Carin-Isabel Knoop’s Post

The pushback against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts is here. The pushback on “employee well-being” will follow. Companies are partly to blame. So are many of us. After Diversity Theater came Caring Theater: similar playbooks with limited creativity and innovation. Now, leaders wonder why many organizations seem to be winding up with negative returns on investment for these diversity and well-being programs. Workplaces are even more toxic than before, and employees are headed for the exits for various reasons related to the problems businesses are trying to prevent. In this piece, for #creativityandinnovationday, we explore six key engineering concepts to foster a healthier workplace culture: - how Root Cause Analysis helps us dig into the causes of workplace inequity and mental health struggles; - how negative and positive Feedback Loops can support or harm employee well-being; - why understanding the Efficiency-Robustness Tradeoff can help us to assess the cost of success for ourselves and our firms and identify support; - how the Stress-Strain Curve can help us match job demands with job resources; and, - why Systems Thinking, which enables engineers to see problems in a broader context and understand the interconnectedness of various factors, could help enroll the entire organization in driving prosocial goals. The etymology of the word “engineer” comes from the Latin ingenium, meaning “cleverness,” and ingeniare, meaning “to contrive, devise.” Let us not give up on building more equitable and supportive organizations but instead work harder to devise better and more innovative approaches. This post reflects a collaboration on a graduate seminar at the Engineering Management Department at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, exploring “Mental Health for Future Engineering Managers: From Personal Resilience to Organizational Health” (with Professor Amirmasoud (Amir) Momenipour and Susanna Sjoberg, and Skyler Miller). We are grateful to the wonderful students and to Noah Couturier, Matthew Vernon Hanson, Ph.D., and Jayanth N Kolla for further thought engineering! #mentalhealth #leadership #engineers

What if our workplaces could be more like Quaker meeting houses and less like Catholic High Mass? Earlier this week, pharmaceutical giant Bayer reported that it is delayering management and asking nearly 100,000 workers to ‘self-organize’ in the hope of saving the firm more than $2 billion. This prompted us to look for management lessons from the Quakers, a religious movement started by a Church of England dissenter in the 17th century. Quakers rejected strict hierarchies and regalia, preached inclusion and equality, embraced the power of silence, encouraged anyone, including visitors, to "minister" at their gatherings, and focused on the "Divine Spark" within all of us. We consider Quaker teachings for the modern workplace on three levels: - the personal (how an organization sees a person); - the structural (how individuals interact to get work done in a community); and, - the cultural (how the individual and the organization come together in mutually reinforcing ways). For each, we include reflection questions such as: Personal: - Do you acknowledge your inner light? Where do you feel most comfortable letting it shine? Is one of those places where you work? If not, what would you need to change about your workplace to make that true? - Or are you shining too brightly at work? Have you forgotten the other places where your light is also needed? Organizational: - Next time you are in a meeting where PowerPoint is the hymn book, consider what is happening. Do you enjoy being able to disconnect and pretend to be listening? - How might adopting a flatter hierarchy or more open meetings, similar to the Quaker organizational model, influence communication, decision-making, and employee empowerment—and what would that mean for you as a leader and employee? It might mean more work and risk because more engagement requires more emotional and mental connection. Are you willing to take it? Cultural: - What is the payoff of radicalism? When we become more pragmatic, does it feel like we are settling? How can “practical accommodations with the mundane world” feel liberating and not disheartening? - And how do we adapt these teachings while avoiding what Quakers have been criticized for, such as letting others fight “their” wars, being too passive, and not being explicit about their beliefs? Thank you, Matthew Hanson, for the collaboration, and Arthur (Arturo) Natella, for the heads-up on Bayer and for keeping your finger on the pulse of management transformations. (https://lnkd.in/giMzyg6f) #engagement #inclusiveleadership

