The future of organizational psychology
Both these paradigms were well adapted to psychology in general and organizational psychology in particular. Not only were mental health professionals helping employees deal with stress and anxiety, but they were making sure the workplace is vibrant and healthy enough to help avoid depression and ensure as many needs of the employees are met as possible.
The new paradigm
A third paradigm has now developed in psychology about 2 decades ago, called 'Positive Psychology'. While traditional psychology is mostly concerned with mental illness, positive psychology is concerned with building on an individual's strengths and helping them lead meaningful lives. In other words, it is not about 'cure', but about 'leading the best life possible'.
This shift has only now started to creep into organizations. The idea that an individual has many strengths that can be enhanced or expressed doesn't sound new, but in real life is quite novel. Few companies or organizations are not as concerned about what the person is good at. After all, the company has its own lengthy procedures and standards, and only if a person ticks all the right boxes are their strengths considered. In a huge organization, such simplicity is perhaps based on a need for efficiency. Nevertheless, it can be argued that this has been a part of corporate culture since at least Maslows time.
However Positive psychology is also to do with helping individuals lead full lives and a deeper idea here is that of transcendence. The need to excel is a pivotal idea here as well as spirituality. Now, corporations have been looking at training and learning and development initiatives for decades however I believe there is something they can learn from sports psychology here.
Sports psychology and performance
The dynamics of sports is completely different from corporations, however, the need and will to excel as well as the competitive pressure may be just as tough. The idea of coaching or 'counseling' as it is known in proper psychology terms is still in its infancy in corporate circles. Even in educational settings, the quality of counseling is dismal. It is simply not seen as a worthwhile resource by most upper management. It is important to point out that executive coaching has almost reached a point where it may soon be mainstream, however, the case is not the same for middle or low management of most large organizations. This is a huge gap in potential performance improvement waiting to happen.
Other ideas in sports psychology are creeping into the corporate circles, but these are still mostly on the fringe and have not yet been taken up seriously by most talent managers. These ideas include visualizations, rehearsals, anxiety management, and focus exercises. These may also possibly mean that the performance potential of individuals and teams is not being reached.
Conclusion
Organizational psychology has come a long way and we are almost at the point where most resources may soon be spent on enhancing the performance of employees and helping them be their absolute best selves. A huge lesson can be learned from sports psychology and its principles which have supported countless athletes and teams for decades and has the potential to completely revolutionize how productivity is managed in the corporate world as well.
Umair Usman is a Rapid Transformational Therapy practitioner, a businessperson, and a blogger. You can know more about him at https://buff.ly/2zmc9rj . To book a free consultancy session, please fill the form https://tinyurl.com/y6n2vv8w
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