Fast-growing

Companies will state this term in their job advertisements as if this is a place where you might want to be - the isle of 'fast-growing'. Would you like to go?

Not me.

I don't want to work for a fast-growing company. I distrust a bunch of people who by definition want to move fast into an unknown future (as the future is), through a complex world, without a sense of what that uncertainty demands of us or a clear direction. If we stop for a minute between all the speed and haste we see that 'fast-growing' cannot be a destination, so why include it in your company description?

What we do need is fast-growing awareness. Many businesses are crumbling. Things are moving fast, yes, but that doesn't mean that is the wise thing to do. What if most businesses we have built are way off track when it comes to what is sustainable? Sustainable is not just a buzzword. It tells you whether a company is a going concern, it is the 'to be, or not to be' of your business.

There are certain parameters that we need to adjust to, to be able to be sustainable, as an individual, as a species and as a business. Most of these parameters are outside of any individual's or company's control. I am not saying we cannot collectively influence them, I am all for being proactive about this, but we are not the ones plotting the course. What defines how sustainable we are is how well we understand and align ourselves with a system (overarchingly read 'ecosystem') that functions according to its own rules.

To be able to ground ourselves in that reality I argue we need different words. Often fewer words. Words that reflect a group that can feel, respond, and pivot based on impulses from inside and outside itself. Words that describe what can be compared to a state of homeostasis.

Just like any organism a business benefits from knowing its nature, its habitat and the parts of the environment shaped by its actions. I would want the words that I see in a job advertisement to describe how a company understands these interrelated elements. If fast growth is a result of this understanding put into action then that might be part of the company's natural development, and there'll be no need to panic when things slow down.