Every decision you make as a leader begins long before you speak. It begins with how you think. The questions you ask. The assumptions you make. The stories you tell yourself. The possibilities you see … or don’t see.

I know “thinking about how you think” is very meta, but how you think affects how you lead. It shapes what you believe and the reality you create. It even impacts your capacity for resiliency!

I want to know how my clients think about solving a problem, building relationships, and becoming even better leaders. Their thinking process gives me insights into their belief systems, emotional states, and what they see as possible for themselves, their teams, and their organizations. How they think sets the tone.

According to the World Economic Forum, core skills that are on the rise moving toward 2030 include analytical thinking, AI and big data, creative thinking, resilience, technological literacy, and lifelong learning. These skills reflect the increasing requirement for people to lead, innovate, and pivot in a changing work environment. (Source: Future of Jobs Report 2025 on EconomicsInsider.com.)

I often get asked if the skills of creativity, curiosity, resiliency, and critical thinking can be learned – or if they are simply inherent in some people’s DNA. While it’s true that these vital skills may come more naturally to some than others, they absolutely can be developed with intentionality, feedback, and practice! I believe choosing to be diligent in how we think and how we show up is an act of commitment to lifelong learning.

Critical thinking is the ability to pause, evaluate the facts, challenge assumptions, and make thoughtful decisions rather than simply reacting.

In today’s workplace, it’s hard not to value speed over reflection. Pausing – even to think critically – can feel like a luxury. Yet, critical thinking helps leaders solve problems more effectively, navigate ambiguity with more confidence, reduce costly mistakes, and make decisions that align with organizational goals instead of short-term emotions or habits.

In the “Both/And” newsletter from Your Tech Ally, Sean Dagony-Clark asks his readers, “Are you letting AI think for you?” He invites us to use AI as an assistant, an editor, and a brainstorming partner but cautions us about abdicating our decision-making and critical thinking responsibilities. His mantra: “AI can generate, but a human should elevate.”

AI is a resource, not a replacement for the humanness of thinking, learning, or leading! AI can generate options. Leaders still need discernment and the ability to find and use their own true voice. That kind of authenticity is a trust builder!

At its heart, critical thinking is disciplined curiosity. It’s the practice of slowing down long enough to ask better questions, examining multiple perspectives, and understanding the root cause of a problem before acting. It also helps us become more aware of ourselves, others, and the broader system in which we are operating – and that awareness can put you in the driver’s seat!

Critical thinking transforms reactive workplaces into intentional ones by improving decision-making, strengthening collaboration, reducing risk, and helping teams adapt confidently to change. You can start by replacing assumptions with inquiry.

Consider these examples:

1. A department manager notices production delays. One leader concludes, “People just aren’t accountable.” Another asks, “What changed in the workflow? What are we assuming? What obstacles are people facing?”
   2. Someone sends an email that feels abrupt. A reactive thinker assumes disrespect. A critical thinker becomes curious and even empathetic (“I wonder what’s really going on here”) before becoming certain.

Critical thinking isn’t about being disagreeable or argumentative, or defending a position. It’s being willing to explore thinking patterns and rationales in a collaborative manner and in a way that best serves the organization.

You don’t have to have all the answers – but you do have to bring some courage and desire to explore the pitfalls and possibilities. Leaders navigate uncertainty and mitigate risk every single day. Bringing curiosity to your interactions will give you better data, while fostering respectful and trustworthy relationships.

I connect critical thinking to having agency – an essential ingredient of organizational resilience. A hallmark of someone who truly owns their role is that they don’t simply accept the status quo or wait for answers.

Before making your next important decision, ask:

• What assumptions am I making? What evidence do I have?
• What perspective am I missing?
• What’s really driving this issue?
• What blind spots and biases are clouding my vision?
• What might I be taking personally?
• What outcome are we trying to achieve? What problem are we aiming to solve?
• What part of this belongs to me?

Owning your role isn’t about being self-centered or being the hero. It’s about becoming the kind of person others can rely on because you consistently bring initiative, accountability and generosity, and you follow through.

Critical thinking isn’t just a cognitive skill. It’s a leadership habit that turns personal agency into wise action. When we own our roles, we don’t just own our tasks. We own the quality of our thinking, the impact of our decisions, and the experience we create for the people around us.

When you can hold your values firmly and your thinking freely, you become a powerful steward of your organization’s culture.

Drive the experience

For one week, replace one complaint every day with one contribution. Instead of saying “Someone should …,” ask “What can I do?” Instead of saying “They need to …,” ask “How can I help move this forward?” You’ll be surprised how quickly your influence grows.

Organizations become healthier when individuals become more intentional.

We don’t always control our circumstances, but we do have tremendous influence over the quality of our thinking. And the quality of our thinking ultimately shapes the quality of our leadership.

How you think matters!

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Become a critical thinker and transform a workplace | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

“Disorganization is a series of deferred decisions.” — Barbara Hemphill, novelist.

Those words are written on a Post-it note affixed to my monitor. I don’t remember when I first stumbled upon this tiny bit of wisdom, but I knew I needed to keep it in front and center.

When there is clutter in our environment — whether that’s in our physical space with a messy desk, or digitally with an overflowing inbox (guilty), or the mental clutter of incompletes, it can make it difficult to focus. Lack of focus can lead to inefficiencies, failure to execute, and the dreaded sense of overwhelm.

Even the most organized leaders must manage the chaos of being pulled in a myriad of directions to navigate the complexities and ever-changing priorities of their work.

What intrigues me is the connection of disorganization to decision-making.

Decision-making is ubiquitous. We make hundreds of decisions every day, often on autopilot. Sometimes we make the decision to not decide. We put off deciding what to do with that piece of paper, email, or task and it accumulates. We may even postpone making a decision without even realizing that’s what we have done.

