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Growth circle.

By Bamboo In The Wind

Why are kids creative and happy? They are not bothered by failures and no one around bothers them when they make mistakes. They try one thing after another until they find something that gets them excited. When they reach that satisfaction point, they are happy and content, and their exploration ends. But only until they feel bored again and need new stimulation.

This process represents the growth circle. You create something, use it, get bored of it and go back to creating! It happens in cycles. We do something, it keeps us content, and then we need new stimulation.

What if all early-stage efforts operated in this way? If we leave a lot of room for contributors to explore, fail and explore all aspects of their responsibility, creativity and enthusiasm will catapult the organization and its productivity. Of course, early organizations are wary of cost overtures, and unproductive efforts.

If growth circles are employed to provide space to create a safe place to fail. It can accelerate co-creation. It might mean we have a chance to be different in the market through the compilation of crowd-contribution.

A growth circle means handing the agency back to employees. It does not mean creating a chaotic uncontrolled environment. It means a highly empowered and trusting progressive environment that offers people a chance to make a real difference in what we plan to deliver. Yet in most places command and control environment is the preferred method of rallying the troops and controlling the outcome both of which do not mean competitive advantage.

Early-stage efforts that boldly develop growth circles are likely to build resilient outcomes. One needs to embark on creating a space for growth circles.

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