The Wisdom 2.0 Conference, a Bay Area event that explores the intersection of wisdom, technology, and neuro- science, is only two years old — but already is so popular that it has sold out both years. In fact, Premal Shah, president of the philanthropic social
network Kiva, confessed from the stage at this year’s confer- ence — held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., on Feb. 25–27 — that he’d wanted to attend as a member of the audience. It was only when Shah tried and failed to get a ticket that he remembered that conference founder Soren Gordhamer had emailed him a year earlier, inviting him to speak at the inaugural Wisdom 2.0. Shah accepted the invi- tation for 2011, and finally made it to the event — but as a pan- elist.
Panels were filled with tech entrepreneurs like Shah, along
with Buddhist practitioners and scientists, who spoke on top- ics such as “Managing the Stream: Can We Live Consciously in a Constantly Connected World?” Jon Kabat-Zinn, founding director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and a pioneer in introducing mindfulness in secular settings, led conference members in a group meditation. Wisdom 2.0’s Twit- ter stream slowed down during the meditation — but wasn’t completely still. Organizers have added a second conference to the sched-
ule this year, with Wisdom 2.0 Youth convening at the Computer History Museum on Sept. 17. For more information, visit www.wisdom2summit.com.
of theirownattention—their ability to focus and to expand their awareness, and the ability to shift between the two. Lesser also pointedout that as leaders, theyunderstoodtheimportance of the quality of their attention—how well they listened to other peo- ple—to the relationships they cultivated. The good news is that no matter where a person starts from, “Attention is trainable,” Lesser told the executives. Then, as he guided themthrough exercises designedto develop their ability to pay attention to their breath, and to their own feelings and emo- tions, the CEOs—who oversaw companies worth millions of dollars—“completely, completely got it,” Lesser said. “It changed the quality of their conversationswithone another dramatically.” Lesser also teaches an eight-week course at Google that was
developed in collaboration with author and psychologistDaniel Goleman, whose bestsellers include Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence, along with other scientists. “At Google, we now start all meetings with 30 seconds of silence,” Lesser said. “We call it ‘taking your game face off’—this idea that you are showing up at a meeting, not as someone with some particu- lar role or something that you want, just showing up not know- ing what is going to happen.” There is a lot of research suggesting that meditation leads to
morehappiness, less depression, and a greater ability to pay atten- tion, Lesser said. But one of the biggest results ofmindfulness, he said, is greater creativityandflexibility.“Onewaythat I thinkabout mindfulness practice is that it shows us where we are stuck,” he said.“Our ideas and thinking tend to be rigid, andwe don’t even know it. By loosening those places where we tend to have con- cretized thinking, it results in a lot more flow, and it opens us up to a lot more possibilities.”Meditation and attention training is
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about spending less time rehashing the past or rehearsing for the future,andmore time creating the abilitytobepresent.Lesser said: “And isn’t being present reallywhywe come tomeetings?”
It Doesn’t Have to Be Hard In his bookWorkingWith Emotional Intelligence, Goleman cites research that shows that over time, mindfulness can strengthen circuits in the brain that affect concentration and cre- ativity. But even a few minutes of practice can yield immediate results, Lesser said. And it doesn’t take much to get started. At Google, “we say, ‘You can do this the easy way—or the eas- ier way,’” he said. “The easy way is to just bring your aware- ness to your breath. The easier way is to just sit there. Sit silently. Don’t even try to do anything.” The Garrison Institute’s Pearl agrees. It’s amisconception that
“contemplation is a very esoteric enterprise and you better be ready with incense and learned texts,” she said. “Reflection is as simple as sitting comfortably, breathing normally and paying attention to your breath.” She added: “No special preparation is needed.” Pearl finds it somewhat ironic thatWestern neuroscientists
have finally come up with evidence-based research to prove what contemplatives in Tibet have known for hundreds of years. But, she said, the source of the information about the effectiveness of mindfulness—whether spiritual or physiological—shouldn’t affect how you use it. What’s important is that you just do it. “Don’t be embarrassed,” Pearl said. “You are simply applying best practices to optimal meeting results.”
Barbara Palmer is a senior editor of Convene. www.pcma.org