THE PERFORMANCE

Keeping it together: emotions and processes

Nigel Smith, a results catalyst, aims to help people and businesses achieve goals by equipping them to innovate, relate, sell, coach and lead.

“HOUSTON, WE have a problem.” It’s a world-renowned quote, originating from Jack Swigert, one of the astronauts on Apollo 13. He informed the NASA Mission Control Centre that their spacecraft had been crippled by an explosion just three days into their mission to land on the moon. Those words (which were actually “OK, Houston, we’ve had a problem here”) were uttered 50 years ago – in April 1970 – but became a by-word after the movie of the ill-fated mission was released 21 years ago. Today it has come to mean any event which has gone catastrophically wrong, from personal mishaps to organisational blunders, scandals, massive business collapses,

disasters at sea, celebrity divorces, deadly pandemics like the current one and all the other shocks (natural or otherwise) that flesh is heir to.

I had a chat recently with a family member who observed that when people panic, they seem to completely abandon any regard for standard business processes. Have you noticed anything similar these recent months in your own business? I believe it is caused by the old truism: “Emotion hijacks logic.” Specifically, it is unexpected, unmanaged and unprocessed emotion which translates logic into panic, a state of incoherent fear which completely overrides rational thinking, appropriate behaviour and control.

According to cognitive neuroscientist Dr Caroline Leaf, there are about 1 400 neurophysiological responses which occur in the human body as a result of unexpected news. These responses are designed to help us, provided we manage and direct them. If the news is perceived negatively and we fail to manage our responses, they end up causing us to panic and significantly aggravate the situation. No doubt we have all experienced disruptors and “tippingpoint changes”, as author Malcolm Gladwell puts it, at one time or another in our lives. Yet it is crucial – especially now – to control our emotional responses and keep following the processes which enable business to continue.

Sounds good, but how do you manage 1 400 emotional responses so that they work for you?

When we are faced with danger, our managed response – according to Leaf – should be to embrace it (acknowledge it), articulate it and constructively process it by thinking through the options we have (and their consequences), choosing the best one and then moving forward. This way, we get our responses to help us. Even though we may still feel panicky, we begin to experience a growing sense of control and, with it, a return of order as our immune systems work for us. This was what played out during the Apollo 13 crisis. The astronauts (who, let us not forget, are always selected for missions not only because of their physical fit

ness, technical skills and scientific expertise, but also for their ability to stay calm in times of peril and focus purely on regaining control of the situation) had mounting odds against them with life-threatening consequences. They had to constantly manage their responses in order to shut off their emotions and make rational decisions to avert disaster. What got them safely back to Mother Earth was their ability to meticulously follow every process they were given by the flight centre in Houston. The movie is well worth watching!

Processes provide structure – and structure gives freedom. A simple coffee mug is structured to allow us to drink. Everything around us is a network of structured processes and sticking to these, especially in times of stress and panic, not only helps us work, but enables us to control and process our own internal responses.

The Apollo 13 astronauts had no other choice. It was hard and nailbiting, but it saved their lives. We can learn from them. Here’s to keeping it together and moving forward to a better future!

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