Why do we defer decisions?

1. The desire to get it (or do it) right. The fear of making a mistake – the wrong decision – can lead to postponement of addressing the issue. In this space we also tend to make it harder than it needs to be!
2. Not knowing the next step. Lack of clarity is often a culprit for hesitation. It can be easier to defer than to linger in – or address – the unknown.
3. A full plate. When we have a lot of demands on our time, it is easy to relegate nagging issues to the back burner.
4. Lacking systems. When there isn’t a consistent way in which you process data or life’s demands, it can be messy. That can lead to both decision fatigue and anxiety that something is going to be dropped.

Ben Meer, “The Systems Guy,” and author of “How to Be Good at Life,” notes that most people don’t need more inspiration; rather, they need better life infrastructure. He leverages systems thinking to solve recurring problems or leverage recurring opportunities. It’s a way of anticipating future needs and setting yourself up for success. Systems can be as simple or as complicated as you make them, but having something that serves as your framework for making decisions and taking actions can bring relief.

5. The desire to maximize. “In an age of information and choice abundance, we assume we can find the best of everything if we look long and hard enough. Psychologists call that tendency maximizing.” — David Epstein, The New York Times.

In the 1950s, the American Nobel Prize laureate Herbert Simon introduced the distinction between maximizing and satisficing: maximizing represents the search for the very best solution, whereas satisficing is the search of a satisfactory solution. Simon coined the term “satisficing” — a hybrid of satisfy and suffice — to describe the condition of considering a limited set of options, then choosing one that is good enough, and then moving on to live our lives.

Maximizers, in their quest for the best possible outcomes, often report lower happiness levels compared to “satisficers,” who are content with choices that essentially hit the mark. Maximizers tend to be less satisfied with their decisions, more prone to regret, and more likely to compare themselves with others.

Satisficers don’t necessarily have low standards. They just have clarity about what is sufficient to meet their needs. This allows them to feel satisfied with their choices instead of being haunted by the ones they didn’t make.

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who first used the term “flow” to describe states of complete absorption in an activity, reinforces this idea. By making up one’s mind to invest in a choice, regardless of more attractive options that may come along later, “a great deal of energy gets freed up for living, instead of being spent on wondering about how to live.”

Deferred maintenance

When we postpone necessary repairs or upkeep of assets such as vehicles, buildings, or infrastructure due to limited resources or budgetary constraints, we know there will be a higher cost to incur down the road. When we choose not to make a decision, we may also pay a price for that inaction.

Defining the decision and knowing your style

I would suggest that we don’t always recognize a decision is what is needed. When we fail to define the decision in the moment, we may well miss an opportunity. Alternatively, when we name the decision that needs to be made, it brings focus to the problem to be solved. This helps clarify priorities and brings attention to addressing what is in front of you.

Your decision-making style impacts the culture of your organization. Deferred decisions such as slow responses to employee surveys, or decisions that get overturned higher up, can sow the seeds of frustration and weaken trust. Impulsive decisions, and decisions that lack insight from other voices, can create a chaotic environment with diminished buy-in.

Where are you deferring decisions and why? Some decisions need more time, data, and dialogue. But what about the decisions we are avoiding that don’t require “more?” Those are the places we can move from being a maximizer to a satisficer.

Strengthen your decision-making. Start by simply recognizing when you are deferring a decision. As you notice these moments, pay attention to their associated costs. Then, actively seek out decisions to make! Make these decisions through the lens of what matters most to you and from a place of empowerment. When we actively choose, we have more clarity and commitment.

Do the next thing. Even the smallest step can reduce the friction of overanalysis. Decisions that have clear framing and disciplined follow-through will build the kind of momentum that helps you move from feeling disorganized to being in the flow.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Ditch disorganization — the cost of deferred decisions | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

“You are so resilient!”

A client recently told me that she hears some version of that statement somewhat regularly. While she understands it comes from a place of good intentions, she has mixed emotions about it.

Often when someone acknowledges another’s resiliency it is in the context of their admiration of the person’s strength, endurance, or determination. It is meant as a compliment – recognition of the work being done. It can feel unintentionally heavy, as if resiliency is all about grit, toughness, or mental fortitude. People who feel they must be resilient in the face of their challenges can also feel exhausted by it.

I recently delivered my “Resiliency Reimagined” talk to a room full of senior HR leaders. At the event we were discussing what keeps them up at night – and acknowledging how our usual stress coping mechanisms of avoiding, suppressing, resisting, obsessing, or worrying are not effective strategies!

The invitation instead is to build sustainable resiliency – the kind that embodies mental, emotional, and social well-being.

That’s where an unexpected trait of resiliency comes in: social connections. Resilient people don’t go it alone. Meaningful relationships buffer our stress, provide mutual support, and give us a place to feel seen and heard during our peaks and our valleys. A resilient person’s energy is sourced in part from a feeling of belonging.

Genuine belonging allows us to show up authentically – with our hopes and fears, our strengths and weaknesses, our confidences and our vulnerabilities. When we feel like we truly belong there’s a sense of safety and security. It’s where we can flourish.

During my talk I asked participants, by a show of hands, “How many of you are good at asking for help?” Not a single hand went up. Then I asked, “How many of you are willing to help when asked?” A sea of hands raised. People in helping professions, and those who embody the spirit of servant leadership, tend to be willing to offer support, but don’t know how to ask for help for themselves.

Resilient relationships must be nurtured. They require mutual respect and trust. They call for reciprocity in shared effort, care, and support.

My learning journey of asking for help

I admit that for a long time I was not great at asking for help. Heck, it didn’t even occur to me that it was an option! My fierce independence can be a blessing (resourcefulness) and a curse (stubbornness).

