Outlook software or Outlook mindware?
It’s a must-have that constitutes the fundamental infrastructure of a corporate set-up. It enables communication between the employees. It facilitates work and contributes to the ethic of ‘organizing’! It’s the greatest contribution of one of the leading technology giants to the corporate world.
It’s the all-familiar ‘Outlook’ – the web-based suite of webmail, contacts , tasks and calendaring services.
The entire corporate world would vouch for the efficiency the software brings to any organization. Today it is an integral part of any office.
But has anyone read the subtext? The underlying meaning that seems to be staring at us daily? Or the allegory that it stands for given the mounting stress and discontentment at workplace?
OUTLOOK- the 7 letter word that should ideally go beyond software to include the predisposition of employees towards each other. Yes. What if we all stared at our screens and focused on our ‘outlook’- towards work, employees, teams, culture – towards the smallest atom that goes into creating ,producing, facilitating people, productivity and profits.
What if we plug in a parallel ‘mindware’ called ‘Our Outlook’ every morning when we punch in our entry into the workplace. What if we change our perspective on ‘tasks’ and see them as ‘asks’ of ourselves. What if we focus on our ‘inbox’- that stores grudges, insecurities, complexes and doubts and replace it with ideas, positivity, encouragement and celebration? What if we can create more space for others and their perspectives by trashing our daily conflicts and obsessions. What if we could create a culture of ‘give and receive’ that only propagates a mindful exchange? What if we keep clearing mailboxes daily to stop the hazardous hoarding of ‘junk’ thoughts?
Given this new mindware, one thing is for certain. There would be far fewer breakdowns of either spirit or productivity, far lesser silos between people and processes and a connectivity that creates an energetic environment where the faces behind the screens look chin upwards and smile across the cubicles and dissolve the ‘cabin lines’. There would be a capacity far beyond the measurable units of MB and GB. A capacity that can create more well-being for all.
For starters, can we gaze at ‘Our Outlook’ for just 5 mins a day and switch on our mindware to cultivate an awareness far more precious than any software can afford. Sometimes, it helps going ‘micro’ and making the littlest atom the most significant. It helps focusing on ‘Outlook’.