THE ATTRIBUTES OF AN EMOTIONAL TORNADO

THE ATTRIBUTES OF AN EMOTIONAL TORNADO

Fujita and Pearson have helped wind scientists. But what can managers use to describe emotional spin phenomena in the workplace? What language speaks of evaluating emotions? Since September 11, 2001, people are struggling to deal with the adjustments to new language, terms, and concepts like Homeland Security, Disaster Readiness, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), Trauma Counseling , Color -Coded Alert Levels, and Zero Tolerance. Before the Columbine school shootings, the word 'Columbine' was the name of a place. Now it is a noun and verb associated with disaster, death, trauma management, children, and national horror . Businesses are going to require a new language about emotions at the workplace that include the small, non-dramatic feelings of everyday human life and the catastrophic terms associated with death and destruction. If managers are going to talk about emotions, the language is going to need to be technical, business friendly, and less "mental health" stigmatized. Human emotions must be discussed at least as well and at the same level as a discussion about ergonomic furniture.

The good news is that tornadoes have attributes and emotions do also. Tornado experts use terms like volume, speed, force, area ( crossing boundaries), location, point of origin, range, level, frequency and duration to discuss the attributes of wind. Using these same terms, managers can now begin to think in a new way about emotions in the workplace and consider how an emotional tornado could suddenly spin into a work site. Consider the following tornado attributes and begin to apply them to human feelings and emotional spinning.

Volume

Volume is about the accumulation of mass that takes up space.

A workplace spin usually involves more than one person or system and, if unmanaged, begins to increase in capacity.

Case Example

Florence was a hard worker with a long and noteworthy career. She worked independently and had excellent evaluations. Zella was a young go-getter who had a positive reputation. Their managers thought it would be a natural move to put them together for a new project. They respected one another and were eager to take on this exciting challenge.

In less than a week they were at one another's throats. Complaints and verbal accusations escalated. Managers were stunned and decided their reactions were due to normal and simple adjustments associated with any new project of this magnitude. Neither employee was able to emotionally adjust to the change. The project became secondary to the fight. Their arguments became loud and spilled into staff meetings and the cafeteria. Florence and Zella, who had been seen as icons and mentors to many staff, were now vicious to each other and anyone who supported the other. They had control battles and power struggles over their escalating fears that success meant job security. They were both convinced that the other one was sabotaging the project. They became enraged and paranoid .

Staff was just as shocked as the administration. Florence demonstrated extreme dependence and victimhood behaviors. The staff that sided with her was went to their managers frequently with odd complaints. Zella began drinking for the first time in her life and had public outbursts that included verbal attacks. The staff on her side began taking small liberties such as longer breaks and open gossiping. The managers called in the Human Resource professional who was unable to deal with the extreme nature of these powerful emotions and became impotent in the face of explosive emotions. Knowing her company hated "outsiders" she was desperate and called in an external consultant on her own. The staff now felt threatened, betrayed by HR, and terrorized that their departments were being exposed to external scrutiny. The collective paranoia was palpable.

The Consultant discovered both of these employees were appalled at this development and neither could explain it. They attempted to work through the difficulty, but were unable to avoid triggering each other into defensive outbursts. Zella and Florence, capable and expert professionals, when put in the same "container" developed a toxic emotional reaction that led to systemic emotional spinning.

Learning Byte

The emotional extremes demonstrated at this work site were new and first-time behaviors for Zella and Florence. A predisposition had been circumstantially triggered by what seemed to be a reasonable business decision. Both employees expressed to the Consultant that they were grieving the loss of their comfort zones in their old positions where they were successful and revered by others. The CEO at that time did not think that their emotional behaviors warranted much attention. But when they both had to be replaced , the costs for releasing and replacing these employees topped $200,000.00. One year later, Florence had found a new position, although her newfound aggressive behaviors from this experience had eroded many of her people skills and rapidly diminished her former reputation in the community. She was now considered a troublemaker. Zella was not able to find adequate work in the community and relocated . Whether Zella took the new alcohol and outburst behavior into a next workplace remains a question. Management now does much more extensive screening and interviewing before team placements. The CEO now insists that group projects begin with a brief training on grief management and tools for taking care of personal emotions under stress. The external consultant fees, at $150.00 per hour , are prohibitive to this small company. The HR department is overwhelmed.

DO THIS : Take the creative risks to put people together for productivity. See how it goes. If it isn't working within a short period of time, rethink the combination.

