 |
|
|
|
|
|
Dear
Doctor:
What is your first response when you hear the term spirituality in business? I am currently taking a course by this title and wanted to hear other's reactions.
Thanks,
Searching
Dear Searching:
We search for words that will convey deep meaning. Spiritually is one such word. At the deepest level, I want my relationship with people, both customers and co-workers, to be harmonious and I want the same relationship with products and the environment.
If spirituality characterizes delivering QUALITY, I think it is a good word to use. If spirituality means delivering SERVICE to others, I think that it is a good word to use. If spirituality means INTEGRITY in our dealings with others, it is a good word to use. On the other hand, if spirituality carries the baggage of dogmatic I'm-right-and-I-know-what-God-and-what-beliefs-my-co-workers-should-hold, it is a bad word. So use the word with care. CARING is what makes a workplace a great place to work.
There are some groups of business men and women that hold prayer breakfasts. Some pass out Bibles. And some others seek to convert their co-workers. If this is what is meant by spirituality, that in my opinion, is a dangerously narrow and parochial intrusion into the workplace and can cause divisiveness.
You might find it interesting to examine metaphors used to convey the concept of spirituality in organizational life. Certainly the traditional metaphor of this place is like a machine (with its "run smoothly" and "we're cogs" imagery) does not carry a spiritual message of respect for the dignity of work or the worker. Nor does the "business in war" metaphor or "this place is a zoo" metaphor. But the "servant" metaphor used by the Service Master Corp. speaks a message of the doing lowly tasks and doing them masterfully. The servant metaphor also it a positive one for a manager to have for her/himself.
In our community we have a Fussy Cleaners that boasts that it will care for your garments as a fussy grandmother might. That unusually negative metaphor is one that is counter-intuitive and speaks to the customers trust in a company that takes special care.
So do send along what you and your colleagues learn about spirituality in business.
WEGO seeks new words to convey deep and satisfying meaning to life and work.
--Bill Gorden