One of my early opportunities to learn this lesson came when I was 35 years old. I joined some friends on the mountain for my first time snowboarding. I had heard it was a steep learning curve, so I elected to take an introductory class. The first run was full of catching edges. I was down more than I was up. After one fall I attempted to get up and discovered I couldn’t bear weight on my left wrist. When I switched to get up on the other side, I discovered I couldn’t bear weight on my right wrist. Yep, I broke them both! The several weeks that followed were a crash course in learning how to ask for and accept help!

Fast-forward, and I had a client challenge that I could not quite wrap my head around. I was at an impasse. That’s when I realized something. It’s in the struggle that we can seek support! I texted my mentor/coach Sally to ask for help. She eagerly replied, “would love to.” Within 15 minutes we had a breakthrough!

Today, I am a member of “The Upside” – a consortium of diverse consultants who show up for each other regularly. There isn’t a day that goes by without a shout-out of gratitude for what another member did to lend a hand. The generosity is abundant and contagious. And we are all better for it.

What’s your relationship to asking for help?

Asking for help does not display weakness; it builds strength. Seeking advice does not reveal incompetence; it reflects respect for another person’s insight.

Reflect on when and how you look to others in your orbit for support. If you want your team to come to you for help when they need it, you will want to model a healthy way to do so, which includes not having all the answers!

Done well, asking for help can set the stage for impactful collaboration and contribution. It is also a signal that you hold someone in high regard and trust them with your vulnerability. Vulnerability is a pathway to connection, and connection is a pathway to resiliency.

Where can you seek support?

Where do you feel overwhelmed, lost, or stuck? What are you resisting? What’s on your plate that you could delegate? Consider these areas to be prime support-seeking opportunities!

How can you start asking for help?

If, like me, asking for help feels awkward, here are some tips to get started:

• Ask for someone’s opinion, perspective, or advice: “What do you think about …”
• Ask for feedback on something you are tackling
• Share a goal and ask someone to be your accountability partner
• Try asking, “Hey do you have some time to brainstorm some ideas with me?”

Asking for help is a sign of a humble leader committed to growth. And you’ll find that giving and receiving help is an investment in your relationships and your resiliency!

P.S. Can’t I just ask AI? Sure you can, but remember that resiliency resides in cultivating the kind of relationships that bring us the kind of connection we will experience only through real conversations.

You likely already ask, “How can I help?” Consider adding, “Could you help me?”

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post How to welcome an unexpected trait of resiliency | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

As a culture cultivator, I am buoyed by leaders’ growing awareness of psychological safety’s role in fostering healthy team dynamics. In the same breath, I feel I need to offer a cautionary tale about how it gets nurtured in the workplace, lest it turn into an unintentional liability.

Let’s start with what it means to have a psychologically safe workplace. Dr. Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor and pioneer of the concept, defines it as “a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes, and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”

In Edmondson’s research, teams that had psychological safety as their backdrop were more likely to take initiative, be innovative, and bring out the best in each other. A psychologically safe workplace can help mitigate inherent power dynamics between leaders and their direct reports so that candid conversations can take place. A learning environment can be fostered with a mindset of continuous improvement — emphasizing lessons learned over mistakes made.

Social scientist Timothy Clark outlines the following stages in his book “The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety.”

Stage 1: Safety to connect — “Can I be myself?”

The journey starts with belonging. People need to know they are accepted and respected for who they are, regardless of background, role, or difference. Without it, people mask parts of themselves, and collaboration suffers.

Stage 2: Safety to learn — “Can I grow?”

Once people feel included, they want to develop. Learner safety is about giving permission to ask questions, experiment, and make mistakes without fear. Errors are reframed as opportunities to learn. Curiosity is encouraged, not criticized.

Stage 3: Safety to be — “Can I make a difference?”

Inclusion and learning pave the way for contribution. Here, individuals feel safe to use their skills, ideas, and strengths to make a tangible impact. Contributions are welcomed and recognized. Everyone’s perspective is seen as valuable. Leaders create space for people to step forward and add their voice.

Stage 4: Safety to challenge — “Can I challenge the status quo?”

The final stage is about courage. Challenger safety allows individuals to question assumptions and spark debate. Dissent is seen as healthy, not disruptive. Leaders invite contrarian voices, even when it’s uncomfortable. Teams become adaptable, resilient, and forward-thinking.

This is where true transformation happens — people feel safe to question the way things are and imagine how they could be better.

Red flags to heed

Where it gets messy is when psychological safety is misconstrued, deployed purely rhetorically, or even weaponized, thereby eroding the very trust it is meant to establish.

What psychological safety is NOT:

• A shield for accountability. “While people should always be inherently valued,” Clark writes, “there’s no diplomatic immunity from delivering results in the workplace.”
• A justification for the avoidance of hard conversations.
• Coddling. “Psychological safety means respecting your humanity, not increasing your fragility,” Clark writes.
• Consensus decision-making. Psychological safety gives people a voice, but it does not change decision-making authority.
• Unearned autonomy. Psychological safety can increase influence and contribution, but there is still oversight and approval in the mix.
• Placating. If you merely say the words but fail to live it in spirit, your culture will grow more toxic, not less.

Confusing safety with comfort

Psychological safety is not about making work comfortable. It’s about making honesty possible. When honesty is possible, teams learn faster, solve problems earlier, and hold each other accountable with far less drama and communication breakdowns.

Hard conversations, tough feedback, and mistakes will naturally bring up challenging emotions that create discomfort. Growth comes from leaning into discomfort with a desire to improve and a curiosity to understand what happened so those mistakes are not made again.

Disagreements can be a sign of healthy, robust problem-solving. A disagreement doesn’t have to equate to defensiveness — it may simply be a difference of perspective or opinion.

