The Ripple Effect of Microstress

One small, seemingly inconsequential moment can play out long beyond the original instant of microstress—sometimes even for days.

Microstress Rita receives a late-day email request from a new manager Immediate ripple Rita’s commute turns stressful because of the email Rita spends two hours of her early evening alerting her team and working on the request Secondary ripple Rita’s team must coordinate with one another to respond to the request Rita’s team logs 20 hours after work to have materials ready for the next morning Rita fields complaints from her team about the new boss Tertiary ripple Rita is short with her husband after her stressful commute To fulfill the request, Rita skips dinner with her son Worried about neglecting her family and pressuring her team, Rita doesn’t sleep well Other team members endure similar microstresses Source: Rob Cross and Karen Dillon…

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Harvard Business Review Special Issues (Digital) - 1 Issue, Spring 2024

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