The Equilibrious "Shifting Ground" report surveyed 24 veteran IC practitioners and found 88% said their wellbeing was affected by overlapping crises, with 83% reporting stress or burnout. The real problem isn't workload — it's the gap between what organizations say they want from comms and what leadership actually allows. Nearly three-quarters aim for a strategic comms model. Only 18% believe they've gotten there.
Chuck and Jenni dig into the report's STEADY framework and its core argument: neutral, sanitized language isn't safe communication — it just shifts risk from the organization's legal exposure onto employees' trust. Jenni connects it to psychological safety research. Chuck frames it as a gambling problem: playing it safe is still a bet, just on someone else's tab.
