I was visiting with a Division President this week who told me that he was concerned with the pace of work for his staff. His team had aggressive productivity targets dictated by their corporate office and they were scrambling, leading to disorganized meeting, long hours and late night texts. Folks were grumpy and not nearly as productive as they needed to be to get this work done effectively.

We discussed this being the classic definition of sensory arousal overload and that while it can be exciting, it is also exhausting. On the one hand we are ready for battle and on the other hand, we’re ready for a nap.

We talked about the resilience recovery strategy of perspective taking as being one path out of that wilderness. What often happens in these situations is that we are so overwhelmed by all that is in front of us that we lose perspective on the bigger picture.

We talked about his key strategic objectives and asked whether all their efforts were directed towards that goal. He soon realized that there were lots of tangential projects that they had taken on and which were draining resources away from his key objectives. Eliminating these distractions would be like sending in reinforcements to relieve his key players.

Keeping our eyes on the ball and not allowing diversions to drain our energy is a great way to keep our overload in control.

© Richard Citrin, All rights reserved, 2017