Joint Management and Control of Stress:
The PENTAGRAM* Model

We have developed a model to diagnose and act on stressful situations in organizations.

The PENTAGRAM is a model for executives and managers who wish to understand their role as instigators or as transmitters of stress. It allows them to intervene by selecting specific drivers that optimize performance because they are also complementary.

Individuals, companies, and organizations manage their stress best when the 5 endpoints of the pentagram are balanced and in harmony to help them achieve their vision.

 

 

(*) Inspired by S. Ginger’s Pentagram, 1981, 1987

The pentagram is a systemic model that describes the situation of individuals, teams, and organizations in a changing environment.

At the heart of the pentagram is the vision, i.e. the strategy, the project, the direction that motivates us.

 The five endpoints of the pentagram indicate relationships among the various events coming from the environment that can be identified as stress factors. They help those who use them to prioritize, assign actions, and develop their ability to respond. The five endpoints of the pentagram are both independent and at the same time interconnected; it is along this link, this tension, that leaders can act to counter or reduce stress.

• Demand: "psychological demand," i.e. the relationship established between the perceived workload and the resources available to meet it; the overall work capacity together with the associated productivity,
  
  
• Role: the perceived position, participation in decision-making, the organization, the procedures, the management of all internal flows, inputs and outputs,
  
  
• Values: culture, the work-life balance, ethics, ambition,
  
  
• Means: the tools, the job, logistical resources, information technology,
  
  
• Recognition: the workplace environment, communication, rewards, performance evaluation and metrics, the climate of relations between individuals.
  
  
• Surrounding the pentagram there is the environment with which organizations are in constant interaction, whether intentionally or not. This environment impacts the balance among the 5 endpoints and can then generate stressful situations.

The definition of stress that we have adopted is as follows, "[Stress is] the body’s reaction in response to changes, requirements, constraints or threats from its environment in order to adapt to them." These changes cause an imbalance among the 5 endpoints of the pentagram.

Dealing with stress is therefore finding an optimal balance among these five endpoints to take advantage of changes in the environment. There is an optimal level of stress that does not mean an absence of stress and that is linked to performance.

for additional information go to our “modeling” area