askesis in contemporary organizational life

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Askesis in Contemporary Organizational Life

Mary Brown and Robert Halsall, Aberdeen Business School, UK

1. Introduction: Theoretical Exposition

In Charles HandysBeyond Certainty: The Changing World of Organisations (Handy1995), we find a chapter entitled Make Your Business a Monastery, in which he

describes an executive seminar run by an international hotel chain, which was

addressed by a Benedictine monk. The monks talk was received enthusiastically by

the audience of hotel managers, because, Handy claims, Their hotels, you could see

them thinking, could be like his monastery (Handy 1995: 188). What he means by

this, of course, is not that hotels should literally become like monasteries, lockingtheir guests in cells, the hotel restaurant enforcing a vow of silence at meals, or

forcing the guests to get up at dawn to pray, but the idea that they could make hotel-

keeping into a mission and that to work for a cause can be wonderfully exciting,much more exciting than working for the shareholders. (ibid.) It is, therefore, not the

ascetic lifestyle of the monk conventionally understood as one of self-denial,

withdrawal from the world, and contemplation, which is being advocated, but a sense

of devotion that can turn the arguably mundane world of hotel keeping into a

mission, a social business.

Similarly, in The Benedictine Rule of Leadership (Galbraith 2004), which applies themonastic rules of St. Benedict to management, we find an allusion to business as a

community of faith, admission to which is one the basis of formation of the self:

The Benedictine concept of corporate formation is ... strategic. ... Formation is

the formal process designed to teach values and vision. It provides the

metaphors, language and skills to develop a way of thinking in line with the

corporate interest. It creates a sense of employee self-development. ... And,

unlike training, formation is education as to the why things happen rather

than just the how. (Galbraith 2004: 13)

In the concept of formation of the individual to be fit for a corporate vision, a

process going beyond mere training, we see business as imbued with a higher

purpose, which the employee has to internalize.

Of course, as critical management scholars familiar with the use of religious discourse

by management gurus, we can interpret this rhetoric in terms of the now familiar

employment of religious metaphors to induce faith in the corporate mission

(Pattison 1997) and to promote devotion to a corporate culture and to ideals of

customer service (Wilmott 1993, 2003). If we examine this monastic rhetoric more

deeply, however, we see more precisely what elements of the ascetic life management

gurus see as appealing to business leaders.

Firstly, working for a cause is more exciting than simply working for shareholders.

The use of the adjective exciting is significant, as excitement is not something we

would normally associate with monasteries, characterised as they are by theircommitment to a seemingly monotonous daily life. What is exciting about the

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monastic life is the idea that work can be motivated by a cause, irrespective of the fact

that this cause, in the case of the monastic community, is God, and that it would seem

that this cause is lacking in the contemporary organisational life. In the modern age,

which the theologian Paul Tillich characterized in 1925 as one of self-contained

finality, the retreat to the desert of contemplation of the early Christian Fathers

would seem, at least, out of place, if not pathological. As Sloterdijk (1995: 105) says,Most contemporaries ... would see the desire to escape the world as a form of

illness.1

The excitement of asceticism, then, is related, not to withdrawal from the world, but

to the necessity of giving work meaning beyond the material, the mere making of

profit, and to the sense ofelevation engendered by this devotion: The sense of beingused for a mighty purpose makes up for ... small inefficiencies, ... often lousy pay and

poor conditions (Handy 1995: 189). The sense of being devoted to something higher,irrespective of whether a metaphysical entity corresponding to God actually exists in

the minds of the devoted, makes the ascetic/hotel manager, and by implication

workers in general, willing to put up with, or even enjoy hardships such as, lousy payand poor conditions. This lends a metaphysical aura to the idea of formation of the

individual to become part of a corporate order, whether this is based on God or

not.

We can clearly see elements of this elevatingdiscourse of asceticism upon which

managerial discourse draws in Christian monastic writing, for example in the work of

John Cassian (425-430), whose Monastic Institutes, in particular Book IV, Of theTraining of the Monks contains a comprehensive system of monastic rules:

When the novice has worked ... for a whole year and demonstrated his care for

the pilgrims without any grumbling, if he has acquired humility and patience

... and is sufficiently tested by this lengthy occupation, he is permitted to

associate with the congregation of brothers. (Cassian 1999: 44)

Juniors may not, without the knowledge or permission of their master, so

much as leave the room, nor even presume to satisfy the common demands of

nature on their own authority. They are so eager to carry out without question

whatever he asks them to do, as if they were commanded by God from heaven,

that when occasionally impossibilities are asked of them, they obey with such

trusting devotion that they try to carry them out wholeheartedly and without

the slightest hesitation. (Cassian 1999: 45)

The traditional virtues associated with monasticism which the trainee monk is to

develop: humility, patience, eagerness to serve, and devotion, are clearly those which

management gurus might see as desirable to apply to contemporary organizations.

There is one fundamental element of this monasticism, however, which seems to be

incompatible with the postmodern workplace: that of unquestioning obedience to a

master.

The idea of an elevating devotion to work, drawing on a religious tradition, is, of

course, nothing new. Weber talks of a vocation or calling as lending dignity to the

spirit of capitalism and as a means of psychological motivation of those whoregarded themselves as the elect. However, central elements of Webers concept of

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askesis, such as the necessity of the destruction of the spontaneity of the instinct-

driven enjoyment of life (Weber 2001: 72), seems hardly consistent with

contemporary organisational life, supposedly imbued with the values of fun,

excitement and pleasure (Rodrigues and Collinson 1995). Boltanski and Chiapello,

in their examination of managerial discourse in the 1990s and its contribution to a

new spirit of capitalism, point out that from the 1960s the Weberian notion ofasceticism could no longer fulfil the function of giving a moral support to a capitalism

based on such values of the materialistic hedonism of the consumer society (2005:

28). On the other hand, they point out, management literature of the 1990s

increasingly adopts a moralistic tone, not perhaps the direct moralising of an

asceticism based on work as a source of salvation, but rather the moralising of the

exemplum: the necessity of depicting the example of the exceptional being, themanager, who is proficient at numerous tasks, constantly educating themselves,

adaptable, with a capacity for self-organization and working with very different

people (Boltanski and Chiapello 2005: 76).

This exceptional being who can serve as an exemplum under the new spirit ofcapitalism does not possess authority by means of giving orders and strict rules, as in

the monastic order, but by means of pastoral guidance, being a catalyst,

visionary, coach, or source of inspiration to employees (Boltanski and Chiapello

2005: 77). The figure of the business athlete advocated by Kanter corresponds to

this ascetic ideal, in that he/she has the strength to balance somewhere in the

middle, taking the best of the corpocrats discipline and the cowboys entrepreneurial

zeal (1990: 361). We will return to the figure of the athlete and the associated field

of spiritual exercises later in this exposition. Suffice it to say here that the manager

as ascetic athlete can serve as an exemplum for a culture in which the leader must

derive authority, not from issuing orders, but from establishing a culture where

everyone must know what they must do without having to be told (Boltanski and

Chiapello 2005: 76).

It has been noted that the evocation of increased worker autonomy and apparent

rejection of the necessity of command and control structures in postmodern

managerial rhetoric of the 1990s is part of a utopia, but one based purely on an

instrumental interest in attracting and shaping the kind of employee who is capable of

working effectively in a fast-paced, ever changing, chaotic business environment

(Knights and Wilmott 2002: 66). This utopia of worker autonomy, then, is clearly

based on a contradiction that increased self-determination, brought about purely for

reasons of a commercial imperative, might countenance the possibility of pursuinglines that might subvert or refuse such imperatives (Knights and Wilmott 2002: 67).

