[Note: the appendices to this essay are to be found in the downloadable pdf version that can be accessed by clicking the download button located below this document.]
Apparently, it takes a village not only to raise a child but also a village (or at least many caring family members, friends and colleagues) to heal one’s heart. This certainly was the case with Dorothy as she finally arrives at the Emerald City and defeats the Wicked Witch.
Dorothy is assisted not only by her four colleagues (Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Toto) but also by citizens of the Emerald City. Aside from the adornments that were applied to Dorothy (and her travel mates), the Wizard himself assisted in helping Dorothy heal her heart (returning to Kansas). Even the Winged Monkeys were there to celebrate Dorothy’s planned trip by Balloon to Kansas (not needed given the slippers).
Healing the Hearts of Wizard of Oz Characters
In this wonderful tale of a young woman, Dorothy comes to full realization regarding the value of home and the people who populate her daily life. Her heart is filled with unacknowledged and often contradictory teenage longing for both attachment and individuation. She wants to run away but also is still in need of her aunt, uncle and farm hands. After she is swept up in the tornado and lands in Oz, we encounter three characters who join Dorothy in her trip to a destination, Oz. These characters closely resemble the three Kansas farmhands. Toto is the “transitional” object—the one character who is with Dorothy in Kansas and in Oz. The three characters themselves have a good reason to travel with Dorothy and Toto to Oz. Each of them has something that they deeply desire. This unmet desire is deeply wounding. Hearts are empty and wounded.
Much as the case of Dorothy, our three beloved characters discover that what they seek is already available to them. I wonder if the farmhands back in Kansas also have unmet desires. At times, do they also want to leave the farm and find something new and different. We also encounter the huckster (closely resembling the Wizard) who is peddling falsehoods. Perhaps, he also would like to be doing something else—just as the Wizard wants to get away from Oz and is last seen flying off on the balloon that was supposed to transport Dorothy back to Oz. It was Glenda the Good who was the realist and didn’t seem to desire an escape to somewhere else (though she might have mourned the evil turn and eventually death of her sister – as portrayed in the musical “Wicked”).
It is interesting to note that our three characters assume posts of leadership in Oz (as the Wizard flies off in his balloon). Like Gulliver’s Travels and many other “children’s books”, the Wizard of Oz books offered critical comments regarding leadership in American during this turbulent time—the Depression years of the 1930s. Perhaps, leadership is only successfully engaged when the primary needs of a leader have been realized – and when these needs reside outside the domains of power and status. A desire to gain wisdom (scarecrow), compassion (tin man) or courage (lion) are admirable and fully aligned with successful, sustained leadership on behalf of human welfare.
Beyond the matter of leadership, we find insights regarding the healing properties of interpersonal relationships in the Frank Baum based movie about the land of Oz. In my previous three essays (Bergquist, 2023a, 2023b and 2023c) I focused on the Tin Man and ways in which not only his armor was oiled but also his heart was healed. In this final essay I wish to turn to support that the Tin Man received from his colleagues. Like Dorothy and the other characters, the Tin Man found his heart as it beat in response to the remarkable care and commitment found in his relationships with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion—and even Toto. Scarecrow offered thoughtful analyses under conditions of stress and crisis. The Cowardly Lion offered resolve and action (if reluctantly) in meeting the threat of winged monkeys and an evil Witch. The Tin Man received unconditional love and support From Dorothy and Toto. This was pretty much everything that the Tin Man needed (other than his own internal strength and resources).
Let’s now take our analysis out of Oz and direct it to the support and guidance to be found in interpersonal relationships and in our own head and heart—support and guidance that are required in our “real” life. As in the case of the Wizard of Oz, we are likely to find some insightful resemblance between the Tin Man’s “support group” and the supporting relationship that we require in meeting the “real” challenges of mid-21st Century life and work. Reality and fantasy often find a way of complementing one another.
