Everything is OK at Work

Work can be a joyful experience even when it seems rushed and constantly changing. Work is a lesson in impermanence. Does the work of today apply to tomorrow’s work? Hardly, because the rules of work are changing, and so is the technology. What counted as efficient and effective ten years ago is hardly the case in today’s world. And it won’t be like this in tomorrow’s world either. In the same way, I also have to adjust myself to the pressures I face today. They are different from when I first started in the company. And what I am seeing is the wave of the future, when work depends more and more on teams of experts who are in a shared dialogue about the soundest practices of the moment. I no longer see too much of a place for experts who are working in isolation.

I have recently tried to adopt a different approach to work. Whereas in the past, I measured myself in terms of how much I can accomplish in a day, I am slowly respecting the fact that there is no single way to judge one’s abilities or accomplishments at work. It depends on the targets, but it also depends on the immediate needs at hand. As soon as I start to associate myself with how much I do in a day, I then form a mental picture in my mind regarding who I am. This ‘mental picture’ can often create an unreasonable pressure which isn’t called for given the situation and its requirements. Not only this, but I compare myself to others, even though the nature of our respective work may be quite different. While some work requires quick decisions and high volumes, other kinds of work demand slowing down and being more aware of the process. Most kinds of work appear to operate somewhere in between these extremes. There is always a tension between doing things with precision and accomplishing many tasks in rapid succession. It also requires an equal balance between habit and reflection. It does help to see this in a contemplative way. By “contemplative”, I mean that ability to contextualize the balances and imbalances in terms of a single, all embracing totality. And this totality is the still mind in between the thoughts. And it is suchness.

Work has its rhythm of stops, starts, sprints, and slow periods in between. How is it possible to measure the efforts of work? Recently, I suggested to a colleague to do a thorough research on each entry she was required to verify, only to find out later that the manager didn’t find this all too necessary in many cases. In the beginning, I felt bad. My mind contracted around the judgment of myself as being somehow inefficient or unable make a good decision.  But later, I began to contemplate the experience. I realized that even the misjudgment was an opportunity to share experiences with a colleague and talk about the research process itself. The other observation is not to see the change in course as a repudiation of my previous efforts. It is more an invitation to loosen my tight view of self and accommodate other perspectives. By measuring myself in terms of one or two limited criteria for success, am I not somehow limiting myself? From another perspective, any kind of ‘criteria’ I use to judge myself is going to fall short of what the mind can do in different situations. In either case, the method is the same: always question the boundary of how I judge myself and define who I am. Am I really ‘that person who I say I am’? Am I really that limited ‘ideal’ into which I want to squeeze myself and mold myself? Most goals and goal seeking behavior can be positive, but it depends on the conditions and what is most right to the situation. This kind of perspective takes a lot of faith and practice. There is a bit of reflection in there, but there is also faith in meditation practice to calm the mind and allow wisdom to arise.

Sadly, nearly all goals I set for myself are going to be limited. They are provisional only, and they are only meant to bring about the best possible benefits for the present moment. But a goal I make today is not necessarily going to be useful in tomorrow’s world.  Vows are different from goals. I may have a goal to be a great researcher, but this goal is conditioned by what I am able to do, including the external environment. With vows, there is simply a wish there, and that wish is not dependent on the external circumstances or what I have learned.  While the achievement of goals often depends on the ability to obtain resources, vows have a different character. They are more about resetting the mind so that I am not serving a limited self. I have to keep using methods and practice to let go of narrow self-perceptions. This process gives me the space to see that situations don’t come with a self. They are just passing moments with their own unique challenges and problems.