Being While Doing: An Inductive Model of Mindfulness at Work
Christopher James Lyddy, Darren Jason Good
Frontiers in Psychology February 20, 2017 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02060 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 39 |
| Population | Professionals in workplace settings |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 40 |
| Key findings | The authors propose that mindfulness at work involves a 'Being while Doing' dynamic whose compatibility varies across individuals and experiences, yielding two experience types ('Entanglement' and 'Disentanglement') and three transition types. They argue that co-activating Being and Doing modes can offset limitations of the typical reliance on the Doing mode, and they offer an inductive model integrating core experience, outcomes, and antecedents. |
Abstract
Mindfulness at work has drawn growing interest as empirical evidence increasingly supports its positive workplace impacts. Yet theory also suggests that mindfulness is a cognitive mode of "Being" that may be incompatible with the cognitive mode of "Doing" that undergirds workplace functioning. Therefore, mindfulness at work has been theorized as "being while doing," but little is known regarding how people experience these two modes in combination, nor the influences or outcomes of this interaction. Drawing on a sample of 39 semi-structured interviews, this study explores how professionals experience being mindful at work. The relationship between Being and Doing modes demonstrated changing compatibility across individuals and experience, with two basic types of experiences and three types of transitions. We labeled experiences when informants were unable to activate Being mode while engaging Doing mode as Entanglement, and those when informants reported simultaneous co-activation of Being and Doing modes as Disentanglement. This combination was a valuable resource for offsetting important limitations of the typical reliance on the Doing cognitive mode. Overall our results have yielded an inductive model of mindfulness at work, with the core experience, outcomes, and antecedent factors unified into one system that may inform future research and practice.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Embracing Mindfulness During Interpersonal Conflict Mindfulness March 23, 2026
- Contextualizing Mindfulness at Work: Strengthening the Scientific Evidence Journal of Organizational Behavior July 12, 2026
- Workplace mindfulness: An integrative review of antecedents, mediators, and moderators Human Resource Management Review June 1, 2021
Cites 10
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects Psychological Inquiry October 19, 2007
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering Psychological Science March 28, 2013
and 5 more in the library