5. Anger

Anger is no stranger to management. As a matter of fact, the more I researched for this post, the clearer it became that anger in some way is almost a prerequisite for management. Not only do we ascribe higher status and power to people who display anger, it also contributes to better outcomes in negotiations. People who get angry get their way more often than people who don't... and we willingly allow them to do so. A well crafted and executed application of anger seems to be the golden ticket to the top. No wonder that studies have shown the C-suite to contain a disproportionate number of psychopaths. I don't think anyone has managed to escape a meeting with a manager who "flipped out," "freaked out" or simply used the stage of your attention for their unfettered blood rush of indignation. And since the publication of Steve Jobs' biography, just about every wannabe start-up CEO has no qualms about confusing passion with aggression. It looks like Steve's more lasting contribution to society will be a legacy of asshole CEO's. Should we simply accept that anger is part and parcel of the animal instinct or is there a more inclusive and useful outlet for this energy?

Anger's motivational capacity is an evolutionary necessity. Very few emotions can lead to such strong passion and action. It was anger that drove to the massive societal changes in the Arab spring. Episodic outburst of rage are great at mobilising the adrenaline and getting to action quickly. Whatever caused the rift between the brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler, the outcome was the birth of the modern sports marketing industry. The anger that triggered Rudi to storm out of the house and set up his rival Puma to Adi's adidas, fueled an intense battle for over 30 years. (Rumour has it that it might have had something to do with what happened between Rudi's wife and Adi while Rudi was at the war front).

In this story lies also a cautionary tale about the fundamental weakness to anger's motivation. Like a bull with a thorn in his side, we obsess about our perceived cause of anger. Neither Rudi nor Adi saw the tsunami of Nike coming.  The downside is that anger limits our capacity to take in and process new information that is not directly related to the target of our anger. We literally get tunnel vision. Anger also biases our perception of others, reducing our capacity to accept the help and support that may lead to a better outcome. The animosity between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates is another anger management story. In a battle to control the future of personal computing, both were blindsided by the collaborative power of the web (Steve Jobs perhaps less so). Like an athlete using anger in defeat to motivate greater commitment to training, we should channel our anger not to just beat the glaring target of our anger, but to improve the thing that led to our failure.

When anger is properly expressed and channelled into action it is very useful, almost essential in our work environment. If you care enough about something to get angry it means you have a desire to bring about change. The death and cancer of organisational culture however is unexpressed or passive aggressive behavior. Just look at the list of behaviors associated with passive anger: Dispassion (fake smiles from your Subway sandwich maker), Evasiveness, Obsessive behavior, Psychological manipulation and Defeatism. And why do employees feel this deep anger that leads them to adopt such negative behaviors? Lack of involvement? Not being listened to or supported? Unresolved issues being brushed under the carpet? The list goes on. Where do these life sapping issues find a forum and productive channel for expression? The fact is that if they are allowed to fester the outcome is a toxic work environment where more effort is put towards protecting egos than building value. If we use the Hindu perspective, that Anger is simply unrequited desire, we can start at the opposite end. What is the desire, what is the reality that people would rather experience, and let's work back from that actively.

What fascinates me about anger though is how easily it is manipulated and how incredibly sensitive it is to perceptions. Our sense of injustice, rage and anger is completely dependent on what we know. For example, you get back to your car in the parking lot and there is a long scratch on the passenger side. No note of apology, no sign of the person who should be apologising. Your anger shoots through the roof and you start thinking about all the way you'd like to get back at them! Damn assholes, how could they. You are fuming all the way home and slam the keys on the table. Getting angrier and angrier as your rage finds not outlet. When your partner walks in and says that they were really sorry but they haven't had time to tell you that they scratched the car last night on the way back from the office party. Aha, you have a new target and you can vent towards your partner for their consistent sloppiness and generally annoying disposition. However, the scratch came from avoiding a reckless truck driver trying to overtake another truck on a narrow stretch of road. If they hadn't swerved out, they would most likely been killed in the accident. In a few seconds your anger has gone from rage and visions of divorce to shock and sympathy. Flighty and fanciful this little daemon in our hearts. Framing and contextualising anger then becomes the first step towards channelling our emotions towards change.

Can we ensure that there is a constant and respected flow in the productive expression of anger as a desire to improve?  How do we broaden the framework of this dialogue to channel effort towards real transformation rather than an obsessive one-upmanship with our identified target of destruction? There is more to the management of anger than simple anger management.