Barriers to Entry
Byron Washington, Columnist
When I conduct leadership training, especially in the corporate space, there is always a discussion about barriers that keep people from progressing. These constraints or people work within the system to restrict who moves forward. Barriers to entry do not always have to be negative. However, in some cases, barriers to entry can show up as systemic racism, prejudice, or bias. The barrier is not designed as a litmus test but rather as a structure to keep certain people from progressing instead of ensuring that the best people excel in the organization.
When it comes to organizations with barriers that are designed to restrict certain people, my work is to help the organization dismantle those barriers and create a balanced process that allows individuals who are best suited to move forward in the organization. Stay with me because there is a reason that we have some barriers. In other organizations, I have observed barriers, and people have asked me to help them refine the process because not enough people are achieving specific goals or milestones. Based on the organization, I would not recommend that they change the process in some cases. Why? Because when you add ease to a process unnecessarily, it compromises quality. Again, Let me say that when there is a rigorous process, and you make the process easier for no reason other than to allow more individuals to meet a goal, you will compromise on quality.
Let me give you a real-life example. If an individual wants to join the US Marine Corps, the process is rigorous (based on the Marines I know). The intent of that process is not to allow everyone to become a Marine but to ensure that the people who do can live up to the history, legacy, demands, and expectations of the United States Marine Corps. So, for a system like the US Marine Corps, you do not change the process; you provide better information to those wanting to join so that they can better prepare for the tests and challenges that lie ahead. The rigor and strict standards are necessary.
So, as leaders, we must ensure that we are considering the end goal. What is the organization looking to produce? What should those individuals represent? The world we currently live in is trying to make everything easier.
Nevertheless, in doing so, we are seeing a compromise in the quality of our communities, education system, and even our churches. Spiritual growth requires effort and discipline. As easy as it is for people to access a bible either on their phone or tablet, many Christians still do not do it. One thing we cannot make easy is living for Christ. We cannot downgrade the guidance God has given us in his Word to make life spiritually easier. To reduce the Word and God’s commandments is to compromise on the result of us being “salt and light” in this dark and dying world.
Consider this in closing: we cannot make Christianity so “easy” that we reduce the standards God has provided us, thus reducing the quality of our Christian expression to the world around us.
