us more.

Some will abandon us – and some will specifically look for us.

That is O.K.. That is branding!

We will mark the beginning of this new cycle with a new name. To establish a change of course. Therefore Greenhouse|BBC will no longer be our name.

(to be continued)

Matteo Piano & Gregor Küpper