Yesterday, I sat down with Ramzi Yakob from Howden for this unique, deep-dive look at how companies grow.
Ramzi's hypothesis is that there are only three ways that companies can grow, and in this episode, we unpacked this hypothesis, stress-tested it and looked at concrete examples.
Key takeaways:
- There are three ways companies can grow: increasing usage, increasing value derived from each instance of use, and increasing utility by serving new needs.
- Money and data are crucial for sustained growth, as they enable investment in innovation and provide insights into customer needs.
- Efficiency and cost cutting alone cannot drive growth; investment in innovation and new ventures is necessary.
- Traditional companies often struggle to make products and services that are useful and used due to their focus on their core business and lack of innovation capabilities.
- To achieve sustainable growth, companies need to design their organisation and operations to be adaptable and innovative. Product development can be more rewarding as it allows for a feedback loop and serving people in the present.
Here's what we covered:
00:00 Ramzi's Background and Career Journey
04:11 The Three Ways Companies Can Grow
08:33 Rebalancing Time and Resources for Growth
09:03 The Three Ways Companies Can Grow (Continued)
17:55 The Importance of Money and Data in Growth
23:03 Increasing Value Derived from Each Instance of Use
25:27 Increasing Utility by Serving New Needs
32:26 Decoupling Growth from Production Volume
35:15 Leveraging Underutilised or Emerging Assets
36:43 Targeting New Customer Segments
46:02 The Challenges Faced by Traditional Companies
49:24 The Focus on cost-cutting
52:47 Revisiting the Model
53:45 Transition to Product Development
54:14 Serving People and Feedback Loop
54:42 Preference for Immediate Impact
PS. If you're looking for support in focussing your innovation strategy to pave the way for breakthrough growth, contact the Future Foundry team here.