As posted by Robert Bruner on his own blog March 22, 2009
buoy·an·cy \ˈbȯi-ən(t)-sē, noun1 a: the tendency of a body to float or to rise when submerged in a fluid …2: the ability to recover quickly from depression or discouragement: resilience; 3. the property of maintaining a satisfactorily high level (as of prices or economic activity) -- Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
This is a dark hour for anyone who believes in the fundamental buoyancy of the private sector. Demand is in free-fall. Government officials have arrived saying, “I’m here to help.” In the ensuing melee, a lot of money is getting handed around, executive compensation slashed, employees laid off, debt paid off, and everyone is obsessing about costs. Such is all well and good, and may get us through this phase of the global economic crisis. But as usual, the conventional thinking is short-sighted and ignores a very important perspective: the top line (revenues) of a company’s profit and loss statement and what firms must do to induce customers to do business with them. Growth is the only palatable way out of this economic crisis. Who has a vision for growth? Who will speak up for the art of doing new business? Almost no one. The following graph gives the count of articles by year that feature either the phrase, “business growth,” or “revenue growth.” If 2009 goes the way of its first three months, our national conversation about growth will turn to a hoarse whisper.
Of course, we shouldn’t blame the media, for growth is yesterday’s news. The story today is all about the contraction—we are having a whopper of a sales-based contraction. But top-line growth is the much more common attribute of the U.S. economy than is contraction. Thus, even here at the depths of a recession, business practitioners (and even government officials) should study the attributes of growing companies and markets—and especially the attributes of those leaders who take enterprises through exceptional periods of growth....(click above link for the full article)
Comments