A Mindful Mind-set

Wise leaders don’t always consciously and intentionally try to broaden their perspective. Rather, they allow shifts to occur naturally by staying open to such shifts. In Buddhism, this state of openness is called mindfulness, and it is defined as the ability to be conscious of changes occurring in internal and external contexts without judging them, let alone trying to control them (Buddhists believe in impermanence, the notion that stability is an illusion). This openness or awareness provides three main benefits to leaders: they can accept and welcome changes in a nonjudgmental fashion; they can see the bigger picture and detect new patterns, including major opportunities in a fluctuating situation; and they can respond appropriately to changes using an integrated, holistic perspective rather than reacting to them using a fragmented perspective. More important, by staying in a state of openness, leaders improve their ability to continually reframe—that is, bring new meaning to—an external context that is always changing.¹⁹

We are acquainted with a well-known Silicon Valley CEO (let’s call him Janus) whose daughter attended Nueva Center for Learning, a school for gifted children. In one class, parents were invited to build models with their kindergarten children using erector sets. They were given twenty minutes to complete the task. Being extremely creative and a hard-core business smart leader, Janus helped his four-year-old daughter construct an elaborate and stunning model in much less than twenty minutes. They didn’t even use all the pieces in the erector set. Janus beamed with pride as the other parents and the teacher heaped praise on the father-daughter team for demonstrating amazing creativity.

As the class drew to a close, the teacher, Mary, instructed the parents and children to take apart their models and put away the erector sets. At hearing this, Janus looked offended and asked Mary why it was necessary to disassemble his unique creation. “That’s a work of art,” he declared. “It needs to be put in a showcase to inspire other students.” To which Mary replied, “Janus, what makes you think that this model is one of a kind? If your mind is creative enough to come up with that one-of-a-kind piece in less than twenty minutes partnering with a four year old, it can definitely conjure up many more wonderful artifacts in the future.” Janus sheepishly disassembled his creation.

Mary said to us later that for Janus, that was a turning point. In our analysis, Janus had been exhibiting the classic characteristics of a business smart leader: he had become attached to his creation, believing it was unique and could not be replaced. Once he reframed what had happened, he opened up and recognized that his creativity is limitless and that he should enjoy the process of creating something new rather than getting attached to its uniqueness. Having worked with and observed Janus for over twenty-five years, we were amazed to see him evolve from being a leader with an impulsive need to show off his creative genius to a wise master who taught other creative geniuses and in doing so took his company to even more success.

Many of us are not very different from Janus, in that we make decisions based on a fragmented perspective and then get upset when our view is challenged. You can become open to a different perspective through reframing by others (as the astute teacher did for Janus) or becoming more aware of your own mind-set.