Consider these four zones where psychological safety and accountability intersect:

1. Apathy zone (low psychological safety and low accountability): disengagement, minimal effort, low initiative, check the box. There is a lack of direction, avoidance of difficult conversations, and little recognition or feedback. Energy here feels flat. Innovation and ownership rarely appear.
2. Anxiety zone (low psychological safety and high accountability): a push for results but with punishment of mistakes. There is a fear of speaking up, risk avoidance, blame when things go wrong, defensive communication. People may work hard, but creativity and honesty shrink. Teams in this zone often hide problems until they become large.
3. Comfort zone (high psychological safety and low accountability): where the misinterpretation of psychological safety often lands. You’ll find friendly relationships, avoidance of tough feedback, low performance pressure, lots of support but little stretch. The culture is pleasant but not very productive. Teams may protect harmony rather than challenge each other.
4. Learning zone (high psychological safety and high accountability): where strong teams live. You’ll find open dialogue, constructive challenges, clear expectations, rapid learning from mistakes, and ownership for results.

Behaviors that foster learning

Leaders can create a sense of safety by admitting their own mistakes. When leaders model vulnerability and authenticity, they set the tone for learning.

They can also cultivate the learning zone by asking for people’s perspective and advice and thanking them when they raise concerns. When leaders are confident enough to solicit and reward feedback, this encourages employees to say what they really think and be willing to hear the opinions of others in return. Wouldn’t you want people to feel safe enough to tell you what they really think, rather than what they think you want to hear? There is nothing safe about wondering what other people really think or where you stand!

Additionally, leaders can increase their team’s capacity to embrace accountability by setting clear expectations, clarifying roles and ownership, following through on commitments, and addressing performance gaps directly and promptly.

When people feel safe, and when there is clear and healthy accountability, people don’t just show up — they raise their game.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Beyond comfort: psychological safety is insufficient | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

I see organizations as living systems, shaped by both structures and the humans who animate them. Organizations have personalities, patterns, characteristics, reputations, and fluctuating levels of health.

Organizational stress often stems from heightened demand: rapid growth, constant change, competing initiatives, market or political pressures, leadership transitions, or any factors that increase the experience of instability.

Given the uncertainty, speed and bombardment of noise in our world, it is no surprise that organizations feel like they are running on reserves.

Recognizing the signs

Organizations under prolonged stress tend to exhibit recognizable patterns, including:

• communication breakdowns
• role confusion and unclear ownership and authority
• reduced accountability and increased finger-pointing
• passive-aggressive behaviors
• task-focused “check the box” execution with limited big-picture awareness
• decreased collaboration and increased “us vs. them” dynamics
• a nearly constant state of urgency and reactivity

Among these, one of the clearest signals of a stressed culture is the normalization of chronic firefighting.

Firefighting: heroic lift or monkey wrenches in the system?

In stressed ecosystems, everything begins to feel urgent. Leaders become first responders to a continuous stream of issues, operating at high speed.

Human nervous systems are not designed for sustained high alert. When leaders and teams operate in constant urgency, they risk:

• reactive thinking overriding reflection
• diminished creativity, strategic insight, and empathy
• short-term, fragmented decision-making
• stress responses becoming the baseline

Leaders act as signal amplifiers. Their urgency spreads through meetings, teams and workflows, reinforcing a system-wide sense of pressure and relentless optimization. The result: organizations reduce their ability to navigate complexity and spark innovation.

Why leaders slip into firefighting mode

This pattern rarely begins as dysfunction. It often starts with care and a desire to help.

Leaders step in because they want to protect their teams, meet expectations, and solve problems quickly. Many are rewarded for decisiveness and responsiveness. For natural problem-solvers, there is also a sense of satisfaction in resolving immediate issues.

Over time, urgency becomes a habit loop. Firefighting feels productive because it is visible and immediate. Strategic work, by contrast, is quieter. It requires consistency, discipline, patience, and long-term focus, often without immediate recognition.

The cultural ripple effect

Culture takes its cues from leadership behavior. When urgency becomes the norm:

• everything feels like a priority, which ultimately means nothing is
• initiative declines as people wait for direction
• planning loses traction because priorities frequently shift
• speaking up feels less useful or worthwhile

The result is a culture that emphasizes motion over meaning and busyness over effectiveness.

The illusion of productivity

Firefighting can create the appearance of productivity. Problems are addressed, and work keeps moving.

Beneath the surface, however, work is frequently interrupted, fragmenting focus. Shifting priorities lead to wasted effort and rework. Decisions are made on the fly, often without sufficient context or coordination. Meanwhile, underlying systems receive only patchwork attention.

The hidden cost

Operating in a constant state of urgency carries costs that are not always visible:

• talent is underutilized when leaders step in rather than build capability
• time is spent reacting rather than preventing issues
• burnout increases, often leading to turnover and loss of institutional knowledge
• systems and tools are layered on reactively, increasing complexity

This mode of operation becomes both inefficient and unsustainable.

Morale: from engagement to exhaustion

Initially, high-intensity environments can feel energizing. There’s a sense of camaraderie in “getting through it together.” Eventually, it can have a negative impact. People feel like they can never catch up, success is fleeting, all effort and no rest reduce long-term capacity, and trust erodes. What begins as intensity often ends in fatigue, disengagement, and eventual withdrawal.

The underlying paradox

Firefighting often feels like effective leadership. It signals commitment, competence and control.

Yet when sustained, it is frequently a symptom of deeper misalignment, including:

• unclear priorities
• ineffective systems
• avoidance of difficult strategic decisions
• lack of boundaries

In this way, the very behavior that appears to stabilize the organization may, over time, contribute to its strain.

Moving toward health and resilience

Shifting out of firefighting mode is not easy. But awareness creates choice. As leaders recognize their patterns and triggers, they can respond more intentionally and strategically.

