Book 4: Growth Stages
42 frameworks derived from this book's biological principles
Branch Independence Test
Annual diagnostic to evaluate whether branches are truly independent or over-reliant on trunk. Tests four dimensions: P&L, Customer, Decision-Making,...
Calving Prevention Checklist
Annual checklist to identify whether your organization is at risk of forced separation under crisis. If multiple items are checked, controlled calving...
Certainty Calibration Framework
The landmark Cooper et al. (1988) study found over 80% of entrepreneurs estimated their success chances at 70% or higher, with nearly one-third at 100...
Controlled Calving Playbook
A comprehensive execution framework for separating a business unit through spinoff, divestiture, or IPO. Covers pre-announcement planning, announcemen...
Disturbance Response Playbook
Framework for responding to market disturbances that reset succession - new technology, regulatory changes, economic shocks, or pandemic-level disrupt...
Early Growth Allocation
Soybean seedlings face a critical resource allocation decision in their first 7-10 days: how much energy to draw from cotyledon reserves versus invest...
First 90 Days Post-Separation
Critical window framework for the highest-risk period after separation. Most value destruction (talent exodus, customer churn, operational disruption)...
Five Root System Categories
Organizations need multiple root systems, not just one. Like trees need taproots AND lateral roots, companies need depth AND breadth across five disti...
Five Survival Checkpoints
Early growth isn't continuous - it's a series of discrete survival gates. You must pass all five or die. Each checkpoint has pass conditions, measurem...
Flowering Readiness Test
A diagnostic assessment to determine whether a company is ready to transition from growth to legacy - whether through exit, IPO, succession, or major...
Germination Commitment Protocol
A phased timeline for executing germination once the decision is made. Maps biological germination stages to startup launch phases.
Monday Morning Early Growth Audit
49.4% of startups fail within five years. The most common pattern? Optimizing one dimension while others decay—running out of cash while celebrating u...
Monday Morning Germination Audit
A scoring diagnostic for quickly assessing germination readiness. Score 15 factors across three categories to determine whether to germinate, fix weak...
Monday Morning Gradient Audit
A structured quarterly review process to maintain phototropic discipline. Takes 120 minutes total and surfaces misalignments between resource allocati...
Monday Morning Root Audit
A quarterly diagnostic (2 hours, 4x per year = 8 hours total) to assess root system health across all five categories. Produces a Root Strength Index...
Nurse Log Strategy
Identify and leverage infrastructure subsidies that make early growth possible - platforms, programs, and partnerships that provide resources you coul...
Organizational Prescribed Burns
An annual operating rhythm of intentional small disturbances to prevent catastrophic organizational collapse. Modeled on forest management prescribed...
Pioneer to Expansion Sprint
Slack grew from $0 to $1 billion valuation in 8 months without marketing spend—90-95% of growth was organic, with Stewart Butterfield personally handl...
Pruning Trigger Template
Pre-defined criteria for when to prune a branch, established before branching begins. Prevents holding dead branches too long or pruning arbitrarily.
Reallocation Decision Tree
A decision framework for determining how much and how fast to reallocate resources when a new gradient is detected. Matches reallocation intensity and...
Regeneration Readiness Assessment
A diagnostic tool to assess whether an organization can regenerate after crisis (layoffs, revenue collapse, near-bankruptcy, leadership exodus). Calcu...
Regeneration vs Reinvention
Kodak sat in the wrong quadrant for a decade, mistaking stubbornness for strategy—$30 billion in market cap evaporated while executives debated "digit...
Resource Allocation Triangle
Stripe chose Growth + Quality. WhatsApp chose Efficiency + Quality. Groupon chose Growth + Efficiency. Only two of those companies are worth billions...
Root Development Sequencing
You can't build all five root systems simultaneously at equal intensity. This protocol sequences infrastructure development by company stage, identify...
Root-to-Shoot Ratio Diagnostic
A diagnostic tool to calculate and assess your organization's balance between visible growth metrics (shoots) and invisible infrastructure capacity (r...
Succession Stages Model
Framework for diagnosing which succession stage your company or market occupies, then matching strategy accordingly. Just as ecological succession fol...
Succession Trap Diagnostic
Diagnostic tool to determine if you're stuck in a Succession Trap - where your current success creates conditions that prevent future adaptation.
The Adaptation Navigator
A 5-step process for recognizing growth limits, quantifying them, choosing adaptation strategy, executing, and reassessing. Like organisms adapting to...
The Branching Map
Phased implementation guide for executing a new branch after passing the Four Branching Questions. Like a tree adding new branches, covers 36-month ti...
The Coppice Cycle
A three-phase regeneration execution playbook modeled on how coppiced trees regrow from surviving root systems. For organizations with Regeneration Re...
The Four Branching Questions
Decision framework for evaluating whether to branch into a new business unit, geography, or product line. Based on biological principles of apical dom...
The Four Walls of Growth
A diagnostic framework for identifying which type of growth limit a company is hitting. Every company hits growth limits - the question isn't if you'l...
The Germination Window
Seeds don't germinate because spring arrives—they germinate when their internal dormancy breaks AND external conditions align. Arabidopsis seeds measu...
The Iceberg Stress Test
A 90-point diagnostic tool for evaluating whether a business unit should be separated from its parent organization. Like an iceberg, most organization...
The Light Seeker Matrix
A framework for mapping organizational sensing systems to different resource types, enabling detection of the strongest growth opportunities. Just as...
The Phototropic Pivot
An 8-week implementation guide for executing directional growth toward detected resource gradients. Phototropism is how plants bend toward light - thi...
The Root System Test
Component of Regeneration Readiness Assessment that evaluates whether fundamental organizational value (brand equity, customer relationships, core cap...
The Survival Sprint
When starvation threatens, organisms don't gradually reduce metabolism—they undergo dramatic physiological restructuring. Bears entering hibernation d...
Three Reproductive Strategies
A framework for choosing how to transition from growth to legacy based on organizational biology and environment. The three strategies - monocarpic, p...
Three-Gate Germination Audit
A diagnostic framework for deciding whether to launch (germinate) a startup, product, or initiative. All three gates must show green before committing...
Transplant Survival Protocol
If you must transplant (acquisition, merger, major pivot), expect 1-3 years of disrupted growth. This protocol guides organizations through the four p...
Trunk Strength Scorecard
Quantitative assessment tool to evaluate whether core business is strong enough to support branching. Scores five dimensions 0-2 points each for total...