Two distinct types of stress affect us in different ways: eustress and distress. Eustress and distress are two forms of stress that can have a significant impact on our lives. Eustress is defined as a positive form of stress, while distress is a negative kind. While eustress will enable your growth, stress will prevent it.
What is Eustress?
Eustress occurs when we experience challenges or situations that push us to grow and develop in some way.
It can be motivating and inspiring, helping us reach our goals or achieve something important.
Examples of eustress include taking on new responsibilities at work, learning a new skill, starting an exercise program, or making changes to improve your life in some way.
What is Distress?
Distress refers to negative stress caused by overwhelming demands or pressures that exceed our capacity for coping with them effectively.
This type of stress can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, frustration, anger and even physical symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches.
Examples of distress include dealing with difficult people at work; having too much work without enough time; feeling overwhelmed by deadlines; being underpaid for your efforts; facing financial difficulties; experiencing family problems; or dealing with health issues.
How are they Different?
The primary distinction between eustress and distress is in how we interpret the situation causing it; positively (eustress) or negatively (distress).
Both involve pressure from external sources such as workloads and relationships, yet eustress motivates development while distress leads to emotional depletion due to its intensity being too high for us to manage successfully over time.
Eustress and distress are two distinct yet related concepts that can help project managers better understand the effects of stress on their projects.
By understanding the differences between eustress and distress, project managers can ensure they are creating a healthy environment for both themselves and their team members to thrive in.
Causes of Eustress and Distress
Causes of Eustress
Eustress is a type of stress that can be beneficial and motivating. It is often caused by positive life events, such as getting married or having a baby.
Other causes include achieving goals, taking on new challenges, and feeling rewarded for hard work.
Environmental factors like good weather or being in nature can also create eustress.
Causes of Distress
Distress is the opposite of eustress; it is a form of negative stress that can have detrimental effects on an individual’s physical and mental health.
Common causes include financial worries, difficult relationships, job insecurity, illness or injury, death of a loved one, and major life changes such as moving to a new city or starting a new job.
Additionally, psychological states like anxiety and depression can also lead to distressful feelings.
It is important to understand the causes of both eustress and distress in order to properly manage projects within a startup.
The next heading will discuss how to effectively manage these emotions for successful project management.
Enable eustress to make you grow
Eustress is a positive form of stress that can be beneficial to individuals.
It is characterized by feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, and motivation. Common physical symptoms associated with eustress include increased energy levels, improved concentration, and enhanced performance.
Emotionally, people may experience an elevated mood or sense of optimism.
Behaviorally, they may become more productive and take on new challenges with confidence.
Prevent Distress
Distress is a negative form of stress that can have detrimental effects on an individual’s health and wellbeing.
Physical symptoms associated with distress include fatigue, headaches, muscle tension or pain in the neck or back area as well as digestive issues such as nausea or diarrhea.
Emotionally people may feel overwhelmed by their circumstances and experience anxiety or depression while behaviorally they might procrastinate tasks due to lack of motivation or engage in unhealthy coping mechanisms such as substance abuse
Understanding the difference between eustress and distress is important in order to ensure success as a project manager.
Eustress is like a cup of coffee – it can give you an energy boost and help you take on new challenges with enthusiasm.
Distress, however, is more like a bad cup of tea – it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.
Managing Eustress and Distress
Eustress is a positive form of stress that can be beneficial to our health and productivity. It can help us stay motivated, focused, and energized in the workplace.
To manage eustress effectively, it’s important to identify its causes and develop strategies for dealing with them.
Examples of techniques include setting realistic goals, taking regular breaks from work, engaging in physical activity or relaxation exercises such as yoga or meditation, getting enough sleep each night, and making time for leisure activities like hobbies or socializing with friends.
Strategies for Managing Distress
Distress is an unhealthy form of stress that can have negative effects on our mental and physical health if left unchecked.
To manage distress effectively, it is important to recognize the signs early so steps can be taken to reduce it before it becomes too overwhelming.
