4 Mindset Changes for Hypergrowth Superpower

Your workload is crazy. You’re in meltdown. What’s your escape? Maybe the immediate answer is to bring things to a screeching and dramatic standstill. Turn your back and walk away. But the less extreme, and constructive, alternative is to press the pause button. There is power in slowing everything down. Recalibrating, focusing, formulating. It can give you a more considered chance at success.

At Untapped AI, we work with hypergrowth businesses that are often running at a hundred miles an hour to get to IPO. It’s our job to pace that energy, hold it steady and pick out the obstructive patterns in their culture which can tip them off-kilter. With our expertise in this market, we can help organisations realign their thinking, and increase productivity, innovation and agility while preventing burnout and imposter syndrome. Progress is often about a shift in mindset…

There is Value in Bigger Picture Thinking

Typically, in hypergrowth companies, constant change is part of the fabric. Departments intermingle, people move from one role to another, and decisions are made in a nanosecond. Everyone is revved up and (hopefully) raring to go. But when the pace is rampant, there will be downsides. At Untapped AI, we notice that workers in hypergrowth businesses get caught up in fire fighting, often keeping a laser focus on the task at hand, which leaves little chance for communication, peer support and, particularly, forward planning. Problems might get solved at the moment but deeper difficulties manifest, significant details get missed and there is a minimal insight into the destructive hurdles that could be lurking around the next corner. In an environment that often demands top-notch performance from its workers, it’s crucial to remember the value of long-term perspective to evaluate what’s going well and what needs more attention, and especially how the future is going to impact your people and your success.

Notice the Detail

At the other end of the scale, detail is key. All businesses need an accountable process, and if there isn’t one, mistakes are going to happen. Now, we all know, that mistakes are inevitable, we learn from making mistakes and healthy cultures will encourage their workers to have a go and maybe mess up once in a while. But hypergrowths can suffer from having an overdeveloped ‘fast’ muscle – it gets the job done but at what cost? When the important stuff is constantly getting overlooked and blunders are more common than COVID, you have people who don’t feel safe. And this impacts innovation, daring, ownership and confidence. Definitely not what a thriving company needs. Our intelligent platform data shows that increased EQ and Communication levels in users who are leaders significantly ameliorate these problems.

Be Aware of Internal Struggle

Perhaps the main hurdle we come across in hypergrowths is burnout. Needless to say, the relentless velocity of input plays its part, but there are more impervious negatives to this breakneck approach. When heads are down, feelings get repressed – there simply isn’t the space or time for them. Ultimately this means crucial conversations go amiss, feedback is put on the back burner, and consideration of what support a person might need to be their best self is overlooked. And when a person isn’t being recognised for their ability or encouraged to have a go when they are feeling wobbly, the self-doubt sets in. We hear our clients talking about ‘not being good enough, and as Imposter Syndrome weaves its destructive path into the ethos, job satisfaction and role performance decrease. Research shows that imposter syndrome is closely related to burnout, so if you want a positive culture and healthy workers, it’s essential to be aware of the unspoken feelings that can fester and destroy. On our platform, we see a 25% rise in managers recognising the small but significant successes of their people after 60 days of working with our UAs (Untapped Accelerators) on a program. These incremental positives help to steadily build an embedded and wider sense of trust, achievement

and self-reliance.

Empower Your Leaders to Skill-Share

Often in hypergrowths, younger workers have grown with the company since its start-up days. While this means they have great insight into the roots of the organisation, they are often inexperienced in certain talents, especially their leadership approach. On our platform, we see new leaders struggling with the more senior mindset required to manage teams and individuals. Many of them express shame about their lack of experience and worry they are not empowering the next level of influencers or passing on crucial skills. This can result in a lack of transparency around difficult conversations and disparity amongst peers. It also leaves the business vulnerable because, without strong people management, the cracks will soon turn into crevasses. Recent user feedback from our platform reveals: “I used to think being a manager simply meant telling people what to do. Working with my UA has helped me to understand the importance of empathy, motivation and managing conflict. I am so much more in touch with what my team needs from me.”