At some point in a company’s life cycle, the question comes up: should we train our people or hire new ones? It’s a deceptively simple choice, but one that divides leadership teams and sometimes even paralyzes progress. Training feels risky—an investment in people who might leave. But holding back on skill-building can quietly stunt growth, hurt morale, and cost far more in missed opportunities than many leaders realize. When Stagnation Starts to Show You’ll often notice it first in the little things: