Nurturing Innovation at Intel through Mindfulness

Nurturing Innovation at Intel through MindfulnessQua Veda, Intel ITFebruary 2013

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Copyright © 2013, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

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What do Business Leaders and Employees Want?

Leaders want to realize business goals

• Bold new ideas

• Fully engaged employees

Employees want trust, and a balanced life.

Intel is discovering that mindfulness practices address all of these aspirations.

Mindfulness is one of the best kept secrets in business today

According to recent research, 71% of American workers are not fully engaged in their work.

Businesses are operating at one third of their capacity.


What is Mindfulness?

Simple practices that integrate mind and body

• Full awareness of the present moment

• Cultivation of healthy heart/mind habits

• Can be experienced anywhere, in a few moments

• Promotes holistic wellness

• Improves executive functions of the brain

Science shows that mindfulness improves brain functioning


Business is Learning What Science Knows

• A healthy mind emerges from a process called “integration”

• Essential activities are necessary for optimum mental health

• Practice enables your brain to coordinate and balance its activities

• These essential mental activities strengthen your brain's internal connections and your connections with other people and the world around you

Billions of brain cells

Trillions of connections

Neuroimaging shows mindfulness-related techniques promote significant changes in critical cognitive areas.


Intel Employees Embrace Mindfulness Grass-roots sharing/learning about mindfulness

• Began with a few employee experienced in mindfulness practice

• Shared weekly with other employees during the noon hour

• Connected with like-minded employees, word of mouth, blogging

Employees co-created an 8-week mindfulness pilot program

• Intel’s mindfulness program gained management support

• Benefits noticed immediately by attendees

• Helped participants focus, reduce stress, innovate

Soon, business groups across Intel requested pilot programs.


Intel’s Mindfulness Program - Course Arc

The course begins with a focus on self-awareness and moves to interpersonal relationships & collective intelligence and innovation.

Stilling the Mind

CultivatingPresence

RelationalIntelligence

SettingIntentions

EmotionalIntelligence

Risk Taking &Vulnerability

Theory of Emergence

The RippleEffect


Mindfulness Gets Results

Participants in 8-week mindful engineering pilot reported

Higher levels of:

• Clarity and focused attention

• Improved work effectiveness and creativity

• Improved relationships with co-workers

Reduced levels of:

• Mental and emotional stress

• Sense of overwhelm

“Without mindful engineering … the same breakthroughs would have taken much, much longer.” - pilot participant

.


Participants Sum It Up

I am very excited about this work (mindfulness).

In my 12 years at Intel I've never seen anything like this. Small steps like this

that change our culture are vital to our business success and our personal

success. This is significant! - 8-week pilot participant

“A program such as this should be considered a foundational building block program for all employees”- 8-week participant.

I was a bit uncomfortable jumping into this space, but some on my

team had tried it and the results were too incredible to ignore. - 8-week pilot participant


Business is taking notice

We are demonstrating the power of employees to lead from inside.

We are gaining engagement, empowerment, focus, and new ways of solving problems.

More business groups at Intel are requesting and funding mindfulness programs.

Recent articles from the press are reporting successful application of mindfulness in corporations,

in the military, and in education.


Learn more about Intel IT’s initiatives at www.intel.com/IT

Sharing Intel IT Best Practices with the World

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/mobile-computing/intel-it-mobile-computing-enabling-global-collaboration-paper.html

Nurturing Innovation at Intel through Mindfulness

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