If stress fractures are forming, the solution is not to move faster. It is to reduce strain, strengthen systems, and create conditions for sustainable performance.

Practical shifts include:

• Pause before acting. Create space for reflection and thoughtful triage. Guide rather than do.
• Clarify priorities. Limit active initiatives and align resources accordingly.
• Strengthen execution. Treat internal work with the same rigor as external commitments, with clear ownership and accountability.
• Finish what you start. Incomplete efforts create drag and erode trust.
• Define success clearly. Align on outcomes and focus on what matters most.
• Communicate context. When priorities shift, explain why and connect decisions to strategy.
• Assess organizational health. Address root causes, not just symptoms.

Firefighting may never disappear entirely, but it no longer must define how the system operates.

Leaders can turn down the heat, creating an environment where clarity, steadiness and calmness set the stage for smart, long-term and robust organizational health.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Telltale signs of stress fractures in organizations | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Have you ever noticed how your brain relates to unfinished business? To-do lists. Unanswered emails. Deferred decisions. Projects you intend to “get around to.”

Some people thrive while juggling varied demands. The urgency fuels them, generating productive, dopamine-charged energy. Others prefer a tightly organized, sequential approach. And for many people, unfinished business hovers like a low-grade hum of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.

Whatever your style, you may have noticed this: something unfinished tends to dominate your mental real estate.

The Zeigarnik Effect

Enter the Zeigarnik Effect, named after Lithuanian-Soviet psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik. The Zeigarnik Effect describes our tendency to remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. Your brain knows that something still needs your attention. It’s an active file — an open loop.

Incomplete tasks create mental tension that keeps them accessible in memory. Think of cliffhangers in stories. The unresolved plot lingers. That is the upside.

The downside is that open loops can be exhausting. When too many remain unresolved, the brain feels pulled in a dozen different directions. Attention gravitates toward what is not done, often at the expense of acknowledging what is complete.

Over time, this cognitive bias can distort our sense of progress. At the end of the day, if your mind rehearses only what remains unfinished, you lose access to the satisfaction of what you accomplished. Chronic exposure to that mental narrative can erode confidence, foster burnout, and lower self-efficacy. For some, the imposter phenomenon quietly takes up full-time residence.

Retrain the brain

There is another way to think about this.

In “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals,” Oliver Burkeman challenges the traditional promise of time management: that we can eventually “get on top of everything.”

His argument is bracing and liberating. Because life is finite, the goal of doing it all is an illusion. The pursuit of total productivity creates a perpetual sense of falling behind. It also ignores something essential: rest, reflection, and restoration are not indulgences. They are part of a sustainable cadence and quality of life.

Burkeman suggests that our culture treats time as a resource to maximize rather than a reality we inhabit. We attempt to extract more output from each hour instead of asking what deserves our attention. The result is busyness without meaning.

Even worse, the more efficiently we work, the more tasks we invite in to fill the space. Productivity consumes our capacity while simultaneously robbing us of our joy. The finish line moves and the treadmill never ceases.

Embrace constraints

Rather than trying to conquer time, Burkeman invites us to accept the humanity of limitation, with these reminders:

• You cannot do everything. Trying to do so pushes what matters most further away.
• Every choice excludes other possibilities. When you invest time in one priority, you are letting go of others. That is not failure. It is clarity and focus. That is not only OK but also necessary.
• Total control over your schedule is unattainable. Attempting to achieve it often makes time feel like the thing controlling you.

This is not defeatism. It is realistic prioritization.

The K Challenge

Here is the invitation. Accept that work is an ongoing flow. There will always be more to do. Instead of aiming for the fantasy of “nothing left,” aim for intentional progress.

Know what defines a good meeting. An engaged employee. A successful outcome. Meaningful project movement. Pause to acknowledge work that matters. Celebrate small completions. Not only for morale, but to rebalance your memory bank. Your brain naturally fixates on open loops. You must deliberately encode closure.

You can begin transforming your relationship to time and productivity with a few guiding principles:

• Stop treating time as an adversary or a resource to be fully exploited. Time is not a puzzle to solve. It is the medium of your life.
• Accept limitations as a starting point, not a shortcoming. Satisfaction grows from intentional choices, not from attempting mastery over every demand.
• Choose fewer priorities and give them depth. True productivity is focused engagement, not task accumulation.
• Redefine productivity as meaningful contribution rather than efficiency for its own sake.
• Pace yourself. Pause and consider how much and what kind of attention something needs. Don’t add to the frenzy by fabricating unnecessary stress.
• Close loops deliberately. Complete something. Acknowledge it. Then choose what comes next with intention.

Strike a balance. The to-do lists will not disappear. They will evolve, reorganize, shrink, grow, nag, and occasionally inspire. There is no future moment of pristine calm where everything is handled, and nothing remains.

Instead, focus on what needs attention now and what is within your control. Practice presence. Protect your equilibrium.

Unfinished business is not a sign that you are behind. It is evidence that you are engaged in a living, moving world. And that, perhaps, is enough.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post How to effectively address tasks left unfinished | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Editor. Judge. Critic.

These are not professions. They are habits of mind. And before every improv class, our instructor names them plainly and asks us to leave them outside the room. Not because standards do not matter, but because those inner roles, left unchecked, suffocate creativity, authenticity, growth, connection and engagement.

The lesson travels easily from the improv studio to the workplace.

If you want to build a culture that feels resilient, human and engaged, one where people belong and contribute meaningfully, consider replacing the editor, the judge and the critic with something far more useful: discernment.

The editor: voice held hostage

Have you ever been in a meeting where you experienced a thought rise, saw a pause you could step into, and then talked yourself out of speaking? By the time you decided it was “ready,” the moment had passed.

