Engaging Buddhism in Organisational Change

Jeff Waistell, Principal Lecturer,
Oxford Brookes University, UK
jwaistell@brookes.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

This paper critically evaluates the management literature on the role of spirituality in organisational change. While the increasing interest in spirituality in organisations is to be commended, the concept of 'spirituality' is critically examined in the context of the literature on engaged Buddhism. The emphasis on ‘spirituality’, together with Western preferences for cerebral, conceptual and rational modes of thinking, is contrasted with Buddhist practice, which views understanding as a visceral process that involves bodily awareness. The article considers the implications of shifting from a disembodied ‘spirituality’, which produces partial and empty reasoning that is disengaged with reality, to a management process that engages Buddhism, with its emphasis on developing wisdom through daily concrete experiences. Our approach to thinking is part of the problem, not a solution, so Buddhism’s grounded approach is explored with reference to each main stage of the organisational change process.

Firstly, Buddhism can make a major contribution to perceiving and defining the problem, prior to any change effort. The mind is the most significant causal factor in creating and sustaining conditions. Managers apply theories to diagnose the need for change but conceptualisation provides an incorrect picture of the world; conversely, in Buddhism, knowing a situation in its suchness involves concrete experience. The emphasis is on awareness of practice and connecting meditation with skilful action, not on abstraction and conceptualization. Equally, the notion of impermanence throws into question conventional analyses within the organisation.

Secondly, in diagnosing the need for change, Buddhism warns against early conclusions, privileging instead the investigation of underlying root causes, complex conditions, multiple levels of causality, and the relative contribution of each cause. Interbeing and interdependence suggest the need for a systems analysis of the organisation’s internal and external environments, which views each part of the situation as belonging to a unified and indivisible whole. Such a wide-angle analysis leads to a comprehensive solution that addresses a range of underlying causes, not just symptoms.

Thirdly, Buddhism’s emphasis on awakening can contribute to the generation of ideas, while the twin methods of meditation and deep listening to one other can provide a rich source of stimulating ideas for change. Fourthly, in evaluating ideas, Buddhism warns of the poisons of greed and ignorance, and invites us to cultivate loving kindness and work for the well-being of staff and customers. Fifthly, implementing organisational change can founder on staff resistance and fear. Notions of unity and interdependence imply that managers should involve everyone in the change process. Fear can be dispelled with meditation on the still silent point amidst impermanence and change. Finally, Buddhism questions the idea of changeless, absolute truth and fixed entities. From this, managers and staff can learn the importance of non-attachment to the change and instead view the organisation as a process in constant flux.