DON'T : Hesitate to change your mind if the hostility volume goes up. Some things just don't work. Some people just don't work well together.

 

Speed

Pace, rate, velocity, tempo. How fast is it going and is it getting faster because its own energy giving it more energy and momentum? Like a centrifuge or merry-go-round, the speed of a spin increases its own speed. Emotional spinning is fast . It can pick up added speed that is self- generative . Small beginnings quickly gain velocity.

Case Example

Dennis, a seasoned Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) began to complain more than usual, which stirred up his partner Tina. The manager, Tyke, who had worked with Dennis for a long time and had considered him a steady force, a solid cornerstone, a foundation on the squad, now found himself having a difficult time staying neutral. Their chief told the manager that he better "take care of it." Dennis' wife began calling Tyke thinking that her husband might be having an affair with Tina. Tina took Tyke aside and said that the partnership between her and Denis was decaying after years of working together and that Dennis was "losing it." Tyke felt out of control as the tensions rose.

Opinions began to create more opinions until everyone had voiced their position to everyone else. It evolved into a full-tilt emotional spin. Within a few weeks the entire community, which was small and prided itself on its "everyone- knows -everything" mentality , was divided by rumors and politics. The Chief, who based his prestige on election consequences in the community and depended on favorable perceptions for funding generosity, was extremely nervous. He began an affair. Dennis continued to complain while the troubled manager became more defensive at work and sullen at home

Learning Byte

Tyke was not neutral. As a friend he needed to be connected, as a manager he needed to see how the rumors were adding to more speed. Before it got out of control and entered into the community, Tyke needed to stop the speed at its source and find out what was happening with Dennis. This community lost confidence in services. The private EMT company lost primary funding sources.

DO THIS : Watch emotions to see if they are revving up faster than people can adjust. Find out what is going on.

DON'T : Add to the energy by rumors, gossip, or isolation.

 

Force

Emotional energy comes and goes. If the energy gathers strength and cohesion it becomes a force. A force can generate creativity or destruction. When strong influences combine with other powerful energies a strong dynamic occurs. Hitler was a force. He started as a voice, with an opinion, and that energy combined with other influences to become a larger force. Gandhi was a force. He started as a voice, with an opinion, and that energy combined with other influences to become a larger force.

Case Example

Keller was informed that his job was being outsourced. He felt confused and management didn't explain what this would mean. He took management's poor communication personally , began increasing his drinking and was verbally less supportive of his company. He started looking for another job. His loyalty shifted. A drinking buddy, Miles, met him at a local bar. Their usual complaints about work and marriage turned serious when Keller started fuming about loss of income, foreign workers taking his life away, the government being out to get him and his desire for " justice ." The forces of alcohol plus anger escalated to revenge fantasies ripe with righteous indignation and patriotism. Miles "jokingly" suggested he hack into some of the proprietary information to take some of his "share" before he exited to "show them a thing or two." Keller had not thought of this before and saw an opportunity to maintain some control. The two buddies combined forces, planned, then committed a cyber crime which caused fiscal damage to the company as they destroyed historical and research databases.

Learning Byte

Management did not have an Emotional Continuity Plan, and so forgot to help Keller maintain his sense of self-esteem and personal empowerment by not keeping him in the loop of problem-solving his own situation. Outsourcing was not as much of a problem as was management just "dropping the emotionally charged bomb" and assuming Keller would adjust to the new situation. The losses to the company were not discovered for several months after Keller found a new job, and the increased savings from outsourcing were cancelled by the losses of data that had to be recreated.

DO THIS : Pay attention to the forces of change that are coming your way by becoming informed on your own. Education is a powerful force,

DON'T : Take the forces personally by trying to control forces with more force.

 

Area (Crossing Boundaries)

A boundary defines a limit to an area of domain. Putting up a boundary is a fence, real, perceived or symbolic, around an area. Putting up an emotional boundary, ideally , should be automatically honored and accepted by the recipient.

One way a person can make an emotional boundary is to say "no" to an action that is offensive. Another way is to create protection by policies that define areas of control or domain. Initially, individuals may feel some loss or disappointment from what may seem like a limitation, but most regular, healthy , well-boundaried people adjust quickly to disappointment and appreciate some level of clarity.