The utopia of a workplace in which disobedience might be tolerated and indeed

encouraged, may disguise a dystopia in which the obedience to the master/ leader,

as in the medieval monastery, is the reality. The monastic notion of askesis invoked

by Cassian, therefore, may not be as incompatible with this contemporary utopia of

autonomy in the workplace as it at first appears, so long as we see this as part of a

long tradition of utopias which readily ... combine the notion of autonomy or

freedom with oppressive control (Knights and Wilmott 2002: 60).

To understand this apparent contradiction between a form of rhetoric which appears to

advocate an organisational life based on values of the individual, autonomy andempowerment, and a form of life, the medieval monastery, in which the values of

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willing subjugation, unquestioned obedience, humility, and self-abasement are

central, we might, of course, draw on the familiar critique of the different notions of

the individual in ascetic thinking by Foucault. He distinguishes between two notions

of the individual: The first, close to the utopian notion of the autonomous individual

invoked by postmodern management theorists, is characterized by the absolute value

attributed to the individual in his singularity and by the degree of independenceconceded to him vis--vis the group to which he belongs and the institutions to which

he is answerable (Foucault 1997: 42). The second notion, in which one is called

upon to take oneself as an object of knowledge and a field of action, so as to

transform, correct, and purify oneself, and find salvation(Ibid.), is close to the ascetic

ideal of the monastery.

By drawing a distinction between the Christian ascetic tradition, with its explicit

rejection of any individualism that might be inherent in the practice of reclusion

(Foucault 1997: 43), and the Stoic philosophical conception of askesis as spiritual

exercises, Foucault provides us with a means of critically reconciling the existence of

these two notions of individuality in managerial discourse. Managerial discoursetransforms the Stoic conception ofaskesis as spiritual exercises, which, in its original

connection to self-improvement, the drive for perfection and Socratic self-

examination, might have been seen as something positive, is translated into a form of

a permanent spiritual exercise, divorced from true self-examination and into a means

of discipline, a means of integrating employees into the productive force of

institutions (McGushin 2007: 12).

If we see the renewal of interest in asceticism in management literature, then, rather

than attesting to a renewed interest in religion or spirituality, but as part of a

programme of spiritual exercises carried out very much within the world, rather thanin the desert, we may be closer to a theoretical understanding of askesis in

contemporary organizational life. In this anthropological schema, the manager might

represent the monk as an exemplary universal archetype of devotion, adaptation and

compliance with norms (Pannikar 1982), rather than an other-worldly re-incarnation

of St. Anthony, and the employee might represent someone who exists under a

permanent commandment of You must change your life (Sloterdijk 2009), perfectly

compatible with the therapeutic habitus of play, fun and happiness at work

(Costea et al. 2007).

Before examining the cultural implications of such an anthropological schema in

detail, and in particular examining the recent work of the German cultural theoristPeter Sloterdijk on this, we will return to the notion of spiritual exercises in its Stoic

sense, and set out the principal elements of this as far as the development of ascetic

attitudes in contemporary organisations are concerned. Firstly, central to the idea of

life as a spiritual exercise, as Hadot (1995) emphasizes, is the connection with

Socratic self-examination: Every spiritual exercise is dialogical insofar as it is an

exercise of authentic presence of the self to itself, and of the self to others (Hadot

1995: 21). The idea of dialogue with the self is reflected, for instance, in the literary

form of Marcus Aureliuss Meditations, hypomnemata, or personal notes written day

to day (Hadot 1998: 11). Such a dialogue with the self need not actually be written

down, nor necessarily take the form of a day to day examination, but, rather, consists

ofa mode of questioning, of how one represents things events, people, ones life to oneself, and how one trains or disciplines the faculties in relation to the three

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philosophical topoi identified by Epictetus: judgement, desire and inclination or

impulsion (Hadot 1998).

With regard to the first, desire, Epictetus defines the trainee as the person who

abstains from desire, and who employs aversion only on the things that pertain to

volition, practising especially on those things that are hard to work at (Epictetus1890: 226). This is not the negation of bodily desire associated with later Christian

asceticism, but the training of the faculty of desire to seek, not just those things which

the self finds pleasurable, but even, and in particular, those things which it does not:

I am rather inclined to pleasure: I will incline to the contrary side above

measure for the sake of exercise. I am averse to pain: I will rub and exercise

against this the appearances which are presented to me for the purpose of

withdrawing my aversion from every such thing. (Epictetus 1890: 226)

The parallel to this form of exercise for the ascetics of contemporary organizations

might be the deliberate seeking out of aspects of work which are either unpleasant orbeneath the capabilities of the employee for purposes of ingratiation or

demonstrating commitment, or the deliberate allocation of such tasks by managers

to employees, to promote the kind of discipline or aversion therapy described here

by Epictetus.

In the second element of exercise, the faculty of judgement is to be trained towards

an inner attitude of objectivity, meaning detachment in the sense that, whatever

happens to me, such outward events do not touch my inner citadel or impregnable

islet of autonomy (Hadot 1998: 83). Examples of such an inner attitude of

detachment or autonomy occur frequently in Marcus Aurelius, for example:

Things cannot touch the soul (Meditations IV, 3)

They cannot produce our judgements (V, 19)

They themselves know nothing, and by themselves they affirm nothing (IX,

15)

This Stoic notion of autonomy is often invoked within contemporary organizational

settings in relation to change. The ideal ascetic attitude of the employee to change

might be described as such an attitude of objectivity the retention of an

unchanging, adaptable core of commitment, which would be unaffected by outwardschanges in management structures, job responsibilities etc. In the Stoic view of the

world, changing outward circumstances, however unfavourable, are just

opportunities for training (Long 2002: 196).

With the third topos, that of action or impulse, we come to that aspect of training

which is essentially concerned with ethics, morality, and social relationships, or to put

it in the terms of contemporary organizational discourse, interpersonal

communication. Stoic asceticism has been seen in the modern era, in its advocacy of

detachment, as being associated with emotional repression and insensitivity towards

the needs of others (Long 2002: 244-5). This, however, is to misinterpret the Stoic

attitude to happiness, whether of the self or others. Firstly, it attributes a differencebetween inner and outer which is at odds with Stoic ethics and the Stoic self. The

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form of happiness in Stoic thought is that of eudaimonia, the state of "well-being"which is achieved by someone whose life is objectively admirable, notwithstanding its

possible lack of emotional and material gratification (Long 2002: 190).

Well-being results not from the repressive control of desires or emotions, but

through limiting oneself to the desires and emotions which it is deemed appropriateorreasonable to have within a culture. Emotions which it is notreasonable to have,

particularly relevant to contemporary organizational life, include anger, jealousy,

envy and irritability (Long 2002: 244). Importantly, the desire to control anger etc.

should come from self-examination in the sense of training as self pedagogy, as

outlined above, rather than just from explicit rules etc. As a trainee, we examine our

powers, qualifications and potential, and having understood our limitations, we will

no longer have such inappropriate emotions. We see this self-pedagogical

discourse in contemporary organizations in the form of personal development plans,

self-analyses of our strengths and weaknesses, and anger management

programmes, which we will examine in detail below.

