Early one morning, among the coastal redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, a
learning and development team from Cisco Systems converges at the Institute of
HeartMath. They’ve come to learn new scientific techniques for developing
human capital -- appreciation, communication, core values -- intended to
decrease stress and improve productivity. No time is wasted.
"Just about all of you used the
word ‘exhausted’ on your needs-assessment questionnaire," says John
White, an easy-going Southerner who team-teaches this corporate seminar,
called Inner Quality Management (IQM). No surprise. These people work in
Silicon Valley. They’re the drivers of the New Economy, kings of the 24/7.
"Mine was in caps–EX-HAUS-TED!!!!" jokes Keith Kaneko, a tall
muscular guy who jogs about 18 miles a week.
Later, when the Cisco team hikes
mountain trails during the lunch break, Kaneko heads back inside. He’s intent
on testing his skill at Freeze-Frame, the stress-reduction technique that
forms the foundation of
HeartMath’s
program.
The Institute of
HeartMath was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit think-tank for scientific
literature on the heart. A few years later, bolstered by studies on heart
intelligence, the institute launched the for-profit HeartMath, whose mission
is to improve organizational efficiency. The main program, Inner Quality
Management, teaches skills such as internal self-management and renewing
strategic processes. The tool with the most leverage, however, is
Freeze-Frame. Basically it’s a time-out for stressed adults: Step back from
the aggravating situation and shift perspective.
So now, sitting before a heart
monitor, Kaneko practices the Freeze-Frame instructions: He focuses on breathing
through the heart, then concentrates on positive feelings. He thinks
of backpacking in the Sierras and family reunions. With each image, the
screen reflects his changing heart rhythms. A jagged line swiftly morphs into
soft curves. A graph rates his success: He hits 90 percent, a near-perfect
score. This state of synchronicity, according to HeartMath, reduces
insomnia and fatigue, boosts the immune system, heightens intuition, improves
creativity, and makes employees happier–thereby increasing employee retention.
Freeze-Frame improves their job performance,
people say, because they apply it to everything from work stress to strategic
planning, complex decision making, and personal interactions in difficult
meetings. "HeartMath develops innovative tools to maximize the inner
technology of human performance," says Bruce Cryer, president of
HeartMath, who’s fluent in geekspeak. "iTech
meets high-tech."
Freeze
tag
Critics say that Freeze-Frame sounds
a lot like new packaging of the biofeedback and meditation techniques popular in
the ’70s, when scientific studies first proved the effectiveness of
stress management.
But now, in a tech-driven work force
where social capital is the acme of efficiency, there’s a big difference.
Beneath all the scientific studies, Freeze-Frame is really about the power of
the heart–focusing on positive emotions such as love to increase health
and happiness in corporate cubicles. (Power
of love balancing the love of power –CR)
"In high tech, when we have used the
words ‘heart’ or ‘soft skills,’ people have been distracted by
that," says Debbie Reichenbach, manager of work force development at Lisle,
Ill.—based Tellabs, which builds telecommunications infrastructure. "But
currently time is so frenzied that people can no longer deny this. The system
has forced the naysayers to change their perspective."
Some say that
HeartMath is the frontier of body/mind science. Dr. Paul Rosch, president
of the American Institute of Stress, in Yonkers, New York, has spent a
half-century conducting stress research. He is convinced enough by HeartMath’s
research to have joined its advisory board.
Rosch considers HeartMath a leader in the
new technologies of heart rate variability (HRV). Recent scientific
studies demonstrated that fluctuations in heart rate are the key predictor of
increased risk of sudden death.
The HeartMath technique–almost
instantaneous–is ground-breaking, according to Rosch, a clinical professor of
medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College. In a 1996 article about HRV,
he showcased the Freeze-Frame technique, then linked it to the concept of
"entrainment," a coveted state that arises when one’s internal
systems are totally in sync, allowing access to deeper intuition in things
such as problem-solving and emotional self-management.
Rosch believes that Freeze-Frame allows
people to access the same internal coherence sometimes achieved by experienced meditators and EEG biofeedback,
but that it "appears to accomplish this more consistently and efficiently,
and has now been shown to represent a very effective stress reduction technique
that could have important applications in the workplace."
