How to Discover And Overcome Invisible Growth Barriers

If you want to eliminate growth barriers, then you’ll like this story…

You’ve probably heard Legos net profits were up 35% this last year. 

Why? Because in the first time in the companies history since 1934 they produced Legos for girls. 

What? 

Everyone knows that boys like legos — not girls. Right?  

That belief has obviously been wrong. 

There is a discovery we can apply to growing a business from this.

Invisible Growth Barriers

Here’s the main point: Many of the barriers to business growth are invisible. They are beliefs. What we think we know about a market or area of expertise that just isn’t so. 

Belief has kept Lego from creating Legos aimed directly at girls for since 1934. That’s 79 years. 

And more importantly, invisible beliefs are keeping you and I from creating greater growth.

[Tweet “Many of the barriers to business growth are invisible. They are beliefs.”]

Now, lets assume you and I have these invisible belief barriers blocking us from more success. How do we find the invisible. And what do we do about it once we see them? 

The Truth: We are blind to these barriers. They are invisible to us. If we knew we believed things about growth and markets and tactics and rules for growth that were not true — actually hurting us in fact — we’d stop. 

So, we need a way to find the stuff that is hidden to us and our businesses. 

Here are a few places to lift the rug and look for the invisible barriers… 

1. What’s not working that should be? 

Generally, when stuff that should be working, isn’t, there is a hidden cause. It’s a big, red, waving flag saying, “Hey, somewhere in the middle of this frustration and failure and unfathomable-ness are assumptions, beliefs and facts that are just wrong.”  

Time to start revisiting our basic assumptions here. 

Look at areas where you or your company are failing, blocked or frustrated. Don’t ignore them. Meditate on them. Ponder them. Start asking, “What if?”

2. What won’t work?  

Take any area of your business (or life), working or not, and ask yourself, “What will never work?” 

Selling Legos to girls maybe?

Here’s a few variations on the theme: 

“What solutions will you NOT consider?”

“What markets would NEVER consider your products or services?”

“What CAN’T your product be used for?”

“What marketing tactics or strategies would be STUPID to pursue for your company?”

“What would you or your company be EMBARRASSED to do?”

“What would be UNPROFESSIONAL?”

3. What do you KNOW to be true about growth tactics, marketing, your industry, your business? 

This is taking our mind in the opposite direction of “what won’t work”.  Here we are examining that which we know to be true, that may not be so. 

“What do you know absolutely to be true about your business, customers, markets, competitors?”

“What’s most important about leadership?”

“What are the secrets to success in: lead gen, sales, funnel management, social media, growth hacking, marketing, etc..” 

Okay now…

Go through those three major questions. Write down your answers. Make a list. Those items are a pretty good indicator of your hidden beliefs. 

Here’s something that will jump out at you as you look at this list of ‘truths”…

You and I begin to see how hard it is to overcome them. It’s because you BELIEVE them. You’ve got a dog in the hunt. You’ve got an emotional stake in being right. 

And worse…

You now see that your greatest barrier to growth success may be your own mind! 

Both you and I have to overcome embarrassment, feeling foolish, etc. to even test those ideas.

Yet, that is often the path to breakthrough growth both in business and our lives.

The truth is that other people aren’t the biggest barriers to our future success. WE are. What’s between our ears. Hidden in our minds. 

In the comments below, I’d love to hear your stories of areas in business where you or others have challenged these invisible barriers and created success.  Please, leave your comments below.