The only true gift is a portion of thyself.

—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Emerson captures how I feel as I write these acknowledgments to my colleagues, friends, and family who have given a portion of themselves to make this book possible.

To my mother, who has always modeled a love of learning and a deep desire to grow. One of my happiest childhood memories is of my mother taking my younger sister, Brooke, and me to a bookstore every Friday afternoon, and of her reading A Wrinkle in Time to us. Then there was that copy of Tony Robbins’s Awaken the Giant Within that Mom gave me while I was in college …

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Heather Hunt—writer extraordinaire, intellectual sparring partner (though I will never be her equal), truth teller, and longtime friend from our college days working in the Orem Public Library. And deep appreciation to Frank Morgan, who has a journalist’s eye for detail and is a storyteller nonpareil.

Thank you to Scott Berinato, my editor at Harvard Business Press. Scott deftly edited the manuscript, making it more economical and more musical. His rendering of the S Curve is a thing of beauty. Thank you, Scott, for being a tireless sponsor and advocate, always seeking the win.

Appreciation also to Melinda Merino and Erika Heilman. Thank you for being willing to wrestle our way to making this a truly useful book. Thank you to Stephani Finks for the drop-dead gorgeous book cover, and to the production team, headed by Jen Waring and Jane Gebhart, for making the process easy. And always grateful for Julie Devoll, Felicia Sinusas, Jon Shipley, Sally Ashworth, and Claus Mossbeck for putting their heart and soul into getting my ideas out into the world. And thank you, always, Erika, for betting on my very first book, Dare, Dream, Do.

A special shout-out to Julie Berry, who helped me move up my S Curve of Learning as an author. I will forever be grateful to Julie for encouraging me to take the time I needed to make this the book I wanted it to be, and then for her deep-dive edit. This book is infinitely better for having been under Julie’s watchful care. Thanks also to Sarah Green Carmichael, who gave the introduction a much-needed makeover (even if we did have to cut Uncle Rico).

Deep gratitude goes to Michael Bungay Stanier, who called one day and asked, “How can I help?” After lots of back and forth and countless iterations, we were still struggling with a title. Michael suggested we try Smart Growth. Having Michael devote a small portion of his intellectual wattage to me led to an unexpected and serendipitous reframing of the big idea. Then there’s his sensory descriptor of the S Curve—“slow, fast, slow.” That’s how we grow.

Thank you to Kurt Wilson for refining the S Curve Insight Platform, with input from Eric Lin and Marla Gottschalk. And thanks to Heather Schafer for thinking through the complexities around IP. Thank you too to Kurt Wilson and Sue Barlow for helping make the end-of-chapter summaries work—repeating back to me what I thought I said. Appreciation to Chelsea Smith and Linda Elliott for navigating the scheduling twists and turns that come with writing a book. Thank you to the glue of our book launch team, Jen Ross, and our team of supporters, Amelia Atencio, Stephanie Brummel, and Nicole Pellegrino!

A special shout-out to Terry Sejnowski and Tara Swart, MD, for helping me puzzle out the neuroscience of the S Curve; to my husband, Roger Johnson, on the biology of the S Curve, and Juan C. Mendez, who a decade ago was invaluable in helping me think through how the S Curve could apply to people.

Thank you to my accountability partners, Eric Schurenberg and Harry Kraemer, for their weekly check-ins and for generously sharing their stories.

Thank you to Carol Kauffman, who read an early version of the manuscript and gave me expert guidance on how a coach would approach this. Carol is a walking encyclopedia on the literature of positive psychology.

Thank you to readers Alison Caldwell-Andrews, Angie Balfour, Brigham Doxey, Dallin Hunt, Darrell Rigby, David Nihill, Eric Lin, Harry Kraemer, Jason Jedlinski, Mary Jolley, Miranda Johnson, Monica Loup, Nancy Wilson, Paige Blaser, Spencer Combs, Stacey Johnson, and Sumeet Shetty. “Real craftsmanship reflects real caring,” said Spencer W. Kimball. And I felt that from each of my readers.

Thank you to all who agreed to be interviewed on the Disrupt Yourself podcast and on LinkedIn Live. Many of these stories found their way into the book.

And thanks to those whose work influenced me as I was writing, including Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, Luvvie Ajayi Jones, Cesar Baez, Albert-Lazlo Barabasi, William Bridges, Brené Brown, Julie Carrier, Stephen M. R. Covey, Chris Dancy, Nancy Duarte, Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Heidi Grant, Marshall Goldsmith, Suneel Gupta, Charles Handy, Devanie Helman, Jeffrey R. Holland, Marcy Jellison, Dallas Jenkins, Steve Ludwig, Julie Lythcott-Haims, Emma McAdam, Kelly McGonigal, Alan Mulally, Russell M. Nelson, Scott Osman, Alex Osterwalder, Tom Peters, David Peterson, Dan Pink, Bob Proctor, Tom Rath, Richard Riso, Kim Scott, Ben Shewry, Jeff Slovin, Brooke Snow, Laura Vanderkam, and Isabel Wilkerson.

Thank you to those who so generously endorsed this book. Doing so is a gift of both time and personal credibility.

An especially huge thanks to Amy Humble, my business partner, for persuading me that this was the next book I needed to write and for thinking through the real-world application of these ideas. I am continually in awe of Amy’s brilliant and strategic mind. When she puts her brain on something, and adds in her whole heart, there is real magic. I am grateful too to Amy Gray for connecting us—she is a blessing.

To my husband, Roger, who created an ecosystem where people can grow, especially me. To our children, David and Miranda, it is wonderful to be on the lily pad with you. And to God, from the deepest place in my being, thank you.