I specifically focus on ways we can manage the challenges and accompanying stress of contemporary times—while fulfilling our own needs and life purposes (healing our heart). All of this must take place in a world that is becoming increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, turbulent, and contradictory (VUCA-Plus). I begin, therefore, by offering a brief description of challenges being faced and offer an inventory that can help one assess the magnitude and intensity of these challenges. There may not be a wicked witch trying to mess with us; however, VUCA-Plus conditions can be very witch-like and threatening.
VUCA-Plus Conditions and Assessment
Obviously, there are many specific challenges that mid-21st Century citizens face as they live and work in their own communities and nations. These challenges might relate to commuting by car or train into a major city or simply finding fresh and uncontaminated water when living in a small rural community. They might be domestic challenges concerning a child going off to college or a grandparent who is struggling with dementia.
These challenges are unique to each person and to each society in our world. However, there are the almost universal challenges associated with the volatility (U), uncertainty (U), complexity (C) and ambiguity (A) in our collective lives, as well as the equally as challenging turbulence and contradiction that we all encounter every day. This is the VUCA-Plus of mid-21st Century life—and it generates multiple challenges.
The VUCA Challenges
I will dwell briefly on the meaning to be assigned to each of the VUCA terms and then suggest how we might expand on VUCA. In essence, complexity concerns the many elements and dynamic interaction among elements that have to be considered, while Volatility refers to the rate and shifting rate of change among the elements.
The other two terms have to do with epistemology (the way in which knowledge is acquired and reality is defined). Ambiguity concerns the assessment of both the evidence available regarding reality and the meaning assigned to this reality. The fourth term, Uncertainty, is about the stability of any assessment being made regarding reality. Does reality change over a short period of time? Why do an extensive assessment if our world is constantly shifting? VUCA is deservedly becoming the coin-of-the-realm among contemporary organizational analysts. Here is a bit more detail regarding each element:
Volatility: we are faced with the dynamics of change: its accelerating rate, intensity and speed as well as its unexpected catalysts. It concerns rapid change in an unpredictable manner. What is the systemic impact: changes are everywhere. There are change curves on top of change curves. At the personal level, we often are surprised and unprepared.
Uncertainty: predictability is lacking, there is increasing prospects for surprising, “disruptive” changes that often overwhelm our awareness, understanding and ability to cope with events. It concerns a lack of continuity and resulting lack of clarity regarding what is going to happen from day to day. At the Systems level we find that it is hard to plan for the future or even for one or two days from now given that nothing seems to be permanently in place — Contingency planning rather than tactical or strategic planning. There are major personal impacts: we must keep schedules and expectations quite flexible.
Complexity: there is a multiplex of forces, apparently inconsistent information flow, sensitive interdependence of everything we touch. This is leading to the sense of confusion in which it’s hard to make smart decisions, steeped as we are in the moving dance of reality. It concerns the presence of many different things and events that simultaneously impact life and work. The systemic impact concerns the inability to make sense of or even find meaning in that which is occurring every day. Slow thinking is required rather than fast thinking (Kahneman, 2013). At the personal level, we must often spend a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what is happening before making decisions or taking actions.
Ambiguity: ‘haziness’ is abundant, cause-and-effect are hard to attribute, relativity seems to trump established rules, weighing heavily on our ability to hold inconsistent data and still function and make choices. Ambiguity concerns the presence of many things and events happening that are quite confusing and often not very easy to observe clearly and consistently. The systemic impact can be great. We can’t trust the accuracy of what we see or hear or what “experts” tell us. There is social constructivism rather than objectivism (Bergquist and Weitz, 2023) At a personal impact. We often must look and listen a second and third time to ensure that what is seen or heard is accurate.
The Additional VUCA-Plus Challenges
We add two other challenges: turbulence and contradiction. They are both interwoven in the fabric of VUCA and add a further layer of challenge to that now being faced by us in our mid-21st Century society.
Turbulence: Some things are moving rapidly, while other things are moving in a cyclical manner, not moving at all or moving in a chaotic manner. We are faced with a four-level system and at a personal level we must search for balance and direction which in turn requires ongoing attention.
In describing Turbulence, we turn to a metaphor offered by Peter Vaill (2008), who suggests that we are living in a “white water” world. We propose that this whitewater world represents a turbulent system. Furthermore, this whitewater system incorporates four subsystems that are exemplified by the properties of a turbulent stream: (1) rapid change (flowing segment of the stream), (2) cyclical change (the stream’s whirlpools), (3) stability/non-change (the “stagnant” segment of the stream), and (4) chaos (the segment of a stream existing between the other three segments).
All four of these subsystems are operating in our current time of pandemic invasion. There is rapid change occurring as the virus rapidly spreads and communities throughout the world are massively impacted. Cyclical change is to be found in the patterned way that COVID-19 enters and spreads in a community—and tragically in the probable way in which the virus will return seasonally (until such time as there is virtually global immunity). We can find stability and non- change in the resistance to new norms and rules in virtually all societies. All of this leads to the growing presence of the fourth subsystem: Chaos. This is to be found not only in the inconsistent way we are each living our lives in response to the virus, but also in the way public policies are being formulated and revised in many countries.
Contradiction: Messages are being delivered all the time that are valid—but they often point in quite different directions. Contradiction concerns the frequent presence of radically different constructions and interpretations of reality and the differing meaning assigning to the reality that is being constructed. At a systems level, credible advice is being offered by people and institutions that can be trusted—but the advice is often inconsistent. Personally, we must be agile—changing change our mind or at least be open to new perspectives and ideas.
Implications of VUCA-Plus Conditions
In our mid-21st Century world, we must make decisions that consider VUCA-Plus conditions. There is ambiguity, uncertainty and contradictory. Polarizing values are present making thoughtful consideration and caring compassion difficult to sustain; furthermore, these decisions are subject to frequent review and modification as we try to navigate our volatile, complex and often turbulent VUCA world.
Goal setting is often unrealistic. The ad hoc character of our VUCA-Plus world often produces a feeling of infinite possibility and an unrealistic sense that the sky’s the limit. Failure and disenchantment frequently are associated with a lack of realistic goal setting unless the process of designing and managing an organization includes not only re-examination of context and strategy but also the regular re-examination of goals. Another frequent problem we faced in a VUCA-Plus world concerns the complex interpersonal and task related skills that are needed to run such an organization. We are often “in over our heads” when seeking to build and sustain a viable working relationship with other people.
Thus, it seems that we must enter the challenging world of VUCA-Plus with several critical skills. First, is the ability to think in a careful, systemic manner about the world swirling about us. It is easy to think quickly with nothing but a desire to make the anxiety go away. We are fleeing the lions—but to little avail. Second, we must acknowledge the stress associated with the VUCA-Plus challenges. We must be mindful of the stress and find ways to reduce it while being proactive in our response to the VUCA-Plus challenges.
Finally, our problem-solving and decision-making in a VUCA-Plus environment must be done in collaboration with other people. This is a point that I am repeatedly emphasizing in this essay. Dorothy would not have made to Oz (and back to her home) without the assistance of her three companions (and Aunt Em and Uncle Henry’s farm could not be run without the hired hands). We are not strong enough to fight about the VUCA-Plus challenges alone. It is in collaborative dialogue with other important people in our life that we find the courage, clarity and strength to not just make sense of our mid-21st Century world, but also learn from the VUCA-Plus challenges and find nourishment and sense of self-purpose in successfully confronting these challenges.
Assessing VUCA-Plus in Your Own Life
Given that we are living in the challenging world of VUCA-Plus, it is good on occasion to gain a perspective on the nature and strength of each of these specific challenging conditions. I introduce an inventory in Appendix A that provides you with a series of questions about the environment in which you are working and living. Please imagine that you are being interviewed about the challenges that you are facing and respond to the interviewer by offering (checking) one of five options as to the accuracy for you of a specific description. There is no one correct answer for everyone—especially given the many different settings in which people completing this inventory are likely to be working and living. The only correct answer is your honest appraisal of each statement.
Managing Life and Work Changes
Given these VUCA-Plus conditions, we must prepare for life and work changes. This means acknowledging the level and rate of change that is taking place and preparing for the physical and mental challenges associated with this change. An inventory, a series of questions and some concepts can be of use when we are reflecting on past changes, as well as preparing for future changes. The inventory I am providing (Appendix B) is an update of one prepared by Richard Rahe and his colleagues during the late 1960s. The focus of this Life Change Scale is on the transitions that we all experience in our lives and the stress that is associated with these transitions. We are asked in this inventory to reflect on current changes in our lives, to explore past and future transitions and to consider the ways in which these transitions are managed —successfully or unsuccessfully.
We can begin this assessment of life and work changes by briefly discussing the concept of transitions. In a study of the effects which various human relations training programs have had on organizations, Charles Seashore found that participants, whether individuals or organizations, are unlikely to alter the directions in which they are currently moving simply as a result of the training. A program can, however, enable them to manage more effectively the rate of change; major transitions in life can thus be either accelerated or decelerated. Seashore concluded that the effective management of transitions is a valuable skill, especially in a world that seems to be changing at an increasingly rapid rate.
The work of Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe also seems relevant here. In a 1967 study these two physicians found that specific changes or life transitions are directly correlated with the occurrence of physical illness and emotional disturbance (findings that have only become more relevant and have been further substantiated by later studies). The greater the number and magnitude of major life changes in a one-year period, the more likely it is that physical and emotional problems will occur during the subsequent year. The effective management of transitions is something we can work on and vitally affects our lives, both physically and emotionally.
Given this introduction, we turn to the Life-Change Scale. After completing the scale and calculating one’s life-change score, there is an occasion for reflecting on the implications of the total score. In general, a score of 200 or more reflects a high level of transitions, though scores of 200 are rather common in our VUCA-Plus world. A score of 300 or more indicates that the respondent has experienced exceptional life transitions during the past year and might want to give serious consideration to the physical and emotional costs of these transitions. A score of less than 100 can reflect either contentment or a protected situation.
It is now time to engage in an even more detailed and individualized assessment of the rate of change experienced:
- Have there been any other important transitions in your life this past year that were not included on this list? What score would you give these changes for yourself?
- Relative to the assigned scores, which of the transitions do you think have been most difficult for you? Which have been easiest? Why?
- If you were to relive this past year, which of these transitions would you like to avoid? Which transitions would you like to have experienced which did not occur?
- Some of the transitions on the original list are generally quite positive for most people. Which of the transitions that have occurred for you this past year have been most positive? Which have been most negative? Have both types of transitions been stressful for you? Which type was most stressful?
Pattern of Life Transitions
It is now time to place the current transitions score on the Life Transition Grid (see template in Appendix C). We can record either the score obtained from the scale or an estimated score if the scale score seems inaccurate. The current stress score is to be recorded at the appropriate point of intersection between one’s current age (horizontal axis) and one’s life-change score (vertical axis). Probable transitions scores are then plotted for both the past and future.
This process begins when those points in one’s past are identified when major transitions occurred, then those points when life was particularly stable are identified. Similarly, probable time periods in the future are identified when major transitions are likely to occur and when relative stability will prevail. A line from birth to death is then drawn that connects these points. Other less significant periods of transition and stability might also be identified as well—so that the line becomes more definitive (with several ups and downs).
Consideration is then given to ways in which hopes and fears associated with major life transitions are handled:
- Have the transitions tended to be too fast or too slow? Why?
- Have certain types of events tended to precede or even precipitate major transitions?
- What have been the typical consequences of major life transitions? Immediate impact? Impact after one year? Physical illness? Health? Depression? Exhilaration? New relationships? The termination of old relationships?
- Have you consistently and consciously taken any specific actions to make these transitions more satisfying? What actions?
Attention now shifts to ways in which we manage transitions. What are the most effective ways to manage these changes? The concepts offered below regarding managing transitions might be considered at this point.
Some Strategies for Managing Major Life Transitions
One must acknowledge first of all that transitions and change are stressful. Furthermore, positive transitions — marriage, promotion, an award — may be as stressful as negative ones. A U-shaped curve seems to accompany most major life transitions. At first, after the transition has been initiated, the mood of the person or organization that is undergoing the transition will tend to turn from optimism to pessimism; excitement may give way to disillusionment. Production will fall off until the bugs are worked out in the system; the change will proceed slower than expected; advocates of the change will discover negative consequences or side effects that were not anticipated. Only at a later point, after the person or organization has traveled through this “valley of despair” will transitions begin to reap some benefits — if they have been successful.
The planner of a personal or organizational change must anticipate this period of stress and introduce ways to reduce its negative impact. Perhaps the simple anticipation of stress is itself one such way; several other more specific suggestions follow. As in the case of the Tin Man of Oz, these suggestions often involve support offered by other people. This support can be engaged through formal ceremonies (such as occurred at the Emerald City) or through assistance provided by those people with whom we interact on an individual basis (as in the case of the support offered by other characters in the movie). There are also strategies that involve finding one’s own internal resources of support that have always been there – much as the Tin Man found that he already had a heart.
Ceremonies: Every culture creates specific events that signal major life transitions for a member of the group. For example, in most societies, entrance into puberty, marriage, birth of a child, divorce and the death of a loved one are made the focus of a ceremony. Similarly, many organizations acknowledge the entry of new people into the organization by means of initiations, orientation programs, social gatherings and so forth. Most organizations also have some type of a ceremony to acknowledge the promotion, move or exit of individuals from the organization.
Ceremony serves two important functions in helping people manage VUCA-Plus challenges and life transitions. First, it helps anticipate the stress that is associated with the challenges and transition. The ceremony serves as a signal, formally telling us that some intensive times are immediately ahead. Second, the ceremony indicates that other people care about this transition and are available for support in this endeavor. In a society which seems to be increasingly less ceremonial, we must plan for our own ceremonies.
We should provide ceremonies for significant other people. Remember that the marriage ceremony may be more important to the transitional processes of the parents than to those of the newlyweds. Perhaps the practice of some couples, who periodically renew and update their marriage vows as a means of acknowledging the changes that have continued to occur in their relationship, is as important for them as the initial ceremony. Similarly, team off-sites serve to maintain and deepen the personal relationships tested during the year, especially for dispersed teams.
Support Group: Most people who successfully address VUCA-Plus challenges and effectively manage a major life transition describe the critical role played by several people who have served them in a variety of functions: the nurturer helps us feel better or stronger; the friend empathizes with our predicament and often provides a humorous perspective; the expert provides important information to help us implement, accelerate or slow down a transition; the clarifier helps us better understand the current and probable future nature of the transition; the predictor, someone (with relevant expertise) who is willing to let us know what the consequences would be if certain decisions are made about the transition; and the challenger who forces us to reexamine our actions, values or expectations. Usually, people are more in need of the nurturer if the transition is particularly rapid and in need of the challenger if the transition is too slow.
In their study of the relationship between interpersonal relationships and happiness, Waldinger and Schulz (2023, pp. 104-107) have recently offered a list that expands on the one I have offered. They identify people who offer safety and security, along with those who promote learning and growth. Other members of the support group would provide emotional closeness and be people in whom we can confide. Another element of support comes from those who can help us identify and affirm our unique identity and can share experiences with us (so that we discover how we are alike and how we are different from other people in our life).
Waldinger and Schulz would be remiss if they failed to recognize the important role of support that comes someone with whom we are intimate. There is also the matter of bringing someone into our life that can provide assistance—which can come in the form of valuable information or practical and tangible assistance. Finally, there is the source of support that is often neglected. This is the support that comes from someone with whom we can have fun and with whom we can relax.
