{"id":35680,"date":"2025-02-18T19:09:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T19:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prophet.com\/?p=35680"},"modified":"2025-02-19T15:40:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T15:40:48","slug":"defining-uncommon-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prophet.com\/2025\/02\/defining-uncommon-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining Uncommon Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Defining Uncommon Growth<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Uncommon Growth is high-impact, sustainable growth that is faster, smarter, more human and more actionable\u2014requiring organizations to increase speed to market while building the right capabilities, culture and business models to outpace disruption and drive lasting impact. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Empowered, informed and demanding customers. Relentless tech advancement and disruption. Unmanageable data volumes. Geopolitical conflict and macroeconomic volatility. Shifting competitive vectors and intensifying regulatory oversight.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the new normal \u2013\u202fabout which there is nothing normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for all the change, there\u2019s one constant for business leaders: intense pressure to deliver growth, quarter after quarter, year after year. Given today\u2019s extraordinary challenges and complexities, however, these business leaders now recognize that yesterday\u2019s best practices no longer apply. In other words, uncommon times require uncommon approaches to drive uncommon growth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do we mean by uncommon growth? First and foremost, it\u2019s high-impact growth that\u2019s faster, smarter, more sustainable and more actionable. Breakthrough product innovations \u2013 whether from start-ups or well-established brands \u2013\u202fare perhaps the most visible examples of uncommon growth. But these are exceedingly rare. Similarly, bold acquisitions can drive uncommon growth, but relatively few firms have the capital to pursue this option.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mature industries with tight margins, uncommon growth can mean outpacing the competition by a point or two. Or grabbing market share via smarter marketing, more attractive offers, better experiences or new sales channels. Or reshaping a brand or core value proposition for increased relevance to changing customer behaviors. To some extent, uncommon growth is a function of boosting returns on investments in transformation and innovation programs.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uncommon growth takes many forms. Consider how a leading drug store chain (CVS) transcended its successful retail heritage through a disruptive new home care business, with existing brand equity energizing its entry into an adjacent sector with a brighter growth outlook.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A legacy entertainment brand, PENN Entertainment<\/a>, shifted to an omnichannel business model to engage more customers across a fragmented media landscape. A software provider remixed its portfolio of 100+ products for delivery via a cloud-based platform for the future. There is no singular path towards uncommon growth but despite varied success, all companies need to find ways to unlock uncommon growth today and in the future.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Action Plan for Uncommon Growth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unlocking uncommon growth can be as much about the \u201chow\u201d as the \u201cwhat.\u201d The combination of building new capabilities, securing organizational alignment and developing muscle memory can power companies to launch new products, services and experiences, devise new business models, and execute growth strategies faster and more repeatably than in the past. The priorities include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasing Organizational Velocity <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uncommon growth typically starts with speed. That means shortening the time from insights to decisions and from execution to impact. And accelerating go-to-market timelines, with faster design-build-test cycles and a quicker pace for launching MVPs and releasing updates. It\u2019s a huge leadership challenge because most businesses today simply aren\u2019t built to keep up with rapidly shifting market demands or seize opportunities that come and go faster than many firms can act.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the Holistic View<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are multiple levers leaders can adjust in pursuit of uncommon growth \u2013 and they should explore them all. Product and service offerings will be priorities, but product bundles and subscription models may move the needle. Refreshed customer experiences, with personalization and customization features, can drive significant value, too. New technology may be deployed to unlock new distribution channels or enhance specific touchpoints (e.g., Generative AI tools for tailoring recommendations and offers).   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energizing the Culture to Promote Risk-Taking and Experimentation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many organizations, that means making collaboration and co-creation (with partners and customers and across functions) the norm, rather than an exception for special projects. Similarly, innovation must be operationalized as a business-as-usual process and function (like finance and HR). These are not easy changes to enact, but they\u2019re necessary to remove internal and cultural barriers to growth.   <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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