The Enlightened Enterprise: Walking the Path of the Conscious and High Performing Organization

There are a number of management books based on applying social-emotional learning or spiritual development techniques to increased productivity, but in this debut Ellis forges his own, somewhat uneven path with an impassioned argument for using spiritual language to teach business principles. Ellis focuses on the differences between businesses that are unenlightened (focused entirely on profit and cutting costs, at the expense of quality and human capital) and enlightened (focused on value creation and appreciation of the worker). Though his advice is sound, his approach is less than enlightened, resulting in an unhappy marriage of pseudo-Buddhism and training manual. Add to this vague references to business practices (Ellis is careful not to mention any past clients by name, even when it is complimentary) and repetitive reiterations of concepts, and the result is an unfortunate failed opportunity. While there is value to be found within, there are better books about integration between spiritual and emotional learning and business practices. (Feb.)