Having described the main elements of exercise and training in the Stoic idea of

askesis, we need to pose the question, in what sense are such exercises spiritual, a

question of importance given the fact that contemporary organizational askesis is

associated in the literature with spirituality and religion, albeit in a New Age or

evangelical form (Nadesan 1999). Spiritual, in the Stoic sense, does not

necessarily imply that exercises are inspired by belief in a religious or metaphysical

entity, as in the case of those practised by later Christian ascetics such as Augustine or

Ignatius of Loyola, but rather in the sense that they involve the individuals entire

psychism by means of which, the individual raises himself up to the life of the

objective Spirit; that is to say, he re-places himself within the perspective of the

Whole (Hadot 1995: 82). The Whole towards which the person engaged in

exercises is striving is the state ofeudaimonia.2 The individual to be trained towardsthis end, therefore, is to treat him/herselfas a subject for therapy, as someone to be

cured, as if entering the doctors surgery.3

This Stoic form of askesis, therefore, can serve as a model for a therapeutic habitus

of self-development, without necessarily, as Costea et al. argue, sacrificing the

integrity of the whole person, but perfectly compatible with liberating the entire

self(2007: 7). In the rest of this paper we will develop this argument, that

contemporary organisational practices are based on, rather than spirituality or religion,a de-spiritualisation of askesis (Sloterdijk 2009: 49).

2. Workplace spirituality and monasticism

Stamford (2000) suggests that churches have always mirrored the structures of

contemporary secular organizations, and one might almost compare the monasteries

of the medieval period with local government authorities. Certainly at the

Reformation, theological and organizational changes intertwined, but, increasingly

since the Enlightenment in Europe, church and secular worlds have separated (Bruce

1996).

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However, as well as the adoption, originating in the USA, of business techniques by

faith-based organizations with varying degrees of success (Pattison, 1997), there has

been over the last ten years or so a burgeoning area of research, again appearing to

emanate from North America, on so-called Spirituality and Religion at Work (SRW).

Mitroff and Denton (1999) performed what they term a spiritual audit of corporate

America, developing a typology of spiritual experiences in the work environment.Benefiel (2003) has discussed spirituality in the context of organizational change, Fry

(2003) extends the spirituality of organizations area to propose a theory of spiritual

leadership, while Lips-Wiersma (2003), and Lund-Dean and others (2003) have

addressed issues of appropriate methodologies with which to study these phenomena.

These writers are generally enthusiastic about the idea that ones work environment

might provide an appropriate experience of spiritual enlightenment, and although

those cited above have recognised academic credentials, there is an element of

research driven by values in some more practitioner-oriented literature. Fenwick and

Lange (1998), for instance, suggest that the Human Resource practitioner is now

regarding SRW as the new frontier of Human Resource Development, whileKrishnakumar and Neck (2002) discuss the benefits of encouraging spirituality

within organizations, and Rego and Pina e Cuhna (2008) suggest that employees who

feel psychological safety because of improved spiritual climates in the workplace

are more committed to their organizations, developing more sense of obligation to

them. Handys hotel managers, for example, as suggested above, might be said to

increase their devotion to the hotel by buying in to the monastic analogy.

In contrast with the sunny aspects of the above descriptions of SRW, both Ackers and

Preston (1997) and Turnbull (2000, 2001) have described how the idea that

organizations provide a spiritual experience may have a dark side, whereby

commitment to the new corporate culture is seen to mimic the experience of

religious conversion. Rego and Pina e Cuhnas idea of increased obligation to the

organization begins to look more ambiguous. Pattison (1997) describes the situation

when management becomes religion, and Carrette and King (2005) are even more

concerned about what they regard as a reduction of spirituality to a consumer service.

For them corporate capitalism has strip[ped] religions assets by plundering and

repackaging its cultural resources (ibid: 15), and the cynical are not slow to notice

that spirituality is the new corporate buzzword (McDonald, 1999). It appears the

main concern is the potential exploitation of the religious impulse by unscrupulous

managers, exploitation which Tourish and Pinnington (2002) link with another

contemporary obsession: the cult of leadership. They describe an unholy trinity oftransformational leadership, corporate cultism and spirituality.

However, alongside the SRW theme is a parallel idea that organizations might learn

more about management per se by revisiting the origins of Christian organization, viz.

the monastic tradition, of which we have seen examples in the introduction. Kennedy

(1999) and Tredget (2002) suggest that some of Fayols management ideas may have

derived from the Rule of St Benedict, while Moberg and Calkins (2001) revisit the

Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola as a tool for examining business ethics. In

The Guardian, Combe (1999) describes the then new course at Ampleforth Abbey

designed by Tredget and others to apply the Rule of St Benedict to modern

management practice: The Abbot should never show tolerance of wrongdoing but ...should root it out completely... The Rule for reigning in errant monks is two private

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warnings, followed by a public rebuke. It is also clear that askesis is active rather

than passive: Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore all the community must be

occupied at definite times. Apparently modern managers find such edicts, together

with the need to attend church services five times a day refreshing, but where did

this tradition of monastic asceticism first develop?

3. Christianity and the Ascetic Tradition

St Mark, 2:18And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: andthey come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees

fast, but thy disciples fast not?2:19 And Jesus said unto them, Can thechildren of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long

as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 2:20 But the dayswill come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall

they fast in those days.

The Bible reference above is one of several in the Gospel accounts to suggest that the

earliest followers of Jesus were not generally ascetics in the sense of denying their

physical needs. Although it is also suggested in the Gospel accounts that Jesus

undertook a long period of physical and mental askesis in the desert before deciding

to embark on his preaching activities, this appears to have the specific purpose of

achieving enlightenment. He is tempted by the Devil (Matthew 4.1ff) to capitalise on

his spiritual gifts but elects to use them on behalf of God the higher cause. The

period of ascetic training for Jesus to achieve enlightenment appears rather

compressed from the norm, as will be seen. Yet some of the earliest monastic

Christians did embrace asceticism, frequently of an extreme type, and the idea of

asceticism is associated with religions other than Christianity. From the above

reference there appears to be an ascetic strand in Jewish religion (John the Baptist

lives in the desert and refrains from drinking alcohol or eating anything other than a

frugal diet).

It is beyond the scope of this paper to investigate the cultural history of asceticism,

other than to point out the idea, in a number of world religions, that enlightenment can

be achieved by the performance of certain spiritual exercises. Some of these may

involve the denial of physical needs, as expressed in some of the Eastern religions like

Hinduism or Buddhism (and Pauline Christianity appears to endorse aspects of this

view), but the earlyDesert Fathers also appear to be urging a constant vigilance aboutones actions and purposes in order to live a holy life. Ignoring the needs of the bodyis but one way of disciplining the mind, as will be explored below.

4. Desert Fathers and Early Christian Monastics

The classic translation of early Christian writers (Staniforth, 1968) provides support

for the view that the values of the so-called Apostolic Fathers, writing during the first

hundred years CE, stress ways of living which suggest askesis. As Staniforth suggests

(1968: 11), these writers were not intellectual giants ... [and were] untroubled by the

theological conundrums that were soon to perplex their successors. But these early

Christian officials (Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp and others) frequently stress that theprecepts of a Christian life should encompass obedience (27), unity for the common

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good, hence subordination of the individuals desires to this end (42-48), anger

management (78-79) and in general living a disciplined way of life (87).

Early converts are urged not to rock the managerial boat: Abjure all factions, for

they are the beginning of evils. Follow your bishop... as obediently as Jesus followed

the father. Obey your clergy too, as you would the Apostles; give your Deacons thesame reverence that you would to a command from God (121). These latter

individuals are thought to assist the spiritual development of their flock by providing

effective role models (exempla): You [i.e. Church officials] must do justice to your

position, by showing the greatest diligenceboth to its temporal and spiritual duties

(127). It is a task akin to military training4: for everyone must work together in

unison at this training of ours; comrades in wrestling and racing, comrades in its aches

and pains, comrades in its resting and its rising (129). In other words, developing as

a Christian requires not just belief but also effort to practise self-examination and

subordinate ones will to the communitys rulings. Assertiveness is not encouraged,

except perhaps when responding to criticism from non-Christians, although even this

has to be done with gentleness. Like King David, Christians are urged constantly tobe aware of their shortcomings, because Gods sacrifice is a broken spirit (33).