Ideally, a support group consists of people who fill one or more of these roles. Waldinger and Schulz emphasize the multiple roles of support that specific people can fill in our life. They offer a checklist that they encourage their readers to complete that identifies specific people and the role(s) that they might play. Members of a support group need not know each other; they may never even have been in the same room together when assisting someone. Yet they all have one thing in common: they all know how to provide support to the individual addressing a VUCA-Plus challenge or going through a transition–and they are willing to provide this support. It is the responsibility of that individual to integrate the different perspectives of the members of their group and to be sure they are not asking only one or two people to fill all of these roles—such as their spouse.
I would suggest another powerful interpersonal relations tool that was first provided by George Kelly (1991, 2015) in his two volumes on the psychology of personal constructs. Called the Role Construct Test (later called the Repertoire Grid), a respondent is asked to determine how several important people in their life are alike and different from one another. By looking at the clustering of people with similar and with different attributes, Kelly was able to identify specific personal constructs (or schemas) that helped to guide one’s relationship with other people. In many ways, Kelly was offered a paper-and-pencil based “factor analysis” of the way in which we categorize and (based on this categorization) relate to and work with other people in our life.
I would suggest that a similar analysis could be done in determining the roles that other people play as sources of support. Having identified a list of 10 to 15 people who provide us with support, we can (like Kelly) identify how they are similar to and different from one another. With this analysis in place, we can construct our own personal list of support categories—and determine how they are similar to or different from the lists I have offered and Waldinger and Schulz have offered. If we find that our list does not include all of those on the two lists offered in this essay, then it might be time to look for differing kinds of support from other people in our life. Perhaps we need to find a fun-loving friend during stressful periods. Or we might look for the gentle challenger or someone who helps us gain a better sense of who we are and what we should be doing (perhaps in counter the challenging conditions of VUCA-Plus).
A professional coach can be of valuable assistance in not only helping us identify sources of support, but also in the analysis of the nature of support that is available (perhaps helping with a Kelly Role Construct analysis). It is critical that a coach serve this function when they are about to close out the coaching engagement. They should leave the client with support resources having been identified and analyzed at the end of the coaching assignment—especially if they have been the primary source of support for their client.
Incremental Change: Change should be planned from a long-term, wide-range perspective, rather than from a short-range or piecemeal point of view. In planning for change, however, it is often essential that the desired change be broken up into small, manageable units that have short-term and rather modest goals. A series of small change curves is usually preferable to a single large one. Furthermore, if a series of small change projects are identified, it is possible to initiate a second project when the first encounters significant resistance. Small projects can also be sequenced in a way that will meet current needs and concerns, while also being responsive over the long run to more basic and far-reaching problems.
Diffusion of Interests and Activities: If any one change absorbs all or most of a person’s or organization’s attention, then this transition is likely to be stressful, for the person or organization has no other interest or activity that can provide stability or variety. In preparation for a transition, one should ensure that other areas of interest in one’s life do not get set aside during the change process. Given the tendency of many people who are experiencing stressful transitions to focus intensely on the change, it is essential that other roles, goals and activities be reinforced as salient features of the person’s or organization’s life.
Managing the Stress
Stress will inevitably accompany VUCA-Plus challenges and changes in life and work. Our Wizard of Oz characters certainly experienced their own moments of stress. Actually, they experienced many moments of stress – ranging from an attack by the Winged Monkeys to finding a lack of support from the fraudulent Wizard. If, like the characters of Oz, we encounter many stress-full challenges over time then we are likely to establish “stress ruts.”
We are exposed repeatedly to threats—however, unlike the zebra living on the savannah of Africa, we not only respond to the threat of “real lions” (such as threatened attack by another person or the potential of job loss), but also the threat of “imagined lions” (such as feeling insulted by an email we have received or imagining the potential impact of a revenue shortfall in our organization) (Sapolsky, 2004). These ruts are grooved deeper with each stressful event and lead to permanent structural changes in our nervous/hormonal systems. We become increasingly vulnerable (“trigger happy”) to stress. Below are five tactics that help to reduce stress.
