“To go out of your mind once a day is tremendously important, because by going out of your mind, you come to your senses. And if you stay in your mind all of the time, you are over rational, in other words you are like a very rigid bridge which because it has no give, no craziness in it, is going to be blown down by the first hurricane.”
-Alan Watts, Zen Philosopher
After everything we’ve learned in Season 2 of HR Trends with Game-Changers Radio about shaping the future of work, could mindfulness be the key to everlasting joy and loving what you do? 
If you’re anxiously staring at the clock at work and questioning whether you’re committed to doing what resembles a scene out of Office Space – or worse, you’re feeling lifeless, but somehow summon the strength to perform anyway – your company has a serious problem. But not all is lost if they are willing to adopt a corporate workplace attitude adjustment.
On Season 2’s final episode on Health and Balance at Work: Nurturing the Innovation Mindset, the concept of mindfulness at work emerges as the glue that weaves together all of the HR Trends topics we covered in the past 12 weeks.
Are you aspiring to be attentive, productive, and purposeful at work and still feel happy about what you do? The answer: mindfulness. If you’re a manager, do you want to know what motivates your employees and how they feel about the current workplace culture? The answer: mindfulness. Want to hire the right person? You guessed it. Mindfulness.
The bottom-line: The ability to allow and encourage your employees to pause, breathe, and regroup themselves can lead to game-changing innovation, higher profits, and a stronger team that can thrive in our era of rapid change.
As one panelist poignantly put it, “The dirty little secret of the business world is that we’re all human beings.” And it’s true! How can a leader really lead if the organization doesn’t develop and encourage a process of internal repair to help employees cope better with pressure and transition? We all know leaders who radiate energy so contagious that without mindfulness of the actual circumstances, even the slightest slip in character can break their team’s morale.
Tune in on-demand to hear mindfulness expert Mark Lesser, CEO of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), Dr. Jeremy Hunter, Professor at the Drucker School of Management, and Dr. Natalie Lotzmann, Global Head of Health at SAP, discuss how mindful, positive perception can become the greatest innovation of all for your organization.
Top memorable insights from this episode:
- We train managers to manage everything but themselves. Managers should ask, “How do I manage my body?” What's going on inside a manager is broadcast to everyone surrounding them. We're all connected. -Dr. Jeremy Hunter @JeremyHunter123
- [When hiring,] we must get a feeling for people and their maturities. How do you perceive yourself? How aware are you and how much do you trust your gut feeling? –Dr. Natalie Lotzmann @lifeatsap
- Mindfulness practice can lead to changing the perception we have of ourselves. In the business world: Having a horrible day? This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. How can we shift from ruminating about the future and shift to the present moment? Twenty minutes a day for 8 weeks can change our perception. –Marc Lesser @doingless
- Perception is the center of everything. How we feed our reality is what becomes our reality. If I see doom and gloom in everything, that's the world I'll live in. How do we start to consciously create our reality? What are the preconceived notions that might impact how the outcome might turn out? Divorce, death, downsizing, disaster, and disease: sadly, it often takes these five D’s to look at our lives. -Dr. Jeremy Hunter @JeremyHunter123
- Mindfulness trains attention to be of higher quality. Americans are over-trained in thinking, but undertrained in the ability to see. How can I make sure that the world I'm seeing is the world that's there instead of the world I'm biased to see? What mindfulness does is to enhance all those qualities. -Dr. Jeremy Hunter @JeremyHunter123
- Perception creating reality is not a new concept. In the end, it's all about perception. Perception: the trust of employees, customers, being an employer of choice. It's high-time that we look at perception as the center of everything. Mind. Well-being. Results. We need people who give their best. How? Make sure people perceive they are valued, appreciated, treated nicely and equally. –Dr. Natalie Lotzmann @lifeatsap
- Einstein said, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted, counts. But for success, yes, you should link to numbers in the end to figure out what (your company’s) human capital is actually worth. –Dr. Natalie Lotzmann @lifeatsap
- Old thinking: Do more, get more work done. But there’s an inflection point. At the tipping point, if I don’t rest and make time for myself, my health gets negatively impacted. Mindfulness helps us with this. We can’t just get trapped in a cycle of making effort. -Dr. Jeremy Hunter @JeremyHunter123
- Mindfulness practice (has become) more prevalent in recent years. What we think and where we put our attention over and over again sculpts our brain. Develop our ability to focus, expand our awareness. –Marc Lesser @doingless
Top #CrystalBall predictions for 2020:
- By 2020: In the coming years, more companies will be connecting the dots between productivity, mindfulness and health. There will be a standard of measure of human and social capital in the workforce. Head of Future HR: Someone who understands culture management as key, fostering inclusive behavior and mindful cooperation. –Dr. Natalie Lotzmann @lifeatsap
- Mindfulness training will be part of all leadership training all over the world. This will be in all business school curriculums. More wisdom and compassion in the workplace. The head of future HR: will envision purpose and inspire people to be themselves. –Marc Lesser @doingless
- There will be more technologies that sculpt the brain more effectively. Pay attention to the entire flow of life. Work and home are inextricably interlinked. Work around attention rights and the capacity to control attention. Attention may become a civil rights issue - we don't know. Train the mind to become more adaptable. It will be a time of human empowerment to effectively face the challenges that are en route. The head of future HR will see HR as a developable, growable, cultivatable phenomenon. -Dr. Jeremy Hunter @JeremyHunter123
Season 3 of HR Trends with Game-Changers Radio launches in early September 2014! Visit here for upcoming dates and topics. Follow us on Twitter at #SAPRadio @mikegmontalban @bizbreakradio.
*What does it mean to create a healthy SAP? Check out the interview with Natalie Lotzmann.
**For more information on SAP’s Mindfulness Program, please contact Peter Bostelmann, or if you are an SAP Employee, check out the Mindfulness Jam Group and Global Health Management pages.
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