Although attitudes of the Apostolic Fathers and their followers to women generally

emphasise the negative distractions of the latter, exceptions were made for the Virgin

Mary, whom Athanasius proposed as an exemplar of asceticism, in particular praising

her ability to [control] her anger and [extinguish] her wrath in her inmost parts

(Mantel, 2009: 5): an early spiritual example of anger management.

By the third century the persecution of Christians mentioned by the Apostolic Fathers

had become systematic and a number of the early Christian thinkers took refuge in

desert places, especially in Egypt. Even after Constantine adopted Christianity as the

official religion of the Empire, many continued to be attracted to the solitary life,

perhaps believing that they were somehow replicating John the Baptists desert

sojourn, or the forty days of Christ in the desert. More realistically they may still have

scented danger from the vagaries of contemporary rulers, and preferred to keep a low

profile.

For those wishing to undertake a solitary religious life, either as part of a small

community or as a total solitary or hermit, the Philokalia (Gk: love of beauty), acollection of writings from the earliest period to 1400 CE, contained instructions to

such spiritual aspirants on how to ensure that the mind is purified, illumined andmade perfect through practical5 and contemplative moral philosophy. While the

emphasis of this work is on contemplation, the Euergotinos (good work) is more

about active Christian life and the practice of virtues like humility, chastity, love of

neighbour and submission to Gods will. The theory appears to be that if the practical

aspects of askesis are mastered the aspirant can then move on to the more

contemplative practices of thePhilokalia.

In this way the early monastics and hermits attained heights of asceticism which

would be difficult for contemporary religious individuals to achieve (Chrystostomos,

2005), but their aim is presented as union with the Divine Being through the practice

of suitable spiritual exercises. Today we might describe this as experiencing alteredstates of consciousness. It appears that those eager to attain this divine rapture

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gravitated towards the Desert fathers and gradually communities grew up around

them. Athanasius biography of St Anthony in the fourth century actively promoted

monasticism, with the latter presented as a role model for the ascetic life. Whilst

Anthony was more of a solitary, Pachominus developed a cenobitic or community

organization; by his death in 346 CE there were said to be over a thousand

monasteries in existence, and the system spread to Western Europe through the effortsof Cassian, who later influenced St Benedict.

The monastic system which developed through the mediaeval period in Europe

essentially reflects three stages:

1. Purgatio: the struggle through prayer and ascetic practice to controlthe flesh lust, gluttony and other such materialistic desires and to

trust God;

2. Illuminatio: having conquered such temptations, the monk becomesactive in the practice of Christian virtues in the local community;

3. Unitio: where the monk achieved union with the Divine.This is never presented as an easy option and constant vigilance is required to ensure

that the training is continuous, especially in thepurgatio phase.

5. Application of Monasticism in Organizational Spirituality

From a twenty-first century standpoint we might question the apparent suppression of

individualism of the monastic way of life and the emphasis on collectivism, with its

resonances of totalitarian states. But these emphases would have been reflected in the

overall culture of the time. One might suggest that the development of individualism

in Europe begins in the sixteenth century in art with Michelangelo and Leonardo, in

religion with the rise of Protestantism, in literature with the Shakespeare corpus. But

it is certain that the period of the development of monastic principles would not have

relished individualism in the way that the post-Freudian generations have.

The emphasis on askesis as sensory deprivation might be questionable in some cases:

for example, what are we to make of St Anthony when he is described as ashamed of

eating and sleeping and the other necessities of the body, when he thought of the

souls intelligence (Johnson, 2000: 26)? As well as being an early advocate ofwearing a hair shirt, Anthony never gave himself the refreshment of water, even for

the feet, not dipping them in water, but in case of necessity (ibid. 27). Is this

deliberate ignoring of the physical possibly understandable in a period where the

flesh had resonances of decay and degradation in the absence of antiseptics and other

aids to hygiene? If individuals like Anthony might justifiably today be considered

fanatical, there is no doubt that many cultures have used abstinence from physical

actions (eating, drinking, washing, sexual activity) as an aid to preparing the mind to

receive divine messages. That has always been the aim: transcendence.

But how does this sit with the current interest by the management writers, described

earlier, in things monastic? It may well be that the Catholic developers of the coursefor managers based on Benedicts rule will have believed that their delegates may

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pick up some of the wider spiritual precepts discussed therein (one of those involved

is known to this author as a sincere practising Catholic who also happens to be a

Human Resource Manager). So an introduction to the transcendent happens through

delegates learning about the wider applications of Benedicts Rule beyond the

managerial. This is by no means usual, however; as Pattison (1997: 2) points out, it is

rather that management itself may be regarded as an implicit religion with its owndoctrines rituals and the like. He also insightfully notes that as in most religions, the

perspective of those who do not run the cult is often not attended to, and this may be

because of lack of understanding or more sinister reasons. Pattisons intention is

avowedly not manager-bashing (7), but an attempt to understand the provenance of,

amongst other things, idealism and perfectionism in management circles, as illustrated

by such initiatives as Total Quality Management (TQM). In this latter area, as

Pattison points out (1997: 74): the call to perfection and an ideal kind of life [as

evidenced by askesis Author] has often led to despair and the abandonment of any

kind of aspiration to virtue at all... because it seems too difficult and unattainable. In

monastic terms this is getting stuck in purgatio, and, as Vernon (2004) ironically

puts it, dragging dark baggage around the office makes you less productive bettertake a course in positive thinking or self-improvement.

Ackers and Preston (1997) consider management development (MD) in organizations,

noting how a religious tone has seeped into the discourse: words like conversion

are used in the context of the MD programme they investigated. They suggest that the

search for new experiences of social cohesion may indicate that a transactional

employment relationship in an individualist consumer society is no longer enough

but whether more transcendent versions are positive or toxic seems to depend on the

intentions of the employer. The programme studied by Ackers and Preston

emphasises that participation in such initiatives may signal vulnerability not power

to gain rewards such as promotion (in monastic terms to move from purgatio to

illuminatio) managers have to express enthusiasm for the organizations programme.

As Ackers and Preston point out (1997: 689), MD can be used to correct perceived

faults in managers by proposing an ideal organizational personality of which

individual managers fall short. As they note (1997: ibid.) it is one thing to be asked to

address shortcomings its another matter to have to be forced into remoulding your

personality to suit your employer. As one of their more enthusiastic (or gullible)

respondents expressed it (1997: 693): Youve got to go away and focus on certain

key things which can make you a better person (Authors emphasis). However, as

Ackers and Preston point out with some irony: We are not concerned [here] with asearch for the ultimate meaning of life but with the prosaic pursuit of business profits

(1997: 695).

