I found the contrasting perspectives between the CDC and HBR articles and the TE

I found the contrasting perspectives between the CDC and HBR articles and the TED talk by Kelly McGonigal very intriguing. On the one hand, I don’t think adopting a “stress is good” attitude for business management is an adequate solution to dealing with the mental health crisis in corporate America. Not every employee is equally capable, let alone willing, to adopt a courageous response to work stress instead of dealing with the underlying deficiencies in the current work model directly (McGonigal, 2013). Moreover, it would be a foolish move to use the findings of McGonigal in order to justify poor management style, task design, or environmental conditions, not to mention risking decreased employee productivity and increased chances of work related injuries, among other threats to business profitability (“Stress…at Work,” 2014).
On the other hand, having said all this, I do think that McGonigal’s finding regarding stress response and the HBR article’s suggestions to reduce unwanted “background” stress can be helpful for employees to confront situations of positive stress in a way that it beneficial both to their business performance as well as to their health. Specifically, understanding how recovery works in tandem with chronically stressful situations can lead employees to realize a courageous attitude towards stress without realizing it. For example, being able to counter a negative spiral of decreased productivity during an a busy season at work can give a worker the impetus needed to face the situation positively and confidently (Meister et al., 2022). I believe that an increased awareness of how both stress and recovery work in tandem can be an excellent means of employee engagement. However, when adopting such an approach, management needs to be abundantly clear in their communications that unwanted causes of stress such as those mentioned above are being dealt with in an satisfactory manner.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014, June 6). Stress…At Work (99-101). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/default.html
McGonigal, K. (2013, June). How to make stress your friend. Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend. https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?referrer=playlist-talks_to_help_you_manage_stres&autoplay=true
Meister, A., Cheng, B. H., Dael, N., & Krings, F. (2022, July 5). How to recover from work stress, according to science. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/07/how-to-recover-from-work-stress-according-to-science