Last week, I listened to the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast with James Clear, author of "Atomic Habits." As a founder focused on supporting businesses on their growth journey, I was struck by his articulation of the relationship between identity and growth: "Identity is really useful. It helps you build habits. It gives you something to hang onto. Growth is unlearning. It's unlearning the things that used to serve you in a previous season but maybe don't serve you anymore."
This tension between identity and growth is intriguing: the identity your business adopts directly shapes how it operates and pursues its ambitions. Identity is not just descriptive—it actively determines your growth path. If you define your business as a small, static operation, your systems and mindset follow. If you define it as a growth-focused enterprise, your practices and strategies will be consistent with that goal.
A system in business is essentially a method of operating. Systems that support real growth differ from those that merely maintain the status quo. What once worked may now hinder growth and/or undermine your future. Whether you pursue more revenue, broader market access, or expanded product lines, the underlying point is that sustainable growth requires evolving both identity and supporting systems.
In my interactions with businesses, the need for businesses to intentionally adopt digital systems that support their growth aspirations is clear. Luckily, we live in a world where businesses have access to digital solutions from day one. One of the benefits of digital business tools is their potential to adapt to users' needs at each stage of their growth journey, unlike manual processes, which rely on human capacity to scale. As a decision maker within a business, these are some of the critical questions you should be pondering:
- Is your business identity inhibiting our growth?
- What practices, norms, and systems does your business need to unlearn to meet our growth ambitions?
Growth asks you to question—and sometimes reinvent—the very identity and systems that got you this far. Regularly challenge your business's self-image and practices. Use adaptable digital solutions to ensure your operations match your ambitions. Sustainable growth depends on repeatedly asking what your business aspires to become and whether your systems and practices are moving you in that direction.