A guide designed to measure the energy people put into either seeing obstacles or opportunities has been launched by York-based TMS Development International Ltd.

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The Opportunities/Obstacles Quotient (QO2TM) questionnaire gives organisational teams the ability to discover why they may have negative attitudes to issues such as change, and how they can adopt a more balanced approach to new ideas - the half full/half empty glass syndrome.

Susan Mowse, marketing manager at TMS, explained: "(QO2TM) is the energy quotient measuring how much energy is used in looking for obstacles or opportunities.

Someone who only sees the opportunities in any situation is going to be constantly falling down holes or over obstacles. The ideal is to have a balance between the two - 2.2.

"Focusing purely on opportunities can lead to rash decision-making, whereas seeing only obstacles standing in the way of success may sound the death knell for potential new ventures."

Dr Dick McCann, author of "How To Influence Others at Work" and co-author of Margerison-McCann Team Management Systems, has spent the last three years researching the relatively-unknown "fifth dimension" of the human psyche to develop (QO2TM).

He said: "The (QO2TM) taps into the fifth dimension of the human psyche. This fifth scale is widely used in the area of clinical psychology to distinguish between normal and abnormal behaviour. This scale is often used to identify depression, anxiety, and neuroticism."

The (QO2TM) is measured from a 50-item questionnaire from which the individuals' QO is calculated by a specially-written software program.

Before using the (QO2TM) profiles customers must attend a workshop - £295 plus VAT - which accredits them to use the (QO2TM) in their work. Once accredited, they can process questionnaires via TMS's bureau service at £37.50 plus VAT.

"In addition, we can visit the company, offering either a one-to-one career counselling or team building session, which will be priced accordingly," said Ms Mowse.

TMS was originally set up in 1989 by Catherine Hick in association with TMS authors Charles Margerison and Dick McCann to introduce the Margerison-McCann Team Management Systems approach to training and development in the UK. It now has activities in Europe, Africa and the Middle East with key products translated into seven European languages.

The opportunities-obstacles quotient for Evening Press business editor Tony Seymour is 2.5. On a scale ranging from 100 per cent opportunities to 100 obstacles he scored 80.2 per cent on the opportunities side and 32.1 per cent on the obstacles side.

"Your bias towards the opportunities side of the scale is a strength that is particularly valuable in organisations where persistence and initiative are important," said Ms Mowse. "However, you will also have a good understanding of what will work and what will not."

She added: "You are particularly valuable in situations where people around you have a tendency to give up, or have lost their positivity about the situation they face. Your strong sense of reality can help people to see where their effort should be focused."

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