I seek to develop a humanist onto-epistemological understanding of firm growth by combining a practice-based social ontology with notions of process theory. Instead of first measuring the outcome in terms of an increase in size and then explaining it backwards via distinct entities, my idea is to turn the mannequin back to its feet. When centering the activity that embeds the individual agent in society at the core of our theorizing, growth entails a different meaning. It becomes a theory of deliberate actions that seek to change an organization’s net of practice-arrangement bundles (cf. Schatzki, 2005) in which practitioners constantly need to make sense of the past while prospecting the future (Hussenot & Missonier, 2016). When acting deliberately, moral reasoning impacts decision-making and action. The acknowledgement of moral reasoning throughout the process of firm growth then allows for its normative evaluation, e.g. whether the individual has acted out of pure interest or altruism, or whether the decision was taken by a single person or democratically involved multiple stakeholders. Instead of searching for practices that lead to increases in sales, profit, or workforce (i.e. growth-as-practice) the main purpose of firm growth becomes the improvement of practices (i.e. growth-of-practice) not only in terms of efficiency but also morality. It moves us closer towards a notion of organizational betterment and thus approaches the meaning of growth commonly depicted in Aristotelian philosophy: the development of character and personality on the road of becoming a good citizen.