Examples of strategies include identifying sources of stress in your life (e.g., job demands), learning how to say “no” when necessary (e.g., saying no to extra projects at work), practicing mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation exercises, seeking professional help if needed, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly, avoiding alcohol/drug use and talking about your feelings with someone you trust (e.g., family member).
Managing eustress and distress can be challenging, but understanding the differences between them is an important step in developing effective strategies for managing both.
Next, we will look at specific strategies for managing each type of stress.
Professional Implications of Eustress and Distress
Eustress and distress can have a significant impact on professional performance and relationships in the workplace.
It is important to recognize the signs of stress in colleagues or employees, as well as ways to help them manage it effectively.
Impact on Professional Performance
When faced with eustress, people often feel motivated and energized by their work.
This can lead to improved productivity, creativity, and focus which are all essential for successful project management within a startup environment.
On the other hand, distress can lead to feelings of anxiety or depression that can affect an individual’s ability to perform at their best level.
This could result in missed deadlines or poor quality work due to lack of concentration or motivation.
Impact on Professional Relationships
Eustress can be beneficial for professional relationships as it leads individuals to feel more connected while working together towards common goals.
In contrast, distress may cause tension between team members due to increased irritability and difficulty communicating effectively with one another.
Prolonged periods of stress may lead individuals feeling overwhelmed which could potentially damage trust between coworkers if not addressed promptly by management personnel such as yourself who are responsible for ensuring everyone works harmoniously together within the startup setting.
The implications of eustress and distress on professional performance and relationships are significant, and it is important to be aware of the impact each can have.
Next, we will discuss how they can affect our professional performance and relationships.
“Too much stress can cause distress in the workplace, but don’t forget about eustress! It’s important to recognize and manage both for successful project management within a startup environment.
What is an example of distress and eustress?
Distress is a negative form of stress that can lead to physical and mental health issues.
It often arises from situations where an individual feels overwhelmed, helpless, or out of control.
Examples include feeling overworked or undervalued in the workplace, struggling with financial problems, dealing with difficult relationships, or facing major life changes such as death of a loved one.
Eustress is a positive form of stress that can motivate individuals to take action and reach their goals.
Examples include feeling excited about starting a new job or project, having enthusiasm for learning something new, taking on challenging tasks at work or school, setting personal goals and working towards them.
What are five examples of eustress?
Achieving a challenging goal
Setting and reaching ambitious goals can be an energizing experience that leads to feelings of accomplishment and pride.
Taking on new responsibilities
Accepting additional responsibility at work or in life can bring a sense of purpose, challenge, and excitement as you strive to do your best.
Learning something new
Gaining knowledge or skills through study or practice can be rewarding as it provides opportunities for personal growth and development.
Overcoming obstacles
Successfully navigating difficult situations or tasks can provide a sense of satisfaction from overcoming adversity and achieving success despite the odds being against you.
Enjoying recognition for hard work
Receiving praise from colleagues, friends, family members, or even strangers for putting in extra effort towards completing a task is often accompanied by positive emotions such as joy and contentment
What are five examples of distress?
Poor communication
When team members are not communicating effectively, it can lead to confusion and frustration that can quickly spiral into distress.
Unclear expectations
Without clear goals and objectives, team members may feel overwhelmed or unsure of what is expected of them, leading to stress and anxiety.
Inadequate resources
Not having the right tools or resources available for a project can cause delays and create tension among team members who have to work around these limitations.
Lack of trust
If there is no trust between the project manager and their team, then progress will be hindered as people become hesitant to take risks or make decisions without approval from above.
Conflict resolution issues
If conflicts arise within the team but are not addressed in a timely manner, this could lead to feelings of anger and resentment which could further contribute to distress levels in the workplace environment
How does eustress turn into distress?
Eustress is a positive form of stress that can help motivate and energize us. It is typically short-lived and helps us to stay focused on our goals.
However, when eustress persists for too long or becomes overwhelming, it can turn into distress.
Distress is an unhealthy form of stress which causes feelings of anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and other negative emotions.
This type of stress can lead to physical health problems such as headaches and high blood pressure if left unchecked.
