In boardrooms from San Francisco to Singapore, one question haunts every C.E.O.:
Where is our next wave of profitable growth coming from — and how do we make it future-proof?
Too often, though, this question is asked in the wake of crisis: when revenue dips, when a competitor leapfrogs or when macro shocks like AI, inflation or geopolitical tensions rattle the business model. At that point, strategy is irrelevant — the next step is firefighting.
Good management in today’s environment is not reactive. It is rhythmically proactive.
The 90-Day Growth Compass
Leaders who are going to win in the fast-changing world cannot afford to be satisfied with looking at strategy once or twice a year at a distant retreat. Instead, they move on a 90-day cadence — continually testing out assumptions, identifying early signals that may disrupt them, and making mid-course corrections before the market forces their hand.
Here’s the seven-question framework every CEO and senior team should wrestle with every two to three months:
1. Where will our future growth come from?
Is it geographical? Product-based? Platform-led? Powered by AI? Or wedged into customer ecosystems we haven’t penetrated yet?
In a slow-growth world, average firms vie over scraps. Great companies change the size of the pie.
Case in Point: Microsoft didn’t merely grow up in just enterprise software; it created new categories with Azure and GitHub Copilot that opened up significant streams of recurring revenue from developers and cloud-native AI.
2. Who are our true customers, and what new segments are emerging?
Firms too often only define customers by outdated segmentation — industry, age, income. However, new segments are often defined behaviorally and digitally. Who are your next-generation buyers? Where do they hang out? How do they decide?
The best companies know their customers better than the customers know themselves.
Example: Netflix used real-time behavioral analytics not simply to know what viewers watched—but what they were likely to watch next. This transformed their content engine into a predictive growth machine.
3. How is customer behaviour evolving?
What are the early indicators of fatigue with your value proposition? What do customers care about more now—speed, personalization, values alignment, AI integration?
Ask your frontline. Often, the initial signs aren’t in reports but from call center staff, product teams, or frustrated sales representatives.
“When you lose touch with customer behavior, you lose relevance.” – Andy Grove, Intel
4. What must we start doing?
This is the “activation zone.” What capabilities, partnerships, or business models do we now need to create or test? Where must we move faster?
For instance, to respond to disruption from EVs, Ford did not simply put up a bunch of electric cars — the company restructured itself, separating its EV and legacy units to focus with intensity.
5. What should we stop doing?
Real agility is as much about subtraction as it is about addition. What programs are sucking resources that don’t serve your future? What sacred cows do you think need to retire?
The courage not to create is a strategic discipline.
Consultant’s Tip: Create a “value-to-effort matrix” and assess your existing projects every quarter. Be ruthless about eliminating the low-value/high-effort ones.
6. What new technologies do we need to use?
This is no longer optional. Leaders need to develop a technology-sensing capability be it AI, automation, blockchain or predictive analytics.
But be cautious of the tech-for-tech’s-sake trap. It’s not “What’s cool?” —it’s “What advances our business model?”
Illustration: Walmart didn’t merely adopt automation in warehouses; they connected it to inventory velocity, waste reduction, margin improvement and other strategic objectives.
7. What do we need to upskill our people to win in this new environment?
Technology is meaningless without human ability. What skills will the future need — prompt engineering, strategic scenario planning, cross-functional collaboration — that your teams are missing?
Any new strategy needs a people plan too. Upskilling isn’t a training program; it’s an organizational imperative.
Why This Framework Matters in the Current Times?
We are no longer in the era of occasional disturbance. It is an era of continuous change. Whether it’s:
- The speedup of AI, which automates decisions previously made by managers…
- China’s increasing economic assertiveness, reshaping global trade flows…
- The revival of more nationalist economic policies, which put up barriers but also bundle home-market benefits…
- Or the loss of customers’ loyalty in commoditized digital markets…
What worked yesterday will not work tomorrow.
Growth Is No Longer an Option
In a slow-growth world, “wait and see” is not on the menu. You either take share — or lose relevance.
As Dr Ram Charan says,
“Growth is not just a goal. It’s a condition for survival.”
The good news? The winners over the next five years won’t be the ones with the flashiest tech or the biggest market cap. They are those who have the discipline to ask the right questions every 90 days — and the courage to act on the answers.
It starts now.
What’s your next move?
The END
Sources and References:
Books & Thought Leadership
- Ram Charan – Execution, What the CEO Wants You to Know, The Attacker’s Advantage
- Andy Grove – Only the Paranoid Survive
- Clayton Christensen – The Innovator’s Dilemma
- Satya Nadella – Hit Refresh
- McKinsey & Company – “The State of AI in 2024”, “Growth in the Age of AI”
Reports & Industry Data
- World Economic Forum – Future of Jobs Report 2023
- Gartner – Top Strategic Technology Trends 2024
- Bain & Company – “Winning in a Slow-Growth World”
- PwC – Global CEO Survey 2024
- IDC – AI and Digital Transformation Forecast Reports
Real-World Case Studies
- Microsoft – Transition to cloud + Copilot & AI strategy (via earnings calls, WSJ)
- Ford Motor Company – EV-focused restructuring (Harvard Business Review)
- Netflix – Behavioral analytics and content personalization (Fast Company, Wired)
- Walmart – AI and automation in supply chain (MIT Sloan Management Review)
Articles & Commentary
- Harvard Business Review – “How to Stay Agile in a Crisis”
- The Economist – “The Age of the Corporate Survivalist”
- Financial Times – CEO outlooks amid AI and geopolitical risks
- MIT Sloan – “Why Strategic Questions Drive Long-Term Resilience”