Mindfulness: Cultivating Agile Minds

Vishu Hegde, Partner, PM Power Consulting

Agile India, 7th Mar 2017

D R A F T

Self Intro

2

IISc ADA

About PM Power Consulting

10 years 15

coaches/consultants 40+ Customers in

India and outside

3

Training Coaching Consulting

Orga

niza

tiona

l Ex

celle

nce

Lead

ersh

ipDe

velo

pmen

t Design Thinking Agile DevOps

ProjectManagement

ProgramManagement

Where Does Agility Start? Agility starts in the mind

Minds of leaders Minds of Practitioners Minds of Customers

4

Left Brain Right Brain Game

Description for Reviewers: A fun game where participants

experience their left & right brain aspects

Left Brain Right Brain

Ref: A neuroscientist’s observation of left brain and right brain action while going through a stroke : https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight?language=en

How to harness both left brain & right brain?

Past & Future

Present

What Makes Agile Successful?

Hard aspects

Soft aspects

10% Visible part

90% Invisible part

Practices

CeremoniesTools Metrics

……….

Self-organizingShared visionMotivation

Team engagementCustomer engagement

CommunicationCollaboration

……….Leading

indicators

Laggingindicators

IQEQ

Emotional Intelligence

Ref: http://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader/ar/1

The Five Components of Emotional Intelligence – Bedrock of Agile Culture

Self Regulation Self Motivation

Empathy Social skill

Self Awarenes

s

Mindfulness – Tools For EQ

9

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way,on purpose,in the present moment,non-judgementally

- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness@Work

10

Mindfulness Practices

+Emotional

Intelligence+

Neuroscience

…. And Many More

Mindfulness@Work Case Studies

13,000 employees trained on Mindfulness practices

28% reduction in stress levels

20% improvement in sleep quality

1 hour per week productivity improvement

Feedback from 90 senior Leaders after 7 weeks of Mindfulness practices: 80% of leaders

reported improved decision making

89% reported improved listening

1500 Mindfulness practitioners reported on a 10 point scale: 2 points

decrease in stress levels

3 points increase in general happiness & well-being

2 points increase in new ideas, mental clarity & creativity

Mindfulness And Neuroscience

12

Reduced brain wave frequency (EEG);Deep relaxation

Reduced Gray Matter in Amygdala Reduced fight/flight instinct Reduced fear, anxiety

Increased Gray Matter in Neocortex Higher awareness, learning

Neurotransmitters:Dopemine (anti-depressant)Oxytocine (love & pleasantness)Serotonin (self-esteem & confidence)Opiates (pain killer)…

Ref: Stanford & Berkeley university researches

13

Mind Switch Game Description for Reviewers:

A game that simulates 2 processes in the mind – once in a serial way and then in a concurrent way

Participants experience the drop in productivity by running processes concurrently in the mind

14

Mind Matters – Software Happens In Mind

“Everything is created twice: First in the mind and then in reality” – Robin Sharma

A Mindfulness Program

15

Asia Pacific Leadership team of a large US multinational software company

Another Mindfulness Program

Global Leadership team of a German Semiconductor company

Feedback On Mindfulness Program

17

Feedback From Participants After 1 Month of Mindfulness Practice

Feedback from participants on improvements (% of participants reporting significant improvement) after 1 month of practice

18

Mindfulness Exercise Description for Reviewers:

Participants will experience a sample combination of Mindfulness practices:

Observe Outside – Observe Inside Breathwatch Bodyscan

19

Mindfulness Case: Hostile Meeting To Collaboration

A startup company Three key entities:

2 Promoters + 2 Fund Managers + 10 Investors Major conflict for release of second tranche of money

Heading towards legal course of action A face to face meeting of all the 3 entities facilitated with

Mindfulness practices Turned into a very collaborative & constructive way forward

20

Promoters Fund Managers

Investors

Mindfulness Case: Hostile Meeting To Collaboration

Feedback from one of the fund managers :

“Thank you ” would be the least understated statement for the efforts that you have put and demonstrated a “will” to find a “way” out of a situation. On behalf of everyone marked here, I wish to extend my deepest thanks for your involvement to maneuver a difficult situation.

 The way you created cohesiveness amongst everyone present was thoroughly admired. I

am putting it officially that you can add up all the members marked in this  mail under your “FAN FOLLWING “.

 We wish to spread across the positivity that you have imbibed within us in the meeting

and try to inculcate some thoughts in our day to day life.

Feedback from one of the investors:

I must thank you profusely for moderating today's meeting so very well.I liked your idea of initiating the meeting with a few minutes of meditation &

introspection, something which is a great diversion in such tricky situations

21

Agile Values & Mindfulness

22

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan

AwarenessEmpathy Focus

Motivation

EmpathyAwarenessEmpathy

23

Agile Principles & Mindfulness1. Early and continuous delivery2. Changing requirements3. Working software4. Working closely5. Motivated individuals6. Face to face conversations7. Measures of progress8. Sustainable pace9. Technical excellence10. Simplicity11. Self organizing teams12. Retrospectives

Mindfulness Agility

Aware CalmSensing Responding

Self Managed IndividualsSelf Organizing Teams

Collaboration Facilitative Leadership

Self-regulating Motivation

Thank YouVishu Hegde

vishu@pm-powerconsulting.com

Mindful Leadership Program

26

In partnership with Search Inside YourselfLeadership Institute (incubated from Google).30+ Senior Leaders from IT companies.

Mindful IT Company – Happiest Minds Technologies

27

Enterprise wideMindfulness Transformation