example. This retired military man—now in his second career—became a project manager at a prominent software design company. His job was to oversee the development of a new program that would help streamline accounting tasks for small businesses. He had a staff of 20 programmers working around the clock, but as the project deadline approached, it became increasingly clear something was wrong. The software failed every important test run, and each attempted correction only made things worse.
When senior managers decided it was time to take a closer look, it didn’t take long to identify the trouble: Staff communication and trust had been completely broken. The troubleshooting process of pinpointing problems and solving them as a team had ceased to function. The programmers were afraid to report glitches and failures—a necessary part of testing and improving the product.
It turned out that when they did speak up, Dave often exploded in a terrible rage. By shouting put-downs and slamming doors, he made it clear he would not tolerate bad news. So his employees stopped giving it to him…with disastrous results.
Dave was a smart, competent man. But he was used to giving orders to soldiers and pushing for the results he wanted, no matter what. The corporate model of consensus and team-building didn’t make sense to him. As a result, he mistakenly saw every problem as a breakdown of “discipline” that needed to be quashed.
The more Dave’s management style failed, the more angry he became. The angrier he became, the more his management style failed. It was a downward spiral that repeated itself again and again when anger gained the upper hand. Eventually, the company had no choice but to replace Dave with someone more skilled in communication and problem-solving…and less likely to erupt in anger.
Dave’s story brings to mind a therapeutic camping program for troubled youth, where a close friend of mine worked. Three counselors would take ten teens camping in the wilderness for twenty-six days at a stretch. The goal: to teach them how to talk their problems out rather than fight them out or run away from them.
Needless to say, problems were easy to come by in the hot, dry Chihuahuan Desert of southwest Texas. And there was definitely no place to run away to. Before leaving Dallas, by prior agreement with all ten teens, when tempers flared, everything came to a screeching halt. No one could fix a meal, hike to water, go to sleep—not until the problem was resolved.
Immediately the group would circle together (called a “huddle up”) to clarify the problem and come up with a workable solution—agreeable not only to the parties involved, but to the entire group . Then it was back to the challenge of climbing mountains and surviving in the desert. It’s amazing how quickly hot tempers cool down when the stakes are high enough—such as eating!
Your health is powerfully affected by what you think and feel.
Dave’s story might have had a different ending if his team had chosen to come around him, identify the problem caused by his management style, and then talk it through with him to an agreeable end. Instead, he chose to keep silent and to sabotage an important company project.
Let’s face it: Work can be very stressful. Many people feel pressured by deadlines, bullied by bosses, frustrated by missed promotions, and impatient with underachieving co-workers or demanding clients. But allowing anger to boil over into intimidating outbursts not only makes things worse, but offers no help to everyone involved.
As in Dave’s case, excessive anger can result in unemployment—then you can add unemployment to the list of reasons to be angry. Who can afford that kind of costly anger?
And what society can long survive such self-destructive behavior? That’s why God’s Word says, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off.” 5
4. Anger Causes
When senior managers decided it was time to take a closer look, it didn’t take long to identify the trouble: Staff communication and trust had been completely broken. The troubleshooting process of pinpointing problems and solving them as a team had ceased to function. The programmers were afraid to report glitches and failures—a necessary part of testing and improving the product.
It turned out that when they did speak up, Dave often exploded in a terrible rage. By shouting put-downs and slamming doors, he made it clear he would not tolerate bad news. So his employees stopped giving it to him…with disastrous results.
Dave was a smart, competent man. But he was used to giving orders to soldiers and pushing for the results he wanted, no matter what. The corporate model of consensus and team-building didn’t make sense to him. As a result, he mistakenly saw every problem as a breakdown of “discipline” that needed to be quashed.
The more Dave’s management style failed, the more angry he became. The angrier he became, the more his management style failed. It was a downward spiral that repeated itself again and again when anger gained the upper hand. Eventually, the company had no choice but to replace Dave with someone more skilled in communication and problem-solving…and less likely to erupt in anger.
Dave’s story brings to mind a therapeutic camping program for troubled youth, where a close friend of mine worked. Three counselors would take ten teens camping in the wilderness for twenty-six days at a stretch. The goal: to teach them how to talk their problems out rather than fight them out or run away from them.
Needless to say, problems were easy to come by in the hot, dry Chihuahuan Desert of southwest Texas. And there was definitely no place to run away to. Before leaving Dallas, by prior agreement with all ten teens, when tempers flared, everything came to a screeching halt. No one could fix a meal, hike to water, go to sleep—not until the problem was resolved.
Immediately the group would circle together (called a “huddle up”) to clarify the problem and come up with a workable solution—agreeable not only to the parties involved, but to the entire group . Then it was back to the challenge of climbing mountains and surviving in the desert. It’s amazing how quickly hot tempers cool down when the stakes are high enough—such as eating!
Your health is powerfully affected by what you think and feel.
Dave’s story might have had a different ending if his team had chosen to come around him, identify the problem caused by his management style, and then talk it through with him to an agreeable end. Instead, he chose to keep silent and to sabotage an important company project.
Let’s face it: Work can be very stressful. Many people feel pressured by deadlines, bullied by bosses, frustrated by missed promotions, and impatient with underachieving co-workers or demanding clients. But allowing anger to boil over into intimidating outbursts not only makes things worse, but offers no help to everyone involved.
As in Dave’s case, excessive anger can result in unemployment—then you can add unemployment to the list of reasons to be angry. Who can afford that kind of costly anger?
And what society can long survive such self-destructive behavior? That’s why God’s Word says, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off.” 5
4. Anger Causes
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