TREND / January
Go slow
In praise of steady
progress
Words by Christopher Walsh
Publicity photo
If you’ve attended a tech conference
in the last few years, you’ve probably
noticed an obsession with speed.
Companies are idolised when they are
able to achieve overnight success, and
‘unicorns’ – startups that have reached a
valuation of over one billion dollars – are
the envy of the industry. Startups and
large tech companies alike are constantly
trying to discover the key to rapid growth.
But if you ask one business expert, the
companies worth emulating aren’t
the ones that have achieved these
unthinkable levels of growth. ‘We should
be looking to the companies that have
been around 150 years and are still
growing,’ says Paul Hughes, a public
speaker and expert in business growth
strategies. ‘You won’t read about them
in the newspapers, but the growth that’s
happening in these organisations is
mature. It’s balanced.’
Of course, there are lessons to be
learned from today’s unicorns, and
Hughes doesn’t discount their success.
However, the sheer rarity of that type of
growth makes it difficult to replicate. ‘For
an organisation to become a unicorn is an
unnatural event, and to seek that kind of
growth is also unnatural. If that happens,
it’s great, but it’s not what businesses
should be aiming for.’
So how should businesses work
to develop mature growth in an
environment dominated by new
technologies and artificial intelligence?
According to Hughes, it’s about
establishing your own values and then
determining how those new technologies
can fit in with those values. ‘Organisations
need to answer three questions: who am
I, where do I come from, and where am I
going? These are timeless questions that
can be used to inspire timely actions.’
While Hughes promotes a timeless
approach to creating growth, he
recognises that the business world is
changing. In his lectures, he encourages
organisations to take advantage of
five trends to stay ahead of the curve:
embracing globalisation, embracing
diversity, becoming tech-savvy,
establishing better partnerships, and
sharing leadership. He emphasises
the final point: while industries may
previously have been dominated by
a single company or even a single
executive, today’s global business
environment leads to decentralised
leadership. Those companies that aren’t
able to establish mutually beneficial
partnerships and share the mantle of
leadership may be left behind in a rapidly
changing business environment.
It may be impossible for startups to
avoid the temptation of seeking explosive
growth like that achieved by Uber, Stripe,
and Airbnb. But Hughes makes the
argument that companies will be better
off following a strategy borrowed from
blues music: ‘start low, go slow, catch fire,
go higher.’ Just like a good blues number
needs a slow build before it can really
take off, so too should businesses focus on
slow development rather than blowing up
too soon.
—
W E L C O M E TO
THE BRAND-NEW
RADISSON BLU
O LY M P I Y S K I Y H O T E L !
—
Paul Hughes
is a business consultant and
keynote speaker who specialises
in helping organisations
achieve growth. Over
25 years, he has worked as a
professional keynote speaker
for governments, academic
institutions, companies,
and industry events, ranging
from Coca-Cola to Vodafone
to the G7 global summit.
Hughes recently spoke at the
invitation of the Investment and
Development Agency of Latvia
and its director, Andris Ozols.
Discover unparalleled views of the Moscow skyline
from one of 379 stylish rooms
rising 125 metres above the megalopolis.
radissonblu.com/en/olympiyskiyhotel-moscow
44
/ airBaltic.com