Chapter 9: What if growth felt expansive, not exhausting? (Part2)

Welcome to Chapter 9 !

Hope you’re all easing back into rhythm after what I imagine was an intense wrap-up to the year. It’s been the same at our end 😁.

We’re starting the year positively, carrying forward some profits and a promising amount of meaningful work already on the horizon.

These are 3 things we are most excited about this year :

1. Performance Management Systems: We have kick-started our new bold experiment around rethinking Performance Management Systems for organisations, anchored in regeneration principles with two of our closest partners. I will keep you posted on it,  but in case you are on a similar exploration write back to me and i will be very happy to exchange notes.

2. Inter Bengaluru Blues FC’s Journey: A team close to our hearts. It’s a Division B women’s football club here in Karnataka, and Monica from Co.labx plays for them. We’re rooting hard for them this season!

3. Helping Organisations Grow Differently: This is our biggest and boldest bet yet. And if you’ve been following this newsletter, you already know—we’re obsessed with helping organisations grow in a way that feels expansive, not exhausting.

Image1 : A sneak peek of Inter Bengaluru Blues FC in their brand new jersey

In our last edition I shared

At Co.labx, we’ve spent the last six months working closely with organizations to explore exactly that and there is a selfish reason behind it as well 😀. This is very very personal for us, we are at an inflection point of growth and we ourself have been grappling with the same question.

“How can you grow in a way that feels expansive and not exhaustive?”

And in this exploration two major insights have emerged—insights that will change how you think about scaling and growth.

I wrote about the first insight in detail :

“Organisations don’t scale—people do.”

This struck a chord with many of you and we received a massive positive response.

Thank you.

It affirmed we’re not alone in this exploration.

And the last edition was also the first time we opened this newsletter to a wider audience, and the response was humbling. We saw a 25% bump in new subscribers, mostly organisation leaders.

So if you’re new here, welcome. This space is for reflection, honesty, and occasionally… some discomfort.

This chapter is about the second insight.

Let’s begin with a story!

A few months ago, we were invited to work with the senior leadership team of a fast-growing organisation.

On the surface, their ask was strategic:
“We need clarity on direction, growth plans, and execution for next year”

But within the first few conversations, something else started to surface.

What we encountered was:

1. Years of unspoken tensions.
2. Feedback that had never been voiced.
3. A quietly accumulating emotional fatigue.

The result?

1. Leaders felt drained and disconnected.
2. The organisation’s momentum had slowed down.
3. A sense of confusion and despair through the ranks in the organisation.

The more we listened, the clearer it became:
Their problem wasn’t the strategy.

It was the silence.

And here’s what made it more surprising:

These weren’t people who played office politics. They were a close-knit group—best friends who had worked together for over a decade. They didn’t lack trust. They lacked the right space and courage to have the conversations they needed to have.

And that’s the thing!

This isn’t unique to this organisation.

In most teams we’ve worked with, the most frustrating blocks haven’t been due to broken systems, lack of intent, or misaligned goals.

They’ve been due to the unsaid.

It’s not strategy that slows you down. It’s the silence.

And let’s be honest:

Politeness can be UNKIND, and silence is rarely NEUTRAL.

And every time we avoid the real conversation, we pay a price:

– Tension builds.
– Momentum leaks.
– Trust erodes slowly and quietly.

But we still avoid these conversations 🙂

We’ve seen this over and over again.

Most organizations are cluttered, not by inefficiencies, but by conversations that never happen.

Unspoken frustrations, unresolved tensions, and withheld feedback create invisible friction that slows down execution and innovation.

Creating space for real conversations isn’t about saying everything—it’s about surfacing what truly holds people back.

Once that happens,

– Teams move faster
– Decisions get made
– Organizations regain momentum.

Ok, lets get back to the story.

What’s missing wasn’t a lack of alignment. It was the unsaid.

We understood that,so we scrapped the playbook.
And we held space for something deeper.

We facilitated what we call 10X Conversations.

And what we witnessed through it was raw, emotional, and powerful.

– Barriers dropped.
– Long-held frustrations came to light.
– Tears were shed.

And by the end of it some of the most important decisions—ones that had been stuck for years—were finally made.

Not because of any brilliant framework.
But because people finally had the space to say what they hadn’t been able to.

Beautiful right?  🙂

Insight #2 – Growth lies in the unsaid

The insight is –> Your organisation’s growth lies in the unsaid things between people.

Let’s do a quick thought experiment!

If you step back and examine the biggest bottlenecks in your organisation right now—challenges that feel frustratingly stuck.

what does the reason behind it boil down to?

There’s a very high chance they exist because of conversations that haven’t been had.

What’s holding your team back isn’t a lack of a better plan.
It’s the buildup of the unsaid.

If you want to move faster, grow deeper, or simply breathe easier—start here:

Create space for the real conversations.

And no, that doesn’t mean saying everything.
It means saying what matters most.

Incase, you would like to know about the how of the 10x conversations, write back to me, i can share 🙂

That’s it with this edition of the newsletter, see you soon in your nest edition.