The stirring of soul in the workplace

Abstract

The qualities that come to mind when we think of soul - meaning, memory, wildness, beauty, divinity - are necessary elements for navigating today's organizations into the future. But even with all the talk of empowerment, self-managing teams, flat organizations, and hundreds of other programs that promise more autonomy and more fulfillment, managers and employees are experiencing a disillusioning gap between what organizations say and what they do. Evocatively written, with real-life cases and stories and intriguing historical perspectives, Alan Briskin offers a way to understand that gap - its origins and the ways it may be bridged. The Stirring of Soul in the Workplace is an inspiring and provocative alternative to the flood of management books that suggest ways to shift your paradigm and get you home in time for dinner. Briskin embarks on an exploration of soul, including its often neglected shadow side, and the consequences of ignoring it in the workplace. He examines the historical forces that have - brutally at times - subordinated the soul to the needs of efficiency and productivity. And he suggests a more active way of taking up our work roles that can help us bring more of our experience and imagination into play. Briskin shows that when we learn to honor the contradictions, uncertainties, and interconnectivity inherent in the workplace, the energies of the soul stir into being, with revitalizing results.

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