Corporate Adversity: Productive Discomfort and How To Stay Uncomfortable
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
What is adversity in the workplace? It can stem from any difficulty or challenge that can negatively affect an employee, a team, or the entire organization. All things require maintenance and upkeep, and this is especially true for the corporate environment. Examples of corporate adversity include conflicts with your managers and/or coworkers, stress from financial struggles at work, job uncertainty, and more. All of these challenges, however unpleasant, serve a purpose and they drive us to change.
There is a leadership paradox where we are told that “you need psychological safety to grow” and at the same time, that “growth happens outside of your comfort zone.”
So...where do we draw the line between an unsafe situation and productive discomfort meant to help us grow and evolve?
Broadly, there are 4 kinds of workplace cultures ranging from safe to unsafe and comfortable to uncomfortable.
In this chart, we can see that the uncomfortable and unsafe organization creates a very toxic work environment in which no growth or long-term success can be achieved. On the other hand, companies that are too safe and too comfortable remain stagnant and although having a fun, laid-back environment can be good for employees, it can also hinder their ability to evolve. Such companies may end up missing out on some red flags. According to HBR, getting too comfortable can be detrimental for an organization and it can actually be bad for its future prospects. One example is Kodak who failed to pivot to digital photography and remained focused on what they were comfortable with, eventually leading to their decline.
Likewise, if you have not figured out yet how AI will impact your work, you may already be behind.
What we all want is to be able to work in a place that is safe for us to experiment and be uncomfortable as we face adversity, grapple with challenges, and learn more about ourselves. This is the key to productive discomfort. When we are given a difficult new project, we may feel overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed. But with the appropriate support, tools, and resources, we test our knowledge and abilities and learn new skills as we force ourselves to stretch and grow. We gain confidence, resilience, and a better understanding of ourselves.
This only strengthens us in the long run, which is why we need to embrace discomfort and learn how to stay uncomfortable.
How to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Get curious: This will fuel your desire for exploration and discovery
Embrace failure: Accept that failure is inevitable and a necessary part of growth. If we don’t fail, how can we learn what we need to do to succeed?
Cultivate a growth mindset: View challenges as opportunities for learning and development
Reframe discomfort: Focus on your potential and the positive experiences, rather than the fear of failure and discomfort
Start small and be consistent: Overcome initial resistance by taking that small first step and keep going little by little.
Learn to be flexible: This will allow you to be more resilient and help you bounce back from every setback.
Follow the 70-20-10 rule: This rule states that we learn and grow from 70% challenging experiences and assignments, 20% developmental relationships, and 10% coursework and training.
When we acknowledge the importance of productive discomfort and face adversity head-on, we become better equipped to handle challenges and expand our resiliency.
April Observances:
Celebrate Diversity Month: This is a time to recognize and understand our differences, be it gender, race, ethnicity, faith, sexual orientation, and other factors, while honoring the common essence of humanity. By appreciating our similarities and differences, the month aims to get people to foster a DEEPER understanding of others, regardless of WHO they are, WHAT they are, or HOW they live.
Autism Awareness Month: This months aims to raise awareness to promote autism acceptance, celebrate neurodiversity and individual differences, and continue to advance inclusivity and connectedness throughout the community.
Deaf History Month: Each year, this month aims to commemorate the achievements of people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It's a time to raise awareness about the deaf community and their struggles in our society.
Arab-American Heritage Month: This month celebrates the Arab-American heritage and culture and pays tribute to the contributions of Arab-Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans.
Stress Awareness Month: This is the time to raise awareness on the prevalence of stress and for us to have an open conversation on the impact of stress.
Volunteer Month: This is an opportunity to join the impact of volunteerism and encourage more people to get involved in their communities.
April 2 - World Autism Awareness Day: This day aims to highlight the need to improve the quality of life for people with autism, enabling them to lead full and meaningful lives.
April 7 - World Health Day: This day will kick off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health. The campaign, "Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures" will urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritize women’s longer-term health and well-being.
April 11 - National Day of Silence: This is a student-led movement to protest bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and those who support them.
April 15 - National American Sign Language Day: This day celebrates American Sign Language, often used by those who cannot hear or speak, many of whom are part of the Deaf community.
April 20 - Volunteer Recognition Day: This day honors, recognizes, and celebrates the selfless individuals who volunteer their time and energy to help others and promote good causes.
April 22 - Earth Day: The theme for Earth Day 2025 is "OUR POWER, OUR PLANET" inviting everyone around the globe to unite behind renewable energy, and to triple the global generation of clean electricity by 2030.
April 28 - World Day for Safety & Health at Work: This observation promotes and discusses the importance of having a safe and healthy work environment. The need for change and a thorough plan of action for the well-being of every worker across the globe is vital.
Until next month... Be well and protect your peace!
First published on LinkedIn.
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