I’m a “big” with Big Brothers Big Sisters. The kid that I spend time with is similar to me in many ways:
– He likes board and video games
– He likes to cook
– He enjoys adventures
But, he’s also very different from me in other ways. I workout most days, meditate twice a day, and relentlessly pursue personal growth. My “little” is instead very comfort oriented: he wants to eat rich food, watch TV, and sit by the fire. I doubt he’ll ever embrace challenge or regimen like I have.
And that’s okay- he’s not me. I have no interest in mentoring him onto my path. Instead, I see my role as creating opportunities for him to discover his own path.
With businesses, we often consider business growth in the terms of scaling revenues, profit, and teams. It’s a standard perspective that assumes that bigger is better. For my little, it would be like assuming that every boy should grow to 6 feet tall, have a six-pack, and drive a Lamborghini.
There’s another perspective on growth that instead assumes that everyone has latent potential and growth is realizing that potential.
From this stance, for every business, there’s a better version of that business. Like with people, the answer to the question, “what is better,” depends on that business. What’s its potential?