High-powered
heart rates
The workplace is indeed paying attention.
HeartMath’s clients include Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, and Motorola–even
the U.S. military. Diane Bauer, manager of worldwide marketing at Cisco, heard
about HeartMath on a national TV newsmagazine. She signed herself up for the
company’s IQM seminar, which teaches such techniques as HeartMapping and
the Heart Lock-In.
When she experienced benefits in her own life, Bauer wanted to introduce
her team to the IQM tools. She says the techniques have improved the spirit
of collaboration among employees. "I saw a behavior change. Our team
was gentler, better at listening, and much more calm. They were also willing to
think outside the box.” (overcoming paradigm paralysis –CR)
Later, Bauer mentioned HeartMath to Larry Lenox, Cisco’s manager of
leadership and development. A psych major himself, he set up a meeting
with HeartMath executives, who hooked him to the heart monitor. "I was
struck by the difference in my own mental and emotional state," says
Lenox.
"Inner Quality Management is a fancy way of saying stress
management, but certainly in Silicon Valley we’ve got plenty of it," says
Lenox during the Cisco seminar. "We’re not going to do things
fundamentally different, like slow up or reduce workload. Speed is the name of
the game, it’s a very competitive industry.” (Paridigms narrow under
stress –CR)
He likes how White of HeartMath puts it: "Can we figure out ways
on the fly to help people stay centered and balanced?" Tellabs
instituted a pilot program in 1998. It identified people with high-stress,
fast-paced jobs, such as workers on the company’s information technology team.
Results were dramatic.
"Two people with elevated blood pressure improved so much they went
off their medica-tion. We documented improved
job satisfaction, an increased desire to stay with the company, a
decrease in fatigue, and an increase in the ability to think clearly, rather
than react."
(Proactive anticipatory paradigm
shifts require harmonic synergy of heart and mind –CR)
At Tellabs, HeartMath training is now offered to people on software
teams. "It’s no different from a PC or a PalmPilot," says
Reichenbach. "They’re all job enablers." A general manager at
Tellabs, for example, has recorded his results over a period of time, and can
now reach 90 percent "entrainment." "He just got promoted two
levels, and without this, I don’t know if he’d even have been a
candidate," says Reichenbach. "He was a pretty high-stressed guy, but
now he’s so much more aware, and in tune with others."
(Qualifying higher consciousness objectively –CR)
A similar story played out at Agilent Technologies,
the Hewlett-Packard spin-off that makes test in-struments for communications
devices. Occupational health manager Melinda Guarino heard about HeartMath from
a colleague at HP, who highly recommended it. Agilent launched a pilot program
for the finance group in December 1999, and is now rolling out a two-day
HeartMath program.
"It not only gives people tools
to use, but also incorporates team issues and communication skills,"
she says. "Unlike traditional stress-management programs, which only apply
to the individual, this shows how to integrate the tools into the work team,
which can be a benefit to everyone."
Psychobabble
or science?
Of course, many in the industry are skeptical of yet another
stress-reduction promise for the work force. "It looks like it’s
empirically valid, all biofeedback works the same way," says a clinical
psychologist (who prefers not to be named) at a prominent university medical
center, who believes that other techniques can produce the same results.
Cisco’s Bauer says some tech workers are initially leery: "It’s a
little like, ‘Oh, no, is this one of those touchy-feely group-hug kind of
things?’" she says.
But for many, this is a positive corporate perk. "There was
an interim director who wasn’t wild about the HeartMath program, so it
wasn’t as available for awhile," relates Tellabs’ Reichenbach.
"Later it came out on the employee poll that people were saying, ‘We want
that stress management program back.’" So the new CEO brought HeartMath
back.
The jury’s still out on heart intelligence, but when the
world’s moving at hyperspeed who has time to wait? Freeze-Frame: Breathe into
your heart–and keep your fingers crossed.
###
Colleen
O'Connor
(coconnor@wenet.net)
is a freelance journalist whose stories
have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and People