That is the editor at work.

Sometimes self-editing is wise. Timing matters. Context matters. A good editor sharpens ideas for clarity and impact. But a protective editor, driven by fear, politics or self-doubt, can become a jailer. Ideas are edited not for quality, but for perceived safety. One’s voice is held hostage to the fear of being wrong, disliked or exposed.

In resilient workplaces, leaders help people distinguish between discernment and self-silence. Discernment asks, “Is this the right time and frame to offer this?” Fear asks, “What will happen to me if I do?”

Resilient leadership does not require unfiltered expression. It requires enough psychological safety so that people can speak while ideas are still forming. Often, the less polished an idea is, the less attached we are to it. And that makes real dialogue possible.

The judge: death by a thousand paper cuts

If the editor mutes us publicly, the judge works privately.

We are often far harsher judges of ourselves than anyone else could ever be. Daily, sometimes hourly, small judgments accumulate: not good enough, not smart enough, impostor, who do you think you are?

Each one feels minor. Together, they erode confidence by a thousand paper cuts.

These judgments masquerade as protection. They tell us they are keeping us safe, out of danger. In reality, they keep us small and stagnant. They narrow our willingness to contribute, collaborate, and stretch. They pull us into leadership that is fear-based rather than strength-based.

Workplace resilience depends on replacing self-judgment with self-compassion. This is not about lowering standards. It is about refusing to let shame drive performance.

A leader who models self-compassion gives others permission to learn out loud, recover quickly, and stay engaged even when things are imperfect. That is how teams stay standing when pressure hits.

The critic: certainty as armor

The critic looks outward. It scans for what is wrong in others. It builds a quiet list of deficiencies, mistakes, and character flaws. Sometimes it does this loudly. Sometimes silently.

The critic is fueled by comparison and certainty. If I can name what is wrong with someone, I can feel temporarily better than that person. But that sense of superiority is brittle. It costs curiosity, trust, and collaboration.

Notice when critical thoughts arise. What is fueling them? What do you gain from them? And just as importantly, what do they cost you?

Being discerning is not the same as being critical. Organizations need critical thinkers. We need people who can assess risk, challenge assumptions, separate facts from fiction, and pressure-test ideas.

The difference is posture.

The critic seeks to diminish. Discernment seeks to understand.

Discernment: the resilient alternative

Discernment is the ability to judge well and objectively. It is a learned form of emotional intelligence. Discernment separates what is important from what is noisy, what is true from what is distorted, what is good from what is merely familiar.

It requires slowing down. Reflecting. Considering multiple perspectives before reacting.

A discerning leader knows when to speak and when to listen. When to push and when to pause. When to challenge and when to invite. Discernment brings calm and clarity whereas fear creates reactivity, drama, and conflict.

In practical terms, discernment builds:

• stronger self-trust,
• more trusted decision-making,
• awareness of the nuances,
• fewer assumptions,
• more honest and disciplined dialogue, and
• leadership objectivity and credibility.

In an era of information overload, polarized opinions, and constant urgency, discernment is not a soft skill. It is a resilience skill.

The K Challenge

If you want to practice this shift, start here:

Show up and speak up. Bring your ideas, questions, concerns, and observations to the table. Silence is often interpreted as support. Do not hold your ideas prisoner.

Replace self-judgment with self-compassion. Talk to yourself like a leader worth following.

Replace criticism with curiosity. Ask before you assess. Seek to understand before you decide.

Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. Elevate quality ideas. Filter out what is false. Tune out noise without tuning out people. Stay grounded in disciplined, truth-based conversation.

A leader’s emotional filter matters. Team members will mirror how their leader edits, judges, critiques or discerns.

Leave the editor, the judge, and the critic outside the room.

Bring discernment instead.

It is how resilient cultures are built.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant, and high-performing organizations. To share ideas about topics you’d like to see explored in future columns, contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Is discernment the quiet edge of resilient leadership? | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

I recently returned from my annual, self-facilitated business retreat. This year’s venue was the Oregon coast – and it delivered unexpectedly in sunshine, new connections, and breakthroughs in thinking.

I found myself obsessed with the concept of time – how I had spent it, how I want to spend it, how much of it I have left, and how I even perceive it. (I can wax philosophically when I’m at the beach with a bottle of wine!) I know I am not alone in this quest for optimizing time – it’s a frequently named objective in my client coaching work.

I was drawn to the beach several times a day for dog walking breaks. At first, I worried that it didn’t afford me the time and focus to do the strategic work for which I came to do. Later, I realized it gave me just what I needed, once I got out of my own way!

At the close of every year, I conduct an audit to reflect on the client programs delivered, the relationships built, the marketing and business development efforts put forth and their financial impacts, the operational effectiveness of my systems, and the professional growth experienced – all in the backdrop of the current social, political, and business climate.

I ask myself questions such as: “What went well?” “What was hard?” “Where did I struggle?” “What did I discover and learn?” “What brought me pride, joy and satisfaction?” I saw themes emerge.

Programs that went well were accompanied by clients who were all-in and ready to co-create the results. I was most inspired, and in the flow, when I got to help clients solve messy people situations, especially when it involved empowering leaders with the confidence and renewed energy to lead. The most cherished relationship moments were with people with whom I could be honest and vulnerable. My most fruitful marketing efforts were the most authentic ones where I stayed true to my brand. (I found that people resonate with having real conversations and thrive in a space of being heard and seen.)

Lessons learned were loudest from mistakes made. (I’m still learning that sometimes, less is more in the context of workshops!)

I saw how my word of the year, “agency,” helped me move from areas of resistance to moments of clarity and breakthroughs – and action.

And then I got stuck. All the strategy tools, templates, and methodologies I had at my fingertips were not bringing me any clarity to what was needed next. So, I took the dogs to the beach – again.

