How to Create Stability Without Slowing Growth

Show Notes

Joe Perkins (COO) and Brent Hillabrand (President and CEO) are joined by Lauren Murphy (VP of Human Relations) and David Horak (VP of Distribution) to unpack why “calm” can feel uncomfortable, how leaders accidentally create chaos, and what should never change even as the business scales. They break down the difference between urgency and chaos, why motion gets confused for momentum, and how stability creates the space for innovation, retention, and a faster, more focused operation.  

What you’ll learn:

  •  How to define stability in a way that supports growth, not stagnation 

  •  The difference between urgency and chaos, and how leaders confuse the two  

  •  Why “busy” becomes a badge of honor and how to reset expectations 

  •  How stability builds trust, and how trust increases speed 

  •   When stability becomes competitive advantage, and when it turns into resistance 

  •  What breaks first when stability is ignored: trust, morale, retention, and standards 

  •  The non-negotiables that should never change: values, integrity, priorities, accountability 

  •   How to spot “firefighting culture” and shift toward root cause problem solving 

  •  Why consistency without stability is unsustainable, and how to build stable habits and rhythms 

  •  A practical way to coach leaders who feel lost when nothing is “on fire” 

Don’t risk confusing chaos for progress and burning out your team while calling it growth. Learn how to create stability without slowing growth so your operation moves faster, retains great people, and scales with trust instead of turbulence.  

Key Moments:

0:00 – Cold open: Leaders conditioned to fear stability

0:45 – Welcome & intro with David Horak, VP of Operations

1:19 – What does stability mean to you?

2:12 – Do leaders actually fear stability?

3:21 – Urgency vs. chaos — are they the same?

8:22 – Chaos mistaken for momentum and progress

9:26 – The "busy" badge of honor

14:50 – How stability actually speeds up organizations

22:23 – When stability becomes quiet resistance

33:29 – Agree or Disagree rapid-fire segment

Transcript

As humans, we’ve been conditioned to associate motion with production. When there’s chaos, things are happening, and there’s movement. Some may question, if nothing is urgent or broken, what value are we adding?

However, that creates a dangerous pattern where firefighting can become the norm. Leaders can begin to feel that their value comes from being everything to everybody in moments of dire need. But that’s not sustainable.

Sometimes instability becomes so familiar that it starts to feel like stability.

Busyness vs. Productivity

There’s often a badge of honor attached to being busy. Ask someone how they’re doing, and the answer is often, “Busy.”

But busy does not necessarily mean productive. Productivity means driving toward priorities, solving root causes, and making intentional progress. Busyness often means reacting to the loudest problem in the room.

When leaders spend all their time fighting fires, they lose time for coaching, strategy, customer research, and development.

How Stability Builds Trust and Speeds Growth

Stability is often misunderstood as slowing organizations down, but in reality, stability can increase speed.

When operations are stable, leaders have time to be proactive instead of reactive. They can focus on what is important, think about the future, coach their teams, and improve the business instead of constantly responding to immediate problems.
Stability creates alignment.

When values are clear and processes are repeatable, teams know what to expect. That creates trust. Trust increases speed.

When people trust leadership, they can act faster. They are not second-guessing decisions, waiting for clarification, or wondering what will change next. Stability creates confidence in decision-making. The same applies at home. Routines create security. When routines are disrupted, instability and chaos follow.

Organizations work the same way. When teams trust the systems, the expectations, and the leadership around them, they move faster and make better decisions.

Stability also creates the space for continuous improvement. If teams are constantly fighting fires, there is no time to stop and evaluate the current process, improve workflows, or think about innovation. Without stability, improvement stalls.

When Stability Turns Into Resistance

Stability becomes a competitive advantage when it gives teams the space to innovate, improve, and focus on meaningful work. But stability can become a problem when organizations become too comfortable. One risk is resistance to change.

When teams are performing well, leaders may assume change is unnecessary.

“We’re already winning. Why would we change?”

That mindset creates stagnation.
Another risk is when associates bring forward ideas for improvement, but leadership fails to listen.

If teams feel like ideas are rejected simply because the current process is “working,” trust begins to erode.

Stability should not mean resistance. Healthy organizations create stability while still remaining open to new ideas, continuous improvement, and change.
Stability should reinforce culture, values and expectations, not complacency.

Stability, Values, and Organizational Culture

Stability becomes powerful when it is rooted in values. Values create a repeatable example of what good looks like. When values are reinforced consistently, they become part of the culture, rather than just messaging.That consistency becomes visible to both associates and customers.

