When Growth Stalls: How It Happens, Why You're Stuck, and What to Do About It

Chapter 2. Growth Stalls

From the vantage point I now have about the ups and downs of business cycles (and the inevitability of stalled growth), my investing strategies of the late 1990s now seem like—to borrow the term famously popularized by Alan Greenspan—irrational exuberance. But during that time I, like millions of other investors, could do no wrong. I'll never forget attending "The Champions Institute," a special retreat in Snowmass, Colorado, for high performers in the advertising industry, where my boss at the time had sent me as a reward for my hard work.

The speakers were amazing. They included Lee Garfinkel of Lowe & Partners, crowned "America's Best Creative Director" by Adweek magazine; Bob Herbold, chief operating officer of Microsoft, ...