It’s one of the latest perks in the startup world: as part of a wellness effort, some companies provide a yoga studio and classes within the workplace.
Among the latest to take the downward-dog plunge is HootSuite, where the new digs reportedly include not only a yoga studio, but pup tent offices and a nap room (Huffington Post is among those that have yoga and nap rooms, too.)
But this prompts us to ask: can rolling out a yoga mat regularly and bearing in mind some of the practice’s associated principles not only decompress us after a long day of work, but actually make us more productive and less stressed at work to begin with? Can it discourage workplace offenses like taking credit for work you didn’t do or stealing time from your coworkers by being late or disorganized during a meeting?
Workplace consultants Maren and Jamie Showkeir, of Henning-Showkeir & Associates, believe it can do that and more, and in the couple’s new business book, Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and on the Job (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, May 2013), they explain how.
We asked them a few questions via email. Here is our Q and A.
How can practicing yoga independently help improve the work experience? Are yoga classes in the workplace a benefit, or a way to get staffers to work extra hours?
Practicing yoga can help people get clear about their intentions, and then create practices and integrate them into their daily work life. For example, in most workplaces there is a longing for greater accountability from others for the good of the whole. Practicing self-study (svadhyaya), which creates greater self-awareness, and honoring non-greed (aparigraha), which asks that we take only what we need, can help you remember you are part of a larger whole. Your success is contingent on the success of the whole.
These practices also heighten awareness of physical, emotional and spiritual health, which can help you be more mindful and energetically present at work.
As for offering yoga in the workplace, clearly our bias is that it has great benefits that extend beyond the practice. The motivations for offering yoga probably vary widely. But because yoga helps people become more mindful, energized and focused, then the hours spent at work are bound to be more productive.
You discuss the concept of asteya and mention some of the ways people “steal” at work. What are some examples of how management does this to their employees and staffers do this to one another?
Stealing time and resources is probably obvious, but there lots of ways to “steal.” Some thefts are so common they become invisible. For instance, when leaders and managers withhold essential information about work, it could be a way stealing people’s opportunities to develop their potential and to make decisions that serve the business.
Not involving people in decision-making and problem-solving robs workplaces of creativity and collective knowledge that could make the business more successful.
Performance appraisal systems can be a way of robbing people’s dignity, depending on how they’re handled. And when decisions are made about a person’s role or future without any input from the person affected, it’s a way of stealing their voices. However, the overarching point about asteya is to be mindful of your own actions and how they might inadvertently be “taking something that is not freely given.” Taking credit for someone else’s work is a good example, or stealing time by showing up late for meetings.
In your book, you discuss how former Yahoo chief executive officer Carol Bartz immediately sent out a message that she was fired by the board in a company-wide email. Your book suggested that her disclosure was good in that it helped her avoid the non-lying or “satya” that accompanies the usual corporate spin. Can you elaborate?
We wouldn’t frame her actions as good or bad. The point we wanted to make was that her actions were seen as extraordinary in the moment. For a fired executive to tell her truth, without a PR plan or the typical corporate spin — people saw it as remarkable and it generated a lot of conversation. It was a telling commentary on the kinds of workplace cultures that have been created. Typically, asteya, or truth-telling, has been less important than how things look.
Bartz’s actions did a couple of things. She showed that someone can tell the truth without a company falling apart. And she acted outside the historic corporate culture of secrecy. Lack of transparency and secrecy, coupled with greed and self-interest, have been major contributors to many of the economic difficulties we’ve been experiencing.
You discuss how shifting your perspective from what you want to what others want is a form of surrendering to resistance. How can this be applied to a business?
What we actually say in the book is, “Shifting your perspective from what you want to what the whole needs [emphasis added] is a different way of looking at accountability.” When people are deeply informed about their workplace and understand how their work contributes to the success of the whole, just “doing my job” isn’t enough. It’s about being accountable to the enterprise in all the ways you can. You surrender your narrow self-interest for something larger than yourself, and that requires a different level of accountability.
Over the last few decades, there has been significant research showing that collaboration and cooperation yields better results than individualism and competition.
Many start-ups have staffers working long hours, with engineers doing hackathons, for instance, to develop code, sometimes focusing in on a problem at 24 hours at a stretch (Update: since we asked the Showkeirs this question, an intern died after a 72-hour stint at Bank of America). How does this fit or not fit with yoga principals?
Yoga doesn’t really offer commands or prescriptions. However, karma is a principle of yoga. Karma states that every action or thought has consequences and we are responsible for what happens to us. So yoga provides a way of helping people connect their actions to consequences.
In the situation you describe, useful questions might be “does this way of working serve me? Does it contribute to my health, creating good relationships, personal growth, overall well-being? Is it the best way to help the company succeed?” The individual is best able to answer those questions.
Those would also be useful questions for people as they create, organize and grow companies. Yoga advocates for clarity around intention, which would put the focus on examining what they want their organizations to be. It is possible to create culture, especially in a start-ups, that balances the need for success with the well-being of those who are doing the work. You can’t sustain success if people are exhausted or depleted. Yoga principles would provide a framework for answering some of these important questions.
From: Upstart Business Journal