Growth Plates
Growth happens at specific concentrated points, not everywhere at once.
Growth doesn't happen everywhere at once. It happens at specific, concentrated points. The rest of the organism maintains, functions, and supports - but doesn't grow.
Trees grow at the tips. Period.
The technical term is "meristem" - specialized tissue at the ends of branches and roots where cell division actively occurs. The trunk doesn't grow thicker through cell division at its base. The branches don't expand along their length. Growth happens exclusively at apical meristems (shoot tips) and root tips. That's it.
This is why tree rings work. Each ring represents a year's growth added to the outside, not distributed throughout. The center of a 200-year-old oak has 200-year-old wood. Growth happened at the perimeter, in specific zones.
Animals are more complex but follow similar principles. Human bones grow at growth plates (epiphyseal plates) - specific zones of cartilage near the ends of long bones. Not throughout the bone. Not evenly. At specific plates. When those plates close (typically ages 14-17 for girls, 16-19 for boys), you stop getting taller.
The biological insight is profound: growth doesn't happen everywhere at once. It happens at specific, concentrated points. The rest of the organism maintains, functions, and supports - but doesn't grow.
Business Application of Growth Plates
Growth happens at specific concentrated points, not everywhere at once. Companies that try to grow in all directions simultaneously (diffuse growth) waste resources and achieve weak results everywhere. Successful companies identify 1-3 growth plates and concentrate resources there.