Volume
8, No. 2: Section 4
Volume
8, No. 2: Section 4
Malone, Thomas W. The future of work: how the new order of business will shape your organization, your management style, and your life. Boston, MA; Harvard Business School Press, 2004. ISBN 1-59139-125-3, hardcover (USA $35.00)
Malone, a professor at MIT, presents the persuasive argument that the low cost of communication is rendering centralized, hierarchical organizations obsolete. He discusses the origins, decision-making structures, strengths and weaknesses inherent in various organizational structures as they have evolved from small independent businesses (trades, guilds) to centralized corporate hierarchies (railroads) to loose corporate hierarchies (consulting firms, research universities) to democratic organizations (e-Bay, Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, W.L. Gore) to decentralized external market driven networks (e-Bay, internet, Italian Prato textile industry) and internal market driven networks (Intel, BP). Decentralization, together with the speed of communication that has been enabled by information technology, Malone posits, provides the benefits of smallness - flexibility, speed, and entrepreneurial motivation. And he describes clearly the new leadership that is necessary - moving from command and control to coordinate and cultivate. The ideas are very intriguing, and I was left desiring to discuss with others how this thinking can be applied to academic health center organizational structures.
Page Morahan, PhD
Dealing with Anger: Review of Two Books
Lerner, Harriet G. The Dance of Anger. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. 1985. ISBN 0-06-091565-X, paperback (USA $9.95)
Potter-Efron, Ronald T, MSW, PhD. Handbook of Anger Management. New York: The Haworth Press, Inc, 2005. Email: www.haworthpress.com or
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=5176
ISBN 978-0-7890-2454-3 hard copy (Inside and outside the USA $44.95)
ISBN 978-0-7890-2455-8 paperback (Inside and outside the USA $29.95)
During the Annual SELAM CE meeting in April 2005, Dr. Linda Austin, Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean at the Medical University of South Carolina, addressed anger in an excellent session, Dealing with Difficult People: Expectations, Envy, and Exit Strategies. She addressed the role of anger in relationship struggles at work, how anger generalizes to other relationships and how current anger styles often reflect patterns of behavior established in childhood. Dr. Austin recommended Harriet Goldhor Lerner's Dance of Anger (1985), a tool for personal use to help women learn about their anger, established patterns of behavior and ways to reformulate interactions to address problems at work. In a recently published book Handbook of Anger Management, author Ronald T. Potter-Efron, MSW, PhD, provides another superb resource, a tool for personal growth and professional as well as academic use. This review considers both books because understanding anger triggers, inappropriate beliefs, and ineffective styles of handling anger are beginning steps to deal with issues, strengthen relationships and accomplish positive goals for oneself at home, at work, in teaching or running individual or group therapy sessions
The Dance of Anger
In The Dance of Anger, Lerner describes anger patterns of women and how these patterns impact their intimate relationships. She describes anger as a signal to women that something is wrong, a sign of ignoring emotional needs. Maybe they are giving too much of the self to others or assuming too much burden from others. Tuning into anger may form a path to self-awareness and help to open new opportunities while at the same time setting limits or boundaries on the impositions of others.
Cultural taboos prohibit women from expressing anger, especially in emotional tones. Appropriate ways to express the emotion of anger and to fashion [what do you mean by "carve"? Do you mean "create" "fashion"? ] statements can address the action needed in objective statements, such as "That's one way to approach it; another possibility is...This point bears repeating.." A neutral or positive phrase (repeated as needed) in the beginning of a confrontation identifies needs and prefaces plans of action.
In an intense, stormy dialogue, it may be appropriate to take a time-out for a drink of water or breath of fresh air before returning to the issue. Sometimes it works to schedule a meeting to deal only with the "hot" issue.
Anger is an emotion; we all have rights to our feelings. Channeling intense emotion through exercise, cleaning a closet/desk, or washing the dog/car/lawn furniture may diffuse the anger and provide added value (a completed chore). Though venting anger relieves frustration, it does not solve the precipitating problem.
Lerner discusses the "nice lady syndrome" vs. the "complainer". The "nice lady" hides anger to avoid open conflict, to protect the other person and to maintain harmony. Niceness allows the anger to mount to an explosion, perhaps reacting to an issue that truly does not merit that intense a reaction. Then feeling guilty, 'the lady" cowers for a few days until the cycle begins again. The "complainer" states differences and criticisms often without a clear voice and plan of direction to the real issues. Not listened to, perhaps avoided, the "complainer" grows a bigger and bigger cloud of bitterness around her. She is ignored and labeled as a moody person or nag. Silent submission, ineffective fighting, and blaming create cycles of behavior but do not resolve issues.
Pragmatic steps in the Lerner approach apply new skills first to intimate relationships and then to office or community relationships:
Changing behavior changes interactions. Using the "I" statement helps one be clear about one's position and wants. Becoming angry interferes with thinking and heightens emotional reactions. It is important to take time to think about the situation, to choose the right time to address an issue, and to determine what is wanted. When we become clear and firm about what we want and can state that to others with conviction, they may be open to the change, but may be uncomfortable and defensive about the new behavior and try to revert to the former ways of interacting (leading to "change back behavior"). Consistency in sticking with clear, strong, calm statements may help to reform the relationship into a more mature balance. The new ways of interacting may be so threatening to the other person, however, that it may result in leaving the current relationship. However, we are responsible unto ourselves and we must allow other adults to make their own choices.
