Stress is unavoidable, it’s as much of a fact of life as dentist appointments and traffic. In fact, some have jokingly suggested that the key to managing stress is deodorant – since you’ll never be able to eliminate it.
The secret sauce to success is learning how to manage stress and reduce panic.
The physical symptoms of stress are often harder to manage, and take longer to control, than the emotional ones. These symptoms can include an increase in adrenaline that causes increased heart and breathing rates. While annoying when it hijacks your nervous symptoms, these hormones are nature’s way of preparing you to face danger and increase your coping abilities.
Looking to improve your stress management skills? Learn from these pros:
First Time Parents vs. Parents of Multiples: First time parents are a great example of stress run amok. Every move or sound the baby makes incites panic in a new parent until someone intervenes to help calm the situation. By the third child, parents have learned to differentiate between sounds that require an immediate response and those that are simply a part of newborn life.
Emergency workers, Doctors, and First Responders: Few people experience more stressful situations than those who have signed up to respond to emergencies. Out of neccessity, they’ve developed the ability to understand what is causing the stress and the skills to manage it quickly and effectively. The calm they show in situations is the result of understanding, training, preparation and experience.
Restaurant workers: My time spent working in restaurants provided an invaluable lesson in stress management. You experience bursts of work, are expected to deliver perfect meals, and complete the tasks in short periods. I learned that planning, strategic menus that aren’t cluttered with a dozens of options, and protocol for managing the rush periods effectively were the keys to success.
We underestimate the impact of stress because so many of us have found ways to cope. Remote work, virtual school, package delivery, communicating with friends via Zoom, and/or finding other creative ways to connect have really mitigated the underlying tension.
Understanding stress is the first step in managing it.
All of us have experienced some form of drastic change in our lives at some point. Our individual situations vary, but we’re all affected in one way or another:
Stress can take shape in many ways. It might cause sadness, confusion, irritability, anger, uneasiness, or suicidal thoughts. Other stress symptoms include reduced concentration, efficiency, or productivity, social withdrawal and isolation, interpersonal problems (lying, defensiveness, inability to communicate, or increased arguing), tension (headaches, jaw clenching, teeth grinding), body pain (muscle spasms, stomach cramps, ulcers), reduced energy (tiredness, weakness, fatigue), and sleeping problems (insomnia, nightmares, sleeping too much).
Stress also has many varieties. You can experience pervasive stress as result of circumstances like pressure, financial, or medical concerns. Or you can experience periodic stress in activities like unknown experiences, rushes, and emergencies.
Acts that once gave comfort and encouragement (hugs, high-fives, handshakes) are now off limits. It’s not just disconcerting; it very possibly adding to America’s stress levels. As social creatures, we crave human connection and when we are unable to find solace in a hug or vent at the water cooler with friends, it takes a toll on us mentally.
Stress, anxiety, and uncertainty will certainly remain a part of our present and future, but they have also been a part of our past and we’ve always overcome.
Here are some suggestions to help you stay calm and fend off stress proactively and productively:
Remember that everyone is struggling and be open-minded, patient, and sharing. Assess and understand the stress, consider alternatives, new paradigms, and slower progress. For example, learn to be happy and accept small wins.
Don’t let pride get in your way. Asking for help, sharing stress, and using available resources are excellent ways to cope.
Be kind and helpful to loved ones and strangers alike.
Keep things in perspective. (i.e. Shopping may be a bit cumbersome these days but remember that everyone is trying their best and it’s not the clerk’s fault the toilet paper shelf is empty.) Be patient (with yourself and others). We’re all going through a lot—cut yourself some slack and show others the same curtesy. Take deep breaths.
Take care of yourself (eat healthy meals, exercise, get some fresh air, meditate, try to keep to a regular sleep schedule). For example, efforts like lunch with colleagues, coffee breaks, and social interaction have reduced in frequency.
Open debate, discussion, and even productive arguing have declined as well. While there is much discussion of hate on the internet, there is no discussion of norms among many people that limit opinions, debate, and controversy.
