Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Changing Business from the Inside Out

by David Gelles

Overview

“Intriguing, timely, and enjoyable . . . A fascinating account of the increasing adoption of these ancient disciplines by Western businesses.” — Financial Times

“[An] adroit exploration. [Gelles] deftly describes what mindfulness is and what it isn’t, presents the science behind it, and handily succeeds in convincing readers that the practice is worth exploring.” — Success

Business leaders around the country are discovering that meditation may be the key to fostering a happier, more productive workplace.

Many American companies, including some of our largest — such as General Mills, Ford, Target, and Google — have built extensive programs to foster mindful practices among their workers. Mindful Work is the first book to explain how all sorts of businesses and any kind of worker can benefit from meditation, yoga, and other mindful techniques. Mindfulness lowers stress, increases mental focus, and alleviates depression among workers. It has also benefited companies that have adopted it — from the millions of dollars Aetna has saved in health-care costs to the ways Patagonia has combined leadership in its market with a pervasively mindful outlook. Mindful Work offers an eye-opening tour through this new landscape, and goes beyond other books on the subject by providing evidence for the practical benefits of mindfulness and showing readers how to become more mindful themselves.

“Brimming with insights and backed up with solid research, Mindful Work takes us to the front lines of a revolution that is transforming the business world.” — Arianna Huffington

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544705258
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/22/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

DAVID GELLES is a staff writer for the New York Times Sunday Business section. Previously, he was a correspondent for the Financial Times, and his work has appeared in Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has also practiced meditation regularly for over a decade, ever since studying the technique while living in India.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 This Mindful Moment 13

2 How the Swans Came to the Lake 32

3 The Science of Sitting 53

4 Less Stressed 75

5 More Focused 100

6 Compassionate 127

7 Socially Responsible 148

8 The Space to Lead 179

9 McMindfulness 200

10 The Future in Microcosm 228

Acknowledgments 255

Instructions 258

Resources 260

Notes 266

Index 280

Editorial Reviews

“Brimming with insights and backed up with solid research, Mindful Work takes us to the front lines of a revolution that is transforming the business world.” —Arianna Huffington “Gelles has done a masterful job of capturing the 'mindfulness movement'. His candid analysis and his dialogue with people from all facets of this movement paint a wonderfully clear view of a potent proposition for living and working in better ways.” —Scott Kriens, Chairman, Juniper Networks, and Director, 1440 Foundation “In this compelling book, Gelles describes how apparent paradoxes can resolve into a business culture where taking a breath is part of making a buck.” —Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together “In this wise and revealing work, David Gelles explains how Eastern wisdom is transforming the Western workplace. Smart, hopeful and inspiring, this is a book with a wide reach and a clear focus.” —Mark Epstein, author of The Trauma of Everyday Life and Thoughts without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective “A delightful, authoritative, and provocative guide to the new world of mindfulness at work. David Gelles covers the story from the inside out, giving readers exactly what they need to assess whether mindfulness is for them — and, if so, how to forge ahead. Give this book your full attention.” —Daniel Goleman, author of Focus and Emotional Intelligence “This stunning new book is by far the most insightful, practical guide to mindfulness and meditation. Gelles, who has deep experience with mindfulness, takes us inside leading companies like Google, General Mills, Aetna, and Patagonia to show how meditation is transforming workplaces. Mindful Work could change your life.” —Bill George, Harvard Business School, former CEO of Medtronic, and author of True North “Gelles deftly shows the power of mindfulness to change individuals, businesses and our world for the better. Mindfulness is a practice we need to embrace, and we cannot be afraid to follow this path.” —Marc Benioff, Chairman & CEO, Salesforce “Mindfulness in the workplace is a real trend and few are as well equipped to explain it as David Gelles. He expertly conveys how companies incorporate mindfulness principles into their cultures and offers practical tips to managers on how to do the same.” —Reid Hoffman, co/founder & chairman, LinkedIn and co-author of The Alliance “This carefully researched, heartfully written, and delightfully readable book tells one of the most interesting true stories of our time: the fascinating and sometimes messy coming together of the wisdom world and the corporate world.” —Chade-Meng Tan, Jolly Good Fellow of Google, author of Search Inside Yourself “Readers curious about the benefits of mindfulness at work or in their personal lives will appreciate this book.” —Booklist "Intriguing, timely, and enjoyable new book, a fascinating account of the increasing adoption of these ancient oriental disciplines by western businesses as means of improving corporate efficiency, reducing employee stress, and, directly or indirectly, boosting the bottom line." —Financial Times —

From the Publisher

12/15/2014
When Steve Jobs prefaced his 1981 keynote speech at Applefest with an impromptu meditation session, it was taken as another eccentricity of the celebrated tech savant. But today, as journalist Gelles reports in this spirited but surface-deep survey, the practice of inducing a state of mental clarity and compassion known as mindfulness has gone mainstream. For instance, General Mills now holds meditation sessions for senior management at its corporate headquarters. Gelles also interviews Bill Ford, ex-CEO and Ford family heir, who reveals that his leadership was informed by Buddhist ideas. Gelles, himself a practitioner, hopefully imagines a meditation-informed workplace producing more sustainable products and possibly even transforming capitalism itself. Yet there are disquieting moments, as when he describes a Google presentation titled the “Three Steps to Build Corporate Mindfulness the Google Way” that was crashed by protesters bearing an “Eviction-Free San Francisco” banner and taking issue with the way wealthy tech workers have displaced local residents. One can only dream of how Tom Wolfe would have tackled an opportunity so ripe for satire. Perhaps because Gelles is more disciple than objective observer on this issue, his entertaining account can’t quite determine whether corporate mindfulness is a fad, fraud, or true corporate revolution. Agent: Susanna Einstein, Einstein Thompson Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly