MEDITATION, PAIN AND PLEASURE

Chalk it up to naivety, or chalk it up to the fact that I was trained to be a lawyer, not a salesperson. Whatever the explanation, my concern about skepticism and resistance to the practices of mindfulness and meditation among many business leaders, can apparently be explained by a simple truth that everyone (except me) seems to know: People are motivated to act by one of two things-- pain or pleasure. Like (in the case of pain), a toothache.

If we have a painful toothache, we immediately call a dentist to treat the pain-- regardless of cost or inconvenience. That’s obviously not the case with either mindfulness or meditation, and therefore, things like cost or inconvenience become more significant. At the very least, they become a focus of attention that delays-- and in some instances completely derails-- the decision to act.

How did I come to that conclusion? I talked to a social media consultant and was told, quite matter-of-factly, that mindfulness and meditation are fundamentally flawed “products” because they don’t push the pain button, or the pleasure button. I pointed out the fact that neither mindfulness nor meditation are “products”, but that didn’t change his opinion, or his approach.

?Swing and a miss-- the conversation quickly went downhill from there. It did remind me, however, of another simple truth I had previously identified, but had apparently forgotten: In the world of business, profitability is king-- everything else is a matter of secondary importance (coincidentally, profitability does indirectly relate to one’s ability to mitigate pain and increase pleasure, but further discussion of that fact would take this piece in a direction different than intended).

So, let’s return to the issue of profitability and the business community’s apparent skepticism about, and resistance to, mindfulness and meditation-- which are vital components of wellbeing. Even though many businesses profess to embrace the idea of wellbeing, they remain curiously wary of mindfulness and meditation. Why is that so? I wasn’t able to find a consultant or business leader willing to talk about it so I’ll resort to my own observations, and a pinch of logic.

If profitability is king, and most business leaders are skeptical about mindfulness and meditation, then it would be reasonable to infer that those same leaders view mindfulness and meditation as something that will compromise profitability-- either that, or they don’t know enough about mindfulness and meditation to draw an informed conclusion (presumably, they already grasp of the concept of profitability).

?It's easy enough to educate people about mindfulness and meditation-- the why’s, the how’s, the when’s and the where’s-- if they care to be educated. As a matter of fact, the more people get to know about mindfulness and meditation, the more likely they are to give them both a try.

Mindfulness requires nothing more than undivided attention to the people, places and things one encounters in the course of the day. And meditation-- the way I practice and teach it-- is accessible, flexible and practical (See, several prior pieces about Secular Meditation, or meditation for the 21st century).

Equally important, for business leaders, neither mindfulness nor meditation compromise profitability. Profitability is largely a function of how employee time is spent, and since both mindfulness and meditation require some degree of commitment and some investment of time, they are wrongly viewed as anathema to profit-minded management. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As suggested above, mindfulness requires pretty much nothing in terms of time, and meditation (at least, Secular Meditation) can be as brief as a moment-- so much for any misplaced concern about compromised profitability. But, notwithstanding the absence of any negative impact, Doubting Thomas business leaders may nonetheless ask: Are there any positive benefits?

?Funny they should ask (if they’re foolish enough to do so)-- there are many well-documented benefits that mindfulness and meditation support-- both mental and physical. What’s more, the benefits of mindfulness and meditation relate directly to profitability-- they actually support profitability (as well as client or customer satisfaction).

The arguments have all been made, and the conclusion is clear: Mindfulness and meditation are good for businesses, clients/customers and for workers. They may not be as painful as a toothache, or as pleasurable as a vacation (time away from the office), but they’re an obvious plus.

Investment in new technology occupies the attention of a lot of business leaders these days, and appropriately so. Hopefully, however, they won’t be distracted from the wellbeing of their workers, as well. Investment in people has always been (and remains) a good bet. And--contrary to the advice of certain consultants-- people don’t respond exclusively to pain or pleasure.

Pain? Pleasure? It turns out that many of us are concerned about other things-- like wellbeing (of which mindfulness and meditation are important components). Some consultants may overlook that concern, and some business leaders may listen to them. That’s a shame, because it’s not only their loss—it’s also ours.

Instead of pain, we’re concerned about gain. And instead of pleasure, we’re concerned about treasure (as in lost treasure) --our wellbeing.