You’ve probably heard it said that “healthy things grow”. That’s not true. Cancer also grows. What we can say for sure is that alive (or dynamic) things grow; whether that growth is beneficial or destructive is a different question.
In every system there are limits to growth. The reason there are so few true reinforcing feedback loops in nature is because they eventually destroy themselves. Nuclear reactors are controllable only because neutron-absorbing control rods limit the fission reactions. Stars have no such controls; fusion reactions reinforce themselves without constraint, consuming all available fuel, until the star depletes itself and collapses.
People (and companies) that do not have healthy, sustainable growth expectations will likewise deplete themselves and collapse. If you’ve ever been a workaholic or a people-pleaser, or worked for a company that sacrificed its own people on the altar of its growth ambitions, you already know this.
There is a cherry plum tree in my garden that has not learned this lesson. It grows and grows until its own limbs break off. Eventually it will collapse under its own weight. The oaks and the yews seem to have figured it out…maybe they get their leaves a bit later in the spring but they hold them longer, too. Redwoods and sequoias can even survive forest fires.
What growth expectations do you put on yourself? What growth expectations do you put on others? Will those expectations build oaks or cherry plums?
