Why Great Products And No Planning Will Carry A Midsized Firm Only So Far (Before It Crashes)

Sometimes growth happens too quickly. I saw this at a former employer. The company grew exponentially and the marketing, underwriting and other departments were not ready. The result was that the company kept growing, but growth slowed for a period of about two years. Now this company has more underwriters, marketing folks, and offices in the U.S. than I am sure the owners ever dreamed possible in 1999. They failed to plan properly, then hired some heavy hitters in the industry, made other perceived drastic employment changes, and are now more successful, better able to sustain the growth.

The cliché goes: "A failure to plan is a plan to fail." This is true, but it could also be that a failure to plan requires quick planning eventually in order not to fail. Better late than never (another cliché for you).

Perhaps if companies would consider hiring people before they were necessary, adjusting to their anticipated growth, companies would be able to better follow the logic of Robert Sher's post.