I found a magical mossy forest that landed onto miles of sunny, sandy, surf-pounded beach. This is exactly how I wanted to spend my time! This moment was what I needed to nurture my soul.

The Italians have a name for this relaxed state: “Dolce far niente,” meaning “the sweetness of doing nothing.” There’s a renewal in such idleness, if we allow ourselves to relax into that space. (It also helped that I spoke to my good friend Victor and he aided me in seeing that perhaps I didn’t need to get it ALL done on this retreat, that I could allow myself to create a strategic framework, one that I could continue to move forward post-retreat).

It can be so easy to get sucked into the machine of work – tackling to-do lists, meeting deadlines, attending meetings, coordinating tasks, managing priorities and performance. Going full throttle for an extended duration doesn’t necessarily produce the best outcomes, but it can produce people who are frazzled, distracted, and overwhelmed. We get caught in the mental trappings of “I just need to get ‘X’ done and then I can have more capacity” or “When I get life in order, then I can start enjoying it.” This kind of pursuit of efficiency and perfectionism becomes a postponement of living.

Oliver Burkeman, in his book “Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals,” captures a philosophical and counterintuitive take on time, productivity, and living well. He notes that “our troubled relationship with time arises largely from the same effort to avoid the painful constraints of reality.” He also writes, “What you pay attention to will define, for you, what reality is.”

Revisit your relationship to time

What if we gave ourselves permission to relax? Slow down. Take a beat. Step off the hamster wheel. When we bring mindfulness to what we do, our sense of time expands. We can connect to more presence by tapping into our senses (like pausing to listen to my dog Bebo blissfully snoring on the couch as I write this, or feeling the wind on your face, smelling the aroma of your morning coffee, or savoring the taste of a favorite meal). Our senses anchor us in the present moment, right here, right now.

Invest your time in what matters

My guess is the top of that list will be relationships. Not another “to do” but a way “to be.” In your next conversation, turn off your phone and give that person your undivided attention. See what experience of reality you create together as a result!

Like the waves of the sea, our energy ebbs and flows. I can think of no better way to honor those rhythms than to fully inhabit the life we have with the gift of presence.

I did not return from my retreat with a perfectly mapped-out 2026 game plan. I did, however, return with more presence and perspective.

May you have the capacity to create space to slow down this season and reconnect with the experiences that nurture you. Sending peace and goodwill – a reminder that not everything needs optimizing, fixing, or justifying.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant and high-performing organizations. Contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post An ideal season to experience the gift of presence | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

What do you expect? It’s such a seemingly simple question. Yet it’s one I see get muddied, repeatedly. Expectations are ubiquitous, but it does not guarantee they are understood.

There is a trend I have been witnessing in workplaces – people are hungry for clearer expectations. I have some theories as to why that is. During times of growth and change, things can feel uncertain. In the face of uncertainty, we seek clarity and control. People want to better understand direction, priorities, and desired outcomes – especially when those things keep shifting!

Sometimes what I observe is that expectations only get clearly expressed when there has been a violation of those expectations. In other words, it becomes more apparent what we want when we are not seeing the results we had hoped for, or when our frustrations are on the rise. We may not enjoy the experience, but our frustrations are phenomenal data points. They tell us what matters to us, and they illuminate the gap between what we want to happen and what is really happening. Frustrations are the yellow (or red) flags indicating that we might have a misunderstanding or misalignment that needs our attention.

Setting clear expectations is not just for when things go off the rails or when people are struggling to deliver. High-performing, growth-oriented professionals want to elevate their knowledge and skills, build capacity and confidence in executing their role, and contribute to the organization’s success. When you provide the kind of guidance that helps them be successful, the impact is contagious, and the work gains momentum.

How can you help them get there?

A leader’s role is to help cultivate potential for the success of each individual, the team, and the organization. When you can paint a picture of what success looks like – for them, for the initiative, or for your customer – you help create the road map to achieving it.

“Expectations … they can feel so heavy.” Recently, a leader expressed that it felt adversarial to articulate her expectations. She shared that her team is overwhelmed and she was concerned that stating her expectations felt like she was piling onto the stress and demands of the job. But as soon as she said it out loud, she had an epiphany: “People are hungry for them! Expectations actually reduce their stress.”

This gave the leader inspiration to bring clarity to her direct reports in their next one-on-one meetings. She understood the “clarity is kind” mantra. It sets the stage for a much more collaborative discussion about the scope of the work and responsibilities attached.

The reality is that our expectations exist no matter whether we articulate them. It is better to express them through regular conversations than to leave them to chance, or to only be explicit when problems and friction surface.

Articulating expectations might expose the gap between where someone currently is and where you would like to see them. That performance gap is the space where leaders can coach and mentor a team member.

Elevate your expectation-setting skills

Getting better at articulating expectations is one of the highest-leverage leadership skills – especially in environments where people are overwhelmed, moving fast, or working cross-functionally. Here are some specific ways you can practice:

1. Slow your thinking so others can catch up. Leaders often assume their expectations are clear because they are clear in their own heads! (I’ve been guilty of this). Consider pausing and get clear on:

• the outcome I really want
• why it matters
• what “good” looks like
• what “done” looks like
• the difference between non-negotiables and flexible components

2. Provide a simple, repeatable formula: Expectations = Outcomes + Standards + Timeline + Check-ins. For example: “By Friday I would like to see a one-to-two-page draft of the problem statement, in the context of our business goals, with recommended next steps. We need this before the Executive Committee meeting, so let’s do a quick check-in on Wednesday to make sure you have what you need.”
3. Make expectations collaborative, not top-down. Even when you know what you want, invite people into the process:

“Here’s what I’m thinking; what might I be missing?”

