Religion and spirituality in organisations: Lunchtime Talk with Mark Argent

Religions occur in all human societies, with the implication that the capacity for religion is an integral part of being human. But organised religion is in decline in the West, leaving a gap.

For some this turns into a potentially-artificial separating of religion and spirituality — of the public and the private — which might make sense as a “flight to the individual”. But it’s possible to think of religion as holding valuable collective unconscious content, and having a particularly important role in the processing of trauma — thinking of trauma as something that resists symbolisation, and religion as enabling some of this to come into language, and in a way that need not be isolating.

One aspect of this is around how we process our mortality. How far does career or financial success act as a defence against the fear of death in a way that inhibits thinking and innovation?

Another is around stories told in organisations: how far are these peculiar to the organisation, or linked to others through the relatively monochrome perspective of contemporary management theory, and how far do they help people find deeper meaning in their work?