In order to prevent eustress from turning into distress it’s important to take regular breaks from work or activities that are causing the stress in order to relax and recharge your batteries before continuing with the task at hand.
Eustress and growth mindset
Once you learn the core difference between eustress and distress, and how to turn distress into eustress, you transform yourself from a person with a fixed mindset to a growth mindset!
fixed mindset believes their intelligence and talents are fixed traits that cannot be developed. The two mindsets were developed by American psychologist Carol Dweck while studying human motivation.
Both mindsets are comprised of conscious and subconscious thought patterns established at a very young age. In adult life, they have profound implications for personal and professional success.
Individuals with a growth mindset devote more time and effort to achieving difficult goals and by extension, are less concerned with the opinions or abilities of others. Individuals with a fixed mindset are sensitive to criticism and may be preoccupied with proving their talents to others.
That enables you to keep improving while you face challenges.
That’s a core difference. The obstacles that you find on your way won’t be any longer things that seem unsurmountable, they will see part of your growth path!
Key takeaways
As a project manager within a startup, it is important to be aware of the difference between eustress and distress.
Eustress can help motivate and energize us while distress can lead to burnout or other negative consequences.
Knowing the causes, symptoms, and management strategies for both eustress and distress will help you create an environment that encourages productivity while minimizing stress levels.
By recognizing the differences between eustress vs distress, you can ensure your team is working in an optimal state so that your startup has the best chance of success.
Business modelinnovation is about increasing the success of an organization with existing products and technologies by crafting a compelling value proposition able to propel a new business model to scale up customers and create a lasting competitive advantage. And it all starts by mastering the key customers.
The innovation loop is a methodology/framework derived from the Bell Labs, which produced innovation at scale throughout the 20th century. They learned how to leverage a hybrid innovation management model based on science, invention, engineering, and manufacturing at scale. By leveraging individual genius, creativity, and small/large groups.
According to how well defined is the problem and how well defined the domain, we have four main types of innovations: basic research (problem and domain or not well defined); breakthrough innovation (domain is not well defined, the problem is well defined); sustaining innovation (both problem and domain are well defined); and disruptive innovation (domain is well defined, the problem is not well defined).
That is a process that requires a continuous feedback loop to develop a valuable product and build a viable businessmodel. Continuous innovation is a mindset where products and services are designed and delivered to tune them around the customers’ problem and not the technical solution of its founders.
Disruptive innovation as a term was first described by Clayton M. Christensen, an American academic and business consultant whom The Economist called “the most influential management thinker of his time.” Disruptive innovation describes the process by which a product or service takes hold at the bottom of a market and eventually displaces established competitors, products, firms, or alliances.
In a business world driven by technology and digitalization, competition is much more fluid, as innovation becomes a bottom-up approach that can come from anywhere. Thus, making it much harder to define the boundaries of existing markets. Therefore, a proper business competition analysis looks at customer, technology, distribution, and financial model overlaps. While at the same time looking at future potential intersections among industries that in the short-term seem unrelated.
Technological modeling is a discipline to provide the basis for companies to sustain innovation, thus developing incremental products. While also looking at breakthrough innovative products that can pave the way for long-term success. In a sort of Barbell Strategy, technological modeling suggests having a two-sided approach, on the one hand, to keep sustaining continuous innovation as a core part of the businessmodel. On the other hand, it places bets on future developments that have the potential to break through and take a leap forward.
Sociologist E.M Rogers developed the Diffusion of Innovation Theory in 1962 with the premise that with enough time, tech products are adopted by wider society as a whole. People adopting those technologies are divided according to their psychologic profiles in five groups: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards.
In the TED talk entitled “creative problem-solving in the face of extreme limits” Navi Radjou defined frugal innovation as “the ability to create more economic and social value using fewer resources. Frugal innovation is not about making do; it’s about making things better.” Indian people call it Jugaad, a Hindi word that means finding inexpensive solutions based on existing scarce resources to solve problems smartly.
A consumer brand company like Procter & Gamble (P&G) defines “Constructive Disruption” as: a willingness to change, adapt, and create new trends and technologies that will shape our industry for the future. According to P&G, it moves around four pillars: lean innovation, brand building, supply chain, and digitalization & data analytics.