Tactics
Stress can be reduced in when the following behaviors are engaged:
- Avoid the stressful situation in the future.
- Participate in activities that reduce stress once it has occurred, like practicing mindfulness, centering and slower, even breathing.
- Identify “sanctuaries”: settings and times when and where one can relax and “re-create” (allowing the body to recover from the stress and resulting physiological impact).
- Obtain a good night sleep (restorative stages of sleep take place only under conditions of deep and sustained relaxation).
- Avoid excessive use of substances (including alcohol) that may temporarily elevate mood but can soon lead to depression.
An appreciative approach can be engaged as we identify ways in which, times during which, and places in which we are already operating in a manner that is aligned with these five tactics.
Strategies
Awareness: stress ruts continue to grow deeper with each stressful event. We become increasingly “trigger-happy” and these ruts are permanent. They don’t go away when we finally decide to lead a less stressful life. They are enduring neuro-physiological “wounds” that do not heal. When these stress-ruts are established in our bodies, they can only be countered and thwarted by either the complete removal of stress from our life (very difficult in the 21st Century) or by the use of medications that moderate the stress (and place us in the vulnerable position of being drug-dependent and often less vigilant and alert). The third alternative—which is most often taken—is the moderation of the stress through the heavy consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, or over-the-counter drugs. Stress-reduction can’t wait until tomorrow. It is a critical issue to be addressed by ourselves today!
Sunlight: Recently, it has been widely acknowledged that “lumens” (light from the sun) trigger neurotransmitters in our brain that are very calming and uplifting. The absence of sunlight can contribute to depression, anxiety and related mood disorders (often identified as “seasonal” disorders). We should try to expose ourselves to at least 15 minutes of sunlight each day. This exposure should come through our eyes (no sunglasses), though obviously we should not look directly toward the sun and should wear appropriate clothing (including a hat) and sunblock lotion. When we are preparing for an event that could be quite stressful, we should take a brief walk outdoors—it helps to reduce the stress and can be very calming (especially if the setting is beautiful and peaceful, and if fresh air is abundant). If a walk outdoors is not feasible or appropriate, then we should consider using a “light box” (which provides full-spectrum light), or at the very least find ways to work in a room with natural lighting or full-spectrum lighting.
Exercise: Exercise is also widely accepted as a practice that can significantly reduce stress, and as the top long-term preventive health-measure. Most animals avoid or reduce stress because they engage in physical activities to escape from or fight with the source of the stress (the proverbial lion). We can similarly reduce the physiological arousal associated with preparation for flight or fight by engaging in physical activities (exercise). While we have known about this fight/flight dynamic for many years, recent research suggests that humans are much more inclined to engage in a third activity (or inactivity) when faced with a threat—this is “freeze.” Like other animals that are not very fast and not very strong, human beings living on the Savannah tried to remain very quiet when confronting a real or imagined lion.
This is a smart stance to take for a short period of time—the lion will soon move on. We can once again be active (and “burn off” the stress-related neural and hormonal stimulants that accumulated when we were frightened by the lion). Unfortunately, we often stay “frozen” for a lengthy period of time when confronting imaginary lions, given that these mental lions don’t leave us, but linger in our thoughts and feelings. As a result, our bodies “burn up” with the excessive chemicals that don’t get burned off when we remain frozen. We can educate ourselves about the destructive effect of “frozen behavior” and we can get some exercise—especially after being exposed to real, potential or imagined threats.
Socializing: Finally, we have become increasingly aware that stress can be reduced through the establishment of (and active engagement in) social networks. Several neurotransmitters that are activated by “bonding” activities serve (like lumens and exercise) as stress-reducers. This does not mean that the social network must be extensive (there can be too much of a good thing), but it does mean that stress is rarely reduced by long term social isolation. We all need to “cocoon” sometimes and bow out of the social “rat race.” However, sustained isolation produces depression and increases stress. Computer networking doesn’t seem to be sufficient (in fact, extensive time on the computer can actually increase depression). There must be some face-to-face interaction (or at least audio interaction via phone, Zoom, etc.)
