Schar School Professor Tojo Thatchenkery’s Insightful ‘TAD Talk’ Now on Video
What are the strategies for dealing with stressful work environments? According to Schar School of Policy and Government professor Tojo Thatchenkery, a “socio-cognitive approach” based on the power of reframing and mindfulness may help us the most.
Thatchenkery, director of the Master’s in Organizational Development and Knowledge Management at the Schar School, is a noted thought-leader in the field of workplace environments.
In a “TAD Talk” given at The Taos Institute Silver Jubilee Conference, Cancun, Mexico in November, Thatchenkery pointed out that our traditional approaches to coping strategies are not useful because they are based on a deficit mindset.
“If we ask ‘why I am feeling so burned out?,’ we can identify the root causes of stress,” he said. “But that won’t do any good, because many causes, such as a hectic work environment or a bulling boss, cannot be changed easily.
“What can be changed is our response to stress. We can reframe stress.”
In a recent Harvard Business Review article with co-author Ellen Keithline Byrne, Thatchenkery discussed the power of mindfulness in helping employees “reframe.”
“This ancient Buddhist practice allows us to look at the present moment without judgement and with an open mind,” he said. “As we move away from the deficit language of what’s wrong with our organizations and look for instances when we felt relative satisfaction and recognition for our work, a new way of reframing stress emerges.”
Thatchenkery also recommends enhancing our Appreciative Intelligence, which is known to help in recognizing new coping strategies.
Watch the video for more insight.