ORGANIZATIONAL COMPASSION: BUILDING HEALTHY CAMPUS COMMUNITIES

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPASSION: BUILDING HEALTHY CAMPUS COMMUNITIES Anne H. Simmonds, RN, PhD University of Toronto International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges June, 2015

OVERVIEW Background why organizational compassion? The question: Can academic institutions be compassionate organizations? Topics for consideration: Organizational compassion and HPU Organizational pain Compassion paradox Building compassion capability your stories Application: Individual and collective strategies Lingering Questions.

Forum for question, debate, challenge, extend, share

BACKGROUND WHY ORGANIZATIONAL COMPASSION? Nursing Education and Practice: Compassion - a taken-for-granted moral imperative Links to well-being and recovery from illness The reality gap Compassion fatigue and burn out: are there limits to compassion? Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL): student stress, healthy campuses and healthy learning environments Where does compassion fit?

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO: HOW WE RANK 1 st in Canada and 14 th in the world for research productivity, impact & excellence

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO: HOW WE RANK Student self-reported factors that affected academic performance (ACHA-NCHA II, SPRING 2013) Canadian Reference Group Stress: 38.6% Sleep difficulties: 27.1% Anxiety: 28.4 Cold/Flu: 21.6% Work: 17.0% Depression: 17.3% University of Toronto Stress 45.1% Sleep difficulties: 29.9% Anxiety: 31.9% Cold/Flu: 22.1% Work: 19.6% Depression: 20.7%

WHAT IS A HEALTHY LEARNING ENVIRONMENT (HLE)? (HTTP://WWW.SFU.CA/HEALTHYCAMPUSCOMMUNITY/LEARNINGENVIRONMENTS/RATIONALE.HTML People, processes and spaces contribute to well-being and success for all. It is the words people speak; decisions that are made; actions that are taken, and the culture and systems that are created.

TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP AND HEALTH HTTP://WWW.ACHA.ORG/HEALTHYCAMPUS/ECOLOGICAL_MODEL.CFM Public Policy Community Institutional Factors McLeroy et al., 1988. The social ecology of health promotion interventions. Interpersonal Processes Intrapersonal

THE COMPASSIONATE EDUCATOR Am I a compassionate educator? Can I be compassionate and still foster academic achievement? Are there limits to compassion? How do I maintain boundaries within the teacher-student relationship? How will my compassionate stance impact student health and my own well-being?

BACKGROUND WHY ORGANIZATIONAL COMPASSION? Nursing Education and Practice: Compassion - a taken-for-granted moral imperative Are there limits to compassion? Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL): student stress, healthy campuses/healthy learning environments and compassion Mounting faculty stress my lived experience

MY EXPERIENCE OF WORKING IN ACADEMIA. Less enjoyment of work Declining physical and mental health I used to be such a good teacher (Ball, 2003 - Performativity and the teacher s soul) Fragile academic identity (Sutton, 2015 Fate, utopia and critical hope) Is this a healthy teaching and learning environment???

ARE WE EMBEDDED IN AN INSTITUTIONAL GARBAGE CAN? (COHEN & MARSH IN GALLOS, 2008) Organization (social systems) hardwired for collective angst Business as usual: appears functional to those involved But. Toxic dumping contaminates organizational processes and outcomes

Q. WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL COMPASSION AND WHAT IS THE CONNECTION TO HEALTH PROMOTING UNIVERSITIES? Consider: How would you define an organization? What is your understanding of the word compassion? Relationship to health promoting universities? Think. Pair. Share. (5 mins) http://www.online-stopwatch.com/

ORGANIZATIONS Living social systems in which individuals are continuously processing and responding to the range of emotions experienced as a result of everyday challenges, disruptions, and demands experienced at work (Gallos,2010). Suffering is an inevitable aspect of organizational life (Lilius et al., 2011).

