Zen And The Art Of Corporate Productivity
from the 2-3-is-my-daily-meditation-time dept
Companies are laying off people left and right, cutting benefits, and expecting long hours. It's no surprise that stress in the workplace is a problem. Now, however, there's a growing trend that allows companies to (cheaply) try to deal with the stress issue. They're encouraging their staff to meditate. Many companies, big and small, are now preaching daily meditation as a way to cut down on stress and improve productivity. While I have nothing against meditation, and think it definitely improves productivity to take a break during the day to recharge your batteries (I'm a fan of a power nap), something about these stories sounds a little bit like corporations trying to appease angry workers with something to cover up just how bad working conditions have become. "Oh, sure, we've cut half our staff, doubled your workload, cut your salary, and your options are underwater. But, just meditate a little bit - we'll even provide a mat - and all will be okay..."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
Can you imaging the outrage if companies encouraged prayer? While meditation in itself is not religous, it does have connections and connotations with Eastern religions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Just another fad
Perhaps companies now will hire pushy new age types to come in and demand that people meditate, and will accuse those who oppose the practice of "having bad vibes" or whatever.
The pattern here is that businesses are falling for pop psychology fads that have no basis in the true science of psychology. In the long run, there is no substitution for good leadership, ethical treatment of employees.
[ link to this | view in thread ]