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

Introduction

I'm always looking for profitable growth on a sustained basis. That's I think the hardest challenge in business—to not do it just once, but year after year.^[]

—Bruce Carbonari, CEO, Fortune Brands

One of the toughest lessons every business leader learns is how difficult it is to generate consistent growth. There is always something—or someone—that threatens even the healthiest business model. As a result, stalled growth is the rule, not the exception, even for the best-managed companies.

That's especially true in unpredictable economic environments, when circumstances beyond their control catch business leaders off guard. How they respond to those circumstances makes a big difference to their companies' future prospects.

This book ...