The Stress Doc Letter
Cybernotes from the Online Psychohumorist ™
MAR 2009, No. I, Sec. II
Fight when you can
Take flight when you must
Flow like a dream
In the Phoenix we trust!
Main
Essay:
The Stress Doc provides case vignettes to illustrate humor's potential for
enhancing task and supportive capacities of a work team while helping the
organization as a whole practice in-house "R & R" -- recreation and
rejuvenation.
Humor and
the Work Team -- Healing, Harmonizing, and
Harnessing Morale and Productivity: Four Case Examples
With these basic functions and words of wisdom in mind, let me illustrate the
purposes and dramatic consequences of the healing, harmonizing, and harnessing
power of motivational humor. The following four morale-ity tales demonstrate
how this mirthful and memorable intervention technique relaxes, reenergizes and
rejuvenates team performance. And, hopefully, you'll also discover how humor
theory and practice come together and play.
A. Reversing Departmental Resistance to Change (or "Thinking Out of the
Coffin")
Here's a vignette showing how a federal agency department on the toxic
passive-aggressive "resistant to change" path managed to rise from the ashes of
an organizational pyre. Actually, with some imaginative intervention,
management and employees together moved way "out of the burnout battlefront
box."
Years ago, a department manager was lamenting to me in my role as OD Consultant
that her staff seemed to be fighting the computer automation of record keeping.
The tip of the iceberg was group resistance to a new administrative form. When
this form would run out, employees would return to the old standard. Verbal
exhortation and a stream of memos had not stemmed the countervailing tide. And
like a stormy tide, a tense undercurrent was gathering strength.
After a period of uneasy workplace assessment, in a brainstorming session with
the manager, it was clear that employee input on form design, especially among
those directly effected, had not been solicited. Further discussion confirmed
my suspicion that group resistance and worker slowdown had as much to do with
management's top-heavy implementation as with employee trepidation. Folks were
chafing under a sense of loss and feeling like manipulated pawns, if not like
children who should be seen (following orders) and not heard.
One day, an idea popped up when I realized staff's behavior was more than
passive-aggressive defiance. Employees were grappling with the loss of control
in decision-making, a loss of familiar processing procedures and a looming,
uncertain operational future. Some loss of face, a feeling of being devalued,
should also be thrown into this critical mix. This charged ambience heightened
the connection between loss and grief and readiness for comic relief. My
message to management: "While you may have missed the boat on the front end,
there's opportunity on the back side. Why not plan a 'forms funeral'?"
While this was perhaps absurd, we went ahead anyway. The frustrated employees
wrote serious and playful eulogies to the old form (and the former
data-processing system) while raising both negatives and positives (or, at least
hopes for adaptations) regarding the new.
Strategic Points. By putting the drama on stage, people could enact
their frustration purposefully instead of acting it out passive-aggressively.
(While the superiority function of humor was on display through some deserved
jibes, the energy and intent stayed within appropriate bounds of expression.)
Humor and drama became a problem-solving bridge for healing and harmonizing
action (collective grief). By allowing employees to openly raise their voices
for performance-related input in an aggressive and playful fashion, management
started "getting it." Communal catharsis significantly assuaged past hurts and
strengthened group morale. Our imaginative theater of the absurd also helped
this department bury unilateral decision-making (and that "esprit de corpse")
while resurrecting trust, productivity levels, and team cooperation.
B. Disrupting Escalating Group Tension When Consensus Is Critical
An adept practitioner of motivational humor doesn't just playfully nip the hand
that feeds him or her; the interventional skill and art often begins at home,
that is, being able to poke fun at his or her own flaws and foibles. Of course,
this humor maneuver may be double-barreled - it takes real ego-strength to be
both self-effacing and self-affirming. For example, as I've middle-aged, I
occasionally take jibes about my hair loss, I firmly remind the moprakers "You
should have more respect for my hair. It was recently placed on the World
Wildlife Federation's endangered species list!" And for stress workshop
attendees indulging in hirsute harangues there's this reminder: "Most of you
should be grateful that you can have a bad hair day!"
Little did I know that such a playful yet feisty attitude would one day
metamorphose into a truly powerful response under the pressure of a highly
charged task group setting - a racially divided jury. Employing humor to
resolve contemporary cultural conflict is dicey. Nonetheless, by carefully
exploring the higher power of self-effacing humor, you just may discover a small
"pass in the multicultural impasse." Let me illustrate. Several years back, I
was on jury duty in Washington, D.C. An African-American male in his early 20s
was accused of selling cocaine to an undercover African-American policeman. Our
jury consisted of nine African-Americans and three Caucasians. Tension was
building as we deliberated upon the case. In particular, a number of the
African-American jurors believed that the police had mishandled a piece of the
evidence. (To me, this piece of evidence did not appear critical in
establishing the fact of the alleged sale.)
