'Growth Traps' Can Hurt Recovery.

• Position: Brief Article

Seventy percent of companies will fail to meet their goals as a direct result of significant business growth traps, according to GartnerG2, a new research service from technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.

"During this economic period of strategic business assessment, strategists are vying for market share and reduced operating costs," said Michael Fleisher, president and CEO of Gartner. "Whether through fear or ignorance, business strategists are being duped far too frequently by thinly veiled growth traps and are greatly impeded in their ability to lead their businesses through recovery and on to growth."

The growth traps, Fleisher said, are insidious, stemming from a mindset or mental model of the business world. He said no company is immune to the traps, and "the only true defense is recognition, thoughtful strategic reasoning and consistent execution."

The GartnerG2 Growth Strategy Report delivers qualitative survey analysis of business strategists across numerous industry sectors and highlights five significant danger points for companies to address:

1. Innovation Allergy. Who says you're in a slow growth industry? Proof exists that there are no mature industries, only managers who succumb to prevailing beliefs about growth through creeping and tweaking margins and costs. Innovate, or you'll fall prey to the self-fulfilling prophecy.

2. Webnesia. Drawing negative conclusions today about the dot.com era is as much a trap as falling for...