Mindfulness as a Prerequisite to Strategic Conflict
People can be mindless, or clueless, regarding their behavior and context. Langer (1989a, 1989b) has long argued that being more mindful leads to greater personal success than does being mindless.
Burpee and Langer (2005) found that mindfulness increases relational quality more than simply by finding a similar, compatible partner. They observed that “Discussing difficult issues is likely to reveal each partner’s perspective and result in a greater mindfulness on both parts” (p. 43). Likewise, Ting-Toomey and Oetzel (2001) hold that being mindful of one’s actions during conflict is critical to managing conflict competently. Mindfulness can also help people who are neurotic (predisposed toward negativity) to become more adept at managing conflict (Feltman, Robinson, & Ode, 2009).Mindlessness refers to the minimal processing of information that relies on past experiences to determine present action (Langer, 1989a, 1989b). For example, how many times have you driven home and not thought once about what you were doing? You arrive home, look at your hands on the steering wheel, and gasp at the thought of being so mindless about driving. Or perhaps you took someone to the airport and say, “Have a great flight,” to which your friend replies “you too!” Clearly, these are mindless, rote behaviors. Langer argued that mindless behavior is common. People often do not pay attention to how they are behaving in different situations. That is, mindless people treat information as if context does not matter, and they ignore contingencies they should consider (Langer, 1989b). People who do not adapt their communication behavior to the situation are mindless when interacting with others (e.g., using profanity during a job interview).
On the other hand, mindfulness refers to a state of alertness that considers the current situation to determine an effective course of action (Langer, 1989a, 1989b). People tend to become more mindful when (a) an action requires more effort than it has in the past, (b) mindless behavior leads to failure, (c) external factors interfere with completion of a behavior, and/or (d) behavior produces unexpected consequences.
Mindful people create options that consider the situation, demonstrating adaptability, flexibility, and creativity (Brown & Langer, 1990).The cognitive gap between mindlessness and mindfulness occurs at multiple levels. Andersen (1986), for example, described four states of consciousness. The lowest level, minimal consciousness refers to simply being awake. Next, perceptual consciousness requires a minimum of awareness and is roughly equal to attention and perception. Third, constructual consciousness involves planning, direction, and modeling actions. Finally, articulate consciousness concerns the rare instances where people can explain their goals and action plans. Managing conflict at levels 1 and
2 reduces your ability to use strategic conflict, whereas managing conflict at levels
3 and 4 promotes strategic conflict. We want to move you from operating at the lower two levels to the third level and perhaps even the fourth level.
Moreover, mindless people engage in their usual communication behaviors and can be offended by someone who objects to their inappropriate behavior. Mindless people may behave defensively and accuse others of starting the conflict. Mindful people, on the other hand, adapt to the rules of appropriateness of the situation and understand his or her role in conflicts. The implication here is that you should take responsibility for your own part of the conflict. With few exceptions, you are the person who controls your own behavior and should be mindful of that fact.