Flat is the New Double Digit Growth

“Flat is the new double digit growth.” I first heard this term spoken jokingly by a friend of mine describing his company’s performance during the turbulent, uncertain first quarter of 2009. Described by many CEOs and financial pundits as the worst economic downturn in 80 years, my friend had found a way to put a positive spin on things. Although said with a sense of humor, the very real point was that his company had outperformed what market analysts felt was going to be a horrible quarter. News of what turned out to be only a slightly down performance was greeted with enthusiasm usually reserved for exciting growth numbers. It really got me thinking.

How many firms that are experiencing economic slowdowns are treating their financial performance with the same sort of relativity described above? Most the firms I know are being sucked into the pits of despair because business is off 20%, 30%, or more in some cases. I know of several companies that have pushed the panic button and laid people off while they actually stayed flat or grew a bit! The saying “desperate times call for desperate measures” may indeed be true in many cases, but are they really that desperate?

A recent Wall Street Journal article about the GDP declining also revealed that consumer spending had actually INCREASED during the first quarter of 09. That was a revelation to me; it certainly didn’t feel that way in my neck of the woods! Once again, it got me thinking.

The conclusion I came to was that things are usually not as bad as the media leads us to believe. When we take drastic actions and over react to the economy, we are only adding to the problem. Life is 10% what happens and 90% how we handle it.

These are tough times to be sure, but there are some great signs of recovery all around us. As business leaders, it is up to us to look at our company’s performance in the relative terms of the current economy. How are we performing against our competitors in these times? Find the good news and communicate it to your team! Everyone is hoping to hear some positive news that helps them to stay focused on winning in tough times. Make sure you find it… then share it!

Try my new approach the next time someone complains about how tough things are. Just smile and say, “Flat is the new double digit growth.” It might just get them thinking.

Chuck Terry is the Executive Vice President and CSO of Carew International and is regular contributor to Carew’s blog – Executive Insights

Carew International is a leader in sales training and leadership development; specializing in comprehensive, proven training programs for sales, sales management and customer service excellence. For over 30 years, Carew has earned its reputation of delivering increased productivity and profitability to our valued clients world wide.