"To the mind that is still," said Loa Tzu, "the whole universe surrenders." During a recent corporate workshop I got to really see this tome in action. A dozen mid and senior level managers met to learn how to access and recognize flexibility in their jobs. Many arrived with the outlook that their jobs could not be done effectively any other way than full time and in the office. The first thing we had each person do was to list all the work they do. All kinds of fun broke out. As you can imagine if you think about all the work you do, these lists were long. Next we asked the managers to put a plus next to the items they like to do or can do quickly and easily and a minus next to work that they don't like to do or often avoided doing. Some people were dissatisfied with fully half of the work they do in their job while others really only disliked one or two aspects of the work.

After pairing people up in small discussion groups we gave the assignment to try to solve each other's aspects of the work that they indicated they didn't like to do. Some great ideas were offered including trading responsibilities and grouping unfavorable tasks to be done all in one afternoon or day. One group suggested getting a partner so the employee didn't do the work alone. A few managers took a like it or leave it approach saying don't complain, just do the work. We cut this part of the workshop short before the groups had a chance to finish and then we asked everyone to sit in silent meditation for ten minutes.

It has been my experience that meditation after a session of intense thinking and discussing can allow the best observations to float to the surface. One of the most significant breakthroughs I have ever witnessed came this time from one of the more rigid workshop participants. He had consistently debased the notion of flexibility as proof of under commitment to the job and judged the whole idea of flexible schedules as an expensive experiment for the company. His contribution at the closing circle of the workshop surprised us all. He said that during meditation time it had occurred to him that if his employees had areas of their work that were not interesting or compelling for them to complete, that his job as a manager was to reassign those duties so that his employees could focus on their strengths. He still was not buying into reduced hours or telecommuting but this revelation that work can be distributed based on passion and interest therefore supporting each employee's strength is great management. Ah, sweet surrender.