8/9/2019 No Time for Chickens
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No Time for Chickens
As we meet with more and more of the midmarket companies in
America, weare astounded at how many of them are hiding under their
desk “riding therecession out.”
The old “Story of Chicken Little” comes to mind: Chicken
Little was in thewoods one day when an acorn fell on her head. t
scared her so much thatshe trem!led all o"er. She shook so hard,
half her feathers fell out.
Chicken Little is a story for teaching courage and it seems that
courage iswhat the midmarket lacks. This is trou!ling gi"en that
the midmarket is the!ack!one of the American economy.
The #ational Center for the $iddle $arket at %hio State
&ni"ersity's (ischerCollege of )usiness conducts the largest
sur"ey of the midmarket. The sur"ey
of nearly *,+ midmarket C-le"el eecuti"es concludes: “the health
of themiddle market is "ital to o"erall &.S. prosperity.” The
center estimates thatthe midmarket encompasses */+, !usinesses and
contri!utes 01 percentof total employment in the &S. The study
categori2ed only nine percent of themidmarket companies as “growth
champions” that ehi!ited dou!le-digitre"enue growth in 3* and 3**,
and pro4ected the same for the rest of3*3.
According to 5oug (arren, 5irector of the #ational Center for
the $iddle$arket, the characteristics that set growth champions
apart from slower-growing companies include: ha"ing a sharper focus
on customers, in"estingin inno"ation, ha"ing a !roader geographic
"ision for their !usiness,
culti"ating a strong management culture, and doing a superior
4o! with talentmanagement. “t's not who you are, it's what you do
that makes you agrowth champion,” said (arren.
n"estment in inno"ation was the strongest common theme across
growthchampions, he said. They tend to in"est 3.+ times more into
675 per salesdollar than slower-growing companies.
$idmarket company eecuti"es that want to ascend the ladder from
marginalgrowth into growth champions should ask themsel"es some key
8uestions,including whether they allocate and protect funding for
inno"ation, and howthey can strengthen inno"ation and make it
repeata!le and measura!le.
The recession is a time of opportunity for smart companies
to out-maneu"erthe competiti"e 9eld and for strong companies to put
capital to work. t is theperfect landscape to enact strategy and
make strides in the market.
ere at the Studio we fre8uently discuss the paralysis that
occurs in the faceof change and the desire to take calculated risk
!ut the ina!ility to pull thetrigger: all part of the human
condition. %ur working theory at the moment is
