Customer Reviews

Awake at Work: 35 Practical Buddhist Principles for Discovering Clarity and Balance in the Midst of Work's Chaos

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Most of us spend a third of our adult lives at work, and for many it is not much fun. It becomes something that we do to pay the bills, rather than being a fulfilling activity in which we can be fully engaged. Even for people in the professions that require a lot of thinking, work often becomes a bit of a hindbrain activity that people can do in their sleep.

For the last three decades I have been asking three questions:
"Why do so many people sleep walk through life?"
"Would they thank us if they woke up?" and
"What could we do to help them wake up?"

The author of this important book helps provide some answers. He founded Awake at Work Associates, a consultancy that specializes in helping organizations and individuals apply mindfulness awareness in the workplace, to help both recover balance and well-being in work. Michael Carroll is both a practicing Buddhist who is an authorized teacher in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and has over two decades experience in human resources in several large companies. He teaches mindfulness meditation at the Omega Institute, New York Open Center, and the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia.

Michael encourages us to explore our relationships to work and his book is full of practical and uplifting suggestions that are grounded in his work in meditation.

One good example is this: he points out that if we are going to be awake at work, we need to understand how we fell asleep. In Tibetan Buddhism, meditators study the six confusions or "mindsets that describe how we imprison ourselves at work." He then applies these six confusions in the workplace:
Work as drudgery
Work as war
Work as addiction
Work as entertainment
Work as inconvenience
Work as a problem

As he says, "recognizing that we, not work are imprisoning ourselves is critical if we expect to discover well-being in our livelihoods." So he provides precise ways of "letting go" of the imbalances that work can introduce into our lives by cultivating authenticity and a right code of conduct.

He also describes a practice that he calls "enrichment," that can be used to used to resolve conflicts. The idea is that in an adversarial situation, we should not try to defend our own truth or position, or to find some way in which we can benefit, but to act with good will to produce an outcome that is mutually beneficial. This is more than just trying to find the win/win in a situation: it is a broader concept that goes beyond personal gain to try and find the greater good. This may sound like something easier said than done, but the book contains good advice on how to attain this.

What I particularly like about this book is that it is an exercise in practical spirituality. A spirituality that we visit for an hour or two a week may be fine for some people, but the real value of a spiritual life is that it can be something that can inform all of our actions, from education, to work, sex and politics.

Highly recommended.

It's unfortunate that a great book like this one receives negative comments from two previous reviewers because it's clear that both readers completely misunderstood the concept and purpose of this book. This is not a book about dealing with "difficult people" and it's not a "New Age" blend of "groovy" ideas. It's also not "practical" in the sense of being yet another foolish book with a list of 7 steps you can apply at work tomorrow so you can take over the company. This book is about the application of real spiritual practice in the environment of work. It's about learning taking Buddhist meditative disciplines from the meditation cushion and applying them in the real world.

If there were a flaw with this book I think it would be that in order to really understand what the author is talking about, the reader would need some understanding of the principles of meditation. Better yet, the reader would be a meditator.

If you are interested in learning how to translate your spiritual and/or meditative practice to the work place, this is an excellent guide. This is a book about long-term practice, not quick fix. This isn't a book for everyone.

Buddhist practice and meditation has been around for something like 3,000 years, why this ancient and noble practice is described as "New Age" is beyond me.

This book was a godsend for me. I read a section of it EVERY morning before I go to work. I've worn out two copies and just ordered more. If your job gets under skin in any way, shape or form, do yourself a large favor and get this. And by the way, you can swap the word "work" with "life" and the wisdom becomes even broader. GREAT BOOK.

We work most of our lives. Some people have odd jobs throughout life, others work at long steady careers. No matter if you're a dishwasher at a restaurant or a lawyer, this book opens you up to the idea that there are lessons to be learned, from the people you have run-ins with to the tasks you complete throughout the day. I suggest this book to anyone who thinks they're missing their calling. With a new view point, you could very well be exactly where you want!

Caroll's book cultivates mindfulness on the job via thirty-five slogans (or principles) designed to provide natural wisdom, openness, and poise in the workplace. The slogans in the book are derived from the spiritual practice of lojong described in the Tibetian Buddhist text The Root Text of the Seven Points of Training the Mind. Carroll recommends a four-step approach of identifying four primary slogans, randomly selecting others to study at your leisure, looking for spontaneously applicability of slogans throughout your day, and deliberating contemplating a slogan a day through meditation, a journals, or an index card system.

The slogans are presented as much more than simple maxims. Each chapter is a well-formed essay with historical perspective, practical modern day applications, and the benefits of each principle. Many chapters encourage the reframing of our thoughts and acceptance of what factors are within and beyond our control. The reader is repeatedly encouraged to meditate and reflect to explore specific aspects of work. The appendix includes practical instructions for conducting a meditation session, strategies for contemplating the slogans, and tips for cultivating li (the social rituals of decency and goodness).

I am so glad this book finally came out on Kindle. I've bought this book in paperback, but as a pick me up, it is great to have it with me to read a chapter here, another chapter there. The opening chapter immediately lets you know what type of book to expect, and then the rest of the book gently guides the reader through different situations, different ideas, and comforting thoughts.

This is one of my favorite books, and I can't wait to read it again.

This book has been invaluable to me since at the root of the recent slump I've found myself in, is a newfound hatred of my job. Carroll explains in a very engaging way how our own resistance to situations at work creates the stress that leads to depression and unhappiness. He explains the importance of staying out of the "blaming state of mind." I knew I had to get myself together, as I teach for a living, and can't just "zone-out" behind a computer - and as someone with a spiritual bent, traditional therapy and prozac simply wasn't an option. This is one of the books that has been instrumental in getting back on track. Other Buddhist-type books that have also been unbelievably helpful (especially in terms of bringing mindfulness into the workplace as a form of healing):

1. The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
2. Buddha in the Classroom; Zen Wisdom to Inspire teachers

I'm really enjoying this book. Have read books like this focusing on home, self, family - but this takes on focusing, being present and in the moment at work. I wish my co-workers had read it too. ;)

This is a great book in general, but for me specifically it really is helping me to learn how to apply Buddhism to my work day. It is so well thought out and the slogans are wonderful, my favorite is, "Welcome the tyrant". How great is that, it says it all. Anyway, it's all been said in the other reviews, but it is one of those books you know you are going to read and reread. Great job Michael!

I love this book, have re-read it several times, and have sent dozens of people copies--virtually all of whom loved the book. It merits being mandatory reading for anyone with a job in a company with more than one person--whether you just got there and it looks great, can't stand it and are on the verge of leaving, or are someplace in-between.

Why?

How many of us work in companies where the environment isn't as healthy as we want it to be? Yet at the same time, we're often unconscious about these toxicities--maybe even distance ourselves from them or the jobs that create them. We often attribute the job of bettering the work experience to "them"...or maybe even change the environment for our own groups or for the company at large...but in effect treat the people we want to benefit (and ourselves!) as relatively passive participants.

"Awake at Work" sheds a whole new perspective on the workplace experience. NOT just enabling people to see their own role in how they experience work. But giving very specific lenses (35, in fact) on how to change the way work feels FOR US for the better, without the environment having to change one iota. Brilliant! And a very easy, almost poetic read, too. How many books give you a whole new and very positive way to think about and experience a place you spend a lot of your time...can be used in a practical way (e.g., chapter a day)...and are just a good read in the bargain? I found Michael Carroll's "Mindful Leadership" great, too--but "Awake at Work" is entirely unique in my experience of management literature.

The obvious benefit being "Awake" provides: you'll find work a much more pleasant, productive place--if only because you'll be better engaged with what you're doing, no matter how engaged you already are, or how yucky work seems. In addition to that, because you'll be better engaged, you'll probably find some ways to actually improve what's going on around you. And, while most readers will suddenly like their jobs more, others may realized it's time to move on--but will be much more productive in doing so, since a lot of energy lost in complaining and distancing yourself in the job you don't like is more positively directed while you're in it, and finding a new one.

Get this. Read it. Re-read it. Pass it on!