The more you work on your stress management, the more you’ll notice a pattern. We all have a threshold of tolerance, but many of us miss the signs our bodies give us. We ignore (or spot fix) things like tension headaches, chronic pain, and sleep disturbances. Connecting with others, talking about how we’re feeling, finding a healthy physical release (walking, dancing), and helping people have proven time and again to decrease stress and improve mental health.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies for businesses. This combination has been the key to client success in efforts such as planning, improving profitability, finance, and operations.
Everyone is aware of and considers change, but the rate and impact keep accelerating faster than our ability to manage it. In addition, it is happening in all aspects of our lives. As a result, we need to focus more on identifying and understanding change and then developing responses. Here are some recent examples in various environments:
A Presidential candidate was shot in the ear, and another withdrew from the race in the last few weeks. Neither has happened in decades and we had two together.
Banks, airlines and other industries were recently shut down because of a glitch in a computer upgrade and have taken days to get back to normal.
The weather continues to experience more volatility with hotter, more wildfires and more hurricanes etc.
The pandemic is an event that has impact on change won’t go away. For example, the impact on decreasing the economy in 2020 was followed by a recovery in 2021. Thus, GNP increased an average of 2.9 % between 2016 and 2019. But if you include 2020, it only increased 1.4 % annually. Similarly, between 2020 and 2023 the economy increased about 4 % annually. But if you exclude 2021 it only increased 2.5 % annually. This is significant because these periods include presidential election years and can thus be notable examples of “How to Lie with Statistics!!
The dynamics of our economy continue to evolve. For example, 60-80 % of letters and checks have been reduced in the last 20 years. We keep focusing on manufacturing jobs but service, entertainment, health, government and entertainment keep growing and are becoming the real strength of the economy.
Demographics and in particular diversity continue to change. We are getting older, more Hispanic and more geographically in the southwest.
We need to expect, understand, manage and adapt to change. One of the best organizations in managing change are fire departments because they work hard at being prepared for fires. Their major focus is on prevention rather than simple reaction. They then train organizations in equipment, prevention, best practices and responses. Inspections are designed to help organizations rather than focus on enforcement. They also maintain records to be prepared for when incidents occur.
Women’s basketball is another example of adapting to change. The presence of a few new star athletes has caused dramatic multiple increases in attention, attendance and T.V. viewing. Thus the sport has been forced to adapt and improve attention, salaries, facilities, T.V. schedules, security and even travel methods.
While organizations are changing faster than ever and, it still seems we aren’t changing fast enough to keep up. This may be the result of tools that are designed to limit risk and are unable to accept compromise and open systems. For example, changes in Ukraine, mid-term elections, inflation, and economic growth seem to modify our decision parameters almost daily.
We must not only embrace change but be actively working to create transformative change as well. Much attention is often given to analytics, expertise, profits, and science. However, these tools sometimes ignore critical requirements for change and better decisions: passion, focus, trust, effort, risk, and commitment. Unchecked, analytics may hinder transformative change.
Here are some suggestions to develop and execute more transformative change:
Consider structural changes. Society and business fail to recognize old paradigms and structures are failing. Large corporate structures, like print publications, big banks, and brick and mortar retailers, are all gradual losers, or even worse. Many large companies have tunnel vision, organizational constraints, etc., and ignore emerging technologies and opportunities. They lack the flexibility to respond to the needs of the market and use outdated solutions to new problems. Organizations frequently fail to consider how multiple factors like marketing, logistics, and finance, interact to affect success.
Imitate small businesses. The success of smaller, more innovative companies shows that many organizations should get smaller, or act smaller, in order to effectively deal with today’s environment. Reducing layers and creating professional cultures are a start. Boards and management need to split up organizations or create more independent groups.