What if you could turn stress into kindness? That is the possibility and challenge Harvard University Health Services's Angela Sigal Poock explores in her Nursing Management piece making "The CA[C]E for kindness in postpandemic nursing." "What role does kindness play in our post-2020 nursing profession? Is kindness a value or an individual trait? Or is kindness a responsibility that all patients deserve, including those patients who may not necessarily appreciate us?" This week, during a visit to urgent care, I got to experience this call to action as she practiced her CACE framework for patients: - Compassion for physical and mental health needs; - Advocate for their care; - instill Confidence that we have our patients' backs (figuratively, and sometimes, literally); and, - relate with Empathy to what each of our patients presents to us. Substitute employee for patient, and you have the recipe for compassionate leadership. I have been advocating for this style of leadership since John A. Quelch and I wrote our 2018 book on "Compassionate Management of Mental Health in the Modern Workplace," and throughout the pandemic, as workers present more and more as patients--vulnerable, scared, anxiety-ridden, and increasingly non-compliant. Seeing it in action was truly moving. Thank you, Angela, for the care and the management lessons. #mentalhealthatwork #nursing

How often do you get the “yips” at work like athletes who are so self-focused and anxious that they start overthinking to the point of distraction? And how often do you tell someone? And make it possible for others to tell you when they are scared?   In this piece, Doctor James Naples Harvard Medical School candidly shares his experience as a young surgeon struggling with the "surgical yips" – a psychological barrier hindering performance in the operating room. Jim shares how he was hampered by self-doubt despite good advice and self-reflection. What changed his trajectory was a mentor’s ability to provide psychological safety and normalize mistakes.   Now, he reminds medical trainers who face similar challenges that it is important to share fears and doubts, even if that means accepting fallibility – in a field that can be very costly.   Becoming an MD often requires sustained, hard academic effort and a lot of personal sacrifice.   In the process, many doctors, like other high achievers, fell they need to forget their humanity and suppress fears and doubts to perform.   On #DoctorsDay2024 let us honor those who devote their lives to caring for us and reflect on the broader lesson of this piece—pretending to be perfect might lead to much more stress that may cause more mistakes and ultimately burnout. For other thoughts on reducing burnout in healthcare, please see our piece https://lnkd.in/gn5quiF2 (Antonio Sadaric and Daven Morrison, M.D.).   #mentalhealthatwork #psychologicalsafety

Now that many of us outsource speech and opinions to Gen AI tools, how do we remain vigilant about how it biases our minds and speech and, as a result, weakens our relationships, organizations, and societies? As Gen AI becomes not just part of our conversations but also the principal author of a great deal of content, including on this platform, we revisit why understanding and combating microaggressions that often reflect assumptions, biases, and stereotypes is crucial for fostering inclusive workplaces. It is more important than ever. We already have five generations at work and soon will welcome in the workplace the 60% of 18-year-olds who checked the “two or more races” box on the 2020 US Census. Just as corrosion subtly undermines the integrity of the metal, microaggressions at work erode the psychological safety and well-being of individuals, particularly affecting women and those with traditionally marginalized identities. These seemingly minor slights and insults lead to decreased job satisfaction, increased burnout, and increase turnover. This impacts individuals and organizations, eroding talent and perspectives. Just as corrosion can be mitigated with the right interventions, so too can the impact of microaggressions. In this fight, Gen AI might not have intent, but neither is it an ally — so far. That responsibility falls on us all. with Kate Lee, Arthur (Arturo) Natella, and Demetriouse Russell (He/Him/His). #Microaggressions #GenAIBias #InclusiveWorkplaces

International Women's Day came and went. For the next 364 days till IWD25, what can we do to "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress"? For one, we need to understand better how to help women lead the lives they love, feel supported, and positively impact others and society. This means taking the time to learn more about mental health in women and the sex, gender, and societal factors that impact it--and what this suggests for leaders and organizations. Here is some research: 1)    In 2022, about 26% of females in the US reported some mental illness in the past year, compared to about 20% of males. About 8% of these individuals also suffer from substance use disorder. 2)    Young women (16 – 24) are three times as likely as men in that age range to experience a common mental health issue. 3)    Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety as men. 4)    Women are more affected by so-called “internalizing disorders” (such as eating disorders and major depression), while men are diagnosed with more “externalizing disorders” (such as substance use disorders and antisocial personality disorders). 5)    Women are more than three times as likely to experience eating disorders than men. Patients with EDs have lower life expectancy than all other mental health sufferers. 6) They may be more represented among the so-called dark triad (comprised of related and similar constructs: borderline personality disorder, vulnerable narcissism, and sociopathy) than commonly known. In the piece below, for example, researchers also challenge the conventional 6:1 male-to-female psychopath ratio with new evidence suggesting a closer 1.2:1 ratio. Whether we idealize or demonize women, and we don't support their mental health, they pay with their humanity. A heavy price. We can do better. Sources: https://lnkd.in/gHxwENcS; https://lnkd.in/gsjERDEs; https://lnkd.in/gcsEqeaJ https://lnkd.in/g_-sKYhK. #mentalhealth #inspireinclusion #iwd2024