Based on the increasingly pointed and heated discussion, it was clear that most
of the African-Americans were leaning toward acquittal. I and two other white
jurors along with a middle-aged African-American male were leaning in the
opposite direction. After an informal poll and more frustratingly fruitless
attempts to influence each other's position, a middle-aged African-American
woman next to me cried out, "Well, it seems that the white folks and this one
black guy are holding us up." Suddenly, the black male juror jumped up and
stared hard at his accuser, the implied accusation being that he's just going
along with "whitey." Then he challenged her in an agitated, increasingly loud
voice: "What are you trying to say? Just what are you trying to say?"
The room crackled with tension. The African-American forewoman seemed
paralyzed.
Now on my other side, a young African-American woman, with long, full braids
(not all natural, I suspect) anxiously blurted out, "This is ridiculous. All
we're doing is pulling our hair out." The electricity and anguish now jolts me
into action. I fairly shout, both at my neighbor and the others, "Hey, that's
not fair. You have a lot more hair than I do." There's a startled pause...then
the room erupts with sustained laughter. The forewoman eventually said, "Guess
we needed that. Now let's get back to the facts of the case." And we did, in a
respectful and more tolerant manner. While we ended as a hung jury (six to six,
by the way) we didn't finish as a racially hung up one.
Strategic Points. Based on the arousal function of humor, escalating
tension is ripe for humor intervention. And when the tension is driven by
cultural concerns, if used carefully, humor can play a powerful healing and
harmonizing role by liberating us from stereotypes; its universality transcends
diversity and, on occasion, even racial taboos. A self-effacing humor
intervention that absurdly pokes fun at one's own flaws and foibles may just
sneak under that too sensitive "political correctness" radar and allow the
warring parties a stress-relieving and tolerance-boosting laugh. And the group
can productively return to the task at hand…status quo ante bellum.
C. Defusing Tension in a System-Wide Hazardous Condition
The third scenario comes from a State Department Manager stationed at the
American Embassy in Kuwait in 1990 as war clouds were gathering in darkness and
intensity. Not surprisingly, war-zone tension began to invade in-house. Being
restricted to the compound was exacerbating stress levels; interpersonal sniping
was on the rise and generating numbers of working wounded. The Ambassador
decided to intervene before the internal grumbling and overt grousing eroded
psychological coping capacity and organizational morale. He told his
second-in-command to inform personnel that the next day was a holiday and that
all embassy staff would be going to the beach.
His deputy, incredulous, protested: "Sir, a war could break out any moment.
It's not safe to leave the compound!" The Ambassador, nevertheless, reaffirmed
his desire to have people ready to go to the beach the next morning.
Bright and early the next day the Ambassador descended the stairs in bathing
trunks and robe while carrying a blowup rubber ducky. Most personnel were not
similarly attired. "Ye of little faith," declared the Ambassador and proceeded
to march everyone outside. And lo and behold, during the night, somehow, this
Ambassador had managed to have tons of sand trucked in and dumped in the
compound. And staff had a tension-relieving, fun-filled day at the beach. The
in-house stress siege was broken; the embassy personnel regrouped their
individual and group resources and professionally weathered the war storm.
Strategic Points. Defying conventions or rules, whether in relation to an
external enemy or, when critical, even regarding departmental procedures is a
key weapon in the motivational humorist's bag of tricks. When an authority
figure is both brave and playfully absurd in the face of threat or bureaucratic
rigidity, the role-modeling and morale-building effect is contagious. (This
scenario surely illustrates the incongruous function of humor.) Add some visual
props and others can come out of their battle shell and play. And team
rejuvenation, not just tension relief, may be your final reward.
D. The Most Popular Stress Doc Intervention
In my "Practice Safe Stress: Managing Stress and Conflict & Building Team
Morale and Cooperation through Humor Program" the critical intervention is a
"discussion and drawing" exercise. This "D & D" works with teams or departments
of twenty or at a conference keynote of two hundred or more. The premise is
simple: working (and soon to be playing) in small groups, I first ask the
members to "Identify sources of stress and conflict in your everyday workplace
operations." Try having diverse people (gender, race, rank, etc.) or different
department personnel working together. Folks are assured that this isn't "true
confessions." People are to share only at a level that feels comfortable.
