person is stressed. It's me on a challenge course with a fear of heights. This was part of a therapy program for anxiety, depression, and burnout. And the advice I got up there sounded strangely familiar. Be present, follow the fear, and just let go. So that's comic sense. Because the thing is, this advice didn't help. It gave me jelly legs and made me more stressed. And I kept asking myself, why couldn't I make use of this advice? Why couldn't I just improvise my way through the challenge course and out of my burnout? What was missing? I've come to think that what was missing for me on that platform is also what our participants need when they, after a session, or an activity say, oh, that was fun, but I don't get it when they can't apply our improvisation wisdom. Why? What are they missing? So let's have a look at those three pieces of wisdom one by one and see how they relate to stress. Be present. Burnouts, as defined by the World Health Organization recently, is a combination of feelings of exhaustion, disengagement, and reduced productivity as a result of chronic workplace stress. According to a 2018 Gallup study, 67% of full-time employees questioned, reported feeling burned out at work sometimes or always. So be present sounds like promising advice. But the top five factors correlated with workplace stress are rooted in material and organizational shortcomings. Unfair treatment, work overload, role ambiguity, bad managers, and time pressure. So asking a stressed employee to be present with that is kind of like asking someone on Netflix's ultimate Beastmaster to keep breathing. It's one of the world's most challenging obstacle courses. Showing up and breathing doesn't solve the problem. Be present. What is missing? Recognition. Notice how all five factors leaning to burnout have logical antidotes. Fair treatment, less work, role clarity, better managers, and decidedly more time. But aside from management coaching, facilitators like us are often hired to treat the symptoms and not the causes of burnout. So when we ask our participants to be more present with energizers, engagement, and productivity hacks, I believe we need to recognize that the present workplace might be making it increasingly difficult for them to even be there. And simply saying be present turns external circumstances into employee mindset issues. And that runs the risk of deflecting responsibility away from the managers, corporations, and systems which are working us into collapse. And being present with that truth feels overwhelming and scary. So then we might say, feel those feelings.  Follow the fear. Because that's where the magic is supposed to happen. Look, sounds nice and simple. But life rarely looks that obscurely empty. And it is likely filled with fear factors. So the present workplace might not be a nice place to be. And many people find it challenging to feel safe around others, in their office, and in society at large. And then it's really tempting to say something like, oh, well, that's an anxiety. It's a phobia of heights.  But you can control how you react to this. Sorry. I'm burning out. But even if someone's physical safety in the room is assured, a person's sensation of that moment, like right now, can feel exhausting. Because stress is not just in our heads. It's, as you can see, physical. I am shaking. The earlier and more frequently we are exposed to pressures and threats. The more stress-related hormones are released in our bodies. And when overloaded with stress, feeling unsafe and alert can become the new baseline. And then leaning into fear can feel like walking a tightrope above the abyss of our own anxieties. Follow the fear, what is missing, experiences. In order to have a psychological shift, we need a physiological experience. And I believe there are two parts to this. And the first is recognition of discomfort. And the second, as often said, also here is being more comfortable with discomfort, being with it. But being with it is only possible if we know what feeling comfortable feels like in the first place. So if at work normal is stressful, then I believe that it is crucial that we create spaces where employees can reconnect to their inner feelings of calm and safety so that their bodies can relax. So rather than yanking them out of their comfort zones and pushing them off the ledge, I believe we can show them safety features and we can connect them to their inner and outer resources so that they feel safe to let go. Because we ask people to let go of their need for control and their egos and their perfectionism. We ask them to loosen their attachments and dismantle their walls. But let's for a moment consider what those walls are protecting them from. At work, most people don't have agency. They do not get fair recognition and they are at risk of losing their jobs if they do not get a five out of five star rating. And then we come in and ask them to let go of the coping mechanisms that have arisen from a societal structure of uncertainty and punishment. Like Total Wipeout. That's an assault course literally designed to punch you off track. Let go. What is missing? Support. We know from Charles Dwig that if we want to let go of one habit, we need to create another. We need to have something else that we can hold on to. On the challenge course, I was given a partner to hold my hand and guide me. Because let go is literally an invitation to release. It implies a shift from safety to uncertainty and it requires taking a risk and putting trust into the state of limbo and also trust into us as facilitators. And that is not something that is done casually, especially not when you're stressed. So if we want participants to make use of our tools to extend their comfort zones, I believe we need to be professionally trained in and beyond applied improvisation. We need to get trained to recognize and witness discomfort. We need to get trained to safely guide support and coach our participants through new behaviors without resorting to fridge magnet mantras. Recognition experiences support. The stories we tell ourselves about applied improvisation have a bias towards transformation and success. But not everyone experiences recognition and support in our sessions and when they return to their workplace. We do need elements of theory, but they need to be recognizably in line with reality grounded in visceral experiences and guided through skillful supported coaching. And I believe, I fully believe that applied improvisation offers all of those elements. And I also believe that we sell ourselves short if we reduce them to coffee mug wisdom. So for lunch, I invite you, I forgot a slide. There we go. Applied improvisation offers all of that. So for lunch, I'd like to invite you to continue the conversation as follows. How do I or we provide recognition, experiences and support in our work? And are there perhaps more useful things to say? Then be present, follow the fear and just let go. Thank you.


