A while back, I was watching Real Chance of Love 2: Back in the Saddle on VH1, which shouldn’t surprise you if you’ve read this post, and a contestant offered a surprising amount of insight with this line:
Is you a pipe or a diamond?…A pipe bursts under pressure, but diamonds is made. [sic]
Mauling of the English language aside, she makes a good point. Pressure and stress cause one of two reactions in people: crumbling under the strain or rising to the occasion. No one is immune to their effects; stress in and of itself cannot lead to indifference about said stressful situation.
The personal (and in some cases, corporate) responses that you will encounter when it comes to hard times, difficult decision-making, fixing problems and so on will lead to how your relationships are truly defined. And although you should all be diamonds because you read about stress management last week, that doesn’t mean that everyone else you meet will follow suit.
Since people respond to stress differently, they also respond to how others respond to stress differently. If you respond more positively, you might look down on or try to over-nurture those on a negative bent. And if you respond negatively, you defer your responsibilities all to positive responders which can lead to resentment from them, or hold resentment towards them yourself. So how do you all get on the same page to lead to harmony?
The easiest (and in some cases, “easy” may be inferred to be a term used loosely) way to achieve a more productive environment in the face of stress is to convert everyone to the same mindset when it comes up. Rather than having a bunch of people running around bemoaning the stressful situation, or having conflict among those who respond to stress differently, the team should work together to overcome the source of the stress. Even if it’s not a total change, getting some people to focus or just relax can lead to greater dividends than progressing forward with conflicts intact.
So the next time you’re faced with a daunting task with a new group (or even just yourself on a solo expedition), there’s one question that you should always ask:
Is you a pipe or a diamond?