Invest in innovation. Large organizations say they want excellence, entrepreneurship, innovation, risk takers, etc., but, really, they tend to encourage mediocrity. For example, short term goals, testing, and failure, which are critical parts of innovation, are punished more than rewarded. In short, organizations frequently ignore the advice, “you can’t score if you don’t take a shot.” Analyzing alternatives and their potential consequences can both understand current decisions and develop new ones. be a
Look at disrupters. Mackenzie Scott (Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife who has $60 billion) and Melinda Gates are changing the structure of charitable giving. They are focusing on unrestricted gifts (no building or school names), donate significant funds to lesser-known institutions, like black colleges and community organizations, to help transform their entire organization and require minimum proposal and reporting requirements .
Implement more risk. There are more and greater opportunities. Even in sports, home runs, the three-point play, and passing in football are rapidly increasing as coaching, athletes, and analytics improve. We underestimate the potential of frequently unlimited upsides compared to limited downsides. Test more and accept that failure is frequently a requirement for success. We also need to seek transformative solutions, which may be unknown when we start a decisions process.
Remember technology is king. Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple will survive and grow as they become even more innovative and efficient. Traditional retailers with large real estate platforms and margin requirements are at great risk. Consumers are proving to prefer the perks of working at home, fast delivery, and other convenient Internet processes. Virtual offerings will continue to expand and be utilized and, therefore, they must be integrated into our structures.
Don’t forget that service, image, andculture are frequently the biggest (and often least expensive) ways for small companies to develop a brand and differentiate themselves. Some suggestions: Focus on your target market and segment your ideal customer. Be polite, listen, and then act based on what you have learned. Become a trusted resource to your prospects by providing useful information that will help them make a viable choice.
So, where in your life, business, or community, do you see a need for transformational change? And what actionable steps are you taking to fuel it? And are you committed to making those actions a habit? Because that is what it takes to truly change. Remember you need the resources, readiness, support and willingness to change.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies. We guide your plans for business success and unlock your profits.Our strategy includes clear steps, and over 150 free articles and templates to facilitate your efforts and guide your process. We’re here to help you get on track and stay there as you move forward. We welcome comments, suggestions, and questions. You can write us at: bshlensky@startupconnection.net or call at 914-632-6977
Everyone talks about demographic statistics like age, race, and geography without giving much attention to the cultural implications that go along with these demographics.
For example, 42% of the current population was born before 1980, making them 45 years or older. That means that about 60% were born after 1980 and have no memory of things like Kennedy’s death, the Vietnam war, The Beatles, using World Book instead of Google, and more. These are two large demographics with completely different sets of lived experiences and – as a result – wildly different worldviews.
I’ll illustrate how this plays out in daily life with two personal examples.
Growing up in the late 1940’s, my parents attached bells to clothes so they could find me when I ran out to play with the neighborhood kids. Today’s parents keep their kids on a much tighter leash — as evidenced by the fact that my neighbor just put up a fence to ensure his toddler would stay in the yard where he could see him.
As a doctoral student in the 1960’s, I researched my Ph.D. thesis at M.I.T. The department of Political Science – which did war research on Vietnam – was next door to our department. Thus, we had bomb scares a few times a week and I was required to haul computer punch cards home every night to ensure they were safe. Do young people today even know what punch cards are? Have they even heard the phrase “do not fold, bend, or mutilate?” Furthermore, people of my generation finished their schooling without laptops, Microsoft Office, or cell phones — a reality that is unfathomable to today’s students.
The most significant demographic consideration today is the nation’s aging population and its impact on economic growth. Contrary to popular opinion, supporting a 2-3% annual economic growth rate requires us to welcome 1-2 million immigrants every year.
While unemployment rates get the most press, it is actually labor shortages that are causing critical economic dilemmas — and this fact directly correlates with immigration.
Currently, a significant share of the about 300,000 jobs created monthly are from immigrants filling some of the over 9 million job openings. This trend is projected to continue for several years, especially with declining birth rates and a declining population in the child-producing ages. Without welcoming immigrants into our country, the lack of available laborers will continue to result in labor shortages and economic struggles.
