Uncovering a Well-Kept Secret

The American business community is suffering from a serious, self-inflicted wound. We're applying the tourniquet, but it's painfully late. 

Even our top corporate leaders succumbed to the ease of adding jobs to accommodate growth. It became a habit richly ingrained in our business culture. To add employees was a badge of growth and progress. At meetings and conventions corporate department heads bubbled with pride when telling audiences how many people the department added since the last meeting. More people meant growth. And growth meant progress. But only for a while. 

We're now paying the price. Day after day, headline after headline, we read of company after company laying off workers. "Downsizing" is a new buzz-word in our business vocabulary. 

The excesses of yesterday are taking their toll on companies and people, many of whom thought productivity was optional. Business is learning if you throw too many people at growth, someday you'll be throwing them out the door.