Knowing what to do
Stephen Allen reflects on the Quaker Business Method
In my view, one of the greatest strengths of our Quaker way is how our processes, in particular our business method, can embrace our individual ‘unknowing’ about being in a world. By unknowing, in this instance, I am connecting with the definition proposed by the educational philosopher Michalinos Zembylas: a realisation of inadequacy in terms of anything approaching full and comprehensive understanding. Let me try to explain something about how I came to this idea.
My family and I attended our first Quaker Meeting about four years ago; so, in relation to many Friends, our experiences of seeking to be Quaker are very modest. During this period we have moved with working opportunities, first attending Meeting in Poole (Dorset), then Lancaster (Lancashire) and now Beverley (Yorkshire).
We were prompted to explore Quakerism from becoming excited about a nondogmatic spirituality that identified itself as a community of people taking personal and collective action for socio-environmental sustainability. Alongside developing an understanding of these concerns and commitments among Friends, I have become interested in making sense of the alternative, nonhierarchical ways of organising that Quakers have developed over the past 350 years.
I have found Quaker organising to be most clearly expressed through our business method and, consequently, this aspect of Quakerism has become a key focus of my spiritual and intellectual interest. I use the word intellectual because as an academic working in a business school I try and bring my whole self to work by endeavouring to express my life interests through my research. Given this, I attempt to approach the potential academic treadmill associated with ‘publishing or perishing’ by writing about what appear worthwhile purposes. I endeavour to focus my publications on topics that can ricochet, hopefully, in interesting ways.
I see that the dominant ways our societies, economies and commerce go about organising are in urgent need of inspiration if they are to show substantial signs of engaging with the pressing realities of socio-environmental unsustainability. Consequently, it seems to be a good moment to try to bring some attention to the alternative ways of working together that are encapsulated by our business method, which has largely been ignored in studies of organisations and management. However, although spirituality in business and management writing has become a bit more en vogue, it is a topic that can get some prickly reactions from academics reviewing for journals, who are expecting certain views of rationality and reason. Also, there is some necessary scepticism as some writers put spirituality into the service of accumulating capital.
It took about two years, from starting to research, to publishing it in a ‘good’ management journal, which is pretty quick by journal publishing standards. The debates that my writing comes into conversation with are around a concept called ‘reflexive practice’. The general idea is that because our knowing about the world is socially, culturally, historically and physically situated, from our ‘location’ we inevitably develop limited perspectives on being in a world. However, if we take on board this idea of never comprehensively knowing, it can mean we become anxious from the potential disorientation and disruption to possibilities of knowing what to do.
My argument is that by being aware of our individual limits the ways we perform our business method can produce a more intelligent, spiritually engaged, respectful and equitable ‘knowing’. Hence, the business method helps to offer some images of the possibilities for working together.
When I look at the scale of the challenges we face, it very much feels like the time has come for society to take greater inspiration from our Society. I am just worried that it will take too long for people to notice.
Further information: http://bit.ly/LearningFromFriends
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