In contrast, as the population lives longer, many older individuals face critical financial and social challenges. Dementia and Alzheimer’s have become significant dilemmas, especially as financial resources and government benefits decline. Health care needs, safety concerns, and loneliness become significant as friends and relatives pass away. Options for transportation, housing, and entertainment become limited and difficult to execute. A significant number of low-and medium-income seniors experience financial challenges that require them to extend their retirement plan. With increased longevity, even those individuals who have the means to retire want to stay in the workforce longer.
Hispanics make up about 20% of the U.S. population, compared to 7% in 1980. The average age for the Hispanic population is 30, compared to 39 for the total U.S population. This population tends to live in the Southwest. Most have been in this country for more than 10 years, over 80 % speak fluent English, and the average income is $ 59,000. The bottom line is that the Hispanic population is growing, assimilating, and contributing to the economy. Thus, they expect more and more recognition like native Americans.
In general, we need to recognize the diversity of the U.S. population. In the sixties, the nuclear family was considered the norm and typically considered of a white husband and wife, two kids, and a dog. Today, our country has diversified and families look different. Sex, race, national origin, sexual preferences, and age all vary dramatically and need to be recognized. Many of the social issues facing today’s society result from not recognizing and embrace diversity.
Demographics are more than just statistics. Specifically, these cultural shifts provide numerous opportunities and challenges. In particular, as our society becomes more complex, the cultural impact of demographics becomes more significant. In particular aging, Hispanic population increased, and diversity are providing numerous opportunities for better decision making. You must make certain to constantly evaluate relevant demographics and demographic trends as they relate to your business both in the now and in the future. This includes both local and national trends. Demographics can be one of the keys to your business’ success or failure.
Contact me to learn more about how you can research demographics in order to help you market your business more effectively and remove that old elephant from your closet.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of Startup Connection, is a graduate of Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. He served as the president of WestPoint Pepperell’s apparel fabrics business & President and CEO of Sure Fit Products. Having provided counseling to over 2,000 clients, he focuses on working with select start up and small businesses.
We can get so obsessed with strategy, our great idea, and finance, etc. that we ignore parameters which can be critical to our success. One of the biggest mistakes I see startup owners make is failing to consider parameters as their North Star.
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll, Cheshire Cat
Over and over, entrepreneurs come to me without a clue about what they’re aiming for. Short term vs long term, profits vs growth, risk and efficiency vs innovation all need to be considered in executing strategies.
One of the most important goals is the changing consideration of effectiveness. MacKenzie Scott and Melinda Gates illustrated this beautifully with their approach to charity and wealth.
They’re spending more instead of building big war chests.
They’re donating to small, more community-based charities rather than established institutions and providing seed money as well as operational funds.
They’re using more subjective funding criteria, requiring less proposal work and demanding less extensive reviews to encourage new organizations and facilitate innovation.
They are funding more women’s and poverty groups.
Their goal was to approach charity more effectively. Their rationale was that funding hunger, health, poverty and social justice with innovative contributions would provide more benefits than the opera or large universities. The result was a complete shift in charitable donations.
Measurement: Just Do It: Measurement is one of the most important parameters. At its simplest, it’s looking at where you vs. where you want to be.
Measurement for the sake of measurement. however, gets you nowhere. Ask yourself (and answer honestly!):
What am I measuring?
What metrics am I using?
What is the purpose of the measurement?
Here’s the thing every successful business owner knows but no one ever tells you: measurements of sales, profits, service, and customer satisfaction are vastly underrated.
Measurement also needs to consider qualitative metrics like speed, motivation, innovation, employee satisfaction, and quality. I recommend using qualitative questions like “How am I doing?” as well as more traditional qualitative measurement tools (remember: these tools run the risk of measuring the wrong information or letting bias inform results).
Embracing change, finding alternatives, being flexible, and innovation are the keys to success. AI, climate change, income inequality, and women’s rights are key factors affecting parameters and strategies. For example, we cannot ignore that baby boomers are aging and whites are less than 50% of new births.
