Why Your Growth Strategy Might Be the Problem

By Bob Bishop Certified Scaling Up Coach

Editorial Note:

During the early days of the pandemic, Bob Bishop and I started a podcast called Pivot Talk. It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t polished. But it felt necessary. We wanted to understand how businesses were adapting in real time. What was breaking, what was evolving, and what might emerge stronger. Those conversations became our way of making sense of the moment, and honestly, they helped us stay grounded.

Fast forward to today, and that curiosity hasn’t left either of us.

When I launched Build to Thrive, I did it to keep exploring the same kinds of questions. What helps a business not just survive but actually grow with intention? What systems create resilience? What kind of leadership creates momentum?

That’s why I asked Bob to write this piece and join me for a deeper conversation. He’s a Scaling Up coach who’s worked with founders across industries, and I wanted to hear what he’s learned about the real nature of scaling. Not just the surface-level version.

This article might surprise you. It doesn’t follow the usual startup playbook. It challenges how we think about growth, and that’s exactly why I wanted to share it. Juan Salas-Romer

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Scaling Is Not a Step-by-Step Process—It’s a Shift in How You Think

When most leaders think about scaling, they imagine a staircase. First this, then that. Hire more people, launch new products, raise capital—check, check, check. But here’s the truth I’ve seen time and again: companies don’t scale because they follow a rigid sequence. They scale because their leadership thinks differently.

Scaling is not a checklist. It’s a shift in mindset—from solving problems tactically to building systems strategically.

The Illusion of Order

Every entrepreneur loves progress. It’s comforting to believe there’s a playbook, and in many ways, Scaling Up is a proven framework. But it’s not a recipe—it’s a lens. You can’t scale by copying what another company did step-by-step. Why? Because your business isn’t theirs. Your team, your market, your culture, your customers—none of it fits into a formula.

Too many businesses get stuck trying to “sequence” their growth. They look for the right time to launch marketing or wait to recruit until they’ve “solved” operations. But scaling doesn’t wait for your permission. If you’re not actively redesigning how your organization thinks, your growth will stall—no matter what tactics you deploy.

Think Scale, Not Size

At the heart of Scaling Up is a fundamental reframe: scale is not about getting bigger. It’s about getting better—better at alignment, better at decision-making, better at execution, and better at building a culture that drives results.

This mental shift shows up in four key ways:

1. From Operator to Architect
   Founders often begin as the doers-in-chief. But scaling requires becoming a builder of teams, systems, and rhythms—not just solving today’s fires.

2. From Speed to Velocity
   Speed is moving fast. Velocity is moving fast in the right direction. Scaling companies don’t just act quickly—they act intentionally.

3. From Control to Clarity
   As you grow, you can’t control everything. You have to replace control with clarity—around purpose, priorities, and performance metrics.

4. From Scarcity to Abundance
   Growth can trigger a scarcity mindset—time, people, money. Scalers flip the script and see growth as an opportunity to empower others and expand capacity.

Why This Matters Now

In a volatile business landscape, scaling is vital to provide insurance against the unexpected. But if you approach it as a to-do list, you’ll miss what really drives durable growth: the thinking behind the doing.

That’s why, as a Scaling Up Coach, my job is not to tell leaders what to do—it’s to help them think differently about how they grow. Yes, we use the tools: the One Page Strategic Plan, the Rockefeller Habits, the Cash Conversion Cycle. But we use them to spark clarity and discipline, not just action.

Final Thought: You Don’t Need a Bigger To-Do List

You need a better way of thinking.

So if you’re ready to scale, stop asking, “What’s the next step?” and start asking, “What’s the shift I need to make in how I lead, align, and scale this business?”

That’s when the real growth begins.

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Bonus: See Bob explaining his experience coaching companies.

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