OUR ROMANCE WITH GROWTH

A third model styles rate of growth as the principal objective of management. In annual reports , the obligatory sales graphs (that look like stairways to heaven), the inevitable "percentage change" figures, and the discussions of future products all bear witness to our fascination with growth. On the darker side of this enchantment are some questionable effects: the use of "creative accounting" to shift profits from one year to another (in order to smooth out the growth curve); the sacrifice of research and development (R&D) and other long term efforts so as to maintain current profit growth; and the indiscriminate purchase of earnings through acquisition and merger.

Corporate growth, particularly fast growth, is a stage, not a characteristic. Its prime cause is customer demand for our products, something we can exploit but do little to create. Nothing we are aware of, including the universe itself, can expand forever, and a fast rate of growth (say 25+%) for businesses rarely lasts more than a decade .