Then I lay down the real challenge: after ten minutes of discussion, the team
must generate a group picture or composite of the individual stress scenarios.
Now I tell the tale of a group that drew a burnt out CEO who had morphed into a
menacing creature -- a "troublesaurus" -- along with fearful employees on the
run. (Large flip chart paper and a colorful variety of markers are provided.)
The drawing segment is also limited to ten-minutes. In both segments, I give
periodic time-limit reminders. This invariably heightens arousal level and task
focus.
The evolution of shared energy in the room is remarkable. We go from tentative
small group discussion to more open, relaxed sharing; from hovering at the edge
of the paper (like a reluctant diver on a high board) to a group now frolicking
in a pool of images and colors of their own making. (I remind participants that
stick figures are fine: "I myself am a graduate from the Institute for the
Graphically-Impaired.") The decibel level of laughter is ever increasing as the
images take exaggerated and symbolic shape and direction. Believe me, I've seen
it all: sinking ships, stalking dinosaurs, exploding castles, consuming black
holes, chained bodies, a devil of a boss (who no longer seems quite so scary
with outlandish ears and tail), etc. The exercise truly harnesses the group's
aggressive energy transforming it into collaborative and creative output. And
all eight functions of humor -- arousal and affiliation, incongruity and
imagination, liberation and letting go, and superiority and solidarity --
definitely come out to play.
With a small group we do a "show-guess-and-tell" whereby the teams proudly
display their colorful composites. The sharing and large group response becomes
a supportive ("I/we are not alone") and playfully aggressive catharsis.
With groups over fifty or sixty people, the room is turned into an art gallery.
People meander about, eyeing and laughing (laughing "with" more than "at") upon
encountering their colleagues' imaginative images. A handful of drawings are
selected or volunteered for generating the above group sharing and catharsis.
Strategic Points. Akin to the previous illustrated forms funeral, this
exercise creates a safe atmosphere for eliciting some of the real workplace
feelings and frustrations. At the same time, the experience is way more than a
gripe session; it's an opportunity to experience empathy for other group members
or for other work teams and departments. People get the broader organizational
picture, for example, all departments are feeling real pressure. I also think
the exercise sends another vital message: management understands that in
today's pressure-packed workplace you better let folks occasionally blow off
steam. The interventional key: legitimate the process and harness the energy.
For many there's stress relief just from realizing you are not alone; for some
there are the real beginnings of a healing process. And if structured venting
occurs in an atmosphere of laughing and having fun, of high group energy and
creativity, with a sense of bonding as a team while producing a tangible product
in a defined period of time…then everybody wins. This playfully cathartic,
trust-building experience, in fact, frequently lays the groundwork for further
issue problem-solving, conflict resolution, and follow-up team building
programs.
Closing Statement
Hopefully, I've made a powerful case for the purposeful and spontaneous use of
humor in the workplace and with work teams. Healing, harmonizing, and
harnessing humor have an energizing, disarming, and positively motivating
impact. As psychiatrist Ernst Kris cogently observed: "What was once feared
and is now mastered is laughed at." And perhaps equally important is the Stress
Doc's inversion: "What was once feared and is now laughed at is no longer a
master." So if you want to overcome divisiveness within and between teams or
between employees and managers, to increase safe and open communication, and
also encourage meaningful if not creative problem-solving while generating a
communal and productive atmosphere…seek the higher power of motivational humor:
May the Force and Farce Be with You!
Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, "The Stress Doc" ™, a Licensed Clinical Social
Worker, is an acclaimed keynote and kickoff speaker and "Motivational Humorist"
known for his interactive, inspiring and FUN speaking and workshop programs. In
addition, the "Doc" is a team building and organizational development consultant
for a variety of govt. agencies, corporations and non-profits and is AOL's
"Online Psychohumorist" ™. Mark is an Adjunct Professor, No. VA (NOVA)
Community College and currently he is leading "Stress, Team Building and Humor"
programs for the 1st Cavalry and 4th Infantry Divisions, Ft. Hood, Texas. A
former Stress and Conflict Consultant for the US Postal Service, the Stress
Doc is the author of Practice Safe Stress and of The Four Faces of
Anger. See his award-winning, USA Today Online "HotSite" --
www.stressdoc.com -- called a "workplace resource" by National Public Radio
(NPR). For more info on the Doc's "Practice Safe Stress" programs or to receive
his free e-newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 301-946-0865.
And to view web video highlights of a Stress Doc Keynote, go to
http://www.stressdoc.com/media_downloads.htm
.
(c) Mark Gorkin 2009
Shrink Rap™ Productions