It creates trust not because everything is predictable, but because people know the standards will remain the same.

Core values, expectations, accountability, and organizational priorities should remain constant even when operations evolve.

Processes may change. Strategies may change. Growth may require different structures. But values should not.

Those values serve as the foundation teams rely on during both stability and change.


Stability vs. Consistency

There is an important distinction between consistency and stability: It is possible to be consistent without being stable.

Someone may consistently complete important habits such as fitness, quiet time, and family priorities, but do so in a chaotic, reactive way. The actions happen, but without structure, intentionality, or sustainability. That creates exhaustion.

Stability is what makes consistency sustainable. Stable habits create routines that are easier to maintain long-term.

The same applies inside organizations. A company may consistently achieve results, but if those results come through unstable processes, shifting priorities, or reactive leadership, the model eventually breaks.

Consistency without stability can work for a while, but stability is what makes growth sustainable.

Growth, Operational Readiness, and the Leadership Gap

Growth can create pressure faster than organizations may be prepared to handle.
One of the biggest risks is what some describe as the growth trap. That’s when the business is growing faster than its internal maturity.

That gap can show up in leadership, systems, culture, or organizational structure.

Growth itself is not the problem.The problem is when the foundation is not ready to support it.

Smaller organizations may feel this even more because people are often wearing multiple hats. Stability becomes harder when leaders are involved in too many areas at once.

No matter the size of the organization, the same principle applies.

Strong businesses are built on foundational principles, repeatable expectations, and leadership discipline.

Without that foundation, growth creates instability.

Can Organizations Scale While Building?

Growth does not always wait until everything is perfect. Many organizations are building while scaling. The challenge is whether that growth is intentional.

There is a difference between building the plane while flying it with a clear plan, and simply reacting as problems appear.
Growth without planning creates stress, while growth with intentionality creates momentum.

There are situations where instability is unavoidable, especially in startups or rapidly changing environments.
But healthy organizations remain focused.

They ask:
•    What is our plan? 
•    What structure will this require? 
•    Where will leadership capacity break? 
•    What systems need to evolve? 

Growth should not be accidental.

Leadership Capacity Is the Real Scaling Constraint

One of the greatest concerns during growth is not revenue, product demand, or opportunity. It is leadership capacity. As organizations scale, the question becomes whether there are enough leaders to support the people.

Growth creates pressure on managers.
As responsibilities increase, leaders can become overloaded. A leader who was once highly effective can lose effectiveness when too much is added without support.

When that happens, stability breaks down.
The organization begins to feel chaotic, not because the business is growing, but because leadership capacity was stretched too far.

Effective growth requires intentional leadership planning. Organizations need to understand leadership-to-associate ratios, future organizational needs, and talent pipelines long before the growth arrives.

Leadership is not something that companies can simply hire overnight. Preparation matters.

Systems Alone Do Not Create Growth

A common mistake organizations make is trying to scale through systems alone. Processes, technology, and operational structure matter, but systems do not replace leadership.

Leaders create stability by reinforcing principles, guiding teams, creating alignment, and building trust. Growth does not only come from executive strategy.

Some of the most successful ideas come from associates closest to the work.

That only happens when people have the time, clarity, and trust to think creatively. Chaos removes that space, while stability creates it.

When associates are constantly reacting, innovation suffers. When operations are stable, people can identify better ways to work, improve processes, and contribute to growth.

What Breaks When Stability Is Ignored

When stability disappears, trust erodes quickly.

Associates begin to feel like priorities change by the moment.

Customers notice inconsistency, leaders lose credibility, and morale suffers.Teams become exhausted from chasing moving targets.

Eventually, instability begins to create retention problems, and retention loss creates deeper organizational damage:
•    loss of tribal knowledge 
•    loss of operational standards 
•    weakened culture 
•    inconsistent execution 
•    leadership strain 

Instability does not stay contained, instead, it compounds. If left unchecked, it can begin unraveling the organization.

Final Takeaway

Stability is not the enemy of growth. In many cases, it is what makes growth possible.

Chaos can create the illusion of progress because motion feels productive. But long-term growth requires more than activity.

It requires intentional leadership, repeatable systems, trust, aligned priorities, and leadership capacity.

Organizations that create stability give their teams the ability to innovate, improve, and grow sustainably.

Growth does not happen because leaders react faster.

It happens because leaders build environments where people can perform at their best.