The Why, How, What, of MyBeast

Why?

In workplaces across various sectors, we have lost the art of human connection, a sense of togetherness and group unity, which are fundamental parts of being human.

This absence is driving real problems:

• In education, there is a staff retention crisis with many young teachers abandoning the profession leaving vacancy rates at a record high.

• In the prison service, staff face overwhelming stress and mental health problems whilst the industry battles a “severe staffing crisis”

• In the corporate world, employee engagement is shockingly low, with the vast majority of people showing up and doing the bare minimum 

There are multiple factors that contribute to systemic problems - but if the foundations of belonging are not there - we stand no chance of real progress.

Hybrid and remote work models have given us much needed time at home but presented another layer of disconnection across disparate teams.

It’s not just about staff retention or productivity - research shows that loneliness is a widespread concern, affecting the elderly, but also young people aged 16-24 too.

Chronic disconnection has been linked to stress, illness and a decline in motivation at work.

As social beings, we need to feel accepted and included in the group (belonging) and we need to feel safe to speak up without the fear of judgment or ridicule (psychological safety).

Our society prizes individualism, but feeling like we’re part of the group is so crucial, that if it’s missing, it can affect our physical health.

Daily work is mostly task and targets focused.  Performance metrics and revenue results dominate how we define success - but our brains are hard wired to prioritise social connection.

MyBeast exists because I believe leaders have a responsibility to create a sense of bonding, camaraderie and unity between colleagues and teams.

Perhaps then and only then, we can work together to solve challenges - but if a sense of belonging is missing, then no wonder people don’t stick around or feel fully engaged at work.

The exciting part is this: when organisations succeed in creating true belonging and group bonding, wellbeing, performance and results tend to improve naturally.

How do we actually bond?

According to “The Social Brain”, our early ancestors (like other primates) bonded through grooming each other, a one-to-one activity that released endorphins and fostered group cohesion.

As we evolved and our group sizes reached 150 people, we developed new ways of bonding to efficiently involve larger groups.  They were:

• Laughter

• Singing

• Dancing

• Feasting (eating & drinking socially)

• Emotional Storytelling

When we intentionally and regularly do these things together - they release endorphins and we feel a sense of belonging and connection to the group.

Laughter is one of the quickest ways to foster a sense of connection between a group and it also has the power to even increase our pain threshold.

Humour must be intentionally incorporated by the way, spontaneous laughter is good, but ideally it needs to be inclusive and used with purpose.

At work, we can simultaneously harness storytelling and humour to create regular moments of bonding through laughter and emotional connection.  

Every single person has an abundance of stories and humour just waiting to be released - we just need to tap into this reservoir of connection.

Instead of seeing this type of thing as a quarterly offsite or team building activity - we need to view it as the way we work together.

The Jester's Journey

What am I doing about this?

Through MyBeast Consultancy - I am helping teams rediscover the lost art of group bonding by training them to intentionally incorporate good natured (inclusive) humour and release emotional storytelling into their everyday working life.

Humour is often mis-understood and people fear getting it wrong. We often associate comedy with humiliating people, but in reality, the most effective humour doesn't target anyone at all.

The Jester’s Method is grounded in humour theory and psychological safety and helps to simplify humour and teaches teams:

• What people find funny and why

• How to tap into good natured humour 

• Ways to build confidence to share stories and improve storytelling skills

It’s a sustainable, long term strategy which nurtures a culture of belonging and psychological safety.

We just have to overcome the fear of letting our guard down and opening up.  

This is what the “beast” represents - the fear of opening up which takes courage.

MyBeast works because it’s a simple, natural solution.

“Simple ideas are easy to understand.  Ideas that are easy to understand catch on.  Ideas that catch on change the world”.  (Simon Sinek).

Thanks for reading.

If this is interesting get in touch through the contact button or connect with me on LinkedIn.

By Jason Rawding