This is America, and we have all been raised to firmly believe that more is better, bigger is better. The problem is that this is not always the case in life, and more “money” often leads to more problems. Blind motivation can drive us to accomplish monumental tasks, but it can also lead us into dangerous territory. It is important to learn to control this ambition and to appreciate the core business that provides the rest of the company with its stable foundation.
Most industries are fiercely competitive, and it is typically only the strongest that survive. The most savage individuals and companies brutalize their competition and end up dominating utilizing their superior willpower and determination. A necessary attribute in certain circumstances, but like anything else when it is over utilized it turns into something resembling a disease. This chronic behavior will cause a business to constantly seek to grow, to constantly keep changing, to constantly attempt to crush other businesses even when they pose absolutely no threat. It is not always necessary to grow, especially when you have built a strong customer base that is more than capable of providing enough revenue through repeat business and referrals.
Organizations tend to become top heavy when they go public and/or receive sudden influxes of cash. They will move towards some grand vision and try to forget about their more humble beginnings. Many times, this evolution comes prematurely, before they have really mastered their initial domain. You can spend entire lifetime working towards perfecting your customer service as it is a very complex and ever changing arena. To stay relevant, you have to keep looking for new and innovative ways to interact with your clients, to better serve their every need. Growing or adding additional services does not necessarily accomplish this task, and is often counterproductive. Life has become confusing enough, simplicity is often a welcome haven.
Everyone is pressured to move quicker and to be more flexible in modern times. The world moves a lot quicker, and we are not biologically equipped to deal with this fact. We are left feeling insecure and therefore overcompensate by engaging in repetitive behavior without analyzing what we are really doing. It is much easier to simply continue growing a business like we always have before rather than truly question why we are even doing it. The more we interact with machines, the more we end up thinking like them. Unfortunately, not all of us are or will be able to program ourselves accordingly.