The main symptom that you and/or your organization might be suffering from “Perceived Barrier Syndrome,” or PBS, is that you are not investing in your business or professional and personal growth.
A story is told of a study that was done with fish. The fish were placed in a large aquarium in which they could swim anywhere. After a while a piece of clear glass was put in the middle of the aquarium and the fish started bumping into it. Soon they learned that it was a barrier and started turning just before hitting it. A time came when the barrier was removed—but the fish never swam beyond the point where the barrier used to be.
Sadly, that is what organizations and professionals are doing. The measures they took during the past recession have become the barrier stopping them from exploring opportunities to grow. Businesses have stopped marketing their products/services. Employee training and leadership development budgets have been cut. Individuals have postponed investments in professional and personal programs and resources.
Experts tell us that by the end of June 2009, the recession had hit bottom and positive dynamics of growth were in place. It is paramount to remove recession-related measures if your organization expects to grow past where it was before the recession hit.
There is need for improved morale to foster new creativity and focus on what has become the new “normal.” Employees need to feel valued, know their contribution matters, be part of a community, and have fun at work. One of the strategies of overcoming recession-induced challenges is for employees to have ownership of their responsibilities—to think and act as the owners of their organization. They need to be actively involved in creative ways of adding value, providing exceptional customer service and cost-cutting efforts.
Walking into the future allowing yourself to be guided by the downfalls brought by the past recession is like rising from your chair with the intention of going outside… but after standing up, you pick up your chair and set it directly in your path to the door. The chair becomes an obstacle and affects how and when you will reach your destination.
Get rid of the chair—swim past the glass! You can recover from Perceived Barrier Syndrome.
