Mindfulness and Performance: Cautionary Notes on a Compelling Concept

As Hyland, Lee, and Mills (2015) note, many conceptualizations of mindfulness include three characteristics. In particular, mindfulness is often defined as a state of consciousness in which an individual (a) focuses on the present moment, (b) attends to phenomena occurring both externally and internally, and (c) remains open to and accepting of observed stimuli—and thus avoids making judgments. Together, these characteristics grant insight into how mindfulness stands to improve performance in work settings. Just as directing attention to the work environment and the tasks and events associated with it can equip workers with key information for making decisions and help them identify and circumvent risks and threats, so too can attending to internal phenomena (e.g., emotions and intuitions) provide workers with useful inputs to the decisions they face (Dane, 2011). Furthermore, in refraining from making judgments and evaluations, workers are more likely to view unfolding events through a variety of lenses and are less likely to view their thoughts, feelings, and reactions as manifestations or indictments of who they are (Glomb, Duffy, Bono, & Yang, 2011). In line with these observations, researchers have hypothesized and provided evidence for positive relationships between mindfulness and the well-being and performance of workers (e.g., Allen & Kiburz, 2012; Dane & Brummel, 2014; Hülsheger, Alberts, Feinholdt, & Lang, 2013).