If you’ve ever experienced a significant bout with back pain you know that it affects everything you do. That’s been the story of my life this past week. Five years ago I suffered a herniated disc. It was pain so excruciating that I never wanted to suffer it again. But last Monday, while running, I felt a twinge in my back, and here we go again!

Today I went to the Physical Therapist and he showed me what’s going on in my back. It seems that two of my vertebrae are pressing on a disc, squeezing it out like jelly out of a donut, and then pressing on a nerve that causes pain all the way down my left leg. For the first time in my life I was put in traction. It’s a weird sensation, but seemed to do a bit of good.

The reason for the pain in my back is a good explanation of what happens in some organizations. Some issue, idea, or argument becomes a “pinch point” that irritates a small corner of the kingdom, and before you know it, the pain spreads to the rest of the organism.

The pinch point:

• Affects everything that goes on in the organization.
• Restricts the flow of energy and ideas.
• Focuses all the attention on just one area.
• Takes time and effort to work through the pain.
• Diverts attention away from other things that could create a happy and healthy organization.

My Physical Therapist is trying to alleviate the pinch point by “decompressing” the vertebrae and alleviating the pressure on the nerve at that place. Sounds like a good idea for an organization experiencing a pinch point of its own.

When pinch points happen:

• Discover the source, or pinch point, and treat it instead of the symptoms.
• Acknowledge that other people in the organization may be hurting and in need of “treatment” as well.
• Allow energy and ideas to flow into and out of every other area of the organization as a way of combatting the pinch point itself.
• Use every resource available to ease the pain, “decompress” the personalities involved through the love of forgiveness, and take the time to make sure that it is lasting healing.
• Provide specific times of healing that promote a healthy organism.

“Decompression” can provide health in an organization experiencing a “pinch point.” Now let’s hope it does the same for my back.

What examples do you have of “decompression” helping an organization through a “pinch point”?