Disillusionment as an organisational and national crisis
View(s):All around the world, the common man’s perceptions of the structures of power in their respective nations is becoming more and more negative.
While some are in a stage of frustration, agitation and even anger at the sociopolitical atmosphere, others are becoming disillusioned.
Disillusionment can be described as the sense of disappointment that results when something is not what they believed it to be. It is a state of low-energy, and one of pessimism, of disappointment. It is a point during which we become so embittered by the reality, the unpleasant truths of an entity, that we no longer see the point in investing any effort – physical, cognitive, emotional, or otherwise to think about it. It’s a state of burnout characterised by statements such as, “I can’t be bothered anymore’, or ‘There’s no point talking/thinking about it’, or even ‘What to do’.
While most of us may be able to acknowledge that we are in a state of disillusionment socio-politically, what we are failing to acknowledge is how it seeps into other areas of our lives as a form of stress.
Stress
Why does disillusionment cause stress? Because we as humans seek and desire a sense of orderliness in our environment. We like to create some sense of rhythm and predictability in our world. We recognise that our future/our quality of life is determined not only by our own efforts and hard work, but are also influenced by the larger social, economic and political forces that create the atmosphere we work in.
A state of disillusionment is characterised by a lack of trust and faith in this very system. The moment we move towards not knowing how well this system will nurture and sustain us, the moment we characterise this system as chaotic, our futures also, become destabilised.
This lack of confidence or control over the future, this paralysing thought that regardless of one’s efforts the future is uncertain, is a large source of stress. This is due to the fact that instinctively, we are geared towards survival – in the absence of certainty, security and confidence, our odds of survival can be regarded as very low; this is an enormous source of stress usually not verbalised and explained in the same terms. It manifests in the form of dissatisfaction, low mood, inaction, helplessness, complaining, cynicism, blaming others, lack of accountability, taking short-cuts as a means to an end, apathy etc. We carry this low energy to our work places, to our team discussions, to our meetings with clients and more often than not, sadly end up agreeing with each other that nothing can be done.
Taking responsibility
We may not see the light at the end of the tunnel but we have got to believe that there is hope, and that we need to take responsibility to eliminate the national crisis of disillusionment by actively being a part of this decision-making process to elect a leader. Voiding a vote is easy but responsibly evaluating our choices requires energy that we may be lacking at the moment; nevertheless that is what needs to be done! To critically evaluate, vote and take responsibility!
So how can we bring hope to our daily conversations at work and keep the stress at bay? Here are some tips.
- Asking questions rather than making opinionated statements
- Making a conscious effort to replace the negative conversation with something positive even though it may be on a trivial topic
- Using humour
- Asking what can be done here and now. Acknowledging that all systems and people have shortcomings, hence to do whatever we can to make “this moment” better. (Eg. Do our own bit for the environment, without waiting for those in power to do something about it).
- Learning to do something new/focusing on a new challenging project with considerable chances of winning, to combat discouragement as a team (physical fitness, weight loss, digital detox, small humanitarian project etc.)
- Having a plan about how and why you are voting someone in (many people may have no idea)
- Making the voting decision similar to how we might make decisions at work (should we hire a particular candidate, should we hire the best possible candidate and if we don’t have the right candidate, should we hire anyone to stop the mediocre/bad employee getting that promotion, should we hire the person because they stand for or advocate something we believe in, human rights, law and order, economic growth, security, stability and peace etc. Should we do a critical analysis of his/her track record before hiring?)
- Understanding that those in power are also humans, chosen from among us – hence whatever values and standards we set as a nation (or a people), are the same values and standards that those in power will display. (Eg. If, as a society, we are used to bribing our way through, we should not be surprised when those in power do the same, albeit on a larger scale).
(The writer is a Business Psychologist, the Founder of Forté Consultancy and the author of ‘From Crisis to Character and a co-author of ‘Rockstars-Creating Stellar Performers in Organisations’. She can be contacted on rozaine@forte.lk).