How often do we actively think about making each other visible? Or consider that our nemesis might actually be our complement? For inspiration for #IWD24, please meet one of the Fantastic Four’s Heroines, Susan Richards, aka The Invisible Girl (stylized as agile and strong), and her nemesis Karisma (stylized as vengeful and veiled). Their story was put to music by composer Mason Bynes on a commission from my dear friend Ellen Feldman, photographer and flutist in the wonderful Concord Band. They worked across generations, geographics, races, and professions. Ellen gave Mason total leeway to compose. Mason, instead, chose to collaborate to bring Ellen’s photography, commitment to women's rights, and storytelling work to music. The audience experiences this by listening to the music, watching a dancer incorporate the action on a video beautifully crafted by Professor Sam Kauffmann, and reading an old-school paper comic book. In the third movement of the piece, Invisible Girl and Karisma come together, and their seemingly polar identities promote each other’s visibility. This month (and beyond) let's keep in mind our comic book heroines and the real-life musical heroines Mason and Ellen and the IWD motto: “Invest in women: Accelerate progress.” -- with Michael Stanley #inspireinclusion (See some of Ellen's work here https://lnkd.in/gnfST4Rk and on the Women's March https://lnkd.in/gi7sPyd4)

How can Leap Day encourage us to flip scripts, think about different patterns for finding good matches in our personal and professional lives, and take responsibility for our actions? February 29 used to be special in the matching realm--Irish women could ask men to marry them (men had the other 1,461 days), and it could be legally binding. Since then, to find love and connection, most of us use social media platforms and dating apps. They have trained us to attract attention to ourselves, go for large numbers, exaggerate our attributes, make snap judgments, and cancel / unlike / unfollow — or even worse, sometimes, ignore others. HR Tech developed with Heart Tech, affecting two of our most important relationships — romantic partners and work. Dating and job searches now have a lot in common. Technology should have made these important matches better — but it hasn't. In this piece, Jayanth N Kolla and I explore what happened and how we can respond to technology's tendency to have us treat each other as objects in both our personal and professional spheres. Thank you to our photographic muse, Ellen Feldman. #dating #platforms #employeewellbeing

In this piece, some of my favorite collaborators, Daven Morrison, M.D., and Sandra Cohen, show how the psychiatric workplace mirrors that of the workplace across many other professions. Patients and employees expect providers and leaders to earn their commute. They will discuss such topics at the upcoming International Academy of Organizational and Occupational Psychiatry (AOOP). - with Joel A. Idowu, MD, DFAPA.

Thrilled to see the Journal of Management Studies feature our research and paper on artificial empathy and leadership. The more machines cater to our every needs, 24/7, the harder it seems for us to cater to our own needs and those of others. We even become impatient with humans who are less skills at temporary pacification. But we demand attention and empathy from our workplaces and leaders, who need to provide high-touch management in a low-touch world. That is the Catch-22. Make sure to check out the other pieces, wonderfully curated by Kristina Potočnik and her colleagues. They range from the tension between control and trust (https://lnkd.in/g78RJRrC) to sibling rivalry in a family business (https://lnkd.in/gjCySwzp). For our longer piece on empathy atrophy, digital dependency, and loneliness, please see: https://lnkd.in/gYqWzF7S (with Antonio Sadaric) #artificialintelligence #leadership