Folks are often curious when we talk about “applying” mindfulness in the workplace: they like the sound of it but aren’t quite sure what it means. I had my own ideas based on experience as a transactional lawyer, and those expanded as I talked with leaders of Tail of the Tiger programs, which are often geared toward applying mindfulness in livelihood settings.
Sometimes people wonder if it’s about setting up a workplace environment for sitting practice–nice work if you can get it, but the practical application is more in the range of what we call “postmeditation practice.” This can be as simple as applying what we’ve learned about how the human “equipment” functions and often falls into the category of what’s popularly called Emotional Intelligence. EI basically means seeing clearly what’s going on (in ourselves and others) and being skillful in what to do about that.
For example, we know we can get grumpy and inflexible (or worse) when someone pushes our buttons, and it eventually dawns on us that the dynamic works the same way in other people. So if we’re engaged in a difficult negotiation, we know from personal experience that if we use certain words, gestures, or tones of voice, people on the other side of the negotiation are going to be harder to get along with. Since the object of a negotiation is to make a deal and not torpedo it, it seems pretty simple what makes sense.
And the shoe can be on the other foot. If the opposite party in a negotiation is overly pushy, aggressive, or rude, we may find ourselves solidifying. If we’ve learned how to overcome that impulse, then we have the opportunity to stay in the game and not stomp out of the room. Of course, sometimes exiting a negotiation makes sense, but the point of mindfulness is to make that our choice and not a conditioned reflex.
Patton Hyman is an attorney and the director of Tail of the Tiger, an educational organization dedicated to bringing the benefits of mindfulness meditation into business, the professions, and the arts. This summer Tail of the Tiger will present its third annual Applied Mindfulness Conference, July 22 – 25.
