Fight, Flight, or Freeze — Releasing Organizational Trauma

A presentation at Monitorama PDX 2019 in June 2019 in Portland, OR, USA by Matt Stratton

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Fight, Flight, or Freeze Releasing Organizational Trauma @mattstratton

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Content Warning: Discussion of trauma and posttraumatic stress @mattstratton

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I am a trauma survivor I am not a mental health professional @mattstratton

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Humans are not zebras @mattstratton

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“Animals in the wild are not traumatized by routine threats to their lives, while humans, on the other hand, are readily overwhelmed and often subject to the traumatic symptoms of hyper arousal, shutdown and dysregulation.” – Dr. Peter Levine @mattstratton

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Nuanced @mattstratton

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• Trauma occurs when one’s solution (active response to threat) does not work • Trauma can result from real or perceived threats • Trauma is subjective and relative @mattstratton

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How does this apply to an organization? @mattstratton

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Hyperarousal fight or flight @mattstratton

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Hypoarousal freeze @mattstratton

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Inappropriate response @mattstratton

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@mattstratton

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Identify your organization’s window of tolerance @mattstratton

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“Resilient organizations are not traumatized by routine threats to their mission or business. Non-resilient organizations are readily overwhelmed and often subject to the symptoms of overreaction, shutdown and lack of regulated effort.” – Matty Stratton (Not a doctor) @mattstratton