In the FourWeekMBA growth matrix, you can apply growth for existing customers by tackling the same problems (gain mode). Or by tackling existing problems, for new customers (expand mode). Or by tackling new problems for existing customers (extend mode). Or perhaps by tackling whole new problems for new customers (reinvent mode).
An innovation funnel is a tool or process ensuring only the best ideas are executed. In a metaphorical sense, the funnel screens innovative ideas for viability so that only the best products, processes, or business models are launched to the market. An innovation funnel provides a framework for the screening and testing of innovative ideas for viability.
Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO, defined design thinking as “a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.” Therefore, desirability, feasibility, and viability are balanced to solve critical problems.
A Blockchain Business Model according to the FourWeekMBA framework is made of four main components: Value Model (Core Philosophy, Core Values and Value Propositions for the key stakeholders), Blockchain Model (Protocol Rules, Network Shape and Applications Layer/Ecosystem), Distribution Model (the key channels amplifying the protocol and its communities), and the Economic Model (the dynamics/incentives through which protocol players make money). Those elements coming together can serve as the basis to build and analyze a solid Blockchain Business Model.
In an asymmetric businessmodel, the organization doesn’t monetize the user directly, but it leverages the data users provide coupled with technology, thus have a key customer pay to sustain the core asset. For example, Google makes money by leveraging users’ data, combined with its algorithms sold to advertisers for visibility.
In a business world driven by technology and digitalization, competition is much more fluid, as innovation becomes a bottom-up approach that can come from anywhere. Thus, making it much harder to define the boundaries of existing markets. Therefore, a proper business competition analysis looks at customer, technology, distribution, and financial model overlaps. While at the same time looking at future potential intersections among industries that in the short-term seem unrelated.
Technological modeling is a discipline to provide the basis for companies to sustain innovation, thus developing incremental products. While also looking at breakthrough innovative products that can pave the way for long-term success. In a sort of Barbell Strategy, technological modeling suggests having a two-sided approach, on the one hand, to keep sustaining continuous innovation as a core part of the business model. On the other hand, it places bets on future developments that have the potential to break through and take a leap forward.
A transitional business model is used by companies to enter a market (usually a niche) to gain initial traction and prove the idea is sound. The transitional business model helps the company secure the needed capital while having a reality check. It helps shape the long-term vision and a scalable business model.
The minimum viable audience (MVA) represents the smallest possible audience that can sustain your business as you get it started from a microniche (the smallest subset of a market). The main aspect of the MVA is to zoom into existing markets to find those people which needs are unmet by existing players.
Business scaling is the process of transformation of a business as the product is validated by wider and wider market segments. Business scaling is about creating traction for a product that fits a small market segment. As the product is validated it becomes critical to build a viable business model. And as the product is offered at wider and wider market segments, it’s important to align product, business model, and organizational design, to enable wider and wider scale.
The market expansion consists in providing a product or service to a broader portion of an existing market or perhaps expanding that market. Or yet, market expansions can be about creating a whole new market. At each step, as a result, a company scales together with the market covered.
In the FourWeekMBA growth matrix, you can apply growth for existing customers by tackling the same problems (gain mode). Or by tackling existing problems, for new customers (expand mode). Or by tackling new problems for existing customers (extend mode). Or perhaps by tackling whole new problems for new customers (reinvent mode).
In the FourWeekMBA Revenue Streams Matrix, revenue streams are classified according to the kind of interactions the business has with its key customers. The first dimension is the “Frequency” of interaction with the key customer. As the second dimension, there is the “Ownership” of the interaction with the key customer.
Revenue model patterns are a way for companies to monetize their business models. A revenue model pattern is a crucial building block of a business model because it informs how the company will generate short-term financial resources to invest back into the business. Thus, the way a company makes money will also influence its overall business model.
A pricing strategy or model helps companies find the pricing formula in fit with their business models. Thus aligning the customer needs with the product type while trying to enable profitability for the company. A good pricing strategy aligns the customer with the company’s long term financial sustainability to build a solid business model.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