As startup owners, this means the traditional revenue generation approaches may not be working as well as they used to. New markets and demographics need increased attention.
The advantages of AI – in terms of efficiency and speed – are yours for the taking if you take the time to familiarize yourself with the new technology.
Take the time to examine your processes for developing solutions and assessing progress. Many organizations continue to use authority, hierarchy, etc to govern decision making. However, the world – and business – has evolved to recognize commitment, success, teamwork, logistics, collaboration, and coordination as critical parameters in most successful organizations. Invest time in looking at how you come up with solutions, determine what progress has been made, and coordinate across teams.
Tips for Understanding Parameters
Consider Both Social and Analytics Issues: The realities and changes in parameters like population, the economy, political environment, and social values should be regularly assessed. Variables are changing faster and more frequently than ever. The more you understand these parameters, the easier it is to keep up as they change and evolve.
Commit to Action: Nike said it best, “Just Do It.” Refusing to make a decision is a decision in and of itself. Knowing what’s right and failing to act on that knowledge is one of the biggest mistakes startup owners make. Do your research, make your measurements, check in with your gut, then act.
Move Beyond Cause and Effect: Cause and effect is the go-to answer for “why” something happened. One of the oldest questions on cause and effect is the proverbial chicken and egg issue. However, most relationships involve a variety of factors. Dig deeper to identify all the factors involved in an outcome.
Embrace Risk and Trust Your Intuition: Analytics can produce quantifiable data that paints a black and white picture of your reality. Faced with the chance to take a big risk? Check in with your gut — and then trust that feeling. We all know the names of the billionaires who chased dreams others said were insane. The people who think outside the box are the ones who create real change in our society.
Avoid the Pitfalls of Bias: The biggest problem with parameters is the management of bias. Most bias, especially in small businesses, is simply human. Your assumptions, analysis, and data can all unknowingly affect assumptions — ignoring this fact is foolish.
Improve Your Prediction Capabilities: One of the crucial aspects of parameters is risk and outcomes, which are greatly affected by probability and information. Predicting results where significant and consistent historical data is available is fairly simple. Predicting results for new programs with little or inconsistent data requires developing educated estimates.
In summary, understand the importance of parameters in your decision processes. The assumptions, results, effort and process can be greatly aided.
Contact us for a FREE evaluation and get an alternative perspective on your business. We’d love to help you identify the ways to adapt to current trends. No one has time for BS – so we’ll cut straight to the chase and answer any questions you have.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of StartupConnection, has an MBA and Ph.D from the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. He has helped more than 2,000 clients benefit from his business acumen. He now focuses on working with select startups and small businesses.
Measuring for sake of measuring is a waste of time. In order for measurements to be a valuable part of an effective strategy, they need to be more than passive content that’s mostly used for identifying problems.
To be successful, we need to know what we’re measuring and why, use clear and simple measurement tools, and clearly communicate processes and results. And, here’s the key, measurement is a process for improvement and shouldn’t be used as a way to beat ourselves or our team up.
To help you avoid common pitfalls, here are some helpful hints for making the most of your measurements.
Measurement should clearly relate to goals. Since goals can be complex and you’re often operating with more than a single goal, this can be tricky but is essential and starts with strategic goal setting. For example, focusing exclusively on short term profits can reduce efforts towards critical factors like investment, innovation, satisfaction, effectiveness, and growth. Corporate strategy and sports teams demonstrate this by reducing long term focus on growth to meet immediate needs.
“Regression to the mean” is a well-respected and valid tool you should be utilizing. While it sounds complicated, the term is just used to describe the statistical tendency for data to trend towards an average. For example, the average U.S. male is five foot nine inches tall. Estimating the average height of men after viewing a bunch of 6-foot athletes is disruptive. However, we do this exact thing regularly when it comes to measuring the stock market, the weather, and sporting events.