A similar tale is told by Turnbull (2000) who focused specifically on the emotions

engendered by systematic exposure of employees to quasi-religious imagery by

organizational management. Unlike Ackers and Preston, who believe that most

employees swiftly recant their conversion, Turnbulls research seemed to suggest

that managers were more malleable. The work ethic was rarely questioned by her

respondents long hours and absence from family was normal but this loyalty and

devotion to the greater ideal of the organizations survival and flourishing was

accepted as a managers duty (2000: 12). The quest for meaning beyond the self (inmonastic times this would have been one of the attractions for the aspirant) led people

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to trainactivelyfor this opportunity, especially when, in the case of her organization

of study, colleagues had been recently made redundant (or fallen off at the purgatio

stage), and the more cynical were shunned. The importance of askesis was made clear

by those still battling throughpurgatio: We all live the values and we all believe in

them, but it takes a lot of dedicated time to actually see it through (2000: 21). When

we slip, people are now saying we are not going to slip back again are we chaps,and it works (ibid.). One (female) employee shows apparent willingness to submit

her identity to the organization for shaping as she claims to see this is for the common

good and long term survival of the organization (ibid. 24). Where Turnbull differs

from Ackers and Preston is in her assertion that such beliefs may become internalized,

and that believers may become disillusioned as they can never reach illuminatio or

unitio.

6. Organizational Culture as a Culture of Observance

In Wittgensteins Vermischte Bemerkungen, a collection of remarks from hismanuscripts published after his death, translated into English as Remarks on Culture

and Value (Wittgenstein 1980), we find the following remark, written in 1949:

Culture is an observance. Or at least it presupposes an observance. (Remark 83e)

In the original German the word is Ordensregel, which has the connotation of

monastic rule. This remark has been interpreted in terms of contemporary asceticism

and its relation to culture by the German theorist Sloterdijk in his latest work

(Sloterdijk 2009). Whether explicitly understood as such by Wittgenstein or not,

Sloterdijk argues, this conception of culture is an explicitly ascetic one, in the sense

that monastic rule is a set of prescriptions that cannot be grounded further, and which

together provide the image of a form of life (Sloterdijk 2009: 214). 6 The notion of

culture invoked by Wittgenstein, Sloterdijk argues, consists of a form of life, habits,

practices, rituals, which are developed in a secession from the mundane, real

world, here alluding to the artistic secession in turn of the century Vienna, an

environment in which Wittgenstein himself was formed, in which rule following is in

need of no further grounding.

The essence of culture as an observance, then, is one which can be developed based

on in the course of extended experimentation with a practiced life ... newly

developed ... by means of radical design (223), a modus vivendi, which in itsexplicitness, rigour, vigilance and reduction to essentials can be compared toexistence within a monastic order (216). The rule of rules in this community of

observance is the maxim you must change your life: those within the community

must submit to the idea that they are engaging in exercises in the sense set out

earlier in this paper: those participating in exercises become aware of their exercises

as exercises, that is as engaging forms of life (229).Viewed in the anthropological

sense argued for by Sloterdijk, it is apparent what elements of such a secessionist

view of culture appeal to management gurus, and what elements of ascetic

observance feature in contemporary organisational life.

First, organizational culture as envisaged by management gurus is essentially such asecessionist notion, not in terms of either withdrawal from the world, as in the

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medieval monastery, or a culture dedicated to the radical pursuit of artistic aims, as in

the Vienna Secession, but one which is based on dedication to a single cause profit

and serving the customer. In an everyday outside culture, one is not ever asked if

one wishes to sub-ordinate oneself to its rules indeed one does not ask oneself

whether there are any rules at all (Sloterdijk 2009: 215). The idea of being aware of

rules, or of voluntarily submitting oneself to them, it might be argued, while clearlythe case in the monastery, it might be objected, is hardly the case with the

contemporary organization: if there are such rules, then one does not voluntarilysubmit oneself to them, but is obliged to do so if one wishes to be employed there.

Here, however, we encounter the problem ofexplicitand implicitascetic rules.

There are three basic types of monastic rules (Derwich 2000). First, there are

monastic rules as such, which define the main principles and spirit of monastic life,

describing the programme of spiritual formation. These systems of rules tend to be

written down, apply to the whole Order, but can also be adapted according to the

needs of an individual monastery. Second, customaries describe details of the

practice of everyday life, such as taking meals, working and sleeping, and are notalways written down. Thirdly, there are constitutions and monastic statutes, which

establish the institutional framework for the development of monasticism.

Within the contemporary ascetic organization there may be differing degrees of

explicitness of ascetic practices: explicit codes governing the general spirit of life,

such as mission and vision statements, and accompanying visions of how the

individual can attain perfection in the context of these ideals. Here the system of

communication, in particular the communication of the path to perfection set out by

exampla, plays an important role. At the other end of the scale, and particularly

important for contemporary organizations intent on establishing patterns of engaging

life in secessionist cultures, are implicit patterns of behaviour, rituals, and habits,

which, for this reason, can be even more important and pernicious than explicit rules,

as they are ultimately arbitrary, their sole justification being the way we do things

here. Whatever the degree of explicitness or implicitness, however, the fundamental

tenet of organizational ascetic life is that one should submit oneself to the principle of

you must change your life: regardless of which particular prescriptions are at issue,

it demands ... that each step, each movement of the hand be carried out with

meditative care, and that each word be spoken prudently (Sloterdijk 2009: 214).

We will now examine various elements of ascetic observance, as set down in typical

Rules of monastic orders, and indicate what implications these have for cultural andcommunicative prescriptions in contemporary organizations. The first of these is the

spiritual ideal which determines the notions of perfection against which the

progress of a monk/organizational ascetic can be measured. In The Rule of the

Master, an anonymous collection of monastic precepts from the 6th century, which

served as a model for the Rule of St. Benedict, we find that the notion of progress

towards the spiritual idea is represented by the metaphor of a ladder, upon which

monks ascend or descend according to their progress towards perfection.7 The ascent

of the ladder, which is attained in 12 rungs, from the first stage, in which the monk is

in need of constant self-surveillance of thought, tongue, hands, feet and self-will and

is aware that God is always, at every moment, looking at him from heaven, and that

his deeds are everywhere kept in view by the Divinity and all are reported day afterday by the angels (Rule of the Master: 132), to the 12th rung, by the ascent of which

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he has sufficiently internalized the rules that they become a habit: when the disciple

completes the ascent of all these rungs ... he will ... successfully scale the ladder of his

life ... whereby all that he previously observed not without fear, he will begin to keep

without any effort, as though naturally out of habit (Rule of the Master: 138).

Fig 1. Icon of the Heavenly Ladder of St. John Klimakos, The Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine, Sinai

The metaphor of the ladder is a way of understanding the development of a culture

based on the internalization of organizational objectives as a habitus, defined by

Aquinas as a disposition determining the potency of the soul in relation to something

desirable (Summa Theologica, Prima Secundae Partis, Question 49, Articles 1-4). We

must distinguish this Scholastic version of habitus from our understanding ofsomething which is merely a habit, which implies unconscious routine. A disposition

to act in a certain way, such as by allegiance to organizational objectives, is developed

into a habitus only by means of conscious formation and training, and is evidenced by

repeated acts, on the basis of which it can be judged how far the trainee has ascended

the ladder towards perfection.

The second element of observance is the exemplum set within the monastic

community by the Master and by the manager in the contemporary ascetic

organization. The principal means by which an exemplary nature is communicated is

by means of the ascetic narrative. In Cassians Monastic Institutes, for instance, there

are a number of such narratives, illustrating the unquestioning obedience of

impossible orders or willingness to take on additional work. We will look at one such

narrative, which occurs in Chapter 27 of Book 4 (see Appendix). We remember that

one of the central principles of spiritual exercises is that the task designed for training

should be against the trainees natural inclinations. The son, who was the only

representative of the earthly cares and affections that he had renounced andabandoned when the Abbot entered the monastery, is then an obvious choice to test

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the degree to which training has succeeded. During the deliberate maltreatment of the

child, despite his obvious emotional reaction to the treatment, the Abbot remains firm.

