In life and in business, there are times when we feel we aren’t moving. Things have somehow come to a halt even as days pass by. It could be in a relationship or a project we are working on. When things stagnate, it is possible to get into a downward spiral. We feel the world is conspiring against us. It can make us angry and inward focused. It can have a negative effect on those around us – at home and the workplace.
A 2008 HBR article discusses stall points in business: “[Stall points is] our term for the start of secular reversals in company growth fortunes, as opposed to quarterly stumbles or temporary corrections… Growth stalls can have dire consequences: They bring down even the most admired companies; they exact a sizable financial and human toll; and their impact may be permanent. After a stall sets in, the odds against recovery rise dramatically with the passage of time.” The authors identify four reasons: “premium position captivity, innovation management breakdown, premature core abandonment, and talent shortfall.”
Something similar can play out in our personal lives also. We may be working hard, but find that we are not making progress – for various reasons. In personal relationships, we may find that we are not communicating enough with those closest to us. We withdraw into a shell. A darkness envelopes us. Everything around us seems to be going wrong.
I went through such a phase in 1994. My entrepreneurial venture was not working out. I was in denial that I had failed. I had just got married. It was an arranged marriage and Bhavana and I barely knew each other. I would come back home late at night and just not talk to my parents or Bhavana. I would get angry at small things. I had reached what I can now think of as a “stall point.” I was in a secular decline. It took me time to come out of it. I had to first recognise that my project was a failure and not me; I still had it in me to do something different and succeed. I could not blame or take out my frustration at those around me; the fault lay squarely with me. I had to stay positive. I decided to go to the US for a long visit (a couple months) to figure out the way forward. And it was on that trip that the business plan for what became IndiaWorld came together.
Each one of us will face stall points at some time or another in our lives. We need to recognise them, and then work to get out of the negative zone. It is at times like these that we need family and friends around us. Each of us can do much more that we imagine; our attitude towards stall points will determine the heights we can climb.
