Work Stressors and How to Respond

the blight
Originally uploaded by eschipul

Stress. Sucks.

Much has been written about stress invoking the limbic brain, which while effective in dealing with saber toothed tigers, isn't so great at dealing with the complexity of the modern world. Add on top of that the recession, inflation and our mind's dubious relationship with money and you have a mess. A mess of stress.

So to break this down I did some reading and The Stress Experience at work comes, according to researchers, comes from:

1. a person's perception of the situation;
2. the person's past experience;
3. the presence or absence of social support; and
4. individual differences with regard to stress reactions.

(source: Organizational Behavior, Hellriegel, Slocum, Woodman, pg 199)

Attacking these one by one can and will reduce stress. Perception. For example the people a person hangs out with and the content they put into their brain frames their perception of the world. Cliff changed the way I think about the post office. A character? Yes. But a real change in perception based on fiction.

Past experiences. Well, you can't change these. But you can do two good things. First - note that past experiences started in the past, but also right now. Experiences occurring in the NOW are soon past experiences and you can change a frame of reference. To an extent. In practice I find it is more helpful to reduce stress by not thinking about past experiences but to rather set a goal in the future and go after it. If this is an internal sleight of hand, so be it. But great things occur by looking forward.

Social support. Oh my, this one is interesting. My absolute favorite social network is flickr. Why? The social support. The amazing people who help you improve your photography. They take the time to comment and share. A close second, on the odd numbered seconds when the site is working, is the mobile social network twitter.

Running a company has taught me that the people that support the group, fellow employees, friends and clients alike, are the strongest ones long term. The ability to provide social support is HUGE! And similarly the fool who insists on standing alone is dangerous in their refusal to accept social support. An ideal social structure is made up of people willing to support each other and also willing to accept social support.

On a personal note I often debate if, although compelled to check my recent activity on flickr, and the social graph on facebook, if these social networks are providing more support or adding stress. I don't know the answer to that. But I do know they are enriching experiences. Except for linkedin. I find linkedin "needy" but that is another post.

The best social support comes from real world family and friends who notice your new haircut and care about you. The people who notice you could use a bottled water and buy it for you without you asking.

Individual differences are of course what makes us great. Gladwell in the book Blink talks about the power of diversity being a diverse group makes better decisions. I strive to keep my input diverse for several  selfish reasons; life is more interesting and business is more profitable with a diverse group. Diverse groups are just smarter as long as they can wrestle the creative tension.

So to decrease stress while embracing individual differences you can teach people how to train and teach people how to communicate.

Example: in social media we talk about how you must TEACH people social media. You can't buy it like a billboard. Yet do we train the trainers? Teaching people HOW to teach leverages our individual differences while reducing stress.

In summary, this is one of those blog posts that is as much for myself as it is for you dear reader. I like organized lists. And it helps me to frame the management of stress by focusing on the four factors of stress; perception, past experiences, social support and individual differences.

Within this framework, how do you suggest we as people reduce stress for our friends, family and coworkers?

Comments

[Kurt Stoll]

Great post Ed. I also find that controlled breathing and meditation are great for reducing daily stress. I highly recommend a book called "Being Peace" by Thich Nhat Hanh who teaches socially-engaged Buddhism.
You can find it here: http://is.gd/ls6

[eschipul]

You make a good point Kurt. It is funny how little we attribute our own physiological state to our stress. Do you think Caffeine might have something to do with it? NO WAY! me=guilty.

And oxygen is pretty critical. Deep breaths folks.

[Michael L. Gooch, SPHR]

Work stress takes a much larger toll on our health than we care to admit. For a handful of money, we give the corporations our health and years off of our lives. The current crisis with gasoline prices simply compounds the problems of the working American. And with oil predicted to reach $200 a barrel, it will only get worse, which is why the major corporations should begin to address the impact this is having on its workforce. Creative solutions or less profit taking could be in order. In my management book, Wingtips with Spurs, I devote an entire section to the effects of stress on our mental and physical health. Not from a medical point of view but rather from the view of a human resources professional of 30 years. Stress kills and will keep killing as long as we refuse to learn the coping tools. Michael L. Gooch, SPHR www.michaellgooch.com

[imelda]

Stress! Geez, I stopped handling it and lost me. The key to my life is balance. I had to have a breakdown to be able to see clearer now.

I guess this is what happens when you stop handling it - http://www.imeldabettinger.com/blog/2008/05/27/i-recently-cracked/

Thank you Ed!