The key to embracing growth without giving up what made your firm great in the first place.
At the risk of boring you with a personal anecdote, when my daughters were young, they both used to say that growing up seemed “spooky” to them. Growing up wasn’t an entirely exciting proposition – the increased complexities of it came with some fear and anxiety. Getting a driver’s license, having a bank account, voting, college, taxes, etc. – all these grown-up milestones felt like heavy, dark rights-of-passage. They weren’t against growing up, but they sure didn’t want to rush it either – and let’s face it, who can blame them?
I think there’s a vivid parallel struck between my daughters’ experience and what it feels like for an AEC firm when it starts to look down the barrel of real growth. The firm feels small, safe, familiar, and cozy. Things are straightforward, with minimal hierarchy and little organizational complexity. The CEO might still be running the latest proposal meeting and might still bring a couple dozen donuts to the office on Fridays. The “mom and pop” atmosphere is almost nostalgic. And it works. For a while.
But, like my daughters discovered with growing up, you can’t live in the same pajamas forever. At some point, what was once warm and fuzzy becomes untenable. Firms face the inevitable growing pains – expanding their geographic footprint, adding new hires, and, with that, the necessity of sophisticating; of adopting more formal processes and structures. What used to feel like a cozy family business becomes a full-fledged organization, and it can feel … spooky.
The struggle is real, and the research confirms it. Data from Zweig Group’s 2024 Best Firms To Work For employee survey reports that 69 percent of firms struggle to preserve a cohesive company culture through growth. A 2024 ACEC survey reports that 57 percent of firms with more than 100 employees cited “maintaining core identity while scaling” as one of their top challenges. Clearly, this is a daunting issue for firms that were once small enough for everyone to share recipes. It’s no longer feasible for the CEO to personally oversee every detail. You need structure to survive. Holding onto the nostalgic, scrappy startup mentality of the past isn’t a viable strategy. Trying to keep that small firm, warm-and-fuzzy culture alive while growing – it’s a bit like trying to squeeze into those jeans you wore in college. Sure, they might still fit (sort of), but is it really comfortable (and should you be trying)?
So how can firms embrace their inevitable growth and maturity without losing the essence of what made them special in the first place? I suggest leaning into these four principles:
- Define your core values – and stick to them. Listen, growth doesn’t mean abandoning the principles that made your firm successful. If anything, you need to double down on them. The passion, commitment to client service, and integrity that made your firm great should still be your foundation. The difference is that these values need to be clearly articulated and integrated into a more structured framework as your firm expands to ensure everyone in your scaling organization is aligned with it.
- Build layers of leadership, not layers of bureaucracy. As your firm grows, you’ll be tempted to fall into the trap of creating bureaucratic red tape. Some bureaucracy is needful, but you don’t need excess layers of it slowing down decision-making and sapping the life out of your people. What you need are layers of good leadership. Appoint and empower leaders to take ownership of their own teams and responsibilities. These are the people who should embody your firm’s values and culture while helping to scale operations. They’re the ones with some modicum of emotional intelligence who can help sustain the familial vibe by fostering strong relationships and keeping the human element at the heart of the business. These leaders create the space for growth while still holding onto your firm’s core identity and essence.
- Invest in systems, not just people. In the early days of your firm, everything was pretty informal. Structure was minimal and people wore lots of different hats. And it all worked because the firm was small enough to manage the chaos. But as you scale, that chaos becomes a big (and growing) liability. Investing in good, proportionate systems is what will allow your firm to thrive. Whether it’s to aid with expanding HR, accounting, or project management needs, systems not only create efficiency, but critical solidarity around processes. Having these systems in place will free up your teams to focus on what matters most: growing your firm and building your brand.
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Start fostering a growth mindset now (kill “this is how we’ve always done it” mentality). People need to embrace the inevitable changes that come with growth. It’s a fact of business because it’s a fact of life. It’s easy to fall into the trap of sticking to the familiar, but growth demands adaptability.
This means shifting the mindset from “this is how we’ve always done it” to “this is how we can do it better.” Rid your firm of the toxic, incessant complainers and encourage a culture where everyone – from new hires to senior leadership – sees change as an opportunity for improvement. Growth isn’t about losing who you are; it’s about becoming something even better.
Yes, growth can feel like a “spooky” transition – and it can be a bit messy. But growth isn’t something to fear, it’s something to celebrate. The key is to allow yourself to mature without giving up what made you great in the first place. So just get in front of it. And when you look back, you’ll see that while you’re not the same firm you were when you started, the heart and soul of the firm is still there, just with a bit more polish and strength.
Jeremy Clarke is COO and managing director of Talent consulting at Zweig Group. Contact him at jclarke@zweiggroup.com.
