This is a very interesting year for Blue Daring. In June the company will turn seven years old. Not only does this seventh year mark one of our best (we’ve been smoothly executing our 2009 strategic plan, we’re on target to meet projections, and our customers and projects just keep getting better), it has also been a time of great reflection (isn’t every birthday?). The biggest question on my mind – Where do I want to take this company? The answer? Were going to grow. \n\nGrowth can be achieved through acquisition, a very large project or organically with time. Regardless of the route, however, one must be ready for the journey. Growth is like mountain climbing. Prepare, and you can have one of life’s greatest epiphanies when you reach the top. Don’t prepare, and spend many months in the hospital – if you’re lucky. \n\nI’ve recently become interested in quantum mechanics, the study of energy and the behavior of particles at the atomic and subatomic level. (If you’ve never heard Richard Feynman speak about physics, now’s the time.) When you look at life on such a basic level, it is easy to discover patterns recognizable in everyday life and more specifically its growth.\n\nBelow are three simple lessons of nature we can use to grow:\n\n1. Shaking Things Up Is the Only Way\nIt’s not easy to create an atomic event. Atoms (and most all objects in the universe) are surrounded by an energy field and as such they bump into each other constantly. It takes a specific event, such as heat, to make them move superfast and bump into each other hard enough to join and change states. Think about what happens when you heat water; it turns to steam. Growing or changing anything, including a business, takes an event – some impetus or better many, that will make things happen. Identify a new market base that wants your product, launch an internal incentive program to motivate your staff, hire another development professional – but whatever you do – do something!\n\n2. Destruction is Part of Growth\nWhen two particles combine they cease existing in one state and become another. That said don’t be afraid to end a few things in bring life to others. Maybe you need to let go of two mediocre employees and hire a single great one. Maybe you have to end a longtime partnership thats been taxing on resources in order to open your time for new and improved relationships. Maybe you have to shut down one of your slowest offices and use the money to invest in a marketing campaign. Always remember that every end is a beginning for both you and everyone involved. \n\n3. Growth Needs a Framework – Yours\nThis animation demonstrates beautifully the wave activity in two spaces (quantum dots) – one square and the other triangle.\n\n\n\nThe result of any expansion of energy is shaped by the environment in which it happens. When you are expanding your organization, you must establish a framework, of your design, with which it harness it. Create a framework for your growth activities that makes each moment an active contributor to your end goals. Implement processes to help you manage new accounts, use technology to help you decipher mass amounts of information, develop a formula for sales based on your recent successes. Take nuclear energy as a perfect example – if contained it can eliminate the world’s reliance on natural resources – if uncontained it can destroy it. Harness your growth strategically and succeed.\n\n2010 is all about growth. It’s the spark and the subsequent foundation for new businesses, stronger organizations and slowly, but surely, an economic recovery. We are working with some great organizations to help them grow faster than ever. Contact me personally and let us help your organization achieve greater things. After all, seven is my lucky number and 2010 can be yours.\n\n