We can identify those interpersonal relationships that are most gratifying and stress-reducing. How do we further cultivate these relationships? How do we diversify these relationships, so that we find “bonding” experiences at work, at home and in our neighborhood? Many years ago, Robert Bellah and his colleagues (Bellah, et al, 1985) wrote about “lifestyle enclaves” which are the new communities in 21st Century societies. These are social networks made up of people with similar hobbies, interests, values and life purposes (ranging from a Polka club to a Porsche car club and from a poker club to a support group for children of alcoholics). We can identify “enclaves” to which we now belong or would like to join. It is important that we participate without “guilt” in the enclaves that already bring us pleasure and that help to reduce the stress we inevitably encounter in our busy life.
What to Avoid
There are several important strategies and actions to avoid when managing the stress in our lives. First, it is important to not “over-dream.” While compelling aspirations are important sources of motivation and guidance, they must be realistic. Studies of errant motives of achievement often suggest that achievement goals can be set too low (leading either to lethargy or routinization of one’s life work). Conversely, achievement goals can be set too high (leading to dismay or failure to launch. Most importantly, when there are unrealistic expectations than one is inclined to place all control in some external entity—be it fate, luck or the intervention of a Divine entity (such as God or Allah). Is it too far to our own Emerald City—even with the help of our friends? A critical but caring friend or an executive coach can also be of great value in helping us set goals that are challenging but achievable.
This first strategy to avoid leads us to a second strategy that can increase stress rather than reduce it. We make false assumptions about how someone or something else can really help us. This is once again a matter of locus of control. Do we really need to journey all the way to our Emerald City in order to heal our heart? Can we really rely on the Wizard of Oz to solve all our problems—or even some of them. Like the Tin Man (and his companions), can we find relevant strengths (and perhaps even a solution to our problem) inside our head and heart? (Bergquist, 2023c)
Third, we need to be acutely aware of the potential abuse of substances—be they alcoholic drinks, tobacco products or heavier duty drugs. Remember the poppy fields on Dorothy’s journey to the Emerald City! We even need to be thoughtful about our consumption of caffeinated drinks. A colleague of mind, John Preston, is a noted clinical psychologist who cautioned all potential psychotherapy clients to moderate or even reduce their caffeine intake while undergoing therapy. Caffeine can make us “trigger happy” when we confront personal challenges during therapy sessions. We are already aroused by the coffee we drank before coming to the therapy session and are likely to become even more aroused (and less competent in addressing the therapeutic challenges). Preston has assisted his clients by creating a Caffeine checklist. I have modified this checklist and include it as Appendix D.
Conclusions
I close by acknowledging that Dorothy (and her colleagues) each deserve considerable credit for the engagement of their individual wisdom, compassion and courage. Each of them could not have healed their own heats without the assistance of their colleagues. However, their own strengths and strategies played a major role in their successful journey to the Emerald City—and in healing the hearts that each brought on the way to meet the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard might have been a huckster and charlatan, but he seemed to know something about the spirit and soul of those people with whom he interacted. The emerald glow of Oz conveyed hope and healing—outcomes that would bless the life each of us is now living in a world of VUCA-Plus.
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References
Bellah, Robert and others (1985) Habits of the Heart. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bergquist, William (2023a) Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart I: The Nature of Energy and Anxiety. The Library of Professional Coaching. Link: Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart I: The Nature of Energy and Anxiety | Library of Professional Coaching
Bergquist, William (2023b) Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart II: Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Preparation for Treatment. Library of Professional Coaching. Link: Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart II: Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Preparation for Treatment | Library of Professional Coaching
Bergquist, William (2023c) Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart III. Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Treatment. Library of Professional Coaching. Link: Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart III: Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Treatment | Library of Professional Coaching
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