Stage 5 Growth - 8 Keys for Scaling Up

Growth comes by having the following 8 positive keys. They are like eight horses to be added into your growth engine for increasing its horsepower. 1 Accumulation of little and caring for details. 2 Steady Progress and don't give up. 3 Beauty and Gracefulness. 4 Nourishment and Self-reliance. 5 Going a Little Further to Stand out. 6 Progress  righteously and courageously. 7 Rising in faithfulness and loyalty. 8 Management of Diffusion or Viral Spreading.

Overcoming obstacles and impedance as discussed Stage 4 Overcome Obstacles - Some Nuggets from I-Ching is just reducing the load and drags. We must build up greater horse-power in our engine to move forward quickly. These are the eight positive steps that you can take to increase the power and speed to grow quickly. 

K1 Accumulation of Little and Caring for Details - #09 小畜 Small Accumulation 

Accumulation of little makes a big difference over time. Small defects not taken care of will become a big problem when the scale is enlarged. Hence, take care of the details and never ignore it because it is small. Luxurious and quality goods are found in the details. It is better to fix any defect or problem when the firm is small and it is easy to change. Many business fails in the growing stage because of problems that were not fixed earlier and show up when the business increases. There is a big difference between Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. When is successful in the laboratory need to be redesigned and engineered for large scale manufacturing and production. You need greater precision and robustness for scaling up. You need to remove human dependency to a minimum and to institutionalize and automate for smooth growth.

See also Dollar Saved is Different from Dollar Earned 09小畜 Small Accumulation

K2 Steady Progress and Don't give up - #53 渐 Gradual 

The Summit of the Mountain is reached step by step and maintaining the progress. Don't give up because the progress is slow. A few more steps and you will be there. Learn and overcome the obstacles encountered on the way. Motivate yourself to continue. Make adjustment to move in the right direction.

K3 Beauty and Gracefulness - #22賁 Adornment - Shibumi

Progress comes by making yourself or your offering attractive. You must have beauty in appearance and gracefulness in behavior reflecting the good character within. Beauty is a dynamic interplay of gentleness and strengths, hardness and softness. It is simplicity, purity and elegance with depth.

K4 Nourishment and Self-reliance - #27 頤 Cheek

We develop ourselves two ways – our character and our strength in our heart, mind & body. Grow up to be self-reliance and independent. Then we may be able to enter into healthy relationship with others. We keep our body healthy and youthful by controlling our eating, drinking and exercise. We also care for others by working with and developing talented people and to contribute to the society. A meaningful life makes a happy heart and a healthy life.

Apple Inc always has the human design, software and hardware capability with them. They bought over smaller companies with the key capabilities that they need. They only outsource its manufacturing. Google, the software guy, bought Motorola's Mobile division to add hardware capability.

K5 Going a Little Further to Stand out - #62 小过 Little Excess

This is about going the extra mile, taking the extra effort to standout. For the righteous and good things, do a little more than expected. It will create delights. For the bad things, correct the little mistakes before they become disaster. Be watchful of the little signs of deviations from normal, they are alerts. Take heed. Follow the trend and just stay a little ahead of others, to be in the leading edge. Excessively ahead is called the bleeding edge of big losses.

This is summarized well by Art Linkletter, successful TV host and business man that lived to 97, who said, "Do a little more than you’re paid to. Give a little more than you have to. Try a little harder than you want to. Aim a little higher than you think possible, and give a lot of thanks to God for health, family, and friends."

K6 Progress Righteously and Courageously - #35 晋 Progress 

Progress brings rewards and powerful connection. They come from perseverance in righteous character and courageous behavior. The proven righteousness shines out brightly and influence others. Staying course, overcoming obstacles but do not progress into a corner and get stuck!

K7 Rising in faithfulness and loyalty - #46 升 Rising

Rising comes by picking and following the right Leaders faithfully. Firstly, pick leaders that share our convictions and ambitions of life. We then follow them faithfully and diligently. Accumulation of performance little by little over time will bring about great rising. We don’t always have to take the lead to be successful. We can follow the successful and righteous people. Be faithful to the them brings promotion. This is "Principles Centered Following"!

K8 Management of Diffusion or Viral Spreading - #59 渙 Dispersion

How we can spread things quickly and widely. Here are the keys:

1. A Strong Core: Must be anchored on righteousness and meaningfulness. You must have core strengths.
2. A Soft & Attractive Exterior. It influences by winning the heart rather than forcing its ways. Following rather than overcoming is faster and easier to spread. Meeting the needs rather than forcing what one think is good.
3. An Iconic Symbol or Branding. It is better to have a iconic object displaying your core values and strengths that others may easily recognize.
4. Viral spreading. Dispersion of bad like flood waters or disease need to be controlled. It is best to isolate them. The viral spreading can be copied in the way you spread your offering or influence. Influence the key leaders of communities and they will spread in their communities. Have reprehensibility in your offering.

Please go through the above list for yourself or for your offerings and ensure you or they have the attributes for growth. You can learn where you can improve and I wish you the very in your career and your business.

Follow This Series Making I-Ching Come Alive!

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Lim Liat (C) 10 July 2012