On scalability II

So help me, whenever I hear the word scalability, part of my brain flashes to the Facts of Life episode where Jo tries to open a pizza business. She is unable to maintain quality as the business heats up, and following some sage advice from Mrs. Garrett, downsizes to what she's familiar with.

What a lousy message to be sending. It doesn't occur to Jo or Mrs. Garrett to apply for a small business loan, take a semester off school to give the business room to grow, outsource distribution, write a cookbook, or disseminate the recipe for free online.

The lesson here I guess is never hire Mrs. Garrett as your innovation consultant. But how many real entrepreneurs miss their potential for incredible impact by accepting the status quo—"the facts of life"—as givens?

On scalability

Scalability seems to be a number one concern for many businesses lately. As it should be—the lead executive of an impressive CSR program told me years ago, "Success is easy... we only care about scalable success."

However, before developing a scalability strategy, I advise clients to get very clear about what it is they are trying to scale. Is it:

Impact

A service

A technology platform

An organization / network / community / market / tribe

The relevant best practices and gotchas in each case are very different.