Army researchers met their new commanding general at a town hall meeting at Adelphi Laboratory Center in Adelphi, Maryland, December 13th. Major General John A. George, who took command of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command last month, is touring the organizations and meeting face-to-face with Army scientists and engineers. The general said building partnerships across the command is vital for the Army Futures Command. The Army Research Laboratory is the Army's sole fundamental research laboratory focused on cutting-edge science discovery, technological innovation, and transition of knowledge products. The general acknowledged this and discussed the importance of maintaining a workforce ready to build the Army of the Future. If people are generally interested in doing something that's challenging, puts them as a part of a team that gives them a sense of purpose that's larger than themselves, where they can come to work every day in an environment that is fun and that they work with colleagues, that they respect, they're treated with dignity and respect, that's the kind of environment that we want to create which draws the talent here and keeps the talent here. And so that's, in my mind, is another sort of observation that I have. George observed a robotics demonstration and learned how Army researchers are working on autonomy and teeny. From Adelphi Laboratory Center, I'm Dave McNally. This now becomes another location.


by Geico Aaron just two days but what have you thought of the immediate impact that Anthony Rizzo has made on this team. Yeah I mean what can you say he's been terrific obviously a couple home runs but really good at bats each and every time he on every time tonight I think and you know and they're really good over there at first base too so and he's come in here and I think you know the heat of the chase is definitely invigorated him and and he's come in if it isn't mostly in the room so it started. Did you think that that Stanton ball in the second was a home run at first? I did not I didn't know it was even that close I I didn't see it well at all I thought it hit like the middle of the wall and I didn't realize how close it was until obviously the replay my first at first I did not. Double there walk twice as well were you encouraged by what you saw from him tonight? Yeah I thought even last night he to me felt much more getting his swing off a little bit on you know didn't didn't get any results really but I felt like yesterday was a real step forward for him and then tonight yeah good at bats good swings was on a couple others I felt like so yeah hopefully he's we know what he is when he gets rolling. And just why is it right into some trouble there but obviously at the end was able to close it out what did you think of his performance overall there in that ninth inning? I thought he threw the ball great you know just a few ground balls put him on the ground couple wonky plays but I thought he threw the ball really well. If you could get another question for Aaron? Eric Bullen please unmute. Aaron just to be clear no Chapman tonight because the last two he pitched two in a row. He was a little sore today so we're kind of probably staying away from him and Britt today with and Britt's been four out of six so they were both sort of available but I just felt like you know Chapman being a little sore today we just decided we're going to go with low late in the game. Where was the soreness? Oh just I think just general yeah and then with the three out of four I kind of sealed it. And then with Loisica I think he's three for five it saves now what it is about him not all relievers can make that adjustment you've obviously seen it in your careers a manager as a player. What is it about him in the ninth inning that you think he's comfortable with? I mean he's turning into a really great pitcher so you know anytime he goes out there I have a ton of confidence you know he's a strike thrower obviously great stuff and you know I think he's we've seen him mature and into a guy that you know relishes those opportunities he's had some really tough saves where he's been in you know more than one inning in nip and tuck baseball and he's you know he's obviously become one of really good relievers in this league so on a given night where he's got to close I have no issue with with him closing it out.