DEFINING COMPASSION (NUSSBAUM) The Basic Social Emotion An emotion relied upon to hook our imaginations to the good of others and to make them the object of our intense care (2004, p. 13): Involves deliberation, moral judgments and action Requires recognition of vulnerability Criteria for compassion Harm suffered is serious Not the person s fault The object of compassion is worthy of concern

COMPASSION IN MANAGEMENT THEORY (ATKINS & PARKER, 2012) Initial conception: 1. Noticing (pain/suffering) 2. Feeling (empathetic response) 3. Action Revised to 1. Noticing 2. Appraising 3. Feeling 4. Action

APPRAISING, PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY AND FLOURISHING (ATKINS & PARKER, 2012) Cognitive appraisal theory: It is not the event that prompts the compassionate emotion and action, but the interpretation of the event Primary Appraisal: Does the sufferer have similar values, preferences, characteristics, or beliefs to me? Evolutionary (survival): is the other perceived to be more trustworthy, and cooperative or are they my competitors?

APPRAISING, PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY AND FLOURISHING Secondary appraisal: What are the chances of bringing about desired outcome or preventing undesired outcome (agency and effectiveness)? Do I have the resources to manage my own emotions in the face of the other's suffering? If no, proximity to the other's suffering is distressing and anxiety provoking, leading to defensiveness and distancing (moving away) rather than compassion

APPRAISING, PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY AND FLOURISHING Psychological flexibility: Being open and curious regarding the present moment, instead of defaulting to automatic response/way of relating Observing internal experiences as they arise in an open, non-elaborative, and nonjudgmental manner May not change the situation but may change your relationship to/interpretation of the situation or event Positive Impacts: Flourishing improved mental health, performance, well-being, innovation, capacity to thrive under conditions of greater autonomy

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPASSION (KANOV ET AL.) Helps people feel seen and known Acknowledges realities of pain, suffering and healing that are part of social systems and human experience Exists when members of a system collectively notice, feel and respond to pain experienced by members of that system In order to be collective, these processes must be legitimated, propagated and enabled through values, practices, policies and routines

ORGANIZATIONAL PAIN AND TOXIN HANDLERS Organizational Pain (Gallos, 2010) Triggered by everyday decisions, encounters, policies, and pressures experienced in organizational life. Ignoring the pain does not eliminate it Venting of frustration and shared powerlessness raises the emotional ante for all and weakens capacities for compassionate response Toxin handlers: Heroes or casualties? (Frost & Robinson, 1999) Repeated exposure to strong, negative emotions results in brain changes making individuals more vulnerable to emotional pain Quicker to trigger unhealthy responses with each repeated experience Depression, heart palpitations, ulcers, pneumonia, and heart disease, as well as other manifestations of stress and weakened immune systems.

THE COMPASSION PARADOX Requires simultaneous openness to and distance from Boundaries needed to a) sustain objectivity, b) protect oneself from stress associated with noticing, feeling and responding and c) to nurture and promote essential autonomy in others..but We have to know the other (their fears, capabilities, limitations, and needs) in order to respond effectively and appropriately Q: How can we feel and express empathy for others without absorbing their pain? How close is too close? Implications for leaders?

COMPASSION CAPABILITY CREATING A VIRTUOUS CYCLE (FROST, 1999; DUTTON ET AL., 2003) Compassion Capability: Organizational capacity for collectively noticing, feeling and responding to pain Experiencing and/or witnessing compassion can establish new norms within the organization and create a virtuous cycle (Positive deviance: Positive Organizational Scholarship) Organizationally, can replenish and strengthen individuals emotional resources Less energy trying to hide suffering; can attend more quickly and more effectively to their work during a time of trauma and stress (Lillius et al., 2011 ).

STORIES AND COMPASSION CAPABILITY The way we reflect on and talk about our experiences shapes the way we work, relate and live (Cherkowski, & Walker,2014). Narratives define existing norms and behaviours and determine future courses of action within organizations

STRATEGIES AND OPPORTUNITIES Awareness: noticing reactions and responses to suffering; accepting what is ; considering alternate responses (psychological flexibility). Self-compassion you re (only) human Consider organizational practices for legitimizing, addressing, and safely processing workplace emotions Bounded play. Venting and story telling at work: Consider positive deviance

LINGERING QUESTIONS??? Can academic institutions be compassionate organizations? anne.simmonds@utoronto.ca