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| | Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Becca Coggins, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms
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| | | | Creating sustained, profitable growth is a perennial priority for leaders—and one that also feels increasingly urgent. If anything, growth has only gotten harder to achieve and sustain in today’s business landscape. Even so, some companies are pulling ahead: Recent McKinsey research highlights the common characteristics (conviction, for one) that enabled some companies to outperform the market in recent years, despite high levels of uncertainty and disruption. This week, we look at the growth strategies and mindsets that can help companies get ahead—and stay ahead—of the competition. | | | |
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| | | In the past five years, just one in seven companies posted double-digit revenue growth, even as the broader market—driven by a small group of tech companies—grew apace. In the newest installment of McKinsey’s flagship research on corporate growth, Andy West, Dago Diedrich, David Schiff, Greg Kelly, Jill Zucker, Kate Siegel, Rebecca Doherty, and Sascha Lehmann draw on their analysis of more than 5,000 companies and identify five standout firms beyond the Magnificent Seven that are moving differently to grow faster than their peers. But how, exactly?
The authors note three common characteristics among these firms: consistent commitment to investing in business growth, even when uncertainty is highest; a diversified, well-managed and executed portfolio of growth engines over time; and the use of technology that systematically accelerates value. At Walmart, leadership continued to fund growth as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to e-commerce, inflation squeezed consumer spending, and near-term returns were uncertain. The company’s deliberate effort to build a portfolio of new, diverse sources of growth alongside its core stores (for example, acquiring more than 20 digital-native and tech companies and launching a highly successful membership program) has resulted in more than half of Walmart’s operating-income growth coming from newer growth platforms. | | |
| | | | | | | That’s the value of global M&A deals in 2025, an increase of 43 percent from the previous year and 20 percent higher than the ten-year average. In McKinsey’s report on 2026 M&A trends, Senior Partners Jake Henry and Mieke Van Oostende note a wide range of changes that are likely to sustain that momentum in the year ahead. For one, leaders see dealmaking as an increasingly essential response to rapid change and external shocks. With just one-third of executives in a McKinsey survey reporting confidence in their companies’ ability to manage external challenges, the authors say many leaders “are looking [to transactions] to bolster core competitiveness while also pursuing technological innovation and opportunities to mitigate—or sometimes invert—risk, especially where organic growth is slow or uncertain.” | | |
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| | | “The journey to growth is a marathon, not a sprint: It often requires more than 18 months to see results.” | | | That’s McKinsey’s Andy West, Greg Kelly, Jill Zucker, Kate Siegel, Louisa Greco, Michael Birshan, Rebecca Doherty, and Sascha Lehmann on the mindsets and behaviors leaders need to make the significant shift from wanting growth to achieving it. In practice, growth is a journey that requires creativity and risk-taking, as well as hard work and pragmatism, to execute well. The leaders of companies that outgrow the rest demonstrate five critical mindsets, the authors say: invest in growth, even in turbulent times; be audacious on growth; listen to your customers—for real; rally a dream team for growth; and execute growth with excellence.
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| It’s not only in the C-suite, though, where mindset shifts make the difference. In conversation with McKinsey Partner Richelle Deveau, Paul Fipps, ServiceNow’s president of global customer operations, explains the role—and power—of a growth-oriented corporate culture. “For us, growth isn’t just about hitting numbers. It’s about creating an environment where people learn, adapt, and deliver impact together,” Fipps says. In addition to its focus on continuous learning, the company’s integrated AI platform enables growth that’s both efficient and sustainable. “AI needs to be orchestrated, like a control tower at a busy airport, so it works across departments and systems and eventually between businesses,” he says. “A unified platform is the difference between isolated pilots that stall and enterprise-wide transformation that accelerates growth.”
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| In an ever-changing economic landscape, it can be hard to pin down specific prerequisites for sustainable growth. But according to Semyon Yakovlev and John Davis, companies in Asia are proving that six novel business models are spurring breakthrough growth in meaningful—and also replicable—ways. Take Pop Mart, for example. The creator of Labubu dolls achieved massive global success by creating emotion-first products (one such breakthrough business model) that build anticipation, identity, and community. In the first half of 2025, Pop Mart generated $1.9 billion in revenue and became the largest company among its peers. More recently, the company partnered with Sanrio—another Asian icon of blind-box toys—to launch Sanrio-inspired Labubus and capitalize on both companies’ enormous fanbases. | | | Lead by getting—and staying—ahead. | | | | | — Edited by Daniella Seiler, executive editor, Washington, DC
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