The high-growth handbook: Molly Graham’s frameworks for leading through chaos, change, and scale

Molly Graham, a leader known for advising high-growth companies, shares frameworks for navigating rapid scale. She emphasizes "giving away your Legos"—releasing responsibilities to embrace new challenges—and introduces "Bob," a metaphor for managing the negative emotions accompanying change, recommending a two-week buffer before reacting. Graham contrasts "J-curve" career jumps with stair-step promotions, advocating risk-taking for accelerated growth. The "waterline model" advises addressing structural and dynamic issues before blaming individuals, prioritizing clear roles and expectations. Graham's six rules for goal-setting include limiting company goals to three, designating a single owner per goal, and accepting that "strategy should hurt," requiring tough trade-offs. Drawing from experiences with leaders like Zuckerberg and Sandberg, she stresses that company culture reflects the founder's personality and warns against hyper-growth exceeding 100% annually.