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This passage came from Dr. Chiku Malunga’s Book “Organization Paremiology”

While this book was meant for NGO performance improvement, I find this work highly applicable in business as well. Sadly, Dr Malunga transitioned due to kidney complications in 2016. However, the field he established, Organization Paremiology will carry on.

Organizational Consciousness

Organizational Paremiology is based on the African worldview of Ubuntu of the African concept and philosophy of community and the essence of being human. The Ubuntu Cosmos is holistic. It encompasses the material and the spiritual. The spiritual reality is accepted without question. It is believed that human being is a spiritual being. However this consciousness is absent from the modern worldview we mostly work with. As a result, most people are unconscious of this fact of their spirituality.

In Ubuntu thinking, a person becomes ‘spiritually conscious’ or ‘spiritually alive’ the day he or she discovers why they were put on earth. Spirituality relates closely to purpose. For some, this occur spontaneously. For some, it is a gradual evolution which unfolds almost unconsciously. For others, it does not happen at all throughout all their life. They sleep walk their way through life. The same is true for organizations.

Human beings are Trinity beings. They comprise the body, the mind and the Spirit. The current world view causes human beings to be more conscious of their outer elements then their inner elements. For example, all human beings are aware that they have a body. Most are aware that they have a mind, and very few are aware that they have a spirit. In fact, not many people can locate where their spirit is.

The same is true with organizations. Organization paremiology shows that organization have bodies, minds and spirits. The body of the organization includes its material and financial resources. The organizations mind consist of its skills and competencies; policies, systems and procedures; it’s structure: roles and responsibilities and it’s strategy. The spirit of the organization comprises its culture, values and norms; leadership; and vision and mission.

Understanding organizational spirituality (Expanded)

Organizational spirituality is a complex or simple concept to explain. There are so many lenses one can use to conceptualize the spiritual organization. These include:

The spirit – the ultimate source of all energy inspiration to the organization.

Organizational spirit – the organizational leadership, culture, values, norms, vision and mission.

Mind – strategy, structure, roles and responsibilities or job descriptions; policies, systems and procedures; skills and competencies.

Body – financial material resources.

A key point to make about organizational spirituality is the systemic nature of the idea. Everything is connected to everything. The source of spirituality is the spirit, and then it flows out words to all parts of the organization. It is not possible, for example, to have a good spiritual organization when the organization has a sick body. It is not possible also to have an effective organization by working only on the spirit of the organization. It is important to remember that when the consciousness of the role of the spirit is well applied, this has an enhancing affect on all the parts of the organization holistically.