The Way we’re Working isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz et al.

I lecture occasionally on Work and Spirituality, so was interested in a new book that looks at why the way we work simply isn't working, especially when it suggested that part of the reason for this failure is that workers are not spiritually engaged with their work.

Author Tony Schwartz is concerned that technology is dehumanising the workplace: "The relentless urgency that characterises most corporate cultures undermines creativity, quality, engagement, thoughtful deliberation and, ultimately, performance." I agree whole-heartedly.

His basic creed is that to ensure employees work to their potential, workplaces need to provide opportunities for workers to experience physical renewal, emotional renewal, mental focus and stimulation, and a sense of purpose and significance.

The latter is Schwartz' definition of "spirituality", which marks a substantial change in the understanding of the word.

Wikipedia, the font of modern cultural wisdom, defines spirituality the following way: "Spirituality can refer to an ultimate reality or transcendent dimension of the world; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his or her being, or the deepest values and meanings by which people live."

I have increasingly noticed a movement from the first definition to the second.

Stuart Piggin, head of the Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience, has collated the following definitions of Christian spirituality:

Eugene Peterson: "The attention we are giving to what God is doing in our lives."
Annie Cooper: "The study of God's intention: the invisible that moves the visible."
David G Benner: "Spirituality is the discovery of the fundamental connection that exists between us and God " a connection that then properly aligns us to others, the world and our deepest self." Surrender to Love, IVP, 2003, p.13.
Stuart Piggin: "Spirituality is our whole of life orientation. It is concerned with our values, our virtues, our sense of reality and meaning, our experience of the sacred, specifically of the Holy Spirit of God in Jesus Christ."

I think our understanding of spirituality is really important. The sense of a transcendent external focus, rather than an inner personal source, makes all the difference, especially when we are thinking about what defines our values, our sense of purpose and our sense of meaning.

In the end Schwartz is all about people getting in touch with their inner reality, cultivating positive emotions, extending their sphere of influence, focusing on their own renewal; however, he does want leaders to move away from self-absorption and to refer to "us".

In stark contrast, Christian spirituality is about getting in touch with the spiritual reality revealed in the Word of God, cultivating an inner humility resulting from an awareness of our true spiritual bankruptcy before a holy God, an embracing of the transformational reconciliation with God and the world and our true self made possible by Jesus' dying and rising, and the cultivation by God's Spirit of an attitude of compassion toward others and reorientation around God's priorities.

How ironic that Schwartz' concept of spirituality is just another form of human-centred self-absorption; politically correct but ultimately meaningless, purposeless and leading to a false destination.