“What feels doable?”

“What are you excited about?”

“What makes you a little nervous or uncomfortable?”

Open-ended questions like these can expose blind spots, build buy-in, and increase alignment.

4. Add context to provide meaning. When people know why something matters, the instructions land better. “The reason this needs to be precise is because …” or “We are prioritizing this because …” or “This helps us avoid …” is a way to invite team members into being a part of the solution. They can contribute even more collaboratively. Context turns a task into a purpose.
5. Check for understanding. You can ask grounding questions like: “What are the most important pieces you are taking away from our conversation?” Or “where might you need more clarity?” Or “what obstacles do you anticipate?” You are not quizzing them but rather co-creating clarity. And it’s better to check for understanding in the moment than weeks later when things are going south.

Leadership clarity is not a one-and-done exercise. You can conduct ongoing “clarity audits” by supporting your team with check-ins. Does everyone know what success is? Are deadlines understood and realistic? Have expectations shifted?

Demonstrate the behavior you want to see. You have more credibility when you deliver on the expectations of your role. When you communicate clearly, ask good questions, avoid ambiguity, and generally demonstrate personal accountability, you are setting the tone for others to follow. This reflects a kind of integrity that builds mutual trust and respect.

Where can you bring more clarity to your expectations?

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant and high-performing organizations. Contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post The value of clearly expressing expectations up front | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

There are many proposed remedies for managing life’s stressors. You may have tried some of them – with varying degrees of success. Even if you have a high stress tolerance, most leaders have reported feeling an inordinate amount of stress in today’s business climate. I would like to propose something that de-escalates the natural stress responses of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn*: bringing a sense of curiosity.

Does that sound too simple? Let me share how I’ve seen it work.

Navigating change

Recently, during a client workshop on accountability, one participant spoke of her team’s resistance to change and wanted to know how to cultivate buy-in for the new expectations. Instead of starting with selling all the benefits of the upcoming change, we slowed the conversation down and examined what might be her team’s discomfort and fears related to the change.

Curiosity can unearth the obstacles unique to the person struggling. It can help us shape the conversation in terms that address the root cause of resistance, rather than jumping into all the reasons the change is beneficial. It provides leaders with clarity about their teams’ challenges so they can meet them where they are to guide them through what is new and different. Curiosity in this context – especially when blended with validation and empathy – demonstrates respect for a team member’s journey.

One can simultaneously hold space for what is difficult while co-creating a path that moves someone beyond resistance. In other words, remaining curious optimizes the capacity to better navigate change.

Foster a spirit of collaboration

A conversation that embodies curiosity can illuminate potential roadblocks and begin a new kind of dialogue – one that invites real collaboration. When you enter the exchange with an openness, with mutual respect, and with the extension of trust, you shift the dynamics. In this collaborative, generative approach, you are building buy-in and capacity.

Curiosity vs. imposter syndrome

The phenomenon of experiencing feeling like an imposter strikes nearly everyone. We can get triggered by not having advanced education or certifications, being new to leadership, or lacking confidence in a particular situation or skill set. You might think “Who am I to be doing x, y, z?!” (And rarely is it said in a curious sort of way but more likely to question one’s value and worth).

If, however, we choose to be curious about the emotions that flared, we can move through them with self-compassion rather than defensiveness, rejection, fear, or shame. Feeling self-conscious about a skill level is normal. Staying in a place of hurt or insecurity can be diminishing and we can get stuck, often cloaked in our protective armor.

For example, if you feel vulnerable about a skill set, you can conduct an honest evaluation of where you are strong and where you would like to grow. Then you can create a game plan to elevate your skills and confidence in that area of your craft.

When you are on the edge of your comfort zone, what is the conversation in your head? If you default to being self-critical, you’ve forgotten to stay curious!

When you know your value, you know – and can tap into – your power. This kind of self-trust comes from healthy, curiosity-inspired introspection.

Elevate others

Like helping a team member through a change initiative, curiosity from a manager can expedite an employee’s learning. I have coached many managers who find themselves frustrated at their employees’ pace of grasping – and being effective – in their roles. Most managers default to “show and tell.” They tell employees what they need to do or know, maybe even while offering valuable context of what and why. Yet few seize the moment to ask the kind of questions that illuminate what an employee is truly understanding and what is still unclear, and what the employee is ultimately motivated by.

The art of asking good questions

A natural part of being curious is asking open-ended questions and listening with an open mind.

• What did you like about the old way?
• How do you think we should roll this out?
• What do you think are the risks?
• What would make this initiative successful?
• What are you excited about achieving this quarter?

I have long been a proponent of embracing the spirit of curiosity. It opens the doors of discovery – for innovation, learning, and growth. It fuels problem-solving by expanding one’s current thinking, making room for greater creativity and fueling imagination. I’ve even used the word to describe my own communication style. (In fact, when I am climbing and I come upon a particularly challenging sequence of moves, I find myself saying, “That’s interesting.” It keeps me curious rather than stressed and fearful!) By championing curiosity, the ego is diminished to make space for the fun of exploration.

Embracing this kind of growth mindset can allow us to release the stressors of the need to be right in the moment, to be ridged in our thinking, and to let go of our need to control.

Albert Einstein famously stated, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” He is also credited with saying, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.”  Curiosity is a driving force for deepening our understanding and for reframing – and reducing – our stress.

How will you cultivate curiosity?

* Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, according to WebMD, are natural stress responses that occur when we perceive a threat. They help us react to danger: fighting involves confronting the threat, fleeing means escaping, freezing is becoming immobile, and fawning is trying to please others to avoid conflict.

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant and high-performing organizations. Contact her at 503-806-4361 or karen@natzel.net.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Could cultivation of curiosity be the ultimate stress buster? | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.