Mindfulness illustration.

Using mindfulness to unlock creativity

How companies can use meditation to help build a culture of original ideas.

There is a growing trend with workplaces trying to become more efficient at innovation. The culture is biased toward rewarding accelerated pace, agile development and more efficient cost management. However, these same workplaces generally fall back on their habitual ways of dealing with day-to-day issues.

When asked to innovate in rapid succession, we tend to only ever evolve what’s already been done, we cannot craft novel ideas and think outside the box. In other words, we think creating efficiencies is the antithesis of cultivating innovation. And yet, for innovation to succeed within the complexities of 2 design, we as designers need to think more creatively.

So how do we allow rapid agility and creativity to thrive together in the workplace? Well, we start by shifting our mindset. By resetting the intention of thought by slowing down the mind and taking time away.

I first began experimenting with mindfulness practices as a way to help create harmony in the workplace. I discovered the immensely positive impact it had on the creative process.

So what exactly is mindfulness, you ask. A great definition comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts.

“Mindfulness is an awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally,”

Though mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation, a secular practise has entered the mainstream in recent years. Since then, many studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of this practice, inspiring organisations such as schools, prisons and hospitals to adopt the practice.

So then, why has the field of design taken so long to take up the challenge?

Achieving mindfulness can be pretty simple. seeking it practice purposefully focusing their attention on the present moment, either in a formal daily meditation (time set aside) or informal mindful moments, the practice of being completely present. With this in mind, there’s no reason why it can’t be achieved in the workplace.

In 2014, Dr Erik Dane and Dr Bradley J. Brummel published research suggesting there are several benefits for those who practice mindfulness in the workplace. These include; the support of your health and well-being by decreasing stress levels and re-balancing emotional systems, as well as helping staff shift their mindset to uncover new, more innovative ways of thinking and working. Most importantly, though, outside of one’s time, it doesn’t cost anything — or at least not that much!

How mindfulness helps creativity

Training the mind does nurture many key areas of the creative process. A snapshot of some of these are:

• People who practice mindfulness tend to adapt their cognitive processing much quicker
• They can see beyond what has been done before
• Solving problems that require insight becomes much easier

These skill sets tend to overlap with the foundation of creativity, what experts refer to as the discovery or incubation phase of the creative process. All that mindfulness requires is time and attention, or conscious non-attention, to the problem at hand. When someone using mindfulness is working on a creative problem, they focus fully on the problem at hand and then step away to focus fully on something unrelated. This shift in attention allows ideas to incubate, and creative insight begins to develop. If this attention is scattered, past unresolved thoughts tend to mix with the expected outcomes blocking new ideas on how to solve the problem. The research further suggests that people are more open to original ideas after clearing their minds by conducting brief meditation.

With so many different approaches to mindfulness, which methods should you use to nurture your creative skill set? In 2012 a report generated by Colzato, Ozturk & Hommel states that the technique of open awareness meditation has been found to promote divergent thinking, a style of thinking that generates many new ideas.

This practice is the process of perceiving and observing the sensations within the body without focusing on a fixed concept, like the breath. Although someone may start with their attention on the natural, unregulated breath, they might soon shift it to monitoring awareness without judgment or getting caught in the story of the sensation.

In short, they become totally equanimous with the concept of impermanence, not fixating on any one idea or thought by allowing everything to simply come and go.

Applying this same philosophy to help solve problems that require creative thinking, this form of meditation helps release the tendency to hold onto old thoughts and ways of thinking to allow the problem to be seen with a completely new, fresher set of eyes.

To help foster this stronger culture of creativity and innovation, workplaces need to place greater importance on the mindset of their employees by introducing mindfulness meditation practices. By encouraging the opportunity to allow staff to slow down and take time to think outside the box, they move beyond a workplace focused on efficiencies and towards one that has a stronger desire to foster innovative change.

Google and Microsoft are just two of many tech workplaces that have already adopted corporate-based mindfulness programs to strengthen employees’ emotional intelligence and well-being. Other workplaces such as Nike, AOL, Apple, HBO, Deutsche Bank and Yahoo have developed their mindful related practices into their core culture.

So what are some of the easier ways to help your workplace shift its mindsets to allow creativity and innovation to thrive:

1. Align your company's values. You’ll need to demonstrate a deliberate intention toward developing a culture of mindfulness by using it as the foundation of your core values. For example, if your core value is Embrace Innovation and Change, highlight how using mindfulness might help create empathy towards all who are affected by the change. Through this awareness, staff might begin to see more objectively and react less habitually to allow for a greater opportunity for change.
2. Create mindful moments. Empower this way of thinking by changing the rudimentary daily rituals within the workplace, bringing mindfulness to the forefront of everything you do. Simple examples are:

• Kick-off meetings with a short 5 settling in — by taking time out to simply breathe, you’ll invite staff to leave past concerns and future worries aside until the meeting is over
• Provide time and space to allow staff to practice mindfulness and meditation within office hours
• Empower staff to become fully present with the agenda at hand by allowing them to work on one thing at a time

1. Offer mindfulness training. Facilitate staff training programs and feedback sessions in the practice of open awareness meditation and how to apply the benefits to their daily life. For instance:

• What habits support better efficiencies within the workplace, and what’s getting in the way of considering something new
• Discuss how the creative process works and what are the most successful methods to integrate this process into your workplace

1. Provide ample access to resources. You’ll find employees eager to learn new ways of becoming more creative and efficient at their roles, so make sure you have the relating resources to help. Whether webinars, group meditation sittings, lunch and learns sessions, speaker series or management retreats, make sure you back up your desire to change with the right support.

All workplaces have a great opportunity here. Simple additions like incorporating an open awareness meditation program could deliver a huge shift in the way your staff behave, creating a happier, healthier and more innovative work culture. Empowering staff to be fully conscious in the present moment; the sounds, environment, feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations may allow them to solve the complexities of today’s workplace through the most basic responses.