Mindfulness has become all the rage in personal and professional leadership these days, which is good and bad. Understood and done right, it’s a powerful concept. As with most concepts, however, it’s also often misunderstood, and therefore sometimes maligned and even misapplied. In this way, mindfulness is somewhat similar to lean, which is also a powerful concept offering supporting tools that must be appropriately leveraged in conjunction with a system that includes people with brains (really!) Otherwise it often fails, and is therefore sometimes maligned.

Mindfulness is simply becoming aware; taking the time to slow down, look around, analyze context, and, based on that new awareness, improve. It isn’t just calming the mind, although that can be a key component. It isn’t prayer. It isn’t contemplation, dreaming, or getting lost in thought. It’s not dwelling on the past, or planning on the future, but rather being purposely present right here, right now, with what is truly important.

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