Exponential Thinking

While ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ are certainly interconnected terms, they are far from being interchangeable. As we continue to build up our new normal companies and scale them for growth, we do our best to always be conscious of this difference. This awareness is used as our baseline to create intentional strategies that will secure ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ throughout all levels of our organization for the long term. Here’s why doing so is critical for any business. 

Learning how to ride a bike is a universal human experience, and is often one of the first challenging physical activities we ever learn to master. As children, bikes gave us feelings of freedom and adventure. As adults, they become significantly more impactful, whether that is a form of sustainable transport, a representation of craftsmanship, a method of exercise, a thrilling sport, or a simple childhood memento.

Bunads, although more of a 20th-century invention, have been a Norwegian tradition for as long as most people can remember. While their true origins lay in the everyday clothing of rural people, the modern bunad has come to represent much more: the colorful variety of geographical regions found across the country, and a symbol of national pride that helps tie Norwegians together. But as the digital world grows and homogeneity threatens culture, how will the traditions surrounding bunad adapt? BUNAD Magasinet had the perfect solution.

Back at the turn of the 21st century, we founded our first software company. With an Open Source Business Model, we built a global community of 50 thousand developers and a customer base across +160 countries, all from a small, coastal town in Norway. But how?

Research shows that when organizations foster a work environment where people feel safe to share their thoughts and input, ask for help, or challenge the status quo, the same organizations are more likely to benefit from innovation, get strategic output of their diversity, and be better equipped to adapt to change. All key aspects of successful businesses today and a do-or-die focus for any startup & scaleup. 

Can two Google searches really produce as much carbon dioxide as boiling enough water in an electric kettle for a cup of tea? According to researchers at Harvard University, it seems so.

When building a product-led growth venture, craftsmanship becomes rocket fuel for exponential growth. 

At New Normal Group, we believe in the potential within people and the solutions created by them. But who said challenging the status quo is only for grown-ups? Every day, we are impressed by the creativity and problem-solving skills of the world’s talented young people. So technologically savvy and aware that they will undoubtedly be the drivers of innovation for the future. 

That’s why, to support these game-changers of tomorrow, we are introducing the New Normal Grant for students. Our grant is primarily aimed at students studying entrepreneurship who have a student company or product project as part of their studies. However, other relevant student projects aimed at entrepreneurship or business development will also be considered.

Did you know that you can substantially accelerate growth by optimizing the friction within your business model? In this article, we define business model friction and share some insights into improving growth rates by removing or adjusting friction points.

For years the world of work has been moving toward a more distributed and flexible reality. One in which people are able to, and increasingly expect to, work from anywhere simply because they can. The current pandemic didn’t create this trend, but for many, it accelerated it. 

The most important and often the most expensive and challenging part of building a high-growth company is attracting new customers. And it is the ability to do so consistently over time, at scale, and at an affordable cost that differentiates any company from an exponential business. 

Why do most businesses grow relatively linearly? What is the secret behind the companies that seem to have perfected the formula to grow exponentially? While team experience and owning the resources needed for execution are important, the secret to exponential expansion lies in the business model's elements.

What makes a good leader? How can you as a manager facilitate growth for your team? Is there one type of leadership that is better suited to secure rapid growth than another? From a jungle of articles and advice, whether talking about transformational, relational, trust-based, or developmental leadership, we’ve come to identify a model that helps us quickly build and develop our companies in cooperation with our teams.

Our mission at New Normal Group is to build exponential companies that chase the new normal of their industry. At the core of this is our Prove & Scale Model, designed to guide us systematically through the different building stages, all the way from start-up through scale-up. 

Let’s take a walk through the main principles of the model to get a better idea of how it works. 

We are now living under special circumstances, where few things feel normal. Our way of life and doing business has been disrupted, creating both challenges and opportunities at a scale so far unmatched. How have we dealt with this shift, and where do we see ourselves in the future?

Experience has taught us that a focus on diversity directly results in higher rates of innovation, increased adaptability, and faster growth. But why?

Research suggests that it takes an average of 66 days for a person to form a new habit. Having already spent half that time under measures of lockdown, we will likely see many of our newly attained habits stick around once life returns to normal. With the rise of digital services already growing across the world, the future of how humans work, play and socialize is one that only time will tell.

In our group, we create our new normal by challenging the status quo. And we do so by bringing different perspectives together, through securing a diverse team.