First-generation mindfulness interventions, for the most part based on MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), are designed to improve personal well-being and help individuals feel grounded, even in chaotic circumstances. But it’s “quite medieval,” says Dr. Jutta Tobias Mortlock, to imagine that a personal meditation practice is all that’s required to help individuals work better together.
We now know, says Mortlock, that spending a lot of time in solitary contemplative practice “is not necessarily a guarantee that one learns something, especially as it pertains to understanding what helps me relate to you.” We can’t always access the insights we need through our solo practice.
The interpersonal dimension of workplaces is “a huge and under-studied stressor,” says Mortlock. “The absence of interpersonal conflict makes everything else doable.” It’s the potential of mindful communication in group settings to help people forecast and manage conflict that Mortlock seeks to draw out through team mindfulness.
Smoothing daily interactions and resolving conflicts before they start may sound like pie in the sky to some leaders. However, according to Mortlock, mindfulness can help us do just that—although the tools needed to get there may look a little different from the mindfulness we’re used to.
