Google's Conscious Leaders - Meng Tan and Gopi Kallayil

I was extremely fortunate to have attended the Wisdom 2.0 Conference in Silicon Valley last weekend. It is the first of its kind, bringing together leaders in new media and technology, like Twitter, Google and Facebook, with spiritual and social consciousness leaders. I first heard about the conference about a month ago from a friend. When I followed the link to their site, I discovered that it was sponsored by one of my favorite website, Sounds True. When I saw this and that the founder, Tami Simon, would be a panelist, I was sold.

So, I booked my flight from Montreal, organized friends and family to look after my kids, dog and cats, and I was off. While I felt nervous leaving my children for the first time, I was excited about the opportunities that lay ahead.

Wow! is how I would describe the whole experience.  And a “whole experience” it was. I felt so energized by a weekend filled with stimulating discussions, inspirational stories, challenging debates and the chance to meet amazing people.

I have never been surrounded by so many socially conscious, intelligent, inspiring and creative people. Some of the great minds from Silicon Valley came together with the mindfulness leaders from Shambhala, Fetzer Institute, Huffington Post Living, Yoga Journal and the Upaya Zen Center.  Industry leaders such as Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, mixed with neuroscientist, Phillipe Goldin, Ph.D., from Stanford. I got to mix spiritual ideologies with refreshingly irreverent methodist reverends from the mid-west, and new age publishers and writers from the San Fransisco Bay area. The environment was one of openness, joy, collaboration, peace and sharing.

The big questions that everyone bantered was: “How can we live mindfully, with meaning and wisdom while leveraging the great technology of our time?” The discussions included:

  • Mindfulness in the Modern World
  • Exploring Happiness
  • Ancient Wisdom, Current Times
  • Harnessing the Power: Creatively Engaging New Technologies

There were a few presentations, many lively panel discussions, meditation and breathing sessions, music, dancing and lots of great eating!

All egos were checked at the door. Everyone was there for one purpose – to determine their part in making the world a better place in our modern age.

Probably the best part of the weekend was the “unconference” day. Over 100 people assembled at Google offices to gather in smaller unstructured groups to discuss this big question in more detail. The weekend ended with a tour of the Google head office – a veritable display of mindfulness at work!

Playfulness in the Workplace Inspires Creativity and Innovation

Unlike most stiff conferences in which small talk is painful, I could have had evening-long chats with everyone I met. Each person was incredibly interesting, with a depth and passion for doing good and following their life’s purpose. Each connection was deep and meaningful, in some ways even life-changing. I was amazed, stimulated, inspired and encouraged.

The most encouraging part of the weekend was that I discovered there are so many others who are passionate about bringing mindfulness “out of the closet” and into the real world.

Now that I am back into that world, I struggle with how to conduct myself. How do I share with others my experience without trivializing it? I feel like a traveler who has returned home after visiting exotic places, stuck between missing the rich experiences and at a loss to explain them.

In an attempt to share the experience, I thought I would include some of the quotes that most resonated with me.  I haven’t included the source, because it wasn’t that kind of conference. I am confident that the people who shared these nuggets of wisdom would be glad that I passed them on. Also, I took pretty detailed notes at the conference and would be happy to share with anyone. Please contact me if you would like a copy of these notes.

Words of Wisdom from Wisdom 2.0

The most precious thing I have to give is my attention.

Successful companies can create an environment, setting and creating a culture that allows the flow to happen, not “managing” but tending to garden.

Technology is a lubricant for human nature – both good and bad.

Twitter practice of service: all tweets must either Inspire, Connect, Educate or Entertain.

I am more interested in quality of engagement versus quantity, this is where we bring wisdom to the world.

Wisdom needs to be applied and experienced before the truth of it is realized.

The genie is out of the bottle, now we need to do something about it even if we don’t know where it is going. We need to give it our best shot.

In the high tech world like with Twitter, we often don’t understand what we are building until we have built it.

Be a positive force for good.

What are we going to do with this one wild and precious life?

Dharma is metabolizing with the new technologies.

Hyper-transparency – social networking is like a karmic accelerator enforcing transparency, we are held responsible to our own activities.
Every stick has two ends; what is the shadow side of new technology? We need to consider the quality of presence versus face-to-face contact.
How you share is as important as what you share. People notice how you do what you do.
If you engage with patience, humility and generosity of spirit, people will slowly and steadily build a community.