Spinning, like a tornado, does not like boundaries. Spinning does what it does, goes where it goes, and has its own agenda of spinning. Rules, policies, walls, boundaries, borders, guidelines, laws, limits or definitions are counter-forces that define areas. Creating a no-spin zone, for example, is creating a boundary where spinning is not appropriate.

Case Example

Caroline could not keep office supplies at her desk. She somehow always lost them. Every employee in the unit had seen her rummaging through their cubicle or desk seeking a pen or paper clip. It was not uncommon to find Caroline going through everyone's desk on a daily basis. No one complained of her stealing from them but her patterns and excuses became the topic of many lost work minutes, annoyances, and hallway gossip time. When confronted, Caroline always apologized and giggled that she was just an "airhead" while she actually leaned over other people in their workspace to " borrow " their equipment for "just a second." The company hired Jeann as a new manager. The first time Caroline was rifling her drawers for a paperclip, Jeann calmly told her not to do that again, because it was inappropriate. Caroline was shocked, and giggled about being an airhead. Jeann repeated the boundary and informed Caroline that is was not okay to rummage through her desk. Caroline had hurt feelings and complained to the staff. The staff immediately solidified into a "team" when they realized that they had never appreciated having their boundaries crossed. The team backed the new manager and learned to use better boundary-making language.

Learning Byte

Jeann was new and had not been part of the mythology that accepted and enabled Caroline's inappropriate workplace behavior without question. The collective expectation at the workplace was that it was more inappropriate to complain than to make a boundary. Jeann put new light on the issue and the staff was receptive and grateful for a way to establish boundaries. The staff genuinely liked Caroline so everyone was more than willing to encourage her to take care of her own property. They assisted her in redefining her boundaries, and encouraged her to stop calling herself an air-head. Caroline was encouraged to mature professionally through appropriate boundaries.

DO THIS : Be aware of boundaries, yours and others.

DON'T : Cross boundaries without permission.

 

Location

Location defines where something is happening. It can also refer to its point of origin. Since workplaces are now global, the location called "workplace" of where a spin may start might include:

• desks

• cubicles

• computers

• web sites

• cell phones

• telephones

• lounges

• transportation

• hotels

• business meetings

• restrooms

• hallways

• stairwells

• parking lots

Case Examples

• John travels more than he is in the main office. He talks to strangers about his work.

• Susanne and Melissa discuss their new project over lunch in a cafe.

• Warren works at home. His wife complains about the time.

• Louisa shares a cubicle with Edith and Frank. Edith hates Louisa.

• Charles and Ed cut the deal in the parking lot after the meeting.

• Fiona and Elizabeth are washing their hands in the ladies room and discuss the highpoints of a potential deal while they comb their hair

• Chrissy gossips with Deena in the hallway.

Learning Byte

All potential locations for employees need to be managed by managers. Where is management's domain? Do you need different skills for different locations like parking lots, bars, restrooms, or caf s? When Chrissy gossips with Deena, there are no boundaries in that location. Perhaps security is not an issue, but is privacy important? Managers need to redefine work locations and differentiate them from other more social locations. And Emotional Continuity Management now happens everywhere people are located. Chrissy set in motion a series of gossip spins that resulted in the unionization of the company. The costs of the unionization process cost hundreds of lost man-hours. Supporters of unionization were pleased with the outcome. Those opposed to unionization were unhappy . The location of this entire process began in a hallway.

DO THIS : Know that wherever you go, there you are, and you aren't alone.

DON'T : Manage only from behind your desk.

 

Point of Origin

Where did the spin originate? Did the spin start in the middle of the system, from the bottom up, or from the top down? Did it start internally from an employee? Did it start externally from a vendor, customer, client, or other outside force?

Case Example

The consultation team, after interviewing everyone in the a rural medical facility, at $120.00 an hour, found that the originating thought which triggered an expensive workplace drama came from a belief, nurtured by the C.E.O. He liked to be adored, and encouraged employees to think that they were "picked by the boss" to be special and receive special treatment. Each employee then believed that they had entitlement to the "special favor" of the C.E.O. The C.E.O. was playing both sides against the middle. This company had a "The-C.E.O.-Likes-Me-Best" game that was the point of origin for a violent organizational sibling rivalry. The conflict bordered on an almost religious belief of personal value with concurrent demands for territory and priority. Each person with "favored status" ran to the C.E.O. for protection and validation, and languished in the C.E.O.'s need to be needed. He enjoyed being the rescuing guru to whoever came to his office.