The 80-20 rule generally works. 80 percent of your efforts generally account for only 20 percent of your results. However, the flips side of that means that just 20 percent of your customers and products can be prioritized to produce 80 percent of your success — and that’s pretty cool.
You need both objective and subjective measurement. We tend to rely on quantitative measurement because it is believed to be more reliable, consistent, and, valid. While true, we need to make sure we’re looking at subjective measurements as well. Qualitative measures like effectiveness, quality, prioritization, and satisfaction can be just as – if not more – important to the success of your business.
Perceptions and bias can greatly affect measurement. Selection and sampling can affect the measurement process. So can our own internal biases and perceptions – without us even being aware of it! Our perceptions are frequently based on recent events. We tend to ignore simple cultural situations like weather, group history, and success. My simplest recommendation is to avoid being the last to speak to a hungry audience!
Measurement must consider change. We’re often slow to modify measurement activities. COVID and the associated years must be considered when analyzing data moving forward. For example, 2020 and 2021 data can be outliers in any trend analysis. Without considering the change in external circumstances, we’re likely to draw incorrect conclusions from the data. Economic, political, and social changes can also alter results. For example, the aging of our population, the popularity of remote work, Zoom meetings, and increased income inequality are having dramatic impacts on consumer behavior and the economy. The real question isn’t whether things will change — it’s whether you will change with them.
Don’t eliminate outliers. Risk tends to scare people. Our first thought is often that we’re going to lose money. In reality, many low probability alternatives have huge payoffs and limited risk. For example, young people should embrace risk in their early career efforts since job turnover rates are high anyway. Even as you move up life’s ladder and start investing, the mentality remains the same and your portfolio should include some high-risk investments. This concept plays out regularly among gamblers – who pursue the best odds, not the lowest ones – and sports statistics that now include 3-point shots, fourth down conversions, and bases stolen.
Different efforts are required for considering alternatives and decisions. Effective solutions are limited by the alternatives considered. Making decisions is based on establishing criteria and eliminating alternatives. Thus, developing alternatives requires open and widening efforts.
A relationship does not mean cause and effect. Ice cream sales and violent crime are related. However, extreme heat- not the two factors themselves – are the cause. Nevertheless, variables like weather, demographics, and the economy can be related to any number of factors. Resist the urge to automatically assume causal relationship where there is none.
Understand the diversity of data distribution. Typically, we just assume that data is distributed normally – with a high midpoint and fairly equal higher and lower numbers. If you’re measuring something like height, this is pretty accurate. When you start measuring more complex things like wealth, things get more complicated. Understanding the diversity of data means considering the impact that issues like change, disruptions, and uneven growth have on results.
Is your measurement valid and accurate. Not everything can be measured or always be effective. For example, for decades the measurements used to create baseball statistics neglected to take the Negro League into consideration — and, therefore, presented inaccurate data. Recently, this has changed and stats now include the Negro League and include discussions about how many no-hitters Satchel Page (since many were previously unrecorded).
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your measurement is critical to success. There are a number of tools that can help mitigate the challenges.
Historical or similar data can sometimes serve as a surrogate
Simple estimates can provide a range of solutions
Comparing the consequences of different alternatives can show the implications of different solutions.
In summary, measurement is an opportunity to improve performance and shouldn’t be feared or neglected. Set goals, use clear and simple tools, utilize the process for improvement and take comfort in the fact that even if you don’t reach your goals, you’re further along than where you started.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of Startup Connection, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies. We’re here to help you get on track and stay there as you move forward. We welcome comments, suggestions, and questions.
When you want to stand out, reach out to Bert for the tools that will build your “sticky” brand. My focus is on understanding and analyzing your dilemmas and challenges, so your company becomes profitable faster.
Call (914) 632-6977 or email me at bshlensky@startupconnection.net. Don’t leave without signing up for our useful free eBook!
Feeling stumped or overwhelmed? Contact Bert at (914) 632-6977 or Email to start the process. Thanks!
