Growth as spirals, not funnels or loops.
I was thinking about growth recently and wondering how to visualize it based on my experience, rather than follow the default of what people tend to talk about.
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Growth is often talked about in funnels. Shove people in and try to stop them leaking out.
More recently it is talked about as a growth loop or a flywheel, where actions support one another and lead to a more natural growth effect. I like this approach, it makes sense. A flywheel is so nice and smooth., it aligns with a beautiful visual picture.
However, then when I thought about it, I realized that for me growth was more like a spiral, or multiple spirals.
Spirals to me, are all about trying things out, seeing what works, but also accepting in most cases that all approaches to growth will come to an end at some point and new strategies will be required or adjusted. There will be small spirals (little impact) and big spirals (big impact). No matter the size though, they will all teach you something, about what to do, or what not to do.
As indie hackers I feel that we are often seeking some magical growth equation. We look from the outside and believe that successful companies have found it, and that is what we need to do.
However, in reality, we all have to change with the times and always be experimenting & adapting.
It wouldn't be fun if we weren't kept on our toes, right? 🤓
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Hello Rosie. Thanks for sharing the idea of the spiral. I believe the three metaphors (or four if you include AdamZolyak's) - funnel, flywheel, spiral, and cycle - apply. It all depends from which angle you're looking at your business or situation. When I'm talking about Marketing & Sale, the first thing that comes to mind is the "funnel"? As I implement my strategies and tactics, I'm looking at the "flywheel", and when I'm looking at my personal development, I'm looking at the "spiral" and "cycle" of birth, growth, development, senescence, decline and death. You can extend the development - decline continuum for as long as necessary in a business through continual reinvention. Companies like GE, Coca Cola, JC Penny, to mention three, have been able to reinvent themselves for over hundred years to remain valuable. So as we drive our small businesses we should always think in terms of the spiral. Best.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and a visual. In my own life experience and working with other humans, I'd found that human progress is indeed often cyclical - we revisit a similar situation or idea but as a slightly different person and thus the result may also be different each time around the cycle. Also, humans are experimenters - we wayfind by trying different solutions, each time a pass around the cycle. Your imagery reminds me of a visual from the book When Coffee Competes with Kale (about Jobs to Be Done) which argues that humans cycle around a problem until then find a solution but then have new problems and enter a new problem / solution cycle. Might be an interesting read for you given your thinking.
I like to learn but I love the applying part of it. Especially when I figure out creative ways to combine different spirals.
That's interesting - reminds me of how the PDCA cycle or the ITIL continual service improvement are sometimes displayed as a circular arrow that is bigger on one end. When does the shift from one to another spiral occur?
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True! :D I'm just asking, because the other thing the spiral-image reminds me of is an image of a magic roundabout https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout#/media/File:Magicroundabout_hemel.svg
and there you could drive from circle to circle, and the string becomes as long as you wish ;)
Hmm.. fascinating way to think about it. Thanks for sharing Rosie.