The C.E.O. hired the consultant and sabotaged the consultation with, "Well, I'll help everyone get back to their game. After all, they do turn to me. I'm their leader!" The division turned what were once reasonable humans into enemies fighting a Holy War for special favors. This subtle dynamic ultimately affected several hundred individuals in eight departments. After time-consuming investigations, interventions and remediations, it became evident that the C.E.O. generated this conflict because of a need to be perceived as All-Knowing. This C.E.O. did not appreciate that his leadership style created division between the ranks. A trickle down dysfunction turned into a full system emotional spin. The C.E.O. hired manager after manager, and consultant after consultant, providing himself a constant flow of new people to "mentor." He would give them special favors and then drop them on their heads as his favors shifted to someone else. point of origin dysfunction came from the top down and interventions were sabotaged at the top.

Learning Byte

The fourth consultant in a series of hires was paid $23,000.00 over a one-year period. During the consultation, the CEO brought in another consultant for a one-time consultation to consult on the consultation. That one meeting cost the company an additional $1,500.00. Individual meetings with the extra consultant resorted in the loss of approximately 23 additional work hours.

DO THIS: Look above you, below you, and beside you to find a point of origin for a spin.

DON'T: Be surprised if it is hard to locate the point of origin. Take your time, be patient, it will appear.

 

Size

Micro: Small, minute, barely discernible

Macro: Large, obvious, visible

Case Example

Jody is bulimic. She vomits routinely at work. Sometimes her ritualized vomiting schedule makes her late to meetings. When she enters meetings late her use of excessive perfume and loud gum chewing is temporarily disruptive and not appreciated by anyone.

 

Case Example

The earthquake leveled the building. Several employees were killed .

Learning Byte

It is easy to see the earthquake as a problem. Jody's bulimia is taking a toll on Jody and the staff in small micro-units. Size can be the difference between a slow leak and a deluge. Both companies lost money this year. One company can apply for insurance recovery benefits. One cannot.

DO THIS: Remember that a relatively small hole sank the Titanic

DON'T: Ignore the small stuff just because the big stuff is more dramatic.

 

Range

Emotional spins come in a fascinating assortment and array. The range includes:

Annoying	to	Deadly
Entry Level	to	Career Commitment
Amateur	to	Professional
Intermittent	to	Constant
Subtle	to	Blatant
Acute	to	Chronic

Case Example

While management focused on Gloria's constant tardiness, no one noticed an unusually shaped brown paper package sitting by the water cooler . When a manager finally saw the package and called 911 the company shut down for 8 hours while investigators searched the premises and removed the suspicious package.

Learning Byte

The risks are significant when a company either minimizes or overreacts to threats of security. This business lost $4,000.00 in eight hours of time loss. They were also losing money due to Gloria's behavior. Risk management needs to consider ranges of incidents and ranges of losses, from small to large, critical to non-critical.

DO THIS : Pay attention to the full range of possibilities, including the most extreme

DON'T: Downplay the need to think bigger and smaller than your normal range of experiences

 

Levels

Ranking incidents is very subjective , but they usually fall between small with a small impact to large with a large impact.

Case Example

Miss Roo was a new teacher who was devoted to making a good impression and consumed by the expectations of her new job. She started work on September 3 ^rd , and was hoping she was making credibility points. She felt young and inexperienced, and hoped it didn't show. She hadn't felt too involved with the World Trade Center attacks because it was clear across the country. Certainly it was horrible, and she truly cared about the tragedy, but it didn't really touch her in a personal way. She wanted to focus on her students and her job performance. On a morning shortly after 9/11, Miss Roo was on recess duty when a small plane flew above the schoolyard. Her knees buckled under her and she threw herself to the ground in panic.

Learning Byte

Research has shown that anxiety, stress, trauma, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms do not depend entirely upon size or proximity to critical or catastrophic incidents. Even small events, perceived as life- threatening , can create significant emotions.

DO THIS: Pay attention to all levels of threat, from very small to large when making and Emotional Continuity Management plan.

DON'T: Minimize the risk potential of even a small threat level. One person's molehill is another persons avalanching mountain of death.

 

Frequency

Most people can usually keep their emotions in line while working. They don't fall apart, have tantrums, or dissolve into lengthy crying binges every shift. If emotions erupt on a frequent or regular basis, the frequency of the reaction can indicated that something beyond the regular levels of emotional response is present. Something may be seriously wrong.

