I read an article in the NY Times by Kevin Delaney today by the same title and thought it was hitting close to home. The Pepper home that is and in fact, many of the companies I have worked in. In the last five years 24/7 connectivity has taken stress levels to unprecedented highs. Here are a few points I found interesting and my take on them:
- “Work has always been stressful. Just ask a slave from ancient Egypt or a serf from the middle ages. Today’s technology grips workers like a medieval shackle.” I attended The Warriors match yesterday to relax and cheer on the boys. Right? It did not work that way. I was tied to the office following goings on and jumping in when I should have been switched off. I see the powerful disrupting influence of texting/bbms and email in pepper meetings. Most times it’s outright rude.
- “A Princeton University study of the monkeys in Kenya found that alpha males suffered as much stress as the lowest-ranking members of primate society. The baboons that fared best were the beta males. Beta males who fought less and had considerably less mate guarding to do, had much lower stress levels.” Ok, so he’s not suggesting that you stay single or stop running down women (that may also be a good idea though). What he’s saying that “perhaps humans should stop striving to be CEO and simply settle for vice president.” Is the coconut vendor plying his trade around the Savannah happier than the CEO of BHP Biliton? Mr Coconut might not ever get to go on an African safari, but Mr Oil may have never tasted a curry duck with coconut milk at Caura River. Whose “happiness account” has more credit? I know whose stress account is in huge debit.
I think there are ways to make work less stressful, here are my top 5:
- Keep it real. People must know their role and where they stand in the scheme of things.
- Share the load.
- Don’t take on more than you can handle
- Recognise and reward the ‘serfs’ and make work fun
- Control the technology
Now if only I can start practicing what I preach.