A cardinal rule is: Do your own work and allow others to do their own work. Sometimes one person is working harder in the relationship than the other. Anger at people who have control over us may stem from childhood; not being able to disagree with parents may lead to being unable to disagree with the dean or president of the University. First, gather data about the problem. Then ask how others in the system handled similar problems. Form a plan (to deal with emotion and identify action steps), proceed, evaluate, and continue.
Roles in Relationships and Strategies for Change
Overfunctioners vs. Underfunctioners : Overfunctioners have advice and tips for everyone, avoid their own goals by focusing on others, are always reliable, have it together, and avoid showing their vulnerable side. Underfunctioners become incompetent, can't get organized, avoid showing their strong, competent side, and develop physical symptoms when stress rises.
Pursuers vs. Distancer s: Pursuers like to talk things out, express feelings, want to be close and clingy to others, and may be labeled as too demanding. Distancers seek emotional distance or physical space, are self-reliant, hide their vulnerable, dependent side, apply anxiety to intense involvement in work-related projects, open up when not pushed, and cut off relationships when things become too intense rather than giving it time to work out.
Blamers : Blamers react to anxiety with fighting and a short fuse. They try to change others (others are at fault) and use fight cycles to relieve tension rather than deal directly with issues.
Lerner emphasizes that women are pioneers in personal and social change.
Handbook of Anger Management
In the recently published Handbook of Anger Management Potter-Efron, Director of the Anger Management Center at First Things First, LTD, in Eau Claire WI, provides a resource for personal growth and professional use. Not only does the book educate the reader about the styles of anger in females and males, the underpinnings of anger, and the skills to apply anger appropriately, but also addresses steps to change the obstacles of anger. The author provides tools to assess anger and the pros and cons of individual vs. group therapy (couple, family, children, adolescents, and adults). General curricula summaries in the text outline steps for anger management programs and therapy.
In exploring the value of healthy anger, Potter-Efron stresses the importance of self-awareness. Realizing changes from physical cues, such as a surge in energy and body heat, increased attention and stronger emotion, highlight concerns about the immediate situation that merit clarification or more attention. Then steps may proceed to uncover more information in a conversation or opt for a time-out, either to think through the circumstances or to relax before returning to deal directly with the situation.
The anger style assessment (pages 19-20) that Potter-Efron developed as a result of clinical practice helps pinpoint three basic anger styles that interfere with healthy function and recommends strategies for change:
Understanding one's style of anger is a beginning step to understanding what triggers anger. Each style may be useful to deal with a concern. On the other hand, each style may become "the tail that wags the dog"; it may be such an automatic behavior that it does not resolve problems but becomes the long-term problem. Sometimes anger covers fear, hurt or shame learned during childhood. Sometimes the anger is moral anger, responding to the shattering of an idealistic view of the world or of a relationship, the changes in society and a growing sense of being the only one who is right. This sense of being right may lead to social withdrawal and emotional isolation.
Remarks may feel accusing and "press your buttons", triggering hot thoughts rather than cool thoughts. For example, your dean may say, "You're late with that report," which triggers the hot, "How can you say that when I was doing two other projects that you said were high priorities!" You may think this response and clam up (anger avoidance), and continue a defensive interaction and seethe (building resentment toward the dean, slowly generalizing resentment to the other deans or colleagues). You may voice this response intensely (sudden anger) or righteously (moral anger). By tuning into your physical, emotional and spiritual (moral) perceptions of the dean's words, you can learn to delay your trigger (customary) response with a cool thought, "The dean is commenting from her perspective; she does not have all the information." Or, you may respond with a cool response, such as asking an open-ended question and listening for more information that may carry the dean's multiple concerns, most of which have nothing to do with you or your report. Meanwhile you may think, "What part of the dean's comments do I agree with and what steps should I take to address that specific point?" Tips to reframe the old reaction into a positive or neutral interpretation include: look for the good intention in the dean (trying to encourage you to finish the report), or become more empathic to the dean (the dean is probably overwhelmed with deadlines, budget, and space issues) while listening openly for points of agreement, connection or working together.
In the 1970s and 1980s the revolt from the US majority culture of hiding feelings (keeping emotions bottled up inside) swung to free expression and anger ventilation (letting it all hang out) with therapies such as primal scream therapy, pounding pillows, putting it all out on the table, etc. Ventilation may help people who turn anger inward, but it does not deal with understanding and addressing anger triggers. Inward directed anger carries the hazard of self-sabotage or self-injury such as ulcers or purposeful, self-inflicted injury. American women, typically concerned about relationship issues, in the majority culture are often socially groomed to act calm and not angry, gracious and "nice"(Lerner's "nice lady"). They are more likely to express anger verbally, with sarcasm and a smile. Relationship issues are what get to them.
Anger resolution skills (pages 86-87):
Potter-Efron lists three therapeutic goals for anger management work (page 100):
Four different methods are proposed as interventions (page 101):
Summary
For a brief course of study on anger and strategies to deal constructively with feelings and wants, both books read in tandem provide clear, strong explanations to precipitate personal epiphanies and useful, pragmatic techniques for personal and professional application, especially in the academic health center setting.
Leilani Doty, PhD
University of Florida
Other Suggested Readings
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