Case Example

Sierra blew up at her manager on Tuesday. The following Monday, Sierra was found crying in the restroom. Two weeks later, Sierra stormed out of the work at the end of the day. At the end of the month, Sierra was late for work three days in a row. Sierra blew up at her manager again, this time during an all-staff meeting.

Learning Byte

Management did not see a pattern of frequency here. A good rule-of-thumb for attending to frequency might follow something like this:

• 1 episode = this may be acute, short, a random event, it may be a fluke, accident , or anomaly

• 2 episodes = pay attention because a pattern may be establishing itself

• 3 episodes = respond, because now a pattern has emerged

Some emotional events such as sexual harassment , violence, drug use, alcohol use, abusive language, racism, criminal behavior and other extremes may require immediate response after one episode. For some issues frequency means once.

DO THIS: Pay attention to patterns of frequency

DON'T: Wait too long to intervene. There is nothing more uncomfortable than saying, "I should have done something earlier" after something awful has happened .

 

Duration

Most emotional crises begin some sort of resolution process within two to five days. They may not resolve ever, or may take years to complete to closure, but even tragedies and catastrophic traumas look quite different after the initial first few days. Strong emotions begin to give way to either a softening or a strengthening of other emotions, but the original set of feelings does not last for long. If nothing has changed and the force and volume remain high, something else may be going on. Critical incidents that come and go quickly, such as an accident, tornado, or earthquake may have a different emotional impact on people than an incident that lasts longer, such as a hurricane , flooding, mass layoff , or long- term emotional chaos process.

Case Example

It had been three months since the fire destroyed the building. The new location was working well; Employees had restored operations and were making new customer contacts. As the days passed, there were fewer references made to the disaster. Except for Larry. Larry mentioned it every day. He asked people their opinions and solicited advice about his. He suggested there might be a lawsuit on its way, or that perhaps someone should look into the accountability of the management team. He kept newspaper clippings of the front-page story on his door and continued to ask people, "How are you doing?" A new employee was hired and Larry made a point to bring him into his office to discuss the incident.

Learning Byte

Something other than normal adjustment was going on with Larry. His manager just assumed that this was because Larry had an annoying personality. If it was his personality, then management needed to create some boundaries for this employee. But the manager did not consider that fact that Larry was a Vietnam veteran and was displaying symptoms of PTSD through his hyper- vigilance . By the time Larry entered counseling to manage his ongoing anxiety, he had lost all of his accrued sick leave. He used vacation leave and missed 30 hours of work to attend his counseling sessions.

DO THIS: Watch how emotions to begin to shift after an incident.

DON'T: Hurry anyone in their adjustment, but pay careful attention to someone who is not making some adjustments. If someone is still stirred up to the same level after 2-3 months post-incident, then it is an appropriate assumption that something else may be going on and they will need assistance.

 

Dr. Vali's Emotional Tornado Scale

Range	Damage	Potential Behaviors and Examples
V-0	None	Normal general whining, non-specific complaints about life's annoyances and daily challenges. No demand for alignments. Share and vent.
		I hate Mondays when everything is a mess.
V-1	Noteworthy	Specific complaints focused on specific people and issues. Some expectation for alignment.
		Joe never cleans his desk. Don't you think he'' a loser?
V-2	Significant	Specific complaints focused on specific people and issues. Elevated emotional charge, more expectation for alignment and support. Early generalized references to outcome.
		Joe's a loser, he is such a slob. Don't you just hate his desk? We should do something about him!
V-3	Critical	Specific complaints focused on specific people and issues. Increased emotional charge, elevated demands for alignment. More references to outcome and generalized plans for actions.
		I can't stand Joe. It's driving me crazy. Why don't we tell management and get him out of here. Let's ask Sue to join us.
V-4	Extreme	Specific complaints focused on specific people and issues. Increased charge, elevated demands for alignment and allegiance. Specific demands for outcomes , and specific plans and direct actions.
		It's got to be Joe or me. Even Louise hates his attitude. We're going to the union and getting him out of here. I heard he had an affair.
V-5	Catastrophic	Specific complaints focused on specific people and issues. Increased emotional charge, elevated demands for alignment, allegiances and loyalties, with threats of abandonment. Demands for outcomes at all cost. Actions being taken. Threats.
		Sue won't help us get Joe out of here. She must be having sex with him too. We can get rid of her easy, just go to HR and tell them she's not doing her work. I'll hide some of her project data and then she'll either join us or get out of here.