What is Ungrowth? | Definition & Why it Sucks

TrellisPoint coined the word Ungrowth because there didn’t seem to be a word that adequately described the pain and discomfort the companies we work with experience when their growth trajectory starts causing trouble for them. There are many attempts at describing what our clients used to experience when we first met them like, tech debt, obsolescence, legacy systems, inefficiency, frustration, scalability issues, employee and client retention problems, and many others. However, none of those terms or phrases are all-encompassing enough to explain the anguish that Ungrowth brings to any organization. The scariest part of all is that many companies have Ungrowth lurking in the halls of their organization, but they cannot quite find it. They know it’s there because many of their key performance indicators tell them it is indeed there, but they do not even know where to begin. 

Ungrowth Definition 

English 

Noun  

[ uhn-grohth ] 

1. Ungrowth refers to the reversal of growth within a company’s operational effectiveness that had been previously achieved through strategic planning and improvements. 
2. AHHHHHH I’M GONNA PULL MY HAIR OUT!
    

Examples & Symptoms of Ungrowth

The best way to explain why Ungrowth sucks is to share some examples and symptoms. When you’re reading this you’ll likely feel a sting when your eyes land on an example or symptom that has been plaguing you or your team. That’s okay, just take note of what caused the sting and be sure to let the team at TrellisPoint know where it hurts, and we’ll help you build a plan to fix what ails you! If we left something off the list that you’ve experienced let us know about that and we’ll get it added here so your experience can help others identify their own Ungrowth. 

Examples of Ungrowth 

Security Vulnerabilities  

With outdated systems and technology, companies are more susceptible to security breaches. This not only poses a risk to company data but can also damage a company's reputation and client trust, which is difficult and costly to rebuild. 

Obsolescence  

The company must lag behind everyone else since their systems and tech stack don’t play well with the latest tech and systems. This one keeps a company from reaching their growth potential.

Difficulty maintaining systems  

This is often the result of the many integrations, systems and specialized talent required to keep a company’s already shaky systems running at close to an optimal level. 

Scalability issues that lead to additional hires and dedicated systems to painfully bring a company’s systems up to task to handle growth. 

Challenges hiring talent 

It’s hard to find the right people that can handle their tech systems and frustrating systems that are required to keep operations running when a company’s more successful competitor is able to hire the highly talented people much easier because they can afford to pay them, and their systems and tech stack are much more enjoyable to work with. Not very many people want to suffer needlessly when they have better alternatives. 

Misalignment of People, Process, & Data 

Ungrowth reflects a fundamental misalignment among a company's people, its processes, and its data. This misalignment can obstruct effective decision-making, slow down operations, and diminish a company's ability to react to market changes. 

Symptoms of Ungrowth: 

Innovation stalls 

This happens for two primary reasons. The first is that when talented people leave, new and exciting ideas that lead to innovation often leave with them, especially if several talented people leave in a short timeframe. The second is that the ability to be agile fades away when a company’s people, process and data are out of alignment which snuffs out the innovation flame of any company. 

Key Accounts Are Lost 

A company’s clients will eventually begin to feel the Ungrowth that their partner is experiencing. A lot of times companies with rampant Ungrowth in their organization miss deadlines, communicate poorly and underdeliver. This leads to key accounts leaving to find their competitor that is on a proper growth trajectory and prepared to serve them better. 

Talented People Leave 

Talented people have little interest in toiling in anguish for very long. Especially when a company’s competitors are leading the market and can pay them what their worth to come be on the winning team. 

Revenue Drops 

This one is glaringly obvious and equally as painful. When key accounts leave and top talent leave there is harsh reality that follows, revenue drops. 

Ungrowth Creeps in After a Successful Implementation 

At TrellisPoint we will notice Ungrowth begin to make an appearance after we’ve accomplished an implementation of some kind for a client. We turn everything over to the client and then slowly but surely Ungrowth shows up in the form of cut corners, ignored procedures, poor user adoption, tech misuse and a litany of other ways. Our goal at the end of any implementation is to leave the client with everything they need to succeed but we always advocate for some form of an ongoing partnership to help them ensure Ungrowth doesn’t sneak in and undo all the hard work we just did together.  

Successful Companies Battle Ungrowth Too! 

It’s a common misconception that Ungrowth only exists in failing companies. The reality is that most successful companies deal with Ungrowth too. One of the core tenants of a truly great company is that they find, prioritize and fix Ungrowth in their organization before it spreads from an isolated issue to a company-wide critical problem. That’s one instance where a partnership with TrellisPoint can become an invaluable service. We are the world’s best Ungrowth solving consultants, we not only know what to do when we find issues, but we regularly scan for instances of budding Ungrowth and develop prioritized plans to cut it off way before it can cause mayhem.  

TrellisPoint Exists to Free Companies from the Grip of Ungrowth 

TrellisPoint has been freeing companies from Ungrowth for decades. We see it as our mission to help as many organizations as we can release the grip that Ungrowth has on them to allow them to reach their full potential. When you reach out to TrellisPoint we’ll begin plans to walk you through our proprietary success frameworks. Once we’ve identified your specific areas of Ungrowth we’ll begin prioritizing and strategizing efforts to fix it. When it’s all said and done your people, process and data will be aligned and you’ll be back on track to growing with a strategy that sets your organization up for a future of resilience and efficiency. 

Find out how Ungrowth is holding your company back by reaching out to TrellisPoint.