What is revelatory about this narrative, however, is the next stage, where it is decided

to test his strength of mind still further by ordering him to throw his son into the

Nile. The fact that, as it turns out, this was just a test, and the brethren fish the boy out

of the river, is less important than the fact that the deed would have been done. Thereaction of the Abbot, on finding out that what he had been required to do was just a

test, demonstrates his acceptance of this as just an opportunity to show his firmness

of mind and unwavering determination.

The importance of managerial narratives testifying to visions and encouraging

teamwork in generating support for initiatives such as TQM has been well

documented in the literature (Barley and Kunda 1992; Boje and Winsor 1993; Zachry

1999) Ascetic narratives of fasting, of which the modern literary paradigm is that of

the hunger artist (e.g. Kafka, Hamsun) might, within the organizational context,

relate to extreme acts of dedication, such as working excessive hours, or carrying on

work in the face of illness. Such ascetic narratives, whether in literal or metaphoricalform, seem to have undergone a renaissance in contemporary culture (Macho 2002).

In contrast to the narratives of the Desert Fathers, however, in which fasting was a

means to an end, the achievement of ecstatic states of enlightenment, contemporary

narratives, as Macho argues, seem to constitute ends in themselves. The contemporary

function of such narratives for ascetic cultures, seems to be not that they not just

provide examples of devotion, but bring home the idea that work within such a

culture is primarily work on the self: treating circumstances, no matter how contrary

to our inclinations, as just opportunities for training.

The third element of observance is attitudes towards complaining, grumbling etc. In

contrast to the exemplary figure of the above narrative, the murmurer as it is

expressed in theRule of St. Benedict, may perform the task set for him, but not withthe requisite exemplary attitude: if the disciple obey with ill-will, and murmur not

only with his lips but even in his heart, although he fulfil the command, yet it will not

be accepted by God (Rule of St. BenedictCh.5). In theRule of the Master, similarly,we find a condemnation of the murmurer who, although he does what he is told,

still it will not be acceptable to God, who sees that he is murmuring in his heart ...

and finds in it the wretched disposition of one who acts in this way( Rule of theMaster, Ch.7). This is, therefore, not principally about obeying or disobeying orders,

but carrying them out without the requisite exemplary attitude.

We can see numerous examples of such polarized schemata, with exempla ascetics

on the one hand, and murmurers on the other, in popular management text books. In

one such example, Kanters Changemasters, she contrasts the exemplary attitude toorganizational change of the changemasters, who see in change, however

inappropriate or unreasonable, an opportunity on the horizon ... to shake up reality a

little, to get an exciting new idea of whats possible, to break through the old pattern

and invent a new one. ... Where other people would say Thats impossible. Weve

always done it this way, they see another approach. Where others see only problems,

they see possibilities (Kanter 1992: 240), with the laggards who question or

grumble about change seeing only problems, sticking to themselves, and viewing

conflict as disruptive rather than creative, doing only what is explicitlypermitted.

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It might seem that the attitude of the changemasters described here is far from

ascetic, laced as the description is with the exciting vocabulary of shaking things

up and creativity. The attitude to change of the changemaster to change is ascetic,

however, in the sense we have argued for earlier they see changes in outward

circumstances as opportunities for training, for discovering a new and excitingself, whereas the laggards whose objection to change might be based on rational

grounds, are criticized for their lack of an exemplary attitude and unwillingness to

undertake the necessary spiritual exercises.

7. Askesis in the Workplace: some examples of HRM philosophies

It is somewhat beyond the scope of this paper to rehearse all the arguments about the

nature of Human Resource Management as a conceptual development of the term

personnel management: suffice it to say that enthusiasts for the former emphasise its

strategic nature and emphasis on alignment of the deployment of people in line withthe organizations (usually financial) objectives. There have been vociferous critics of

the meaning of HRM Legge (1995), for example, was an early sceptic, stressing that

hard HRM, that is, the idea that business needs should determine how human

resource, that is, employees, should be acquired, deployed or dismissed, was in fact

entwined with the soft approach emphasising nurturance and development of

individuals. Not least, for Legge, HRM is unitarist; that is, it assumes that all the

human resource in an organization will be dedicated to the (senior management

driven) goals of the organization.

Roberts (2008) regards the managerialism project as an extreme manifestation of

HRM in that the latter seeks to constitute the life world of a mass of society. As he

suggests, the HRM rhetoric assumes that there is, and should be, congruence of

interest between employer and employee as in the monastic world, the monks are

there because they are excited by working for a cause, as we suggested earlier. And

like the monastic rule, HRM demands ability from the employee to accept changes

without resistance; senior managers as exempla both impose these on their

subordinates and live the values themselves, as we saw in the respondents of Ackers

and Preston and Turnbull.

An interesting example of this rhetoric is the bizarrely successful story-within-a-story

Who moved my Cheese? (Johnson, 1998) which has spawned book, video and otherderivations, telling of four Disney-esque characters, mice and men, who live in amaze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy. In case the reader is

unable to understand analogy, the text helpfully adds cheese is a metaphor for what

you want to have in life. When the cheese (jobs, relationships, status) is removed or

otherwise disappears, there is no analysis of the ethics of this analogy. It breaks down

anyway in the case of job downsizing, as it is never considered that the cheese

seekers might have had significant influence in creating the so-called cheese station

cheese is simply provided by management, and when removed by them the

characters have no choice other than to go and find new cheese. The characters who

discuss this myth are happily convinced by such gnomic apophthegms as move

with the cheese and enjoy it, or when you see that you can find and enjoy newcheese you change course. Roberts might not be surprised by the success of this

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modern fable which appears to promote stoic virtues of acceptance and getting on

with it. Roberts (2008:63) has also noted the astonishing success of HRM as a

concept and a social construction in part because employees have accepted a role as

oblates, a full self-offering to HRM as provider of human meaning, as also

suggested by Ackers and Preston and Turnbull.

Some examples follow of critical discussion of the ascetic elements of HRM in the

context of, firstly, anger management, and, secondly, training and self-development.

8. Managing Anger: self control and positive vibrations

One of the skills which HRM practitioners are supposed to possess and are urged to

develop is that of managing, or providing advice on managing, difficult people, a

group which appears to encompass those who cannot manage or control their

emotions. We can illustrate the Stoic ascetic origins of contemporary HRM attitudes

to anger by contrasting the views of Aristotle and Seneca on anger.

In the Nicomathean Ethics, an account of the acquisition of moral virtue, Aristotledepicts excessive anger and irascibility as human defects, but concedes that, in certain

circumstances, anger can be justified. This depends on whether the person is angry at

the right things, at the right people, and for the right length of time:

The man who is angry at the right things and at the right people, and, further, as he

ought, and as long as he ought, is praised. (Aristotle 1998: 96)

The right things about which it is appropriate to be angry about would include, for

Aristotle, injustice and maltreatment. They key in determining whether anger is

appropriate, would be that we identify correctly the causes and the perpetrators of the

injustice, etc., and that our anger with them is limited to achieving a rectification of

the injustice, and not, for instance, ill will or a feeling of revenge towards them, if and

when the injustice has been rectified. In fact, Aristotle argues, in some circumstances,

notto be angry would be foolish, as any reasonable person would be angry:

For those who are not angry at the things they should be angry at are thought to be

fools, and so are those who are not angry in the right way, at the right time, or

with the right persons. (1998: 97)

Anger is justified, then, in the right circumstances, and indeed to be expected of the

virtuous person.

If we contrast this with the Stoic attitude, as exemplified in Senecas On Anger, we

can see clearly that anger management programmes in organizations are based on

the latter, albeit without Senecas philosophical justification. Senecas justification for

the need, not just to control but to extirpate anger, is the familiar therapeutic

argument employed by the Stoics (Nussbaum 1994: 405). The first step in Senecas

argument is an anthropological one: that anger is not natural to, nor necessary for the

human being:

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Whether (anger) is in accordance with nature will become clear if we turn our

eyes to man. What is more gentle than while he is a right state of mind? But

what is more cruel than anger? What is more loving to others than man? What

more hostile than anger? (Seneca 1928: 119)

Having defined anger as unnatural, Senecas next step is the therapeutic turn:having accepted this, we have to look within ourselves to recognize which

deficiencies of our soul lead us to feel angry. Having done this, we can then identify

remedies to cure this illness of the soul:

Just as in caring for the body certain rules are to be observed for guarding the

health, others for restoring it, so we must use one means to repel anger, another

to restrain it. In order that we may avoid anger, certain rules will be laid down

which apply to the whole period of life. (205)

Having accepted that anger is unnatural and in all circumstances unjustified, we then

commit ourselves to training, to a programme of self therapy. One further vital stepin Senecas argument is that anger has a natural tendency towards violence and

cruelty, in that it cannot be controlled. He illustrates this by citing a number of

instances where anger has got out of control and gone beyond the bounds of reason:

If your goblet is broken, will the bowels of a human being be torn apart? (125)

Seneca does not make the distinction which Aristotle does, that, within the bounds of

appropriateness anger can be virtuous, but argues that in all circumstances it is

injurious to the self and to others. This therapeutic argument based on Stoicism,

which turns attention away from the causes of justified anger, towards the self as thecause of anger, and towards failure to recognize ones deficiencies and submit these to

training, is similar to the philosophy of anger management, as we will illustrate.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the professional body

which represents HR staff (and interestingly has never imported the HRM tag),

provides members with a toolkit to help them deal with handling difficult people

and difficult situations, recognising that the drive for efficiency and profit makes

[managing difficult situations] more difficult: workers are asked to do more with

fewer resources, and to satisfy the ever-increasing expectations of bosses, customers,

colleagues and suppliers (CIPD, 2009). Notwithstanding the tacit assumption thatthe drive for efficiency and profit might have some correlation with difficult

behaviour, and ignoring the fact that such drives may be seen as manifestations of

the unacceptable face of capitalism, the CIPD is one of many providers of such advice

to assume that beleaguered staff will be capable of modifying their behaviour to

present a stoic stance to the vicissitudes of contemporary organizational life. With

adequate training, it is believed employees may be helped through purgatio to

control their desires/emotions and reach the illuminatio stage of actively practising the

virtues of self-control, humility and submission to the will of the organization.

The World Wide Web abounds with examples of trainers, Management Development

consultants and HRM experts offering help to the manager or aspirant who seeks toeliminate negative emotions such as anger in self or others. Some of these, like the

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anonymous author of the businessballs item on managing stress(www.businessballs.com), attempt to sweeten the pill by pointing out the ethical duty

of employers to be vigilant about stress, of which anger is only one manifestation. But

like the message of the CIPD, it is up to the employee to take action: in the modern

world it is difficult if not impossible to change stressful situations what we can do is

change [ourselves]... The management of anger (and any other unreasonableemotional behaviour [authors emphasis] for that matter... can only be improved if

the person wants to change (ibid.). It is noteworthy that this anonymous author alsoproposes that love and spirituality at work is a good thing, as bringing compassion

and humanity to work reduces stress. How this might work is not made clear; it

might indicate a commitment to fair treatment by managers, or possibly that

employees will be so concerned, like the monks who have advanced to illuminatio, inpractising such Christian virtues that they will refrain from questioning the rules.

At first sight the emphasis of the businessballs writer upon healthy eating and

drinking lots of water as a means of behaviour modification might seem far removed

from the admonitions of St Anthony to avoid the latter, but there is the same emphasison the aspirant stopping to think: Why are you taking this risk with your body and

mind? Commit to change before change is forced on you (ibid.). This is the messageof Who moved my Cheese? that the individual progresses through purgatio by

accepting the vicissitudes of fortune and training the mind to be indifferent to them in

stoic fashion. Interestingly the businessballs writer also reminds readers that our

ancestors sleep patterns were governed by nature, yet the stressful modern world is

at odds with our genetic preferences and unnatural sleep patterns can also make us

irritable and angry. But exactly how the individual can go back to natural behaviours

(in this case presumably getting up at sunrise and sleeping at sunset) and still operate

successfully in the stressful modern world is not made clear. The writer is torn

between the noble savage concept what is natural is good and emphasising that

these natural behaviours have to be managed or controlled. As Epictetus points out,

the trainee is training the body to seek the things which it doesnt necessarily find

pleasurable, and to be objective in the stoic sense, so that outward events do not

touch the soul as Marcus Aurelius puts it.

The internet site www.angermanagementexpert.co.ukis similarly sanguine about the

possibility of developing the constructive side of anger, acknowledging that there is

such a thing as what the writer calls positive anger (presumably anger that is

triggered by injustice or unfair treatment, although this is not stated). The way anger

is said to become positive is through redirecting it and taking control of emotions,although it is acknowledged that this is not something that can be achieved very

easily. We are offered similar coping strategies such as diet and exercise to modify

our moods, but the overall message is all about (re)gaining control and managing our

emotions, ensuring they are appropriate.

Angry people are urged to make lists of anger triggers to work out whether anger is

justified; like Marcus Aurelius, we need to reflect calmly on our behaviour by

keeping a journal and expressing [our] deepest feelings. The angermanagementwriter, however, gives a passing nod to New Age approaches which is beyond the

stoic, using pseudo-spiritual language: inviting positive thoughts and creating a good

feeling inside will draw you towards positive experiences, and, if you are feelingangry or aggressive your vibration will be negative... you will begin to attract people,

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situations and experiences on the same vibration level as you Conversely, if you aim

to be happy and relaxed: the harder it will be for a negative feeling to penetrate your

positive vibrational shield with the result that you get more of what you think about

and want, in this case, not illuminatio but promotion. Its up to the aspirant, though:

if maintaining a good work life balance is causing you stress or anger you can

reduce your hours or even your job, an ambiguous phrase, especially as the HRdepartment can advise you of your rights and options. The respondents of Ackers

and Preston and Turnbull knew exactly what their options were as

managers/exempla, their work life balance was heavily skewed in favour of the

former.

9. Managing yourself: the importance of continuing development

If the aspirant/employee succeeds in achieving stoic calm, what more must they do to

move toward illuminatio/promotion? As long ago as the 1980s, Pedler and Boydell,

later to become experts in Management Development, were writing for the thinking

manager (1985: 7) and recommending such individuals to consider the wholeperson: to manage ideas, feelings and actions, to work with the physical, mental and

spiritual parts of ourselves at work.

Like the early church fathers they stress the analogy between developing the psychic

managerial self and physical exercise: You cant expect to get physically fit by going

for one two mile run... The recommendations would not surprise Marcus Aurelius

such as starting a self management logbook to jot down positive and negative

experiences, and there little questionnaires and diagrams to get people started. Pedler

and Boydell acknowledge that some will find their ideas like psychosynthesis

quirky, as well as the idea that one can visualise and interrogate ones higher and

lower selves by using visualisations and affirmations (in 1985 this sort of discourse

was probably less encountered in management texts). However, the book is

endearingly amateurish occasional typos and the fact that a character in a case

study changes their name half way through, for example and has a sort of innocence

about it which later texts do not. Readers are advised not to succumb to the me-first-

no-matter-what-the-cost style of management (1985:35), but to aim, again for

balance between their needs and those of the organization, and if your spiritual

beliefs include the existence of other beings (Guiding Angels or God(s), ask them for

guidance (1985: 56). Determining ones purpose in life (71) means not succumbing

to arrogance which can lead to tyranny or despotism. Again rather charmingly, these

authors use modified stages of craftwork: apprentice, journeyman, master, artist toillustrate the managers progression to illuminatio, and there is a sense that they

believe the world they and their readers inhabit might allow such illumination to take

place.

However, it is noteworthy that the thinking manager has now become for the CIPD

the thinking performer. Thinking performers, a category to which those aspirants

to membership of the CIPD, a prerequisite now to obtain jobs in HRM, are required to

demonstrate belonging, have to prove it by evidencing continuous professional

development (CPD) through maintaining a CPD portfolio rather like Marcus

Aurelius hypomnemata.

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The CIPDs website on such concepts (www.cipd.co.uk) tells us that CPD is

continuous updating of professional knowledge and improvement of personal

competence throughout your working life, and that to capitalise on our experiences

we need, like Marcus, to reflect on them. This involves, according to CIPD, for the

aspirant member:

~ knowing where you are today

~ knowing where you want to be in future

~ making sure you get there

In order not to be lost en route on this analogical journey, it will be necessary to

record yourhypomnemata to remind yourself why you were learning something, whatyou learned and how you will apply the learning. CIPD is apparently seeking

evidence that the learner can identify personal improvement or development needs

and translate these into individual or work learning objectives and personal

development plans (PDPs there is no shortage of acronyms in this area). Once

learners have understood how important this is they are set to become thinkingperformers.

The thinking performer, according to CIPD:

~ contributes to the organizations purposes;

~ adds value through continuous challenge and self-improved goals (sic);

~ sets a positive example;

~ expresses constructive concerns about relevant issues [one assumes no uncontrolled

anger];

~ finds solutions that are better, cheaper or faster;

~ reinforces legally and ethically the compliance role of HR;

~ is customer focused.

This paragon might appear rare (assuming that aspirants could interpret correctly

some of the behaviours which are somewhat opaque for example, how does one

reinforce the compliance role of HR when this cuts across the need to support the

organizations business objective?), but as a university presentation to students

working towards CIPD membership puts it Why would employers want employees

to be anything else [than a thinking performer]? Organizations need to enlist the

hearts and minds of employees (Bailey, 2008). Interestingly this unitarist view is

presented unchallenged, but aspirants are reminded that CPD is self-directed andrequires motivation and commitment to improving ones won personal standards,

which for some individuals is a challenge in itself. The subtext implies that they had

better move on through purgatio at a brisk pace, as the responsibility is theirs alone to

progress. If and when they do move on to illuminatio they can become exempla: HR

professionals should encourage and help development [of others] a role model,

mentor and coach will lead by example. But unitio is never achieved as there is

always more to do for the organization which replaces the Divine.

10. Conclusion

We have argued in this paper that askesis, in various forms, is present incontemporary organizational life. By askesis, as we have shown, we do not

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necessarily mean the commonly understood form of asceticism as retreat into a

desert of self-denial and deliberately inflicted hardship in pursuance of a religious

state of enlightenment, although elements of this are obviously still present in

organizations as extreme ascetic behaviour, as we have pointed out. Such a

conception of askesis would be incompatible with a postmodern managerial discourse

which supposedly extols the utopian virtues of empowerment, fun andexcitement at work. We also argue that contemporary askesis is not primarily

associated with religion or spirituality in the common sense, whether of an

evangelical or new age form. We do not deny that contemporary managerial

discourse may be inspiredby religious worldviews of management gurus or leaders,nor that management, in its rhetoric, often employs religious metaphors to inspire

devotion in its followers. This should not, we argue, lead us to believe that this is

primarily about religion as a belief system. Rather, we adhere to the view of

Sloterdijk, that religion in contemporary society and organizational life should be

understood as a system of anthropotechnic exercises and observances designed for

the purpose of inner and outer formation of the self within a secessionist culture

(2009: 134).

Such anthropotechnic practices, whether implicit or explicit, which we have

discussed include the employment of exemplary ascetic narratives for the purpose of

communicating obedience and devotion, practices of self-examination and therapy

such as personal development plans, and practices for the extirpation of

inappropriate emotions such as anger. We have also argued that, in order to

understand these practices and the philosophy behind them, we need to re-connect

the common understanding of askesis to the traditions of Ancient Philosophy, in

particular the Stoics, in the sense that the goal of such anthropotechnic practices is

the creation of a state of eudaimonia, an outwardly engaging or admirable form oflife, which may not fulfil all the emotional and material needs of the individual. The

contemporary application of the Stoic notion of askesis, however, and this is where

contemporary organizational askesis departs from the Stoic philosophy, is not

primarily concerned with autonomy, fulfilment and genuine self-reflection, as the

Stoics were, but on creating a culture of compliance, obedience, and a normalization

of unacceptable conditions and practices. In this sense, we return to the quotation

from which we set out, that organizational askesis is designed to create the myth of

being used for a mighty purpose which makes up for ... small inefficiencies, ...

often lousy pay and poor conditions of organizational life (Handy 1995: 189), in

other words for the injustices, inequalities and mistreatment of individuals which are

the reality of contemporary organizations.

Finally, as we have perhaps painted a rather pessimistic picture of organizational

askesis, there are perhaps reasons to think that organizational askesis and the

managerial authority based on it may be on the verge of a challenge and decline. In

the history of the early Christian monastic communities, it seems, the elitist notion

of the authority of monastic Masters as stemming from God through their exemplary

asceticism came under challenge, both from within and outside the monastery.

Rousseau (1978) points to a decline in such charismatic ascetic authority in the age of

Jerome and Cassian, as the self-assurance of the inspired ascetic (192) declined,

when it was increasingly recognized that a persons virtue stemmed, not from

charismatic ascetic authority, but by virtue of their own deeds, and that all within themonastic community must submit all things ... to the judgement of (their) own

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conscience (Rousseau citing Cassian, 1978: 198). In the present crisis, which

uncritical adherence to such ascetic managerial practices has undoubtedly helped to

create, we might find a seed for a challenge to this form of asceticism, and even a

return to a more genuine form, whether a secular vision based on Stoicism, or a

religious one based on the best traditions of spirituality.

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Appendix: Cassian, The Monastic

Institutes, Chapter 27


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Notes

1 translation R. Halsall.2 Nussbaum (1994) points out that the translation ofeudaimonia as happiness does not adequatelyconvey that the term in Stoic thought emphasized activity towards a completeness of life, she thereforerenders it as human flourishing, Nussbaum, Martha, The Therapy of Desire. Theory and Practice inHellenistic Ethics, p.15, footnote.3

On the use of medical analogies in Stoic philosophy, see Nussbaum 1994, Ch.9, Stoic Tonics:Philosophy and Self-Government of the Soul.4 The word askesis of course comes from the Greek: to train Paul uses the same metaphor forspiritual development in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and 2 Timothy 4:75

Interestingly there is an almost Hindu approach to correct breathing with the aim (amongst others) ofridding the self of passion.6

Translation R.Halsall.7 We might note the frequency with which management development seminars and textbooks are calledmasterclasses. A search on Amazon.com revealed 119 management textbooks which had the wordmaterclass in the title. There is an obvious element of aggrandisement drawing on the artistic

masterclass in this discourse, but, equally, the idea of the ascetic master, at whose feet one sits,seems also to be present.

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.

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