There is no ‘normal’. The consensus is that it could even take another decade before any ‘new normal’ settles out of the clutter and discord that make up our daily lives. It’s not just my opinion. I’ve conducted in-depth interviews with thought leaders, executives, academics and practitioners alike, and they concur. The resounding chorus is one of often not having a clue as to what is coming next.

Where once our job as leaders was to plan and execute, today it is simply to create readiness to adapt, to respond and to essentially prepare for possibilities. This scary environment of externals driving the enterprise is not a normal scenario by any definition. “No-normal” rules.

So how do we lead for growth in a “no-normal” world?

Is a leader’s mantra is still ‘grow or die’? Should we forget about growing our businesses and just try keeping up? What does growth even look like today? The form is the key and what is new is the very nature of the growth that we see. Let’s take a look. 

Believe it or not, there is still a great deal of growth taking place in a no-normal world. Just not in the United States or perhaps, not in the shape or form we are accustomed to. For a long time, strategic planning meant looking at last year’s financial results, adding some factor of 10 or 20 percent, and calling it targeted growth. Expansion, emergence, consolidation and connection define growth today. Growth no longer takes the form of simply striving for more of everything. Growth can mean a shift in complexity. Growth can especially be seen as dynamic movement from one stage or form to another.

In a no-normal state, growth often means consolidation. Organizations still become larger but just not in the same manner as in the past. Building new plants, hiring massive numbers, investing heavily in research and development are now seen as excessive and an unacceptable risk.

Today, it’s better to acquire another organization and grow by 40% in staffing and revenue. It’s also better to acquire the small entrepreneurial company that has developed the latest game-changing technology rather than developing it in-house. Growth strategies today, like any investing, are all about capturing as much up side as possible. But even more importantly, it’s about minimizing the down capture.

First, do no harm.

A final manifestation of growth to consider is perhaps counterintuitive and has to do with simultaneous increases in efficiency and complexity. The work we all have to do is growing. More with less is a very real mantra for just about anyone and perhaps even more for less if you’ve taken a pay cut too. We’ve all had to become much more efficient, just as our jobs are expanding. There’s nothing mysterious here. It’s a simple fact of employment and capacity. We have been losing jobs in the workforce in the United States and Europe and even across Asia. The total numbers vary based on the particular day and the data source, but let’s turn data into usable information.

Tens of millions of people are out of work. If you’re not working, you’re not spending. If you are afraid of losing your job (or your market share), you are afraid of spending. Consumers and companies hunker down and hold back when they’re uncertain of their income. Unlike public sector strategies of spending as a way out, we get thrifty when money gets tight in the private sector.

And, what kind of effect would reduced demand have on capacity if that were to happen?

Any “right-sizing” of the workforce is a balancing act of capacity with current demand and we’re not done yet. Companies and countries are still paring back and industrial capacity utilization is still at one of its lowest levels ever, and, given excess capacity, we won’t be rehiring. And, while we right-size the labor force, we also bring additional pressure to bear on getting better, faster and cheaper. This applies to all of us, companies, contractors, governments—here and abroad.

But wait, becoming more efficient should be a good thing, right? Not for jobs.

Employers will add hours before headcount every time. For decades, it was believed that labor had the upper hand, and as workweeks contracted, the workforce grew. Now, the trend has reversed: people are working more hours, not fewer. And, if we get only one percent more efficient, that’s 1.5 million jobs that won’t come back—ever. No matter how you look at it, the math is working against us. If we lose a quarter of any labor pool and then gain back 25%, we’re still down. Think about it. If we lose 25% we then need a 33% gain to get back level. If we lose half, we would need 100% employment growth just to get back to where were.

So, our labor force is becoming smaller but more efficient. What does that do to complexity? It causes no-normal growth in the complexity of what we do every day.

Let’s face it. People go away, but the work doesn’t and therefore, the complexity of our jobs as leaders will grow. That’s growth in a no-normal world. We all have to know more about financials, demographics, operations, psychology, law and government while keeping up with the pace of learning, which continues accelerating.

Growth is a significant part of a no-normal economy. It’s just a new kind of growth. It comes in new forms. It happens somewhere else. It happens through consolidation and acquisition rather than organic expansion. It is happening with very low tolerance for risk or down capture. It causes our jobs to grow, not our workforce. It demands significant growth in personal capacity with zero growth in headcount.