The Mindfulness of Organizing: Wisdom, Compassion, and Communication

Abstract

Mindfulness has been getting more and more attention in different organizational sectors, ranging from the Silicon Valley tech scene to the US Marine Corps. Thus, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and engineers are becoming increasingly enamored by the potential benefits of using meditative practices in organizational settings to help people become more centered, present, and resilient. Few studies, however, have empirically investigated how a Buddhist philosophy of mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion can be translated into actual organizing practices.

This lecture presents an overview of ethnographic studies that address this question by examining how this translation occurs in the course of everyday communication in the context of a monastic and a humanitarian organization.