Accelerate or stagnate: what’s really blocking business growth?

On 2nd July, we hosted the latest instalment of our smart/tasking webinar series - Accelerate or stagnate: what’s blocking your business growth? - featuring a brilliantly insightful conversation between smart/tasking CEO Niall Anderson n and CXO Gary Gamp . 

Across 45 minutes, the session explored one of the most common, yet least addressed business challenges: Why do businesses stall when everything looks good on paper? 

It turns out, as Niall explained, that growth isn’t just about having a great strategy or product. It’s about understanding blockers - invisible, internal, cultural or operational - and doing something about them. 

Here’s a round-up of what we covered, what we learned, and why we thought this was a corker of a session! 

Blockers to growth are usually human, not structural 

“Most of the time,” Niall said, “it’s not the strategy that’s off. It’s the way we communicate it, or the way we avoid addressing misalignment.” 

We kicked off by exploring how seemingly small internal dynamics - like not challenging the loudest voice in the room or failing to align stakeholders early - lead to decisions that either stall or drift. 

Niall shared examples of functional tension between teams, personal agendas derailing conversations, and leadership teams lacking a shared problem statement. One guest noted: “We weren’t on the same page about what the problem was - so we all went in different directions.” 

How do we help our clients with this challenge? We turn up facilitation, make sure every voice is heard, every stakeholder is aligned, and every decision has clear ownership. Otherwise, you risk meetings feeling productive in the moment but leading to little change or action afterwards. 

Internal and external customers deserve equal clarity  

One standout point: internal blockers and external blockers behave in similar ways. 

Whether you're motivating a client to buy or trying to get internal buy-in for a business case, the same rule applies - if people don't understand what's being proposed, or why it matters, they won’t move. 

“We need to communicate the consequences - not just the idea,” said Niall. “What happens if we don’t make the investment? What do we lose if we delay?” 

It’s not about scaremongering; it’s about framing urgency in a way that matters to each stakeholder, from finance to marketing to operations. This mindset shift really got us thinking... 

The problem might not be sales - it might be relevance 

At one point, Gary asked: “You often say businesses don’t have a sales problem, they have a relevance problem. What do you mean by that?” 

Niall’s response was clear: “Most people are trying to sell what they want to sell, not what the customer actually wants to buy.” 

He went on to explain that relevance requires deep knowledge of your customers’ worlds, not just their company, but their market, their objectives, their pressures. 

“If you don’t understand how your customer makes money, how they compete, and how they serve their customers, you’re probably not relevant.” 

He gave a great example from the insurance sector, where digital transformation only makes sense if you understand the operational challenges of underwriters, risk managers and carriers - not just the tech stack. 

Why do decisions get delayed? 

One of the core webinar themes was the cost of delayed decisions - a challenge that almost every business leader can relate to. 

So why don’t decisions happen when we want them to? 

• Lack of clarity: Stakeholders don’t feel informed or confident enough. 

• Fear of getting it wrong: Personal brand and internal politics weigh heavily. 

• Too much ambiguity: Consequences of action (or inaction) haven’t been well defined. 

“It’s like undercooked chicken,” Niall joked. “You can’t serve it just because you want it done; it must be ready. If your investment case isn’t strong enough, it won’t get the buy-in you want.” 

The message was clear: if you want people to move, show them what life could look like if they do as well as what they’re risking if they don’t. 

Look for input metrics, not just outcomes 

Peter Gee, one of the webinar attendees, raised an important point: many sales teams only track pipeline and revenue. But what about all the meaningful progress that happens in between? 

Niall agreed: “We need to spend more time on input behaviours - the activities that actually lead to results. Meetings, proof-of-concepts, stakeholder alignment, and business case development. If you track those, you know where progress is happening - not just where it’s missing.” 

Smart sales teams and leaders, he said, know their numbers: win rates, deal velocity, average contract values, and when to say no to things that won’t close. And that’s not pessimism, it’s precision. 

Practical mindset shifts to accelerate 

We closed the session by going back to what acceleration really looks like, and it’s not about speed alone, it’s about creating the conditions where momentum builds naturally: 

• Being outcome-and consequence-led, not product-led 

• Understanding the customer’s world deeply 

• Being willing to challenge assumptions 

• Using healthy paranoia to ask: what don’t I know yet that could slow this down? 

• And perhaps most importantly: focusing on value as the customer defines it, not as you do. 

One of Niall’s most powerful observations came toward the end: “Most businesses know what needs to change, they’re just waiting for the right moment. But if you wait too long, the market will move without you.” The best time to act on a growth opportunity is before it becomes urgent. The businesses that accelerate are the ones who do the hard thinking now, not when they’re already behind. 

We’ll be back with our next smart/tasking webinar in September. Until then, thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to a brilliant session. 

If you’re looking to unblock growth in your business, get in touch with the team.