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Quantum Worldviews: How science and spirituality are converging to transform consciousness for meaningful solutions to wicked problems

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Laszlo

    (Case Western Reserve University)

  • Sandra Waddock

    (Boston College)

  • Anil Maheshwari

    (Maharishi International University)

  • Giorgia Nigri

    (LUMSA University)

  • Julia Storberg-Walker

    (George Washington University)

Abstract

This article focuses on the concept of worldviews, arguing that a change in managerial worldviews is the key lever for addressing the social and global challenges facing humanity. We draw from a new synthesis of science and spirituality, with the addition of “other ways of knowing” that go beyond rational-empirical analysis, to suggest that what we call Quantum Worldviews are capable of generating the prosocial and pro-environmental behavior consistent with humanistic management. Using the yin-yang symbol as a metaphor, we suggest that a transformation in consciousness, at the level of the paradigmatic assumptions held by managers about the nature of reality, can be understood through adult development theory. We also go beyond the metaphor to propose a quantum worldview based on a more literal interpretation of quantum science to fundamentally re-conceptualize what it means to be human, drawing on quantum research that suggests ontological wholeness and interdependence of all. Quantum Worldviews can help leaders, and the various systems of which they are a part, transition to a new science-based consciousness - long intuited by indigenous and nonwestern spiritual leaders - of an interconnected and dynamically coherent world. We identify a variety of practices that give managers a direct experience of Oneness, changing who they are at the deepest level of self-concept. Our research suggests that only when using such practices, and in sufficient numbers, will business leaders become agents of world benefit with the collective influence to bring about meaningful solutions to climate change and other wicked problems—in other words, needed system transformation.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Laszlo & Sandra Waddock & Anil Maheshwari & Giorgia Nigri & Julia Storberg-Walker, 2021. "Quantum Worldviews: How science and spirituality are converging to transform consciousness for meaningful solutions to wicked problems," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 293-311, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:humman:v:6:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s41463-021-00114-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s41463-021-00114-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chris Laszlo, 2019. "Strengthening Humanistic Management," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 85-94, July.
    2. L. Lovins, 2016. "Needed: A Better Story," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 75-90, September.
    3. Sandra Waddock & Erica Steckler, 2016. "Visionaries and Wayfinders: Deliberate and Emergent Pathways to Vision in Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(4), pages 719-734, February.
    4. Philip Anderson, 1999. "Perspective: Complexity Theory and Organization Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 216-232, June.
    5. Michael Pirson & Paul Lawrence, 2010. "Humanism in Business – Towards a Paradigm Shift?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(4), pages 553-565, June.
    6. Sandra S. Batie, 2008. "Wicked Problems and Applied Economics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1176-1191.
    7. Sandra Waddock, 2016. "Foundational Memes for a New Narrative About the Role of Business in Society," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 91-105, September.
    8. Jan Rotmans & Derk Loorbach, 2009. "Complexity and Transition Management," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(2), pages 184-196, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rigolot, C. & Quantin, M., 2022. "Biodynamic farming as a resource for sustainability transformations: Potential and challenges," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).

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