Can businesses be mindful?

Most of us are familiar with mindfulness. Paying attention to the whole without judgement. Whether we practice it as a routine, or periodically under pressure, it is a valuable (if over hyped) approach.

Done effectively, it helps us sort signal from noise, and connect what we are doing to the service of the "something bigger" that is important to us in our lives and work.

So why, I wonder, is it so much more difficult to do at an organisation level?

In "Coherence" Alan Watkins talks compellingly about the science of the hierarchy of performance. About how our behaviours are rooted in our physiology (through the intermediate levels of emotion, feelings and thought). It is these levels that even simple mindfulness practice can help us access.

Research has shown that focusing purely on behaviours only works to motivate people to earn rewards, not to pay attention to the deeper, more important things that shape culture and